Reviews - Winterblaze | The StoryGraph

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Poppy Lane is used to being in charge. As the eldest Ellis sister and as the head of a secret society that polices the supernatural while the rest of London sleeps, she is used to the burden of responsibility. Recently, her already unpredictable life was turned in its head, her adoring husband is attacked and discovers the world in which Poppy is immersed. Now, months later, they are still estranged. Poppy understands Winston’s hurt and irritation. He nearly died, now bears an horrific pattern of scars, and learned that his wife has been keeping important secrets for the past fourteen years. In spite of all of this, Poppy seeks him out, after receiving a warning that his life is in danger. What follows next is a mad dash around London to find something that was taken from a very vengeful demon many years ago. The cost of failure will be a soul dear to both of them. If that were not enough to deal with, there is the small matter of broken trust, and the fear that their entire marriage is based upon a terrible foundation of lies and deceit.

This installment of Darkest London is a worthy addition to the series. The story goes back and forth in time, letting the reader in on the courtship and early marriage of Poppy and Winston. While other authors may have opted to pull these and offer them as a prequel novella, Callihan instead uses them to make the storylines even stronger. It’s a clever literary device, for characters that already have an established relationship we have viewed in other books in the series. My only ‘complaint’ is a very superficial one, dealing with the voyeuristic delight we take in reading romance novels. Since the Lane’s must essentially rebuild their relationship, there is a whole lot more sexual teasing in this book then in the others. Their broken trust only allows them to get so far, in many of the love scenes or they are summarily interrupted by other plot events. When the deed is finally done, it is a in the name of important plot advancement and character development. It is an interesting use of the rekindling of their romance as an important plot device. It answers the question of “How can you write a romance novel about an established couple?” I really enjoyed that the pair is able to learn so much about each other through their struggles and that they are even more layered characters that previously expected. Overall, I am very impressed and looking forward to learning even more about the SOS. Faithful fans and new readers alike will enjoy the novel and with me, will be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

ARC received from: NetGalley
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Date of Publication: February 26, 2013

covertocovergirl's review against another edition

5.0

It’s easy to understand why Diana Gabaldon gave Callihan such a glowing review.. every word of it is true! Poppy and Win are a real treat! The world building is clever and oh so unique! The secondary characters are fascinating!

hollitha's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

2.0

As I continue my leisurely reread of the Darkest London series, I concur with my younger self that Poppy's story is my least favorite of the three Ellis sisters. This is nothing against Poppy Ellis herself, whose duty-bound ferocity should make evil-doers quake in their boots. She heads up a secret government organization to protect the secrecy of supernatural creatures and safeguard humans from the less scrupulous members of the supernatural community. When her husband discovers all these secrets lurking in their marriage, it will take a miracle to heal his wounded pride. Or... a discovery of his own secrets, long repressed, to even the score.

These two fight for the moral high ground and face a losing battle with their desire to get back together. It seems like a situation best remedied with a swift kick or marriage counseling. Instead, I suffered through hundreds of pages of hurt feelings, unnecessary tension, and repressed anger erupting into vicious argument.

I did like seeing the seeds planted for the next books in the series, but it's not a great sign that I was more excited by future stories rather than the one at hand. Making a note to skip right past this one in future rereads and stick to the good stuff.

cleocleveland's review against another edition

4.0

Goodreads is being wonky so just some quick thoughts. I love this series and this was another very good installment. I thought there was a bit too much mental lusting between Poppy & Winston. I get it, they've been together a long time and know what they're missing sexually but it was just a bit too much for me. Other than that I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next one.