Gwen’s review of Shadowfever (Fever Series, Book 5) by Karen Marie Moning
Urban fantasy hardcover released by Delacorte Press 18 Jan 2011

Well, well, well.  Here we are.  Finally at the end of this innovative and addictive series.  I started reading it because I love Moning’s historical/time-traveling romances.  I thought I’d see how one of my favorite authors fared in a completely new genre – not always a successful venture for some authors.  I should have had more faith in Moning’s skill.  I have never been disappointed in this series – frustrated, yes, anxious for the next release, definitely, but never, ever disappointed.

Mac Lane is a unique heroine. She is immediately identifiable to those of us raised in the South – pretty, pampered, and generally spoiled by an easy life.  Then tragedy sends her life in an altogether different direction. She is dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the world of fae, druidry, and hot men who do all they can to manipulate her.

Mac’s “hero”, Jericho Z. Barrons, is a contrary, perversely closedmouthed hunk of a man that she is never able to figure out.  She also lusts after him with a sometimes inexplicable fervor.  JZB also has an agenda that Mac isn’t sure is on the side of the angels, so to speak.

The development of the story arc throughout the series is one of the more intricate bits of writing I’ve experienced.  There’s a push/pull between the main characters, the secondary characters, the story elements, and all the other bits that keep the reader from knowing what to expect from anyone or anything.  This leads to one surprise after another and makes for some very entertaining books.

In Shadowfever, we see the culmination of all these elements and characters.  It’s definitely not the end of the story – no sir-ee -  but it is the end of this initial arc.  These books have developed a new world that is lavish in details, and full of characters that are fun to love, fun to hate, and everything jumbled up in between.  We see whole new sides to some of the main characters and all is revealed.  Well, almost all.  We still don’t know what the heck one of the main characters is (stepping lightly here to avoid spoilers).

For the romance readers out there, you’re given a very tender peek into the Mac & JZB dynamic.  Shadowfever begins in the most gut-wrenching scene I’ve read in some time.  This leads to a crystallization of Mackayla into the powerful being she must be to live through all the events of this book and some of them are wowzers.

I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a good urban fantasy that takes us down a very different, very entertaining road. I do not recommend reading this on its own – each book builds on the story and the tension into this first-rate finale.  If you haven’t started the series, please run, don’t walk, to your closest bookstore.

Grade: A

Read other reviews and info for this series here.

Summary:

MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever.

Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years.

What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh—a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves. Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in this series (links to the mass-market paperbacks where available):

This just in…

If you’ve yet to read Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series, now’s your chance to find out what it’s all about. Get the first book, Darkfever, in e-format free!

~ Publisher’s Weekly has dubbed the Moning’s work as “an addictively dark, erotic, and even shocking series” that introduces readers to the enigmatic heroine, MacKayla Lane.

~ Mac is a Southern Belle and a daddy’s girl, but when her sister is murdered, Mac travels to Dublin in search of her killer. She’s soon pulled into a shadowy realm she never knew existed and begins to find startling gifts within herself, as she’s dragged deeper and deeper into the frightening world of the Fae.

~ Beginning July 1, 2009, and running through October 1, 2009, you can download Darkfever absolutely free here! How cool is that!

~ The fourth book in the series, Dreamfever, is slated for release August 18, 2009.

Consider yourself flashed.

This just in…

Karen Marie Moning fans in and around the Atlanta area are in for a treat! She is inviting fans to participate in a recording session on a track for the next CD in her Fever Series. So read on and plan to be there if you’re in the right place at the right time!

~ The completed CD will coincide with the release of Karen’s latest book, Dreamfever, in the Fever Series, on Tuesday, August 18th, and is titled Bloodrush: the Official Fever Soundtrack.

~ Those wishing to participate will sing in the chorus of a chosen song. The date is Saturday, June 20. You will have lunch with Karen before heading to the studio, and even some fun afterward. More details can be found at KKM’s Message Board.

~ The CD will include Little Lamb and I am Not Afraid, plus many new Fever-inspired songs, as well as other fun, exclusive stuff on the CD, including background on the series, a booklet with deleted scenes and personal notes, photos from the recording studio sessions, lyrics, and plenty of other extras.

Consider yourself flashed.

Gwen’s review of Faefever (Fever, Book 3) by Karen Marie Moning
Urban Fantasy hardcover released by Delacorte Press 16 Sep 08

When I first started reading it, I thought this series was kind of YA.  I mean, the heroine rarely cussed (“petunia” is “ass” in her personal vocabulary), there was no sexxoring, and it was really rather mild fantasy with fae and seers and the like.  Then things started getting darker with the end of that book and into the next.  Now, here in the third book of the series, I can safely say that Moning’s earlier YA tendencies have been left in the dust. 

I loved this entry in the Fever series.  The various storylines still haven’t progressed very far, but we know a lot more about everything that is going on.  Plus it’s just plain good story-telling.  The pisser of these Fever books is they’re so good, I normally suck them down like a crack addict sucks down a rock.

The story begins with Mac being pissed off at being a victim.  She shakes off the negative, decides to take charge, and suits up for a date in her old GRITS uniform of “fully done” hair, face, clothes, jewelry, and shoes.  Then her real life intervenes and leaves her quite literally in the gutter, puking her guts up, hair/makeup/clothes fully trashed.  The end of the book has a similar only different outcome (you’ll have to read the book to figure that one out) that shakes Mac’s world up, once again.

At the end of this book I still know very little about Barrons, except that I want that manly man to do his manly thing all over me.  He’s still tall, dark, handsome, and oh-so-mysterious.  Luscious like Belgian chocolate and equally bad for a woman if she partakes too much – just ask his ex, who happens to be consorting with the bad guys now. We get a few tantalizing details – enough to tell us both the bad guys and the good guys fear him and give him a wide berth.

I LOVED this entry.  It’s frustrating as hell that the storyline(s) still haven’t been tied off, but this book ends with a bang.  Literally.  I am panting for the next entry, Dreamfever.  Moning’s challenges with chronic Lyme Disease makes her ability to get any books written a very real miracle, so I’ll be patient – sort of (yes, I’m screaming in my head “but what happens next??!! write it already!!”).

I highly recommend this book to anyone following the series. While it COULD standalone, I recommend reading the other entries to get the full flavor and to experience the frustration with the rest of us fans.  If you’re looking for a new urban fantasy series to read, this is an excellent one to try.

Grade: A

Read reviews and info about this series by following its tag.

Summary:

He calls me his Queen of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him, too.

When MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister’s journal, she is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it.

Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V’lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.

As All Hallows Eve approaches and the city descends into chaos, as a shocking truth about the Dark Book is uncovered, not even Mac can prevent a deadly race of immortals from shattering the walls between worlds with devastating consequences.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in the series (mass market paperback release linked where available):

and Shadowfever, Book 5 (release TBD)

LauraD’s review of Faefever (Fever Series, Book 3) by Karen Marie Moning
Urban fantasy hardcover released by Delacorte Press 16 Sep 08

I confess to having never been a big fan of Karen Marie Moning’s paranormal romance novels. Thanks to a great heroine and an enigmatic hero(?), however, I am all on board with her Fever Series, and have been impatiently waiting for book three.

MacKayla “Mac” Lane arrived in Dublin to find out who killed her sister. She found not only the killer’s identity, but her own — Mac is a sidhe-seer, a rare human who can see the fae that walk amongst us. She has reluctantly partnered with the mysterious Jericho Barrons to try and stop the walls between the world of fae and human from crumbling and what would be left of the human race from their enslavement by the faery courts. Mac has the unique ability to sense when certain sacred fae objects are near, making her invaluable to both Barrons and to V’lane, a “death-by-sex” faery prince whose motives are very murky at this point.

Faefever starts off running and doesn’t really slow down. Mac becomes much more independent, as she uses the knowledge she has and the people she knows to do her own detective work instead of merely being Barron’s hunting dog. Of course, she still manages to get in trouble once or twice, and both Barrons and V’lane get their chance to rescue her — but in this version of Dublin rescue always comes at a cost. It was really enjoyable to see Mac become a stronger character, an arc I think will continue to develop in books 4 and 5.

I’d love to say that the author reveals the true soul of Jericho Barrons, but I’m beginning to feel we may not get that until the last page of the last book! However, some fascinating clues as to who (or what) Barrons might be are revealed. A new possible love interest for Mac is introduced, and he has ties to Moning’s Highlander books — it will be interesting to see if any of those characters make an appearance in the future episodes.

One of the things I really appreciate about this book and series is the strong sense of place. Dublin isn’t just a name-check, it’s a part of the book. Barrons’ bookstore is also almost a character; reading about Mac’s love for it makes me wish I could visit it someday. Without being overly descriptive the author does a great job making streets and buildings come alive on the pages.

If you haven’t yet read Darkfever or Bloodfever, I’d suggest reading at least one of those before this one. Faefever starts with world building and mythology complete, and not a lot of backstory is provided for new readers. It’s a wonderful series, and this is a great continuation — I’ve read it twice already, looking for more clues and tidbits I might have missed the first time around. Multiple plot lines are left unresolved, which again makes it impossible to read as a standalone.  Me,  I’ll be patiently waiting on book 4, Dreamfever.

Grade: B+

Summary:

He calls me his Queen of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him, too.

When MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister’s journal, she is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it.

Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V’lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.

As All Hallows Eve approaches and the city descends into chaos, as a shocking truth about the Dark Book is uncovered, not even Mac can prevent a deadly race of immortals from shattering the walls between worlds with devastating consequences.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Gwen’s review of Bloodfever (Fever Series, Book 2) by Karen Marie Moning
Contemporary paranormal fiction mass market paperback released by Dell 26 Aug 08
(Delacorte released hardcover 16 Oct 07)

Moning has started a different kind of series with the Fever books. They’re part urban fantasy, a (very) little bit young adult (so far), some paranormal romance, and lots of adventure. They’re the saga of a young woman’s journey thru some rather horrific events. A journey she takes with a gorgeous man who is a complete mystery to her, who saves her life time and again, and whom she cannot trust as far as she can throw. At least, that’s what she thinks at the beginning of this second book…

I love Moning’s writing. Her Dark Highlander series are some of my favorite paranormal romances, with Beyond the Highland Mist my absolute favorite of all. We’re very fortunate that the Fever books are told in the same world as the Highlander novels. We even get to meet, briefly, one of the MacKeltar‘s in Bloodfever (I just got a shiver – eek!) and there’s foreshadowing of more to come from him. I canNOT wait to see how that turns out.

In the Fever series, Moning departs from her typical writing style and gives us a first person telling from the heroine’s POV. Normally, I intensely dislike first person writing. It’s just so difficult for an author to do well. However, KMM makes it work with this series. The first person writing gives the action a sense of freshness and tension you probably wouldn’t feel if it weren’t told this way. Part of that is how incredibly funny and approachable I find the heroine, Mac. She approaches her predicaments with humor, courage, and a modern girl’s sensibilities.

The male lead – I hesitate to call him “hero” – is Jericho Barrons. We learn quite a bit more about this mysterious man in this book, but we still don’t know his motivations or history. There IS one very hot scene where he and Mac almost manage to get in each others’ pants. VERY steamy and classic Moning, but still no cigar, so to speak. I love Barrons as a hero. He’s an anti-hero hero. My favorite kind.

The story of what Mac is here to do with Jericho takes some forward steps in Bloodfever, but the story’s master plan still evolves slowly. We’re still left learning what is going on in this adventure. I could wish the plot moved a bit faster – same desire I had with the first book. According to Moning’s site, there are to be five Fever books. I hope the plot is like a snowball, gaining momentum as we reach the apex and start to go “downhill” in book three, Faefever. Regardless, it’s still very entertaining and there are a couple of interesting plot twists in Blood.

I can recommend this eminently readable book to anyone following this series, fans of Moning, and fans of contemporary paranormal fiction. I think it could stand alone – it has been quite some time since I read the first and I’ve forgotten (apparently) quite a bit of it, but I was still able to follow along.

Brava, KMM. I’m looking forward to book 3, Faefever, coming in September.  Bloodfever releases in mass market paperback 26 Aug 08.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Mackayla Lane’s ordinary life underwent a complete makeover when she landed on Ireland’s shores and was plunged into a dark, deadly realm unlike any she ever imagined. In her fight to stay alive, Mac must find the Sinsar Dubh—a million-year old book of the blackest magic imaginable that holds the key to power over both the worlds of Fae and Man. Pursued by Fae assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she cannot trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and irresistible men: V’lane, the insatiable Fae, who can turn sensual arousal into an obsession for any woman; and the ever-inscrutable Jericho Barrons, a man as alluring as he is mysterious.

For centuries, the shadowy realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only thing that stands between them…

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Book 4, Dreamfever, tbd

Book 5, Shadowfever, tbd

DUCK FLASH

YAY! FREE (audio)BOOK!  Starting today, you can get Karen Marie Moning‘s Darkfever (Fever series, Book 1) in podcasts for FREE!  Read on for details… 

Here are some snippets from KMM’s latest newsletter:

• The paperback publication of BLOODFEVER is just around the corner on 8/26
• The hardcover release of FAEFEVER (16 Sep 08).
• The entire audiobook of DARKFEVER is being released as a serial podcast beginning August 4th, FREE!  That’s right–you can experience having MacKayla Lane’s first adventure delivered to you in chapter installments beginning August 4th, four chapters a week for 7 weeks … completely free.
• Want to know more? Click to the information and free subscription page: www.darkfeverpodcast.com
• Subscribers will receive a free exclusive excerpt chapter from FAEFEVER–available nowhere else for 1 week!–with the August 11th podcast episode.
• Like this idea? Visit KMM’s Message Board, or MySpace page and tell everyone your thoughts!

Now, FAEFEVER EXCERPT TIME!

“Such naked pain,” he whispered.

I turned my face into his palm and closed my eyes. His fingers threaded into my hair, cupped my head, and brushed the brand. It heated at his touch. His hand tightened at the base of my skull and squeezed, and he raised me slowly to my tiptoes. I opened my eyes and it was my turn to inhale sharply. Not human. Oh, no, not this man.

“Never show it to me again.” His face was cold, hard, his voice colder.

“Why? What will you do?”

“What it is in my nature to do. Get inside, Ms. Lane. It’s time for your lesson.”

From Karen Marie Moning’s Newsletter:

The Fever series has been optioned by Twentieth Century Fox/New Regency Productions for film development as a possible franchaise!

Seems, the NY Times jumped the gun and announced it before she got the go ahead to announce it herself. I’d give a big ol’ WOOT!, but their summary concerns me:

When American teen travels to Ireland to track down her sister’s murderer, she is sucked into an extraordinary world filled with ancient secrets, vampires, and Faeries. ~ Baseline StudioSystems

Title: Darkfever
Status: Announced
Country: United States
Genre: Adaptation, Thriller, Supernatural

Uh… close… but no cigar. Sincere congrats to her, but let’s hope KMM retained a big honkin’ heap of creative control because if that summary is any indication, I’m NOT going to be a very happy Fever fangirl. (Remember the Julie Garwood debacle? What about The Amityville Horror?)

KMM goes on to say:

They’re talking a vision that’s hip, young, heavy on special effects and snappy dialogue (and I suspect a bit noir-ish.) What does this mean? It means there could very well be a Fever movie or two in the near future! It would be such a thrill to see Mac’s Dublin brought to life on the big screen. I’ll keep you posted as things progress. In the meantime, please drop by the message boards to tell me who you think should play V’lane, Mac, JZB and the others!

However, she kissed it and made it (almost) all better with this:

Now, for what you’ve all been waiting for…the Faefever teaser. I was told (alarmingly forcefully) that it had better include JZB this time, so here he is, at your service (as if he’s ever at anyone’s service but his own.)
/br>
“I wasn’t kissing him,” I said, dabbing at Barron’s lapel.He knocked my hand away. “Then why was his tongue in your mouth? Was he conducting a clinical test of your gag reflex?” He smiled, but not nicely. “How is your gag reflex, Ms. Lane? Are you a hair trigger?”Barrons likes to use sexual innuendo to try to shut me up. I think he expects the well-raised southern belle in me to think eew and back off. Sometimes I do think eew, but I don’t back off. “I’m a spitter, if that’s what you’re asking.” I flashed him a too-sweet smile.

“Didn’t look that way to me. I think you’re a swallower. His tongue was halfway to China and you were still taking it.”

“Jealous?”

“Implies emotional investment. The only investment I have in you, Ms. Lane, is my time and I’m expecting a big payoff. Tell me about the Sinsar Dubh.”


(Note from me, I was going to end it there but I thought I’d give you a little more….)


I glanced at my hand. It had come away from his lapel wet. I angled it in the light. Red looks black at night. I sniffed it. It smelled like old pennies. Gee, blood. No surprise there. “Have you been in a fight? No, let me guess, you saved a wounded dog again?” That was the excuse he’d used last time.“I had a nosebleed.”“Nosebleed, my petunia.”

“Petunia?”

“Ass, Barrons. As in you are one.”

“The Book, Ms. Lane.”

I looked into his eyes. Something very old looked back.

AAARRRGGHHH! My booklust for Faefever is EXCRUCIATING!!

Consider yourself flashed.