Nocturnal Book Reviews

Those of you who've been reading this blog since last year know that Elizabeth's first book A Hidden Fire made it into my list of best reads of 2011.

It's hard to explain why her writing pushes so many right buttons for me.

Elizabeth created a smart and intoxicating paranormal mystery with romantic elements which takes you all over the world in search of ancient manuscripts containing the secrets of the immortality elixir. It introduces a classic villain, a complicated vampire hierarchy full of intrigues, favours and a strange elemental magic. It brings you gorgeous martial art teachings and strong battle sequences. At last, it gives us an enigmatic pairing of Gio and Beatrice, whose relationship has a long, complicated and stormy past, but who're undeniably deeply in love with each other.

Maybe this is why I love this series so much.

The Force of Wind is a bittersweet, tumultuous and heartbreaking read. things we expect come to pass and things we don't expect at all come to pass.

Beatrice came a long way from being a snarky girl librarian to becoming a formidable opponent and warrior.

Book #3 takes her and Gio to a secret island in China where the Council of Eight Immortals lives ruling vampires of this world. The war with Lorenzo ended with a Mexican stand off, and the Council wants to make a peaceful decision concerning the manuscript which both Gio and Lorenzo consider theirs.

B feels that the clock is ticking and she is running out of time. She trains like mad with Baojia and Tenzin, preparing her body and mind to being turned because she feels that her humanity is a constant weakness in their battle with Lorenzo and she wants to eliminate it.

“I have to say, you do smell delicious. I kind of understand why he wants to keep you.”
Beatrice frowned. “Tenzin, please don’t make me feel any more like dinner than I already do.”
Her friend laughed long and hard. Finally, Beatrice did too. Then Tenzin reached over and stroked Beatrice’s hair back from her face, and the soft look she occasionally allowed herself peeked through.
“It will be all right. Relax.” Beatrice could feel the amnis start to creep across her skin as she stared at Tenzin. (taken out as a spoiler) held her hand and she allowed the soft
brush of her friend’s influence in her mind. She closed her eyes and listened to the hypnotic voice.
“Meditate. Just like we practiced. Calm. Let yourself relax.”
She drifted, focusing on a picture of Giovanni she held in her mind. It was the single minded look he gave her sometimes. When he was angry. When he made
love to her. When he killed for her. It was the look that told her she was the center of his world.
“I am your balance in this life,” she whispered to him, even though he was not there. “In every life.”
Her eyes flew open when she felt Tenzin’s fangs strike.

The finale is truly brutal and shocking. In each book of this series there are losses and sacrifices making a huge impact on every character, and this book is no exception. I also love how both the main and secondary characters have many facets and are constantly growing in each book. You don't see it often these days. We finally find out about Tenzin's past and why she is so estranged from her vampire's father. We also see more of an enigmatic Baojia, a Chinese assassin training and looking after B.

This is a gorgeous book in a fantastic series and a must read for fans of Anne Rice, Elizabeth Kostova and Dan Brown.