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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Reading the story of the fourth sister really brought everything together. All the mysteries and unknowns from the other books, plus the mystery in this history and the rekindling of their own romance. A very fun read, and I am grateful that the series will continue.
Really hemming and hawing between 4 and 5 stars...I wish Goodreads would let us give fractions of stars! Loved Poppy. Loved Winston. Loved Poppy and Win together because they were a team, even when they weren't very happy with each other. The ending had me gasping for breath! I also love the depth the series continues to get with each new installment!
4.5/5 Stars!
This book was so interesting! You don't get to read many romance type books where the couple is already married for years. It was fascinating. And while I really enjoyed the story and Winston and Poppy, their lack of communication was a bit exasperating. I still loved it though.
This book was so interesting! You don't get to read many romance type books where the couple is already married for years. It was fascinating. And while I really enjoyed the story and Winston and Poppy, their lack of communication was a bit exasperating. I still loved it though.
I wish I knew what to classify this series. I thought it was a gothic paranmormal romance, but now there are some steampunkish aspects poking their heads in. Regardless, loved the story and the additional world-building
Throughout her marriage, Poppy Lane has been lying to her beloved husband. Until very recently, he believed her to be the owner of a bookstore, when in fact she wasn't just a member of, but the head of, a secret paranormal organisation known as the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals. Poppy's entire life is working to ensure the existence of various supernatural beings remains unknown to mere mortals, and she had just been sworn into the Society on the day when she first met Winston Lane and quickly fell for him, even knowing he was a normal mortal man and could never be told the truth about her, her family or the underworld she protects.
After Winston Lane, a dedicated London police detective, discovered the existence of the supernatural after he was brutally savaged and left for dead by a werewolf, he also realised that his wife had been lying to him all these years and he refused to speak to her during his recovery. Now they've been estranged for months, but Poppy is sent a warning that an ancient demon, who she had dealings with in the past, has resurfaced and intends to get his revenge on her by targeting her husband. Whether Winston wants to speak to her or not, Poppy is not about to see him become prey for a demon and he'll just have to put up with her presence in the name of protection. Of course, while Winston has come to realise that his wife isn't the sedate bookshop proprietress he believed her to be, he's also not about to let her risk her life to protect him, especially when it turns out that the demon may be targeting him not just because of an ancient enmity with Poppy, but because of events in his own past that he's been made to forget.
While I really enjoy [a:Kristen Callihan|4971535|Kristen Callihan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1317481324p2/4971535.jpg]'s contemporary New Adult novels, her paranormal historical books are a lot more hit and miss for me. I read the second book in the series, [b:Moonglow|13223523|Moonglow (Darkest London, #2)|Kristen Callihan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1324219362s/13223523.jpg|18412929], last summer and have only a vague recollection of what transpired in the book, except it involved werewolves, some sort of power struggle, and Poppy's middle sister discovering her own elemental powers. I have absolutely no memory of Winston (obviously a supporting character in that book) being attacked or discovering his wife's deception and choosing to leave her. You're given all the background you need in this book anyway.
Some of this book is told in flashback, with chapters outlining how Winston and Poppy first met, how he tried to woo her and was initially rejected (not because Poppy didn't love him, but because she was reluctant to tie herself to a man she'd have to lie to every day of their life together) and once his forgotten connection to the demon is revealed, how he made an ill-considered bargain to attain his heart's desire. The rest is a desperate race to outwit the demon, while the estranged couple have to work through their differences, or they'll pay a terrible price.
This book is fairly highly rated on Goodreads, but I never really cared for Poppy or Winston, nor any of the supporting characters (two of whom are clearly being set up as protagonists in the next book). Hence whether they outwitted an evil demon and emerged victorious, saving their marriage at the same time, or whether they all perished was all of a muchness to me. This is now the third in the Darkest London series I've read (it fit into my A to Z Reading Challenge) and I think I need to acknowledge that while Ms Callihan's contemporaries (at least the ones involving athletes, not so much the ones about rock stars) are great, her historical fantasy ones just aren't for me. The world building is really interesting, but I can't seem to care about any of the characters.
Judging a book by its cover: Well, it's quite obviously a romance cover, with at least the lady in a partial state of undress and the couple locked in a passionate embrace (or possibly grappling aggressively, it's a bit hard to tell). While they've given the man blond hair and the lady long red tresses, the cover models don't fit with my mental image of Winston and Poppy at all. Nice touch with the ice surrounding the lady's flowing skirts, though, since Poppy has elemental powers over water and ice.
After Winston Lane, a dedicated London police detective, discovered the existence of the supernatural after he was brutally savaged and left for dead by a werewolf, he also realised that his wife had been lying to him all these years and he refused to speak to her during his recovery. Now they've been estranged for months, but Poppy is sent a warning that an ancient demon, who she had dealings with in the past, has resurfaced and intends to get his revenge on her by targeting her husband. Whether Winston wants to speak to her or not, Poppy is not about to see him become prey for a demon and he'll just have to put up with her presence in the name of protection. Of course, while Winston has come to realise that his wife isn't the sedate bookshop proprietress he believed her to be, he's also not about to let her risk her life to protect him, especially when it turns out that the demon may be targeting him not just because of an ancient enmity with Poppy, but because of events in his own past that he's been made to forget.
While I really enjoy [a:Kristen Callihan|4971535|Kristen Callihan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1317481324p2/4971535.jpg]'s contemporary New Adult novels, her paranormal historical books are a lot more hit and miss for me. I read the second book in the series, [b:Moonglow|13223523|Moonglow (Darkest London, #2)|Kristen Callihan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1324219362s/13223523.jpg|18412929], last summer and have only a vague recollection of what transpired in the book, except it involved werewolves, some sort of power struggle, and Poppy's middle sister discovering her own elemental powers. I have absolutely no memory of Winston (obviously a supporting character in that book) being attacked or discovering his wife's deception and choosing to leave her. You're given all the background you need in this book anyway.
Some of this book is told in flashback, with chapters outlining how Winston and Poppy first met, how he tried to woo her and was initially rejected (not because Poppy didn't love him, but because she was reluctant to tie herself to a man she'd have to lie to every day of their life together) and once his forgotten connection to the demon is revealed, how he made an ill-considered bargain to attain his heart's desire. The rest is a desperate race to outwit the demon, while the estranged couple have to work through their differences, or they'll pay a terrible price.
This book is fairly highly rated on Goodreads, but I never really cared for Poppy or Winston, nor any of the supporting characters (two of whom are clearly being set up as protagonists in the next book). Hence whether they outwitted an evil demon and emerged victorious, saving their marriage at the same time, or whether they all perished was all of a muchness to me. This is now the third in the Darkest London series I've read (it fit into my A to Z Reading Challenge) and I think I need to acknowledge that while Ms Callihan's contemporaries (at least the ones involving athletes, not so much the ones about rock stars) are great, her historical fantasy ones just aren't for me. The world building is really interesting, but I can't seem to care about any of the characters.
Judging a book by its cover: Well, it's quite obviously a romance cover, with at least the lady in a partial state of undress and the couple locked in a passionate embrace (or possibly grappling aggressively, it's a bit hard to tell). While they've given the man blond hair and the lady long red tresses, the cover models don't fit with my mental image of Winston and Poppy at all. Nice touch with the ice surrounding the lady's flowing skirts, though, since Poppy has elemental powers over water and ice.
*sigh* This book was so terribly frustrating. I really enjoyed the first installment in this series, it was the perfect balance of historical, paranormal and romance. But the series appears to have degraded to just romance, and not even charming romance, more like erotica.
So the two main characters have been together 14 years, separated three months, yet horny like teenagers and everything seems to come back to them having sex? Winston is constantly hard, Poppy constantly getting turned on .... where is the actual LOVE that kept these two together for so long? Sure you don't have to show us how the two came together because they already were but prove the basis of the love and relationship for crap's sake it seems like all there was was SEX. And even the flashbacks, which should have been reserved for establishing the basis of their relationship, largely involve sex or wanting to have sex. Honestly it seemed like the bit of plot there was was simply interfering with the two characters getting to have sex but not wanting a relationship yadda yadda. The plot was always coming to a halt so they could lust after one another or have sex. It was exhausting. Do we really need to hear about his apparently massive penis and her growing heat every two pages? Unfortunately the couple seems to truly equate love with sex.
And then there was the author's choice of words, honestly they were annoying most of the time and just not my cup of tea. It just made it all the worse that the scenes were so frequent that I had to keep reading the absurd references. Sometimes the tone for me went completely into being degrading for Poppy. One particular sex scene near the end of the book (p360ish on, and on) had Winston stating: "There's a good wife." and pushing her head into his penis, before that guiding her to kneel before him.....just, no. I'm surprised he didn't pay her afterward. I'm sorry but I find such scenes and word choices really skeevy.
The two main characters are the only ones that even come close to being well-characterized, although you could argue that they were not either since they were pretty much just constantly rutting. The side characters of Jack and Mary were clearly just there to set up their own book, that was easy to see from the first page they interacted.
The author's paranormal explanations are still weak and too few and far between. Although where could she have really fit it with all the sex? I know the author is capable of good writing that isn't focused on sex considering Firelight but this series has taken a definite turn and I don't know if I'll continue, Moonglow was already tedious enough and this was so much worse. I would have liked more fantasy and less erotic fantasy thanks.
So the two main characters have been together 14 years, separated three months, yet horny like teenagers and everything seems to come back to them having sex? Winston is constantly hard, Poppy constantly getting turned on .... where is the actual LOVE that kept these two together for so long? Sure you don't have to show us how the two came together because they already were but prove the basis of the love and relationship for crap's sake it seems like all there was was SEX. And even the flashbacks, which should have been reserved for establishing the basis of their relationship, largely involve sex or wanting to have sex. Honestly it seemed like the bit of plot there was was simply interfering with the two characters getting to have sex but not wanting a relationship yadda yadda. The plot was always coming to a halt so they could lust after one another or have sex. It was exhausting. Do we really need to hear about his apparently massive penis and her growing heat every two pages? Unfortunately the couple seems to truly equate love with sex.
And then there was the author's choice of words, honestly they were annoying most of the time and just not my cup of tea. It just made it all the worse that the scenes were so frequent that I had to keep reading the absurd references. Sometimes the tone for me went completely into being degrading for Poppy. One particular sex scene near the end of the book (p360ish on, and on) had Winston stating: "There's a good wife." and pushing her head into his penis, before that guiding her to kneel before him.....just, no. I'm surprised he didn't pay her afterward. I'm sorry but I find such scenes and word choices really skeevy.
The two main characters are the only ones that even come close to being well-characterized, although you could argue that they were not either since they were pretty much just constantly rutting. The side characters of Jack and Mary were clearly just there to set up their own book, that was easy to see from the first page they interacted.
The author's paranormal explanations are still weak and too few and far between. Although where could she have really fit it with all the sex? I know the author is capable of good writing that isn't focused on sex considering Firelight but this series has taken a definite turn and I don't know if I'll continue, Moonglow was already tedious enough and this was so much worse. I would have liked more fantasy and less erotic fantasy thanks.
3.5 Stars
After barely surviving a werewolf attack and feeling betrayed by his wife's secrets, Winston takes a holiday to Paris to pull himself together. Feeling lost, he knows he must return and find out the whole truth of Poppy's other life.
While Winston and Poppy try to work things out between them, a demon is on the hunt and he's looking for Winston. It seems that Winston has secrets of his own and it's coming out in the open now. There's always a price to pay when bargaining with the devil.
I really enjoy this series. It has that HR-PNR combo that I love. Another thing that I really like is that you get a good mix of Supes, not just vamps and werewolves. And steamy sex scenes- Bonus!
I think the only reason I rated this at 3.5 stars is that I was too distracted while reading this. I had a very busy few days and the constant start/stop affected my enjoyment. I'm really looking forward to the next book and fully expect to enjoy each one in the series. Onward!
After barely surviving a werewolf attack and feeling betrayed by his wife's secrets, Winston takes a holiday to Paris to pull himself together. Feeling lost, he knows he must return and find out the whole truth of Poppy's other life.
While Winston and Poppy try to work things out between them, a demon is on the hunt and he's looking for Winston. It seems that Winston has secrets of his own and it's coming out in the open now. There's always a price to pay when bargaining with the devil.
I really enjoy this series. It has that HR-PNR combo that I love. Another thing that I really like is that you get a good mix of Supes, not just vamps and werewolves. And steamy sex scenes- Bonus!
I think the only reason I rated this at 3.5 stars is that I was too distracted while reading this. I had a very busy few days and the constant start/stop affected my enjoyment. I'm really looking forward to the next book and fully expect to enjoy each one in the series. Onward!
¿Cómo novela romántica? Debería tener más estrellas si no fuese porque, la verdad, llegó un momento en que me cansé de que estuviesen todo el rato presos de un ataque de lujuria. Que se supone que es lo que te ofrecen en el género, pero es que llegaba al extremo ridículo de enfrentarse a una situación de vida o muerte y encontrarse, de repente, en medio de un arrebato de lascivia. Un poquito de por favor.
¿Cómo novela paranormal? Me ha decepcionado un poco (bastante) y es por eso que se queda en la puntuación que tiene. Con un universo tan basto que explorar y con tantas cosas por contar, se limita a arrojarnos unas pocas migajas, a dejarnos apenas atisbar por la rendija de la puerta y a no elaborar nada más. ¿Para qué? Es más interesante saber que Win, tan serio y formal y contenido él, es capaz de rememorar al detalle hasta el último pliegue de la vulva de su esposa cuando está excitada ¬¬
Está claro que el problema es mío, por esperar más construcción de mundo y más "parte sobrenatural" en esta novela "romántica paranormal" que hace mucho más énfasis en el primer elemento de su descripción.
Me voy a tomar un descansito de la saga, a ver si así aclaro mis expectativas.
¿Cómo novela paranormal? Me ha decepcionado un poco (bastante) y es por eso que se queda en la puntuación que tiene. Con un universo tan basto que explorar y con tantas cosas por contar, se limita a arrojarnos unas pocas migajas, a dejarnos apenas atisbar por la rendija de la puerta y a no elaborar nada más. ¿Para qué? Es más interesante saber que Win, tan serio y formal y contenido él, es capaz de rememorar al detalle hasta el último pliegue de la vulva de su esposa cuando está excitada ¬¬
Está claro que el problema es mío, por esperar más construcción de mundo y más "parte sobrenatural" en esta novela "romántica paranormal" que hace mucho más énfasis en el primer elemento de su descripción.
Me voy a tomar un descansito de la saga, a ver si así aclaro mis expectativas.