Summary: I was marked from birth as belonging to the Goddess Epona--but that didn't make my life easy. Because of my "blessings," I was set apart, worshipped, unable to make real connections with others. Then came the Feeling, and with it a glimpse of my destiny. It led me to the MacCallen castle of legend, deserted since the terrible Fomorian war. I followed the wordless call to breathe new life into a place long dead, but I didn't realize there were dark remnants of the war lingering in the nearby forest--victims and survivors who remained hidden. Others marked as different, powerful. Feared.

My choice was now twofold. I could keep to the happiness and safety of my newfound home, or I could choose a path that led to something more terrible, more dangerous, more thrilling than anything I'd ever expected. And in that future I might never be alone again. . .

There is sooo much I want to say about this book I don't even know where to begin. First off, I LOVED the Parthenon series and P.C. Cast is quickly becoming my favorite author of all time. I loved her Goddess Summoning series as well, anyway...This book fits in perfectly with the Parthenon series, it is actually set a hundred and some years after Rhiannon. The characters in this book are so vivid and so devoted to their faith it almost makes me jealous, and wish that I could also have that kind of faith in something, anything really. P.C. Cast makes you feel like you are in the book and you are actually there with the people and apart of everything. While reading (even up to 25 hours without sleep) it was like I was watching a movie and you know one of the characters is about to do something stupid and you are yelling at the TV "DON'T GO IN THERE" but they don't listen to you, of course. While reading this book I squealed, I laughed, I cried (yes, I actually did), I yelled, and I absolutely fell head over heels in love with Lochlan. Wow, what a character...I love him, and adore him absolutely. I know I can get an older copy of Brighid's Quest but...I want to wait so my whole series will match the re-release from Mira. I can't get enough, I have to go read the Parthenon series again, just because I don't want to let this world go just quite yet. The one thing that is even remotely not 100% positive was: I am unsure if this fits in the YA series genre...there is some sex in it, which is fine, but it still read like an adult novel to me, but who knows, book was amazing though.



EXTRA: P.C. and Kristen Cast are on their Tempted U.S. tour...I am going to see them on the 4th of Nov in Baltimore. I will take pictures. Can't wait!

For more information or for purchasing visit P.C. Cast's webpage

Also posted: http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/2... ( )

Yikes. No pulled punches on this one. I can't believe she.... Okay, no spoilers, but I suspect that's one of the things that makes this "fantasy with romantic elements" rather than paranormal romance.

It takes place 2? 3? generations after Goddess by Mistake, in the same world. The heroine is half-human, half-centaur--looks a bit like a satyr, but horse instead of goat, and is the descendent of the couple in Goddess by Mistake.

She's the goddess incarnate, but all she's ever wanted is to be treated like an ordinary person. All her life, she's been pulled to this castle ruin, so she, her brother, and a bunch of misfits set about restoring it, and they build a community and a home along with a fortress.

She also finds her life mate, also a hybrid, but he's half-human, half-Fomorian--a sort of winged vampire, a demonic race that was believed to have been exterminated.

So she's torn between her new friends and responsibilities and her heart, and he as well is torn between his heart and a prophecy that claims her sacrifice is all that can save his people from succumbing to the madness of their demonic forefathers. ( )

As is usual, P.C. Cast delivers a good, fun read. I was slightly concerned before starting this book, because all of Cast's other books which I had read either featured women from modern day America visiting fantasy worlds, or characters from fantasy worlds visiting modern day America. This and its direct sequel, Brigid's Quest (which I have not yet read) are the only ones to my knowledge which take place without any interaction with the modern world. I was concerned that either Elphame would seem too much like the modern-American heroines to make sense for somebody who lived all her life in Partholon (indeed, it is apparently unknown 125 years later that one of her ancestors was actually Shannon, a teacher from Tulsa) or that Cast would not be able to pull off a novel without any contemporary references. Fortunately, neither of these things happened. Yet somehow, at over five hundred pages, this still feels more like a fragment of a story than a complete story. Elphame's parents come across as rather under-awed at her unprecidented appearance when she is born in the prologue. And Cast continues in her rather annoying tendancy to assume that there will never be any resentment, jealousy, or pettiness between women unless one of them is The Enemy. But these are small complaints that don't diminish the fact that as far of the old theme of lovers from clashing backgrounds goes, Cast has come up with one of the most original variations in a long time. ( )

The characters were very easy for me to become attached to. The ending was amazingly sad, making me cry a few times. However, it was still a great read. ( )

Interesting fantasy. I liked the characters but the ending was a little sad. ( )