An immortal assassin is caught between desire and duty…
A foundling raised in a world of humans
Growing up, orphaned Josephine didn’t know who or what she was—just that she was “bad,” an outcast with strange powers. Her baby brother Thaddeus was as perfect as she was flawed; protecting him became her entire life. The day he was taken away began Jo’s transition from angry girl… to would-be superhero… to enchanting, ruthless villain.
A lethally sensual enforcer on a mission
A threat to the Møriør has brought archer Rune the Baneblood to the mortal realm to slay the oldest living Valkyrie. Whether by bow or in bed, he never fails to eliminate his target. Yet before he can strike, he encounters a vampiric creature whose beauty conceals a black heart. With one bite, she pierces him with aching pleasure, taking his forbidden blood – and jeopardizing the secrets of his brethren.
A boundless passion that will lead to sweet ruin…
Could this exquisite female be a spy sent by the very Valkyrie he hunts? Rune knows he must not trust Josephine, yet he’s unable to turn her away. Despite his millennia of sexual conquests, he can’t ignore the unfamiliar longing she arouses deep within him. When Jo betrays the identity of the one man she will die to protect, she and Rune become locked in a treacherous battle of wills that pits ultimate loyalty against unbridled lust.
I’M PISSED, THERE’S PROBABLY SPOILERS, Y’ALL
Look, my problem wasn’t with the random characters. The fact that Rune and Jo come out of nowhere? Fine. The fact that Nix is portrayed as the bad guy? Nothing I can’t handle. Here’s what pissed me off: their relationship.
This was, I think, one of the most sexually explicit books in the series. I don’t mind that – not with characters I actually liked and cared about, like Sabine/Rydstrom or Carrow/Malkom or practically any other pairing. But here, Rune repeatedly thinks about killing Jo, and uses sexual torture on her to get her to reveal her secrets. Not that she has any – she doesn’t know the first thing about the Lore. Basically, Rune spends ages not letting her orgasm, which is a technique he uses often with his other victims, and it’s never truly explained what makes Jo different to them.
Well, apart from the fact that he can kiss her without killing her. To be honest, it feels like that’s the only reason their relationship ever goes anywhere – he can do stuff like go down on her, which he can’t do with any other woman. Despite this shortcoming he’s managed to become one of the most famous studs in the Lore. I’m not talking about when he was forced to become a sex slave – I’m talking his perfectly willing millennia spent plowing nymph after nymph. He was terrible. Worse than Cade. At least Cade loved Holly, okay? He’d never have dreamed about cheating on her. Rune has sexual thoughts about women as soon as he leaves Jo, and he repeatedly tells her the Morior come first with him; he’ll always be their secrets master, which means he’ll always be cheating on her. And he does’t even see why she has a problem with it.
So, Rune’s a major arse who doesn’t do nearly enough grovelling. Let’s move onto Jo.
Jo is a doormat. She constanstly sees Rune with other women, constantly comes back to him. His past is used as a get-out-of-jail-free card, so she can just feel sorry for him and come rolling back. I actually think Cole deliberately wrote her to be this naive and trusting so that events in the story would happen, like her being convinced that once Rune had sex with her he’d be willing to commit. This is after he tells her a million times that monogamy is NOT FOR HIM. It really isn’t – he gets naked with a nymph while Jo’s crying her heart out, after he’s properly marked her as his mate, and though he magically doesn’t do anything with said nymph this really is too little, too late for me. As it should have been with Jo. It wasn’t because she’s a goddamn moron.
Another thing: she’s stupid. Absolutely bloody stupid. She makes vows to the Lore – UNBREAKABLE VOWS TO THE LORE – for the stupidest things, risking her life in the process. The main problem is that she doesn’t recognise her own stupidity – she thinks she can take on Nix, for God’s sake! A Valkyrie who’s the millennia-old primordial of her species, whose pet bat has more power in a talon than Jo has in her entire body! When Nix broke Jo’s bones, I tell you, I was cheering. The stupid girl just doesn’t bloody learn.
The two stars are because the Morior (barring Rune) were interesting to meet, I liked seeing Orion, who Cole says will be important to Nix, and because I’ve loved most of Kresley Cole’s other books. It’s just this one that was the huge disappointment. And MacRieve. Can’t she go back to good old days with badass heroines like Lucia, Regin, Holly and Sabine? And heroes who were actually deserving of the term?
Ok, there were definitely spoilers…
The Literary Invertebrate 