A.K.A. Goddess
Grade : A-

I’m not giving A.K.A. Goddess keeper status because of its rich and vivid characters. It’s not that kind of book. I’m not giving it keeper status because of its romance, even though the love story is more intriguing and better developed than most romance novels I’ve read this year. It’s not the best written book I’ve ever read, or even this year. No, I’m giving it keeper status because, quite simply, it rocks.

Legend has it that a Great Queen once lived with her nine daughters. Each was powerful in her own right, because they held special gifts, and because they were women. The Queen sent her daughters out into the world where their powers were needed. Each of them possessed a cup, which they could use to share their powers with those who needed it. But as men began to fear and despise the power of these women, each of the Queen’s daughters had to go into hiding with their cups to keep the powers safe.

Maggi Sanger knows the story well. It was told to her as a bedtime story when she was a child, until she grew up and learned that it was her legacy. She is a grail keeper, descended from the original goddesses and bound to protect the cups. Then she learns that a grail in India was destroyed shortly before it was due to go on display. A short time later, her apartment is ransacked, and her great-aunt Brigitte, an expert on the legends, is attacked. Aunt Bridge believes that a secret society is after something in particular: one of the grails, which may be connected to the old legend of Melusine.

Maggi travels to France in search of the Melusine Chalice before the men who are after it can find it. She’s not alone on her journey. At every turn she has to deal with Lex Stuart, her first love who still has a troublesome hold on her heart. She can’t seem to shake her old feelings for him, even though she knows she can’t trust him. Then there’s Rhys Pritchard, the Welshman Aunt Bridge sends to assist Maggi on her search. Rhys is her aunt’s research assistant, with a prize of his own he’s searching for: no less than the Holy Grail itself.

This is my favorite book yet in Silhouette’s new Bombshell series, and the best book by this author in quite a while. With a distinctive storytelling style (first person), an unusual setting (France), and a plot that combines both fresh and familiar legends into a heady brew, it’s a great read.

Maggi isn’t the deepest character, but she kicks butt, and that’s all that really matters. A college professor by trade, she’s smart. She’s strong. She’s resourceful. She finds herself in a number of tight situations throughout the story and gets out thanks to both her wits and her physical capabilities. The source of her toughness is actually refreshing. The author doesn’t dump a sad past and history of abuse on the heroine’s shoulders to justify her strength. She’s strong because she comes from a long line of strong women, whose power stems from the fact that they are women. How cool is that?

The first-person perspective is used perfectly here. This is exactly the kind of story that needs it. It never leaves any doubt that this is first and foremost Maggi’s story. It’s also useful in keeping the male characters as mysterious as possible. Lex and Rhys both have secrets (although the latter's big secret is so obvious Maggi seems dense for not catching on sooner), and the lack of scenes from their perspective helps keep them shrouded in mystery. The reader is kept as off balance as the heroine, which makes the storyline that much more tantalizing and unpredictable.

Though the Bombshell books are not romances, the author delivers a layered and involving love story. Maggi and Lex have an involved past going back to when they were children. The author uses a flashback structure to show us all of it, from their first meeting to what finally broke them apart again before the book began. This is a very smart narrative tactic, because Maggi and Lex are apart for much of the early parts of the book, yet Vaughn never lets Lex and Maggi’s feeling for him be forgotten. The love story is full of perfect little moments more affecting than many full-fledged romance novels can manage. My favorite is one where Lex asks Maggi to a school dance more than a month in advance:

"I wanted to beat anybody else asking," he says. I’m in braces, and I’m by no means slim. I’m not ugly; even I know this. But...he thinks there could be competition for me? Lex Stuart, I decide, is wonderful.

The storyline is full of nonstop action that keeps the heroine moving from modern day cities to ancient chambers. The author offers a creative take on familiar myths, delivering a creative and original tale all her own. It has a bit of Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones flair that I really enjoyed. There are humorous lines and unexpected moments. Through it all, the heroine never stops kicking butt. This is the first in a series, but if there wasn’t a second book coming out soon, it would more than stand on its own as a satisfying read. The author gets it right. She tells a full, satisfying story so that readers will get their money’s worth out of this one volume, while creating a mythology intriguing enough to stoke interest in the future books. It’s a good thing the second book is coming out in November (destination: Egypt!), because I was champing at the bit for more after finishing this one.

This is a book that begins solidly, if unexceptionally, only to get better and better and better as it goes. In the end I couldn’t think of a single thing I disliked about it. As an action-adventure story, it delivered everything I expected, and so much more. It’s exciting. It’s funny. It’s romantic. It’s unexpected. It’s everything I would want in a great read. Finally, the Bombshell line lives up to its promise. This book rocks.

Buy it on Amazon/Barnes & Noble/Kobo

Reviewed by Leigh Thomas
Grade : A-
Book Type: Series Fiction

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : August 30, 2004

Publication Date: 2004/08

Review Tags: Gods and Goddesses

Recent Comments …

Leigh Thomas

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
What's your opinion?x
()
x