Review: Bloodfever

Reviewed by Jen
 

The Fever series continues with this second installment of Karen Marie Moning’s masterful urban fantasy.  And it picks up in the aftermath of where Darkfever left off.  MacKayla Lane is still searching for her sister Alina’s killer.  But now she believes she knows who it is: the man who dubs himself “The Lord Master;” the man who is helping to usher the Dark Fae into our world; the man who was Alina’s lover. After her last conflict with him, she barely escaped with her life.  Now he seems to be lying low.

That doesn’t mean Mac doesn’t have a full plate.  She is still searching for the Dark book of the Fae, as was her sister’s dying wish. And her partner in the search, the enigmatic and sexy Jericho Barrons is pushing her limits as a sidhe-seer (someone who can see the Fae beyond their glamour and sense their objects of power.)  Something is brewing between Mac and Barrons. And his former lover Fiona sees it, creating new unforseen dangers for Mac.

And walking the line between danger and pleasure, is the Fae prince V’laine.  He is almost as much of a mystery as Barrons; and with even more sex appeal. He wants the book too and isn’t above using his obvious talents to get them. V’laine and Barrons clearly have a history and neither wants Mac to trust the other. But how can she trust either of them when no one will be truly honest with her?

This is a dark book.  We see cruelty, evil, betrayal and torture.  We see Mac begin to evolve (or de-evolve) into something stronger, more primal.  The heat between her and Barrons is scorching. But make no mistake, this is no romance. It’s hot and sexual and it had me re-reading one particular scene in a cave about 10 times before moving on.

Each one of the Fever books builds on the one before it. Each one is stronger; the world building more intricate.  Granted, that means we have a lot of characters to keep up with.  Some are holdovers from Darkfever.  And one (Christian MacKelter) is a surprising cross-over character from Kiss of the Highlander.  (You don’t have to read Moning’s Highlander books to enjoy the Fever series. The ties in this book and the others are very slight and are really more like Easter Eggs for those of us who did read them.)

Every book ends with a cliffhanger and this one is no different.  So I hope you have Faefever ready. You’ll want it when you are done with this one.  4 1/2 stars.