Casee‘s review of Entice Me at Twilight (Doomsday Brethren, Book 4) by Shayla Black.

Dangerously handsome Simon Northam, Duke of Hurstgrove, and his uptight brother Mason are hardly close, but crashing Mason’s wedding and stealing his fiancÉe further aggravate their sibling rivalry. Duke’s family has no notion he’s a wizard, so how can he explain that magickind’s fate lies with the beautiful, tenacious bride he longs to seduce? Felicia is an Untouchable, a rare human whose presence disables magic—even the impenetrable forces surrounding Morganna le Fay’s tomb. The evil witch’s malicious powers could propel nefarious wizard Mathias to ultimate world domination . . . if he can resurrect her. To conceal herself, Felicia must succumb to her smoldering desire for Duke, but he risks binding his life—and sanity— to a lover whose loyalties are forever torn. He faces a choice: betray his brother for ultimate survival . . . or lose the woman who tempts him beyond control.

I just love this series. It keeps getting better with each book as we get a deeper look into the Doomsday Brethren. Simon Northam—or Duke, as he is known to his friends—came into his magic fairly recently. Duke had no idea he was a wizard nor did he know that magic even existed in the world. Today, he is a member of an elite group that is fighting to save humankind from an evil wizard (yes, it’s very clichéd) who wants to take over the world.

In the past, Duke seemed to be the wizard that was the most stable. As a duke, he had responsibilities that lie outside the Doomsday Brethren and reporters follow him around everywhere. It’s not exactly easy for Duke to get away to fight Mathias (evil wizard) and his minions. Still, he does exceptionally well. That is until he meets his brother’s fiancée. Duke immediately knows that Felicia is his mate. He also knows that he will do nothing to rob Mason of his happiness. He is fully prepared to let the woman that is destined to be his to marry his brother.

What an arrogant S.O.B., right? He’s going to “let” it happen. Sheesh. I’m all for the alpha ‘I’m man—you woman’ stuff but sometimes it grates. That part grated for about five seconds then I let it go. I think it was because Duke was very serious in his intentions to not interfere with Felicia and Mason’s wedding. That is before Duke finds out that Felicia is an Untouchable—a human who can disable magic around her. They are incredibly rare and incredibly coveted. Duke can’t let anything happen to her, so he does the only thing he can. He snatches her from her own wedding.

Felicia wanted to marry Mason for the comfort of marrying a friend. She only finds out at the last minute that Mason has deep feelings for her. That’s before there’s an attack on the church she’s to be married in and her soon-to-be brother-in-law abducts her. He says it’s for her protection and she believes him. Why? Because Felicia is a walking lie detector. She instantly knows when someone is telling the truth. Duke is telling the truth about everything except one thing…that he’s human.

When Duke brings Felicia to the Doomsday Brethren, they tell her everything. Felicia knows it’s the truth (hello, no white lies here) and is amazed. What doesn’t amaze her is her growing feelings for Duke. What appalls her is the suggestion that they mate so they can hide Duke’s signature which will lead Mathias right to them.

Felicia was really selfish. She was all about mememe. She acted like all she wanted to do was get back to her fiancée, but that was a lie. It was so ironic that no one could lie to her, but she could lie to herself and others. She wouldn’t give Duke what he needed, but she held it against him when he got it from somewhere else. I’m not sure I really liked her most of the time. At least not until she pulled the stick out of her very proper British arse . I would still give this book a 4 out of 5.

This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

The series:

Casee‘s review of Seduce Me in Shadow (Doomsday Brethren, Book 2) by Shayla Black.

Ex-marine Caden MacTavish has shunned his magical heritage all his life, but he will do anything to heal his desperately ill brother, a Doomsday Brethren warrior in mourning for his missing mate. Posing as a photographer, Caden must convince firecracker tabloid reporter Sydney Blair to reveal the source of her recent exposé on a supernatural power clash. Unfortunately, keeping his hands off the sizzling redhead proves as hard as getting them onto the potent and mystical Doomsday Diary he discovers at her bedside. A bloody rebellion led by an evil, power-hungry wizard is imminent. If Sydney divulges the book’s existence, she will jeopardize magickind’s most deeply guarded secrets and become the ruthless wizard’s number one target. Caden has never trusted magic’s cruel and dangerous powers, but he will protect Sydney with his life and magic — even if it means risking his heart.

I generally don’t like heroes and/or heroines that are reporters. Part of it is their self-righteousness in telling the “truth”. Or what I like to say is their version of the truth. So I was a little biased when I first opened the book. And while I didn’t hate Sydney, I didn’t particularly like her either.

Working for a tabloid may seem sleazy to some people, but Sydney Blair enjoys her work. When she uncovers a story about magic existing and being a possible threat, she is hell-bent on informing the public.

Caden MacTavish has returned to London only to be by his brother’s bedside. After his mate bond was broken, Lucian has gone rather crazy and it’s all the Doomsday Brethren can do to keep him lucid. Caden only wants to find the missing Anya and return home, far away from the magic destiny he has rejected. Then he’s sent to stop Sydney from running her stories that could get her killed and expose the Doomsday Brethren. The stakes get even higher when Caden discovers that Sydney has the Doomsday Diary.

Sydney thinks that Caden is a competitor, there to out scoop her. Caden only wants to stop her from exposing magickind. While he’s there and gets to know Sydney, her safety starts to become just as important.

I really like this series. I like the characters. I didn’t really care for Caden or Sydney. To me, they deserved each other. Caden was so self-involved that it got tiring. It was all about how he didn’t want to be a wizard, he didn’t want to do anything for the Doomsday Brethren. He just wanted to be normal. Over and over and over again. ::yawn:: I already stated why I didn’t really care for Sydney. My opinion of her did go up a few notches when she turned her reporting skills toward informing magickind of the threat Mathias was to everyone.

If this is the first book you’ve read in this series, don’t give up. It’s worth reading further. The best thing about this book was delving farther into the world that Black has created.

3.5 out of 5.

This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here.

Other books in the series:

Leave a comment to win a copy of Seduce Me in Shadow by Shayla Black.

He’s an immortal knight hungering for satisfaction….

As soon as Marrok sees Olivia Gray’s dark windswept hair and burning violet eyes, he’s sure they’ve met in eons past. He’s felt her soft gentle curves writhing in pleasure beneath his own hard powerful body…Morganna! For centuries, towering Marrok, once the mightiest of King Arthur’s warriors, has endured a terrible curse cast upon him when he spurned the witch.

She’s a modern woman about to discover ancient magic….

Olivia shares a mystical — and irresistible — connection with brooding Marrok. Soon after the sexy warrior appears in her erotic dreams, he abducts her, demanding she uncurse him. Their intense passion is more powerful — and intimate — than either of them has ever known. Olivia may be the key to unlocking the diary that will break Morganna’s hold on his life. But in the wrong hands, the book also holds the power to destroy all magickind. As they search for answers, a ruthless wizard returned from exile is building an army of evil. When he discovers Marrok and Olivia have the diary, only their love — with the help of a powerful group of magical Brethren — can save them.

If you’re sighing and thinking “not another paranormal series”, don’t. Well, go ahead and think that, but don’t let it stop you from giving this series a try. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I always love a series that revolves around Merlin and King Arthur and his Knights. So I picked this book up hoping it would hold my interest at the very least. It more than held my interest. I almost couldn’t put it down.

Centuries have passed since Marrok of Canterbury was cursed by the witch Morganna le Fae. Morganna didn’t deal very well with Marrok abandoning her after he got her into bed. For almost fifteen hundred years, Marrok has been immortal and unable to find sexual satisfaction with a woman. Obviously he’s bitter. Very, very bitter. Now all he wants to do is die. To do that, the only thing he needs to do is break the curse by using the Doomsday Diary, the magical book Morganna left him.

Olivia Gray has moved to London to try to find her father. It was only when her mother died that Olivia realized she had been lied to her entire life. Not only was her father alive, but he also wanted to meet her. Now if only she could find him, life would be golden. Everything takes an unexpected turn when Marrok turns up in her shop. Confusing her with someone named Morganna, Olivia is convinced that Marrok is crazy. Really, who actually believes they’ve been alive for fifteen hundred years? Still, she’s drawn to him and then she’s drawn into a magical world that she never knew existed.

Then she inadvertently soul melds with Marrok, which causes all sorts of problems. You see, Olivia has major self esteem issues. Finally a man wants her, but he wants to die more. Go figure. And though Olivia wants to help Marrok end his curse and be at peace, opening the Doomsday Diary might bring more harm than good. An evil wizard is back and he’s wreaking havoc on the magical world. He wants the diary and Olivia. Being a descendant of Morganna makes Olivia a useful commodity and Mathias wants her.

The Doomsday Brethren is then created to protect the world from Mathias and his evil magic. I think that Black did a great job creating this new paranormal world. I predict that paranormal readers will enjoy this series as it’s different from the usual vampire/werewolf fare that is cropping up. While there are some cliché’s (man juice needed to water woman’s insides), it didn’t effect the overall story and world building.

I loved it and wish the wait wasn’t so long for the next book.

4.5 out of 5.

This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here. No e-format.