Friday, August 21, 2009

Review: Dawnkeepers by Jessica Andersen

Published: January 2009 by Signet Eclipse

Number of Pages: 455

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Stand Alone/Series: Book 2 of The Final Prophecy

Why This Book: Read book 1 and enjoyed it. And I have series OCD! *g* Beside I want to know how the world ends.

From the Author Site: The final four-year countdown to the end of days has begun. According to ancient Maya prophecy, demons from the underworld will arise on December 21, 2012. Only the Nightkeepers, mortal descendants of an ancient race of magic-wielding warrior-priests, can prevent the apocalypse by stopping the demons from bringing the old legends to life.

Unlike his fellow Nightkeepers, Nate Blackhawk isn’t about to let the gods determine his destiny- especially when it comes to his feelings for Alexis Gray, his ex-lover and nemesis. But when they’re forced to work together, racing to recover seven antiquities before the demons get their claws on the vital artifacts, Nate and Alexis will have to face their feelings- and their past- in order to defeat a dire and ancient enemy.


Read excerpt here.

Hero: Nate Blackhawk, unlike the rest of the Nightkeepers, grew up without his winikin (guardian and blood bound servant). His winikin died from the wounds he'd gotten during the Solstice massacre and left Nate to grow up without knowing his heritage. So unlike the rest Nate was completely unprepared to become a Nightkeeper and Nate's determined not to let the prophecy determine his fate. Unfortunately for him, Alexis is the very model of his dream girl and both his magic and subconscious has foreordained her as his mate. While he may accept her as his mate, he is determined not to like it one bit.

Heroine: Alexis Gray is the perfect Nightkeeper, at least on the outside. She's become a warrior-princess as well as a mage. But on the inside she still needs the approval of her godmother, Izzie. She's determined to walk the path the gods have written for her, which includes Nate as her mate even if she has to drag him along with her. After repeatedly offering herself up to Nate and getting shot down she finally learns that she has to accept herself as she is and not something that someone expects her to be.

Other Notables:
Izzie: Alexis's winikin and godmother. Alexis needs and lives for her approval.

Carlos: Nate's replacement winikin. Carlos is steady and relentless, like the tide. He wants Nate to accept and take his place within the Nightkeepers.

Review: Jessica Andersen picks up right where she left off. The Nightkeepers are racing to fill the gaps in their knowledge of what to expect in the final years of the countdown. Unfortunately for them, their ancestors sold off key artifacts for funds, which has left them completely uninformed on how to avert certain prophecies. Just as they get lucky in their search, an old enemy of the Nightkeepers resurfaces.

The countdown continues and the number enemies determined to usher in the apocalypse grows. The world is doomed. Got to love that. *g*

What I liked best: The new temple (see Wikipedia entry here). I love when reality is mixed in seamlessly with a story. The use of real people, historical events or ancient places just make a story sing for me. I probably should have majored in history or archeology just so I could be surrounded by old moldy texts and ancient legends.

What I least liked: The whole Anna, her husband and her boss love triangle. Its not that I don't like love triangles but this one seems to be completely pointless. There could have been a way to make the necessary plot points work without the messy and inane triangle.

Keeper?: Yes. And it's autographed to yours truly! *g*

Recommendation: This series should be read in order otherwise there are way too many spoilers. The first book outlines the prophecy, introduces each character and does a lot of the world building. Without it the reader may founder and find many of the plot points confusing.

Grade: B-
Series Grade to date: B

I recently reviewed the third installment of this series over at Babbling About Books. See here for my review of Skykeepers.

4 comments:

Donna said...

I have the first book in this series. Glad to see the next is a keeper. Thanks!

orannia said...

I probably shouldn't have read your review as I have yet to read this book, but.....I'm bad like that :)

I just looked at my library hold this and I have to collect this book by the end of September so I'll be reading it soon (having a rather large TBR traffic jam at present)! *happy dance*

I hope the kitty is doing OK?

Shaymless Aymless said...

I liked it. You should read it.

Kitty is doing very poorly. We made "the appointment" for Wednesday.

orannia said...

(((Aymless))) I'll be thinking of you on Wednesday.

 

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