Judith‘s review of Entwined Hearts by Nicole Austin, TJ Michaels, Ciana Stone, and N. J. Walters
(Book Five in the Hearts of Fire series)
The Chosen: eight strong individuals gifted w ith unique paranormal abilities and tasked with protecting shards of an ancient crystal–the Hearts of Fire.
Brought together by destiny, each couple has managed to bond and fuet their crystal pairs through a hot and intense sexual joining. The four couples have overcome great personal challenges and remained apart, preparing to face an ancient evil once again.
The time has come for the four couples to meet and join forces to defeat Asmodeus, Prince of hell, once and for all. Their plan is clear yet complex–activate a hidden energy network, gather on spiritual lands and fight an epic battle between good and evil, which will impact mankind for eternity. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned. And Asmodeus has some tricks the Chosen never anticipated.
This is the fifth and final book in this series and completes the destiny that began when four young women, all of whom were raised in an orphanage together, were given a piece of crystal which they vowed to wear until they met their mate and completed their destiny. Each of the mates were also given a piece of the crystal, even though they did not know each other before they met through their women. Each of the four preceding novels tells the story of one of these couples.
This book is a reprise in some ways–telling just a bit more about each couple and how they are preparing to meet up with the other Chosen. They each have their extraordinary powers which will, when the final battle occurs, provide a critical power needed for victory over Asmodeus. I found the additional information about each couple to be something of an “epilogue” style of update before moving into the final battle which I think was the focus of the book. It is also evident that each of these eight individuals have not only grown and matured in their relationship as mates, but they have matured as individuals as well, accepting the extraordinary nature of their destiny, and understanding that the battle with Asmodeus is not an ending but the crisis that will launch them into an almost immortal existence.
Like the other novels in this series this book is alive with the abiding friendship that locked these women together, a fellowship of caring that their mates respected and cherished, and into which they were delighted to enter. This book is not an anthology in any way but a collaboration between the four authors that wrote the other four books. In bringing these couples together these authors have taken their individual vision and merged it with the other three–not easy to do among creative individuals. It is really quite encouraging to see how they put their indivual egos aside and allowed the end result–this book–to reflect the collective talents they brought to the writing task.
If you have read any of the other Hearts of Fire series then you will like this novel. It is readable, entertaining, and the kind of paranormal/fantasy writing that lovers of that genre prize. There’s lots to like here and it is a fitting capstone to a very fun series.
I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.
