Tag: Lynn Viehl

Throwback Thursday Review: Evermore by Lynn Viehl

Posted May 31, 2018 by Casee in Reviews | 8 Comments

Throwback Thursday Review: Evermore by Lynn ViehlReviewer: Casee
Evermore by Lynn Viehl
Series: Darkyn #5
Publisher: Signet
Publication Date: January 2, 2008
Point-of-View: Third Person
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 283
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: five-stars

The NEW YORK TIMES AND USA Today bestselling Darkyn series continues...

Jayr is proud to be the only female ever permitted to serve as seneschal to a Darkyn lord. But in her centuries of service to Master Byrne, she has fallen in love with him. Now, Byrne plans to step down and hand over the Jardin to another Kyn lord-a move that threatens not only Jayr's position, but her very life...

Every Thursday in 2018, we’ll be posting throwback reviews of our favorite and not-so-favorite books.

This review was originally posted on January 7, 2008.

Isn’t this like the most awesome Darkyn cover ever? I just love it.

Jayr has served as Byrne’s seneschal for 600 years. Though successfully hiding her feelings from him for all those centuries, she soon finds herself fighting to keep them hidden. Knowing that any relationship beyond Lord and seneschal is forbidden, Jayr works hard to keep the status quo.

What Jayr doesn’t know is that Byrne has asked to be released from service as lord of his jardin (think like mayor of a city). Fighting his own feelings for Jayr, Byrne knows that he must get away from her before he kills her. All Darkyn have an ability that comes w/ being Darkyn. Jayr can move quickly. Yep, Jayr is a speedy girl. So speedy in fact, that she catches on fire. Byrne’s ability isn’t as nice. He’s a Beserker. Though it helped in battle way back in the day, Byrne works hard to keep his Beserker side in check. His biggest fear is that he’ll turn and kill Jayr.

I really loved how Viehl brought the past and present together in this book. Though it takes place in modern Florida, the Darkyn follow traditions from the past that has shaped them as a species.

Jayr was a worthy heroine. I think she is my favorite Darkyn heroine to date. Having been turned at 17, her body looks like that of a young boy. Obviously 600 years ago, girls weren’t going through puberty at 12 years old. Though she’s been accepting of her appearance and even grateful for it, she finds herself wishing for more femine attributes. With the help of Alex Keller, she decides to try to go through puberty. While that may sound strange, it really is fascinating when you think about it. Can you imagine going through puberty when you’re over 600 years old? I mean, really.

There were cringe inducing moments as well. There were things that Jayr did for Byrne that had me thinking “Ugh”. Things such as taking off his boots, brushing his hair, helping him dress. This is perfectly acceptable for a seneschal to do, but in modern times it just seemed like too much. I loved Alex’s take on Byrne’s unwillingness to do anything for himself. She thought everything that I thought. Viehl makes up for everything, however, at the end of the book. The end was so fitting, that I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I absolutely loved it.

What I love about this series is that Viehl makes it clear that once a h/h get their HEA, it doesn’t mean that it’s done. Alex and Michael (book 1 – If Angels Burn) continue to have obstacles thrown in their way, even though they are committed and in love. Alex brings something to the Darkyn that is much needed and I think that Viehl is brilliant in how she incorporates this modern element.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Darkyn

four-half-stars


Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Guest Review: Frostfire by Lynn Viehl

Posted April 22, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 1 Comment

Genres: Paranormal Romance

Frostfire: A Novel of the Kyndred (KYNDRED NOVEL)Mary‘s review of Frostfire: A Novel of the Kyndred by Lynn Viehl

As one of the genetically enhanced Kyndred, Lilah can read and control the minds of animals. Rescuing a group of kids from a wayward bear brings her to the attention of GenHance, the shadowy biotech company willing to murder to acquire superhuman DNA. After being drugged and abducted, Lilah wakes up handcuffed to a half-dead man in a refrigerated truck.

Walker, a soldier critically wounded in Afghanistan, is brought back to life by Lilah’s warmth and determination, and resolves to do anything he can to free and protect her. But as the two struggle to escape their grim fate, they stumble upon a remote town hiding a dark secret, and learn that Lilah is also being hunted by someone she never expected to fear: a Kyndred friend.

Lilah’s having a really bad day. Her jerk-of-a-boss fires her, her car is stolen and, just as she’s relaxing at home, she’s kidnapped by some GenHance hired thugs who put her on ice, handcuffed to a chilled corpse in the back of a refrigerated truck. But wait—he’s coming back to life, just from the power of her hotness! Okay, so I’m joking, sort of. Her body heat does bring him out of the deep chemical/frozen coma he seems to be in and, once she wakes up from the drugs the kidnappers gave her, they connect and work together to escape.

While Lilah and Walker are the two main characters in the third installment of the Kyndred, there are multiple storylines that muddle up the plot. First off, there’s the Kyndred themselves. They’re humans who have been biologically altered, have some kind of super-DNA, and there’s a shadowy bio-company that’s collecting them like butterflies to experiment upon. Lynn Viehl’s other series involves the Darkyn, who have their own powers, are immortal, and exist in the same world. Why would I mention them, you ask. Well, because there are characters from the Darkyn series who pop up in this story. Thus, some of the muddle.

Lilah’s a Kyndred who, up until her kidnapping, was trying to live a quiet life as an animal control worker. It’s a perfect job for her, considering her power is speaking to animals—a critter whisperer. But she’s so much more than that, which she discovers as the story goes on. Walker was/is a Darkyn who, by some twist of fate, is now a Kyndred who turns furry (I was a bit confused as to whether he was still a Darkyn or Kyndred or both and how he got turned but it wasn’t integral to the plot so I let it go).

When Lilah and Walker escape the truck, they stumble upon a small down that, for much of the year, is cut off from civilization. There’s some freaky stuff going on in this town, and it’s here that we’re introduced to another breed of people called the Chahanat (I don’t want to get into too much detail about them since that would give away too much of the plot.)

It’s always a little disconcerting to me when characters fall in love super-fast, like with Lilah and Walker. Sure, sexual attraction can be instant. That I can go for. But when Lilah and Walker fall for each other so quickly, especially considering the amount of time one or both of them was unconscious, I have a harder time with that. I didn’t even feel like I knew them very well before they were lovestruck.

However, once I got into the novel and the multiple storylines began to converge, I enjoyed the complexity of the world as well as the fast-paced plotline. I’ll definitely be checking out more of both the Kyndred and the Darkyn world in the future.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

The series:
Shadowlight: A Novel of the KyndredDreamveil: A Novel of the Kyndred (KYNDRED NOVEL)Frostfire: A Novel of the Kyndred (KYNDRED NOVEL)

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


Tagged: , , , , , ,