Elijah

Elijah Jacquelyn Frank Grade: B- Sensuality: Warm Nobody was more surprised than I was when Jacob, Jacquelyn Frank's debut, won in AAR's annual reader poll for Best Buried Treasure. How could a book that was just released weeks before the poll opened be considered a buried treasure?

But the ballots including votes for the book were valid, so my final guess was this: Because early interim results are inclusive as possible, readers who liked the book saw it listed on the interim results and said to themselves, "Cool! I guess I can vote for this book in this category." I've not read Jacob, but a few months ago I did read an ARC of Elijah, the third entry in Frank's Nightwalker series.

This series brings together into one world a number of paranormal/fantasy beings, including demons, lycanthropes, vampires, and sirens. Elijah is the third book in a very complicated world, and, as a newbie to the series I occasionally felt lost with the world-building previously established, but most of that confusion has to do with the fact that in Frank's world, Demons are neither biblical or evil. They're simply another race of beings, and in this book they are working with age-old enemies, the Lycanthropes, to defeat the Necromancers, who threaten their existence. Once I got straight in my mind that demons weren't bad, my comprehension increased dramatically, but until then, I had to mentally chant: "Demons aren't evil, demons aren't evil."

When Elijah, a Demon Warrior captain, is nearly killed in an ambush by the Necromancers, Siena, the Lycanthrope Queen (she changes into a jungle cat, though, and not a wolf), rescues him and nurses him back to health. It doesn't take long for them to discover a powerful attraction. I'm a fan of the hero as pursuer, which is why I so long ago (1998) had Stephanie Laurens pen a Write Byte for me on the topic, and I enjoyed here that it was Elijah rather than Siena who recognize that they are soul-mates. Age-old enemies coming together is one thing for Siena to cope with, but as a queen, she has a tough time dealing with the power issues, particularly with Gideon. She struggles not only with the idea of losing her power to a man, but also worries that a strong warrior like Gideon would not be satisfied as her consort (and not king).

Though there's a lot of action, and danger in the story, the basic conflict between these two comes from Siena's issues. Gideon works hard to convince her that she won't lose her identity by being part of a couple, and he's not interested in dominating her; he knows full well she could rip his throat out at a moment's notice. Much of the book's poignancy occurs when disaster nearly befalls Gideon and Siena realizes she has not given herself 100% to the relationship...while Gideon has.

Court politics are a part of this book too, and they contribute to the world-building. The story is also enriched by the various Nightwalker "tribes" working together to defeat the Necromancers and their leader, a duo of Demon traitors. As for the romance, I liked it a great deal. But the author writes with a pen that is deeply purple, which broke the mood in nearly every love scene, and at other times as well.

Readers who enjoy a kick-ass heroine will definitely enjoy Siena, who is vulnerable but strong, and never faux strong. Gideon, who is a to-die-for hero, is a great match for her.

I wavered on the grade for this one between a C+ and a B-. On the one hand, I haven't picked up the earlier books in the series and don't know that I'll buy the next one. On the other hand, though, compared to the last book I graded C+, this one is clearly better, which is how I decided on a B-. Not the most stellar of recommendations, to be sure, but there you have it.

TTFN, Laurie Likes Books

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