Review: Tempest's Fury

Reviewed by Jen
 

I'll admit it. I am having serious trouble with this review.  All I want to talk about is the ending.  I know that's not fair.  I can't spoil people.  I can't rob them of that feeling I got when Nicole Peeler totally ripped the rug out from under me in the last chapter.  Unfortunately, my brain just won't let me move past it.  So I must tell you off the bat that the ending to this book is a shocking/ amazing/ horrible punch-in-the-gut cliffhanger.  But I won't tell you what it is.

That being said, let's go back to the beginning.  The story starts with Jane on a mission to Great Britain to help Blondie deal with a new supernatural threat.  Ancient elemental entities similar to the underground creature in the last book, are threatening to make a comeback.  And unlike the being that imbued Jane with her new fancy ax, these beings are murderous and fierce.  Blondie actually hacked up the Air and Fire beings, also known as the Red Queen and the White King, back in the day --when she was the champion of the magic ax.  Their pieces were scattered around the world, but now someone is gathering the pieces to put the monsters back together again.  Jane, Anyan, and Blondie have to stop it.

It's a cool story arc.  It's fast moving and full of action. It takes unexpected twists and turns and it incorporates some familiar faces from past books. All this while continuing to expand the established world building.

The book is really good. I only had one complaint. That was the ridiculous number of near-sex encounters between Anyan and Jane. I was already stretched to my limit before I started the book.  While I appreciate the need and desire to keep sexual tension alive, I was just flat out annoyed with all the stops and starts. The interruptions to their attempts at physical intimacy continue well into this book.  And though they do eventually (finally) seal the deal --and it's fantastic, by the way-- I had lost my patience way before that point.

Back to the plus side... I love Anyan. Love. Anyan.  We get to know him better as Jane does, both through his actions and through a peek into his history.  --Jane continues to be a funny, earnest, and all-around great heroine.  She is really growing here, yet she still manages to hold on to the core of who she is. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I have no idea when the next book comes out, which makes me even more of a wreck about the ending. But knowing Nicole Peeler it will be one heck of a series finale.  I can't wait to see how she fixes this. Because she must fix it.

Rating: B

*ARC Provided by Orbit

Click to purchase: Amazon

Tempest's Fury

by Nicole Peeler

Release Date: June 26, 2012

Publisher: Orbit