Shannon C.’s review of Topaz Delirium by Lynne Connolly
Paranormal romance eBook released 29 Apr 08 by Loose-ID

There’s at least one thing that can be said for Lynne Connolly. She does really unique things with her characters, and her paranormal books are refreshingly not the norm.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to like having the hero of Topaz Delirium, her latest book set in the department 57 universe, be a top fashion designer, since my impression of fashion designers as a rule does not lean very heavily toward anything remotely masculine. But I should have remembered this is a Lynne Connolly book, and she does just fine at creating a sexy hero in the form of Jasper Lebec, one of Paris’s top fashion designers. Jasper is also one of the guardians, the people in charge of Department 57 offices, and he’s been in love with top fashion model Svetlana Yevchenco for years. He finds it necessary to fight his attraction to her, because loving her would lead to some pretty disastrous consequences.

Svetlana, for her part, has her own demons to worry about. Though it’s been decades, she’s never forgotten the torture that she suffered at one point in her life, and though she’s a good agent, she has never quite been able to hide her attraction to Jasper. When she is asked to try and seduce a man that Jasper and his colleagues suspect is trying to poison Talents–Talents, of course, being the paranormal creatures in this world–she agrees to do it even though it’s Jasper she wants, and one night of passion together won’t drive him out of her head.

My favorite part of this book was the romance. Jasper and Svetlana have chemistry in spades, and the revelation of their feelings for each other couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time for either of them. And once again, I have to mention that Lynne Connolly is one of the few authors who can sell me on the concept of mates bonding the way hers do without it totally coming off as squickily codependent.

The plot clips along rapidly once it gets moving. Secondary characters who also appear in Cat’s Eyes make appearances here, too, though Connolly succeeds in integrating them into the story in a way that doesn’t scream “OMG look at me! Sequel-bait over here!” The villains are pretty nasty, even if they are a bit on the flat side, and the ending resolves everything neatly.

Most of my issues with the book are pretty personal and will probably not deter most readers. I’m not particularly fond of stories about the rich and famous, and all the glitz and glamour got a tad annoying. I also thought that the book took just a bit too long to really hit its stride.

This book can very easily be read as a standalone, and knowledge of the rest of what happens in the Department 57 universe isn’t required. It’s definitely a fresh, fun paranormal with likeable characters and a hot love story.

Grade: B

     Top fashion model and Dept 57 agent, Svetlana Yevchenko, is in Paris for the couture Fashion Week. She is principal model at the House of Lebec, and his new perfume, Topaz Delirium is named for her (Topaz is her model name). She has been in love with Jasper for years, but he never has serious relationships with anyone.
     However, when one of the models, a Talent, is murdered, Svetlana and Jasper work together on the operation to close down the factory that is producing the poison that is killing Talents.
     Svetlana finds out far more than she ever suspected about Jasper. But with a curse attached to him, Jasper doesn’t feel he can take the chance of loving her.

     Read an excerpt here .