| Genre | Gay / Urban Fantasy / Elves/Fairies/Sidhe / Magic / Mythological Creatures / Erotic Romance / Action/Adventure / Mystery/Suspense/Thriller |
| Reviewed by | Christy Duke on 03-May-2016 |
A socially challenged pixie and a former playboy incubus find themselves in the center of the maelstrom as AURA struggles to find a source for the escalating violence threatening the city.
The staff at AURA has had a busy summer. Between chronic understaffing, dealing with warring goblin factions and an unusual number of hazardous Events, everyone is overworked. Sinistrus the incubus, newly hired as an AURA medic, actually enjoys his busy new life of responsible employee and faithful lover to his gorgeous police sergeant, Ness the centaur. Life would be perfect, except for a niggling suspicion about a colleague. Everyone else seems to disagree, but Sin’s certain something’s not right with that pixie.
Kellen, a pixie crossover, loves his job working in AURA medical, even if he is something of an outsider. His job and the friends he manages to make are happy spots in an otherwise dark and secretive life. As the rest of AURA tries to discover the root of the inexplicable rise in violence and large-scale Events, Kellen fights to preserve his own life and what dignity he has left.
These two unlikely heroes must put their differences aside and navigate tragedy and ever-escalating disaster together in order to stop the sinister forces that hold Kellen in thrall.
Reader Advisory: This book contains references to abuse.
I was super excited to return to the fascinating world of 'AURA' that Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn have created so wonderfully well. I'll give a quick recap, but I can not stress enough that these books should be read in order and not as stand-alones. This world was created when an accident happened at Berkley that merged our world of technology with a world of magic. Because of this merging, holes, or Events, will randomly appear and other beings drop into this new world. AURA was created to help these beings acclimate, and to handle any hostile creatures that might come through.
I had forgotten the joy of reading this series with all the wonderful characters. Ness is a centaur who works for AURA in the enforcement department. Ness isn't like most centaurs, he's gentle and kind, and madly in love with Sinistrus, an incubus. Sin is a little socially awkward, not always knowing or understanding the right thing to say. He is absolutely crazy about Ness, and even though no one believed a centaur and an incubus could remain together and faithful, that's exactly what they've done. Kellen is a pixie and a medimage with AURA, who loves being in this world as the underground world he was forced to live in before he came through an Event was nothing but abuse and starvation.
Oh, poor Kellen. He is trapped as a familiar to a vicious, ruthless, cruel, power hungry, and malicious drow, Rask. Kellen is forced to participate in the coven's rituals and they use his body to channel their evil magic. Kellen's pixie dust is very unusual. It will remove magic from anything it touches. So when Rask and his coven perform their rituals to bring forth terror into this world, Kellen's pixie dust prevents them from being harmed. It's a horrible life for Kellen.
I wanted to get upset with the authors for this shocking twist they threw at me, but I couldn't. I could only cry and grieve with Sin. I watched as Kellen and Sin became close friends through their shared sadness, and I was happy to see the comfort that Kellen's calming presence had on Sin. It was inevitable, I think, that Kellen would begin to imagine Sin in another light. But Kellen has never known love or desire, as everything he's encountered is just pain, darkness, and shame.
An incredible ending that had me turning the pages so fast! I loved how the authors took care of Rask and the coven, and still managed to show the beginnings of what I think will be quite the love match between Kellen and Sin. Definitely another fabulous addition to the series, and I really hope this isn't the end. I adored this installment and I'm head over heels for both Kellen and Sin. Thank you, Angel and Bellora. Another wonderful book to treasure.
DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review.
| Format | ebook and print |
| Length | Novel, 177 pages/69478 words |
| Heat Level | |
| Publication Date | 03-May-2016 |
| Price | $5.25 ebook, $10.50 paperback |
| Buy Link | https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/kellens-awakening |
