Review: Rise of Hope

Reviewed by Jen

I liked the premise of this book. It follows a group of special men. Each bears tattoo-like markings. Each has a supernatural gift. They were abandoned as children, only to discover each other as adults --and they are working to find others of their kind.

They had found no women, until they learned of Devon. She has been kept a virtual prisoner her entire life. Her accommodations were nice enough. She didn't want for anything, except a kind touch, privacy, freedom and love.  It's just as she is preparing to escape her gilded cage that the men come to rescue her.

There is an immediate attraction between Devon and Seth.  They have matching marks and we learn they are essentially fated mates. Unfortunately, Seth is afraid to embrace their connection. His difficult life has kept him emotionally isolated and he doesn't know any other way.  But mating is a difficult thing to ignore, especially when tensions are high and danger lurks around every corner.

I like the foundation for this series. The problem was that I didn't particularly like either one of the love interests. Devon is kind of bland and naive.  I didn't dislike her, but there wasn't much there for me to latch onto.  We go through the motions with her, but we never really see beyond the superficial of her personality.  We do get a little more insight into Seth, but whatever sympathy his hard life may have engendered was kind of stifled by the way he treats Devon. He keeps trying to dump her off and push her away. There was not much sexual tension and the sex was ok.

The book wasn't bad. It just didn't really push my buttons one way or the other. But because I like the idea, I might try the next book in the series to see if that couple manages to grab me more.

Rating: C

*ARC Provided by Carina Press via NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

Rise of Hope

by Kaily Hart

Release Date: August 27, 2012

Publisher: Carina Press