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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
I had such mixed opinions on this one and I kept bouncing between "I love them" and "this is way too much drama". Definitely tons of intrigue and things being what you think they are, but not in an obvious way. A fun and easy read that lives up to the rest of the series!
4,5 stars
Darkest London is one of my favorite historical paranormal romance series and Winterblaze is another keeper. Like the second chance and a fact that Win and Poppy are married make me feel connected with their troubles.
Took some times to not imagine Paul Marron as Win, tho, since the hair color is a little bit wrong :p
Darkest London is one of my favorite historical paranormal romance series and Winterblaze is another keeper. Like the second chance and a fact that Win and Poppy are married make me feel connected with their troubles.
Took some times to not imagine Paul Marron as Win, tho, since the hair color is a little bit wrong :p
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I really loved this second chance between a husband and wife. I loved how well they knew each other, yet ad they learned more about each other, they realized they fit together even better.
Blue Ribbon Rating: 5 out of 5 — Recommended Read
Original Review Link
Poppy Lane learned at a very young age how to keep secrets. Her powers and her position in the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals mean that she has to hold back a part of herself from everyone, including her husband, Winston. But when a werewolf attacks and nearly kills Winston, Poppy’s secrets are revealed; and her husband, who has no stomach for lies, leaves her. Poppy knows Winston still loves her, but she doesn’t know how to win back his trust. She’ll have to find a way, especially now that a demon is targeting them both. It will take the combined strength, intelligence and love of this husband and wife team to defeat an immortal evil hell-bent on their destruction.
The DARKEST LONDON series just gets better and better! Author Kristen Callihan is at the top of her game in WINTERBLAZE, an exciting, sensual, imaginative story that will sweep you away to a world unlike any other.
Poppy and Winston are interesting, endearing characters, and as a couple they’re simply irresistible. It’s clear from page one that they’re meant to be together, but the obstacles in their path aren’t easy ones for them to overcome. I love that Ms. Callihan weaves the story of how they first fell in love into WINTERBLAZE; it gave me a good sense of the foundation of their relationship and provided a nice contrast to the present day, showing how they’ve grown and changed in the fourteen years they’ve been married. While I can’t say much about the plot of WINTERBLAZE without spoiling the gripping twists and turns the story takes, I will say that Ms. Callihan had me rooting for Poppy and Winston all the way through the book. The only downside to this was that I didn’t want to put WINTERBLAZE down, no matter how late the hour.
Almost but not quite stealing the page from Winston and Poppy are their companions on the adventure, shifter Jack Talent and GIM Mary Chase. The chemistry these two have is undeniable and each has scenes in WINTERBLAZE that left me heartbroken and dying to read the next DARKEST LONDON book, SHADOWDANCE.
The paranormal Victorian-era world of the DARKEST LONDON expands by leaps and bounds in WINTERBLAZE, so I recommend reading the first two books in the series — FIRELIGHT and MOONGLOW — before reading WINTERBLAZE. There are new supernatural creatures to be discovered, paranormal politics to be played and a host of surprises that are sure to have you avidly turning the pages of WINTERBLAZE. Again, I’m afraid I’ll have to be vague to avoid giving away any of the fantastic twists and turns in WINTERBLAZE. Suffice it to say that you will NOT want to miss this book.
WINTERBLAZE is a phenomenal romance that I highly recommend. Kristen Callihan is an author to watch — it’s clear she’s a master at her craft. I foresee many, many more spellbinding stories coming from her and I, for one, cannot wait to read them!
Note: My review was written for Romance Junkies and is cross-posted here courtesy of Romance Junkies.
Original Review Link
Poppy Lane learned at a very young age how to keep secrets. Her powers and her position in the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals mean that she has to hold back a part of herself from everyone, including her husband, Winston. But when a werewolf attacks and nearly kills Winston, Poppy’s secrets are revealed; and her husband, who has no stomach for lies, leaves her. Poppy knows Winston still loves her, but she doesn’t know how to win back his trust. She’ll have to find a way, especially now that a demon is targeting them both. It will take the combined strength, intelligence and love of this husband and wife team to defeat an immortal evil hell-bent on their destruction.
The DARKEST LONDON series just gets better and better! Author Kristen Callihan is at the top of her game in WINTERBLAZE, an exciting, sensual, imaginative story that will sweep you away to a world unlike any other.
Poppy and Winston are interesting, endearing characters, and as a couple they’re simply irresistible. It’s clear from page one that they’re meant to be together, but the obstacles in their path aren’t easy ones for them to overcome. I love that Ms. Callihan weaves the story of how they first fell in love into WINTERBLAZE; it gave me a good sense of the foundation of their relationship and provided a nice contrast to the present day, showing how they’ve grown and changed in the fourteen years they’ve been married. While I can’t say much about the plot of WINTERBLAZE without spoiling the gripping twists and turns the story takes, I will say that Ms. Callihan had me rooting for Poppy and Winston all the way through the book. The only downside to this was that I didn’t want to put WINTERBLAZE down, no matter how late the hour.
Almost but not quite stealing the page from Winston and Poppy are their companions on the adventure, shifter Jack Talent and GIM Mary Chase. The chemistry these two have is undeniable and each has scenes in WINTERBLAZE that left me heartbroken and dying to read the next DARKEST LONDON book, SHADOWDANCE.
The paranormal Victorian-era world of the DARKEST LONDON expands by leaps and bounds in WINTERBLAZE, so I recommend reading the first two books in the series — FIRELIGHT and MOONGLOW — before reading WINTERBLAZE. There are new supernatural creatures to be discovered, paranormal politics to be played and a host of surprises that are sure to have you avidly turning the pages of WINTERBLAZE. Again, I’m afraid I’ll have to be vague to avoid giving away any of the fantastic twists and turns in WINTERBLAZE. Suffice it to say that you will NOT want to miss this book.
WINTERBLAZE is a phenomenal romance that I highly recommend. Kristen Callihan is an author to watch — it’s clear she’s a master at her craft. I foresee many, many more spellbinding stories coming from her and I, for one, cannot wait to read them!
Note: My review was written for Romance Junkies and is cross-posted here courtesy of Romance Junkies.
I have to say, I'm very torn when it comes to Winterblaze. On the one hand, I loved a lot of what it accomplished. The world has expanded wonderfully since what we first saw in Firelight and grown in its complexity. I found myself actively engaged in learning more about how the SOS worked and the extent to which supernatural forces have entered our world. I loved the main characters. I loved almost every single thing about this book but there was one nagging issue that nearly ruined everything for me. And unfortunately, the issue comes down to a matter of personal taste and mine does not match up in the slightest. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Obligatory warning before I begin. Although I will endeavor to not spoil anything in regards to Winterblaze, I will by necessity have to mention a few plot points we established in its two preceding books, Firelight and Moonglow. If you have not read those books (and I'm unsure why you'd read a review of book three without first reading the other two) please turn away now or not care about being spoiled.
Winterblaze is the third book in the Darkest London series and centers around the third and oldest Ellis sister, Poppy. After the events of Moonglow, Poppy's husband and police inspector, Winston Lane, has left her for all intents and purposes, a fact which leaves Poppy extremely hurt and sorrowful. She can't stew for too long, however, because Poppy is a high ranking member of the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals (or SOS for short) and information has revealed that a very powerful demon is on the lose. Except that the target of this demon's malice appears to be none other than Poppy's husband and the two must reconcile both their feelings of betrayal while also dealing with the aforementioned demon threat.
As mentioned earlier, I liked if not loved a lot of this set up. The change of dynamic when it came to the romance was very refreshing. In the past two books we've had the male and female lead falling from each other from the beginning of their relationship. But Poppy and Winston are already married. They've had their initial romance long before the contents of the books and now have to try to deal with their anger and hurt towards one another while also acknowledge that they do still love and want each other as well.
Furthermore, Winston had a legitimate reason for leaving: he and Poppy had built their relationship up on the foundation that they could always be honest with each other and trust one another implicitly. But in Moonglow, he discovered that Poppy not only knew about this supernatural world but was also a major player in the SOS, a player who let me walk basically defenseless into a werewolf attack. Normally in romance novels I would expect the "betrayal" to be this not really difficult issue to resolve that is based around a misunderstanding. But this was an actual betrayal. Poppy's decision to keep her involvement and information secret resulted in Winston being grievously injured. And so the conflict between them feels real and needs to be resolved.
I have to say, personality wise Poppy is my favorite of the Ellis sisters. Whereas Miranda had little control over her power and Daisy barely even knew hers existed, Poppy is a force to be reckoned with. The scene where she first confronts Winston and the way she made an entrance was awesome, and I mean that in the literal sense. It inspired awe. Poppy is like Elsa from Frozen in 5 years time after she would get used to her position as Queen and better understand what her ice powers can do. Poppy is capable in ways that Miranda and Daisy never could be. But she also deeply and truly cares for Winston and her choice to keep her knowledge hidden from him came mainly from a need to protect him, not to cause him malice or ill.
And thus the dance begins. Both Winston and Poppy have felt hurt by the others actions but years of love are not very easily erased. I loved the struggle between them, the journey they went on to relearn each other and the secrets they both had kept. It was really engaging.
::sighs::
So why do I feel so conflicted about this book? Well, even though the paranormal parts of the paranormal romance are really interesting and engaging, the romance between our male and female leads is what I have loved the most about this series thus far. And to put it simply and as non-spoilery as I can, certain behaviors that Winston exhibited when it came to the bedroom really struck a negative nerve with me. I understand that in this situation it really comes down to a matter of taste and their demeanor is strongly NOT anything I'm into and thus is pretty much ruined my enjoyment of any of the romance scenes in the book.
So thus ends my journey with the Ellis sisters. I will have to say, regardless of the missteps along the way, this trilogy has shown me how much I can actually enjoy the paranormal romance genre. I might be very picky when it comes to how women are portrayed and my own tastes on the matter, but when it comes together well the books can be extremely engaging and interesting! I didn't even mention the non romance plot involving why the demon is chasing after Winston and us learning more about how the demons and other supernatural beings work in this world. Ms. Callihan has created a really enjoyable world for all of this to take place in. I am extremely impressed and the world building is most likely the main reason why I kept returning to the books. I probably will read the fourth book, Shadowdance, even though I'm not very invested in Jack Talent and Mary Chase. But given what we've been able to do thus far, I have no trouble believing that Ms. Callihan can create a well crafted and engaging story between them.
Obligatory warning before I begin. Although I will endeavor to not spoil anything in regards to Winterblaze, I will by necessity have to mention a few plot points we established in its two preceding books, Firelight and Moonglow. If you have not read those books (and I'm unsure why you'd read a review of book three without first reading the other two) please turn away now or not care about being spoiled.
Winterblaze is the third book in the Darkest London series and centers around the third and oldest Ellis sister, Poppy. After the events of Moonglow, Poppy's husband and police inspector, Winston Lane, has left her for all intents and purposes, a fact which leaves Poppy extremely hurt and sorrowful. She can't stew for too long, however, because Poppy is a high ranking member of the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals (or SOS for short) and information has revealed that a very powerful demon is on the lose. Except that the target of this demon's malice appears to be none other than Poppy's husband and the two must reconcile both their feelings of betrayal while also dealing with the aforementioned demon threat.
As mentioned earlier, I liked if not loved a lot of this set up. The change of dynamic when it came to the romance was very refreshing. In the past two books we've had the male and female lead falling from each other from the beginning of their relationship. But Poppy and Winston are already married. They've had their initial romance long before the contents of the books and now have to try to deal with their anger and hurt towards one another while also acknowledge that they do still love and want each other as well.
Furthermore, Winston had a legitimate reason for leaving: he and Poppy had built their relationship up on the foundation that they could always be honest with each other and trust one another implicitly. But in Moonglow, he discovered that Poppy not only knew about this supernatural world but was also a major player in the SOS, a player who let me walk basically defenseless into a werewolf attack. Normally in romance novels I would expect the "betrayal" to be this not really difficult issue to resolve that is based around a misunderstanding. But this was an actual betrayal. Poppy's decision to keep her involvement and information secret resulted in Winston being grievously injured. And so the conflict between them feels real and needs to be resolved.
I have to say, personality wise Poppy is my favorite of the Ellis sisters. Whereas Miranda had little control over her power and Daisy barely even knew hers existed, Poppy is a force to be reckoned with. The scene where she first confronts Winston and the way she made an entrance was awesome, and I mean that in the literal sense. It inspired awe. Poppy is like Elsa from Frozen in 5 years time after she would get used to her position as Queen and better understand what her ice powers can do. Poppy is capable in ways that Miranda and Daisy never could be. But she also deeply and truly cares for Winston and her choice to keep her knowledge hidden from him came mainly from a need to protect him, not to cause him malice or ill.
And thus the dance begins. Both Winston and Poppy have felt hurt by the others actions but years of love are not very easily erased. I loved the struggle between them, the journey they went on to relearn each other and the secrets they both had kept. It was really engaging.
::sighs::
So why do I feel so conflicted about this book? Well, even though the paranormal parts of the paranormal romance are really interesting and engaging, the romance between our male and female leads is what I have loved the most about this series thus far. And to put it simply and as non-spoilery as I can, certain behaviors that Winston exhibited when it came to the bedroom really struck a negative nerve with me.
Spoiler
During multiple sex scenes, Winston kept saying "there's a good wife." whenever Poppy pleasured him or did something that he liked. This one line has nearly ruined the book for me. It reduces her to basically a dog and makes me despise Winston for this. Poppy is such a strong character capable of so much and to see her reduced down to such a submissive status is a complete and utter turn off for me. I had to put down the book whenever it happened because it upset me.So thus ends my journey with the Ellis sisters. I will have to say, regardless of the missteps along the way, this trilogy has shown me how much I can actually enjoy the paranormal romance genre. I might be very picky when it comes to how women are portrayed and my own tastes on the matter, but when it comes together well the books can be extremely engaging and interesting! I didn't even mention the non romance plot involving why the demon is chasing after Winston and us learning more about how the demons and other supernatural beings work in this world. Ms. Callihan has created a really enjoyable world for all of this to take place in. I am extremely impressed and the world building is most likely the main reason why I kept returning to the books. I probably will read the fourth book, Shadowdance, even though I'm not very invested in Jack Talent and Mary Chase. But given what we've been able to do thus far, I have no trouble believing that Ms. Callihan can create a well crafted and engaging story between them.
Sadly this did not work as well for me as the first two books, and I have a hard time pointing to the exact reason.
There were many minor things that annoyed me, like the situation with the inspector posing as a working class man, which would never work because of his accent. Or his suddenly being a poor, abused child, without that detail having much influence on anything, since it certainly did not need this as a reason for him not wanting to be part of society. And why a duke? I am sure a lesser title would have done the same for the story.
Poppy and the inspector were very different from how they were in the other books, and I liked them better before the change. Also I was sad that the bookshop did play no role at all. I wanted to know how she did run a bookshop AND an undercover operation at the same time - without him noticing. Not that it seemed impossible, I really wanted to know about the how.
It is a marriage in trouble romance, and some of it I enjoyed, like how well they knew each other, how he took good care of her even if the world did not see that she needed to be taken care of. Or that he was totally into her being brilliant and competent and overbearing.
The story also was quite interesting and twisted, and some of the former characters get to play important roles. But it did not come together as a whole for me.
There were many minor things that annoyed me, like the situation with the inspector posing as a working class man, which would never work because of his accent. Or his suddenly being a poor, abused child, without that detail having much influence on anything, since it certainly did not need this as a reason for him not wanting to be part of society. And why a duke? I am sure a lesser title would have done the same for the story.
Poppy and the inspector were very different from how they were in the other books, and I liked them better before the change. Also I was sad that the bookshop did play no role at all. I wanted to know how she did run a bookshop AND an undercover operation at the same time - without him noticing. Not that it seemed impossible, I really wanted to know about the how.
It is a marriage in trouble romance, and some of it I enjoyed, like how well they knew each other, how he took good care of her even if the world did not see that she needed to be taken care of. Or that he was totally into her being brilliant and competent and overbearing.
The story also was quite interesting and twisted, and some of the former characters get to play important roles. But it did not come together as a whole for me.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love the Darkest London series!
I only recently discovered the Paranormal Romance genre, which I think is fabulous. I'm not one for traditional romance books, which are generally too insipid and follow predictable storytelling paths. Ms. Callihan's books are heady and lovely, with elegantly written characters who aren't above the occasional dirty deed, both in bed and out. I think this series is some of the genre's best, and look forward to the next book.
I also hope she'll write novellas featuring Win & Poppy (and the barnacle!), Archer & Miri, and Daisy & Ian.
I only recently discovered the Paranormal Romance genre, which I think is fabulous. I'm not one for traditional romance books, which are generally too insipid and follow predictable storytelling paths. Ms. Callihan's books are heady and lovely, with elegantly written characters who aren't above the occasional dirty deed, both in bed and out. I think this series is some of the genre's best, and look forward to the next book.
I also hope she'll write novellas featuring Win & Poppy (and the barnacle!), Archer & Miri, and Daisy & Ian.