A MelanieM Review: Deep Plunge (SoulShares #3) by Rory Ni Coileain

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

For over two thousand years Lochlann Doran has wandered the continents of Earth, watching as little by little his magic dwindled away to nothing. For Lochlann Doran’s a Fae torn from his war torn world, his soul sundered as he was sent through the Pattern by fellow Loremaster and friend Cuinn to Earth. Now only his faceted aquamarine eyes and the fact that he can’t die remain as reminders of his true nature. Also lost? The ability to heal that goes along with being a Fae of the Demesne of Water.

Stripper Garrett Templar has been dancing along time. The club Purgatory, prior to being bought by Tiernan Guiare, was a hard, indifferent place to work. Garrett turned tricks in the back room to pay his bills and rent, something that would never happen now. But then? The dancers were unprotected by management something Garrett found out the hard way when at eighteen, one of the johns he entertained infected him with HIV. And while it may have been a “manageable” disease” with others, in his system the virus has inexplicably mutated into full-blown AIDS. And no known cocktail has managed to work to slow it down. Now the only place Garrett can find solace is to loose himself as he dances on stage, always alone by necessity and by choice.

Then Lochlann’s travels brings him into Washington, DC and to the very stage in Purgatory where Garrett is dancing. It only takes a few glances for the SoulShares bond to snap to attention, startling Garrett and freaking out Lochlann deeply. Lochlann never expected to find his SoulShare after so many centuries alone. And then he finds out from Garrett that he is dying from AIDS. Lochlann is devastated. If he had his magic back, he could heal Garrett immediately. But his magic is gone. And Garrett flees from Lochlann, not wanting to hope for a future he is sure they can never have.

But Purgatory has more surprises in store for Lochlann when the SoulShares appear along with his ex friend and now old enemy, Loremaster Cuinn. It seems their ancient evil, Marfach, has stirred and wants access to a unSouled Fae to return Marfach to the Realm. And Lochlann is the key to the survival of all.

Deep Plunge is the penultimate story in Rory Ni Coileain’s SoulShares series and with it Ni Coileain’s achieves a remarkable bit of storytelling. There is a huge amount of world building going on here. Two universes, that of the Fae Realm and that of modern urban Washington, DC, are both rendered with equal amounts of realism and imagination. Then the author builds onto that an epic battle of good and evil (evil being the Marfach) where evil almost conquered all. It left behind a blackened Fae landscape and a multitude of dead or dying Fae. To support such a cataclysmic event, Rory Ni Coileain builds a Fae society in dire straits, one that has to re-imagine itself in order to survive. That aspect of this story is mesmerizing, the history constructed to make all the events that occur in the books not only necessary but manipulated and foretold (yes, two different things are happening here…this layering is magnificent).

Facts about the Fae and the Pattern that we thought we knew from prior events are turned on their head here. Nothing is as it has seemed. There are so many elements in play here that you almost have to pause in your reading to make sure you have it all straight, including the latest revelations that have knocked you (and the characters) right on their butts. I love it when that happens. Smoke and mirrors, or merely the Fae at work…doesn’t matter because the end result is magical, suspenseful, and downright addictive.

The two protagonists here are unarguably poignant, deeply damaged characters, each with an emptiness inside where their other souled half should reside (more universe building). That they have found each other should be cause for celebration. Instead its marked by pain, and enough angst to fill a bathtub. Ni Coileain pulls off terrific non-human characters in her Fae. They do not have the same emotions as humans so that the fact that half their souls end up in humans is not only a neat twist but helps pull all the author’s Fae back down into characters we can empathize with as well as connect with on an elemental basis. For their human Soulshares it is easy to believe in them and their myriad lifestyles and issues. All couples from previous stories appear in important roles here as Ni Coileain starts pulling together all the threads she has been sowing in the books so far. But of them all, Garrett and Lochlann have to be among the most star-crossed. Garrett who’s HIV became full blown AIDS in almost no time and Lochlann the person who loves him and should be able to cure him but can’t. It’s both poetic and unbearably painful.

Trust me when I say it almost hurts not to spill all the details that are revealed here, the twists, the turns, the “never saw that coming” revelations. And Deep Plunge sets all the elements rolling for the final story in the series, Firestorm. The final battle between the Marfach against the Fae and humans is almost here. Who will be able to stop them? I can’t wait to find out! Mark this series down as a Must Read and this story as one of the best of the year! What an adventure Rory Ni Coileain has pulled us into! A multidimensional saga with characters who continue to astonish and deep loves that have me swooning for more. Consider the series, the story and the author among ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Highly Recommended Reads!

Cover art by Allen Penn. Does a great job branding the series but missing the fantasy element.

Sales Links: Ravenous Romance All Romance eBooks (ARe) Amazon Deep Plunge

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 202 pages
Published August 28th 2013 by Ravenous Romance
ASINB00EV7OAYU
edition languageEnglish
seriesSoulShares #3

Books in the SoulShares series in the order they were written and should be read are:

Hard As Stone (SoulShares #1)
Gale Force (Soulshares #2)
Deep Plunge (SoulShares #3)
Firestorm (SoulShares #4)

A MelanieM Review: Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3) by Angel Martinez

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

As the Fae settle into their life on Tearmann Island, a Fae nation now established on Earth, Diego and the Fae are busy attending to the new state of affairs and international negotiations on the Fae’s behalf. Fae Collective Ambassador, Prince Lugh mac Ethnenn, and his bodyguard and personal aide, Zachary Morrison, who retired from the U.S. Marine Corps, are in New York City at the Fae Embassy established there to promote Fae Awareness while Diego Sandoval, the Human Consul for the Fae Collective and his Pooka lover, Fionchadd or Finn, remain on the island.

But things are never calm for long. Finn comes down with an “uncommon cold” which makes him change shape with every sneeze. Diego is trying to comfort his ill lover and deal with all incoming requests, including one from a group that says they can work magic, and want Diego to mentor them. But these messages turn ominous when Diego ignores them. At the same time, Prince Lugh not only kisses Zach, outing him to his family when the picture is posted, but Zach is critically injured when he is attacked in New York City by a being that looks remarkably like a werewolf. In fact all sorts of supernatural beings are appearing all over earth, from vampires, to ghouls to werewolves….an occurrence that shouldn’t be happening.

That’s just the beginning. A new love is fraught with problems, misunderstandings and stress, while an old love pushed to its limits by an evil that is close and familiar. The recently established nation of Fae on Earth is threatened with new sanctions and laws that might making living together with humans forbidden once more. And the one man they need to help save the situation has lost a piece of his mind. Now they need to save Diego in order to save them all.

Angel Martinez’s Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3) elevates a series that was already marvelous and complicated into a saga that is rare in its layers of mythology and whose intricacies of plot astonish at each new twist and turn of the author’s pen. Angel Martinez has a multitude of important plot threads running through her story and its how the author intertwines them with each other with a richness and depth that is truly amazing. It really doesn’t seem to matter whether Martinez is dealing with the day to day relationship dynamics of an established couple, even a couple where one is a Pookie and the other a hugely powerful mage or revealing the wider ranging complications that arise when the magical meet the mundane, its how Martinez is able to fold reality into mythology and have the final product feel so real and alive that is an amazing quality all of its own. I really can’t get enough of this series or its addicting characters.

The first tale, Finn (Endangered Fae #1) introduced Finn, a lost and ailing Pookie, to Diego Sandoval, a romance author of hispanic heritage. It laid a solid foundation for the next story and for the love between Finn and Diego, who turns out to be a powerful mage. Diego (Endangered Fae #2) brings all the other Fae into play and a new cast of characters is established, along with the idea of malignant interference from the American military. As Angel Martinez has already established the “normal” threats that might appear to Diego and Finn’s happiness as well as that of the Fae now living on Tearmann Island, a new entity is revealed to crush all that they have worked hard to create. The entity that Martinez creates is both ingenuous and heartbreaking. And its arrival is on top of other perilous situations created by the attack on Zach and outside forces is totally unexpected.

It’s frustrating to write a review here because almost any mention of any part of this story can unintentionally bring a spoiler or two. But Semper Fae is both a recounting of deeply felt love stories as well as a powerful and convoluted tale of mythic beings and a struggle for survival at the most basic level. Here Martinez brings into question what makes a person or being who they are? What happens if one of the basic building blocks of that person’s character is removed? This haunting idea forms the basis of one of the most important plot threads here.

Martinez also deals with the nature of identity on more than one level. Zach has been hiding his homosexuality from his family. A paparazzi’s photograph outs him and then a physical assault changes Zack forever but do either of those events change who Zach is on the inside? Questions upon questions, and not just for the new romance is between ex Marine Zach Morrison and Prince Lugh. Finn and Diego are also in trouble, one that starts off quite funny as a Fae common cold. Even the recently established state of Fae on Tearmann Island comes under attack. The problems mounting here are internal as well as external, subtle and outright. And some are caused by the very people and beings we have come to love.

In Semper Fae, there be dragons (oh how I loved these dragons) with a propensity for Rubic’s Cube and Silly Putty and vampires who lack the taste for blood. As I said the complications build from the beginning of the story and there will be no easy resolution even at the end. That’s as it should be as this story will feed into the fourth tale of this saga. The issues and complications that Martinez has raised here have huge implications for all and the reverberations will continue to spread through relationships of all types and creature bonds.

I will tell you I cried like a baby at times here. This story has its lighthearted moments, and its scenes of darkness and terror. All are beautifully written with vivid descriptions vying with charismatic characters for your attention and heart. You will want to be there with Zach in the dragon’s lair and flee with Finn and other others from a city street flowing with blood. In fact, you won’t want to miss a single sentence from Finn to Semper Fae and beyond. Endangered Fae is one of ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Best of 2014! Don’t pass it by. But start at the beginning and work your way through an amazing series and characters that are easy to love.

Cover Art by Winterheart Designs. Love the cover.

Sales Links: MLR Press All Romance eBooks (ARe) Amazon Semper Fae

Book Details:

ebook
Published July 11th 2014 by MLR Press (first published January 13th 2013)
edition languageEnglish
seriesEndangered Fae #3

Series in the order they were written and should be read for the events and relationships to be understood:

Finn (Endangered Fae #1)
Finn’s Christmas (Endangered Fae #1.5) folded into Finn.
Diego (Endangered Fae #2)
Semper Fae (Endangered Fae #3)
No Fae Is An Island (Endangered Fae #4) not yet released

Review: Gale Force (SoulShares #2) by Rory Ni Coileain

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Conall Dary is the most powerful mage born to the Fae race since the Realm was parted from the human world, over two thousand years ago. But that very power condemns him to a lifetime of celibacy, because sex calls to power, and he has power enough to drain a world. When he refuses to use his talents for a Noble lady’s petty revenge, he finds himself shanghaied to the human world, his soul torn in half and his magick blocked.

Josh LaFontaine is the beautifully inked owner of Raging Art-On, a Washington, D.C. tattoo and piercing parlor. While taking part in New York City’s Pride march with a former lover’s dance company, his world changes forever when the man of his dreams materializes out of nowhere at his feet . Josh’s sensual and loving touch, the first Conall has ever known, may be enough to give him back the magick he’s lost. But before they can complete their Soulshare, a terrible accident leaves Conall bodiless, lost, and invisible, to everyone except – maybe – the human with whom he shares a soul. But Josh will need to find him before the ancient evil of the Marfach does or everything they have – and more – will be lost.

Hard As Stone, the first in the SoulShares series, pulled me wholeheartedly into Rory Ni Coileain’s amazing collision of fantasy and contemporary urban American society. I found her world building amazing, her characters complex and compelling and the drama and pain of a soul ripped in two irresistible. How was she going to top it, I wondered? Gale Force is the answer and an outstanding one to boot!

At the end of Hard As Stone, after Fae Tiernan Guaire and human Kevin Almstead have united in the SoulShares bond, we were informed that more were Fae coming and that Tiernan, Kevin and the bar Purgatory had to be ready. But no one could have been prepared for the next Fae to be hurled through the Pattern, his soul ripped in two. That would be the most powerful mage ever born, Conall Dary. If there is a complete opposite of the sexy, sarcastic Tiernan, it would be Conall Dary. Virginal, lonely, he is so powerful that he has kept everyone at bay and himself isolated because he feared the damage he could inflict. That isolation has also made him a target and somewhat naive as to what the other Fae are capable of. That outlook and a refusal to use his power for petty revenge gets him tossed out of the Realm in the worst way possible.

The author’s descriptions of the Fae Realm and its inhabitants are sharp and complete in both the emotions and characters involved. Their pettiness is on a scale we find horrific as is the manner in which they demand their “requests” be attended to. That Conall is too good for this Realm is immediately understood, although not by him. He has internalized the Fae culture’s image of himself and the damage that has caused his self image is acute. I fell in love with Conall here and that love only deepened once he fell at the feet (literally) of Josh LaFontaine during a Pride parade.

Josh LaFontaine. Here is another character to love. Covered in his own ink, magic swirls around him. I loved him for his bravery, compassion, and determination. Such a remarkable character and those tats of his…well, that’s one of the highlights of this story and I won’t spoil it for you here. With each new couple and their passage to a SoulShares bond, the series gets better, the evil that is the Marfach becomes more diabolical, and the scope of the plot widens to show that the author’s plan for all her characters is more complicated and delightful than I had anticipated.

Yes, that magnificent monster, the Marfach is back and even more determined to return to the Realm of the Fae. Rory Ni Coileain’s ability to drive up the suspense and impression of evil is marvelous. The Marfach is so twisted that you can almost smell the stench. What a creation! And now that it resides in the poor reanimated flesh of the bouncer, we get the thoughts of both beings in one. That aspect of this story only serves to amp up our anticipation of the evil to come. Love that about this stoy too!

Gale Force is one wild fantasy ride! It has it all. A virginal hero (and Fae at that), magic, a monster, and a forever love waiting to be found. Rory Ni Coileain delivers it all in a fast paced, vividly described and beautifully detailed story you won’t want to put down. I am on to the next in the series, Deep Plunge. Put this book and the other SoulShares stories on your TBR list. It is one of ScatteredThoughtsandRogueWords Must Reads!

Cover art: Not credited which is fine because there is nothing that really speaks to the story within on the cover.

Buy Details: Ravenous Romance All Romance eBooks (ARe) Amazon Gale Force

Book Details:

ebook, 230 pages

Published March 12th 2013 by Ravenous Romance (first published March 10th 2013)
edition languageEnglish
url http://www.ravenousromance.com/fantastica/gale-force.php
seriesSoulShares #2

Books in the SoulShares series in the order they were written and should be read are:

Hard As Stone (Soulshares #1)
Gale Force (SoulShares #2)
Deep Plunge (SoulShares #3)
Firestorm (SoulShares #4)

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