Haunting Embrace
By
Grade : B-

I love it when publishers get their timing right. There is nothing like a good paranormal and a hot cup of tea or cocoa to brighten the month of October and the beginning of the Halloween season. This one with its druids, seers, ghosts, and haunted castle ruins is a real treat for those of us who want a touch of eerie to start the season off right.

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The action here picks up right about where it left off in book three. If you haven't read that one, be warned. There are probably spoilers in this text. When last we saw our intrepid heroes, they were escaping from the fecking Book of Fennore. The book, a magical tome created by the White Fennore and her druid lover, became aware and destructive countless times through hundreds of years. Small bands of knowledgeable humans spend all those centuries attempting to fix a problem which should never have existed. And now finally, things have come full circle and the Island of Fennore once more has a druid and maiden preparing to launch one final battle against evil. The only problem is, they don't even know they are doing it.

After jumping out of the Book of Fennore Meaghan Ballagh awakens in a sea cavern at the foot of a cliff containing castle ruins. It is a place she is very familiar with, since it is the nightmare chasm from which the book has been striking lo these many years. What she wasn't expecting was to see her grandmother as a young woman and the baby who is to become her father coming to help her, bringing clothes and words of a prophecy just received. It appears that Meaghan is in the 1950's, that she did not come through the book alone and that she must find the book to get home. That's a lot to take in after magical time travel...but wait! There's more! The man who was in the Book of Fennore with Meaghan is here in the cavern. And once again, she seems to be the only one who can see him.

Aedan has waited centuries to have a corporeal form. When he was finally, finally spit out from the Book he had one, and used it to work as a fisherman on the Island of Fennore. He was determined to stay until he found the key to recapturing all the Book had taken. In the past, he had been the powerful druid Brandubh - before love betrayed him and made him a prisoner of the beast. Now he must find the key that will free him forever from his imprisonment and will return to him all his powers and his full, precious mortal life. But when the girl comes into the sea cave and he goes to her, he fades once more, reappearing only when they leave the cavern that is home to the monster. She is beautiful, sensuous, guileless, and apparently all that he could desire. But is she the answer to his problems - or the final lure of the book which wishes to destroy him once and for all?

As Aedan and Meaghan join forces in their battle against the evil that stalks the Island they find themselves drawn closer and closer together. But how real are their feelings? For Aedan sees in her Elan, the White Fennore, the woman for whom he sacrificed everything - and by whom he was betrayed. Meaghan feels Elan moving through her, in her, winding her emotions around the past and present in a dizzying array. Meaghan's strength, her faith in herself, and her faith in her new lover are all that can save humanity from the evil knocking at its door. Will she have the forbearance to hold strong and right the wrongs of hundreds of years ago?

This final installment in the Mist of Ireland series has some really good qualities. The best of them is easily Meaghan, a modern young women with a ton of strength of character, a good internal moral compass and a heart for the people around her. Meaghan can read emotions and get a sense of a person's core, whether it is good or evil. It's clear that it would be easy for her to be overwhelmed by the gift, but instead she learns to use it to discern friend from enemy. She also begins to pick up Elan's ancient gift. I really liked what the author did here though. Elan had been overwhelmed by her ability, and the problems with the magical book all began because of that fact; Meaghan was a strong, resilient woman who could handle her gifts and essentially save herself. She wasn't adverse to a helping hand when needed, but she just didn't look to those around her to solve her problems. This compare and contrast between the two women emphasized why Meaghan was Aedan's true happily ever after. He needed, had always needed, a woman who could trust herself enough to make the hard choices. He had that in this new love.

Aedan was a strong character also. While we are initially introduced to him as being "evil" we quickly figure out that he is not. As he works with Meaghan to right the wrongs he had helped create he learns a great deal about love. I liked that this formerly controlling and manipulative man learned to trust and see his love as his equal. It's always nice when the heroine brings out the best her lover was meant to be and that was done here to perfection.

What didn't work for me was that this book took over 160 pages to get interesting. 160 pages! Had I not been reviewing it, I don't know if I could have stuck with it long enough to finish. The setup just took too long. One major problem was that some peripheral characters (Colleen, Mickey, and Brion) added unnecessary length to the book. I was completely uninterested in them and frustrated by the fact that they really didn't contribute to the tale of the book or the love story of our two primaries. They took also took time away from Jamie, Kyle and Eamonn, secondary characters who were far more central to the story than the others. Those initial pages dragged the book's grade down quite a bit from what it could have been.

This is a unique paranormal universe, the author has a smooth voice, and the love story is well written and interesting. If the opening portions hadn't been such a chore, I would recommend it wholeheartedly. Now all I can say is that if you have been reading the series you will want to read this final installment. I think making it to the end is worth the hard parts.

Reviewed by Maggie Boyd
Grade : B-

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : October 14, 2011

Publication Date: 2011/10

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Maggie Boyd

I've been an avid reader since 2nd grade and discovered romance when my cousin lent me Lord of La Pampa by Kay Thorpe in 7th grade. I currently read approximately 150 books a year, comprised of a mix of Young Adult, romance, mystery, women's fiction, and science fiction/fantasy.
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