Karen Marie Moning
Author of Darkfever
About the Author
Karen Marie Moning was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received a bachelor's degree in society and law from Purdue University. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a bartender, a computer consultant, and an insurance specialist. Her first book, Beyond the Highland Mist, was published in show more 1999. She writes the Highlander series, the Fever series, and the Fever World series. Her first graphic novel, Fever Moon, was published in 2012. Her novels have won numerous awards, including the RITA Award for best novel in 2001 for The Highlander's Touch. Karen's title's Feverborn and High Votage made the New York Times Bestseller List. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Karen Marie Moning
Beyond the Highland Mist / To Tame A Highland Warrior / The Highlander's Touch / Kiss of the Highlander / The Dark Highlander / The Immortal Highlander / Spell of the Highlander (2012) 48 copies, 1 review
Flayed 41 copies
The Lady Lies 4 copies
Sex with Lor 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Karen Marie Moning
- Other names
- Moning, Karen Marie
- Birthdate
- 1964-11-01
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Purdue University
- Occupations
- bartender
computer consultant
insurance agent - Awards and honors
- P.E.A.R.L. nominee (New Author, 1999)
- Short biography
- Karen Marie Moning (rhymes with 'awning') was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor's degree in Society and Law. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a bartender, a computer consultant, and an insurance specialist.
She began her career writing paranormal romance set in Scotland but as she became increasingly fascinated with Celtic mythology, she switched genres to Urban Fantasy and location to Dublin, Ireland, so she could focus on the Tuatha de Danann, or Fae--an ancient race of immortal beings who have lived secretly among humans for millennia. A Rita-award winning novelist, she is the author of the Highlander novels and the internationally bestselling urban fantasy Fever series. Her books have been published in twenty-four languages, and her events draw fans from all over the world.
She divides her time between the mountains of Georgia and the beaches of Florida. - Nationality
- USA (birth)
- Birthplace
- Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Places of residence
- Georgia, USA
Florida, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Discussions
Found: Time Travel Romance Scotland/England in Name that Book (December 2022)
Reviews
Like I told my cousin when I finished reading this book....butter me up and serve me for I am toast!
Since I don't want to give any spoilers (boy, that limits me right?) I will say; this started off on an emotional low, carried me on a roller coaster of emotions and discoveries, sent me on an emotional high, then lastly let me gently put my feet on the ground.
Having said that....I WANT A JERICHO BARRONS OF MY OWN! This man is everything and anything you could possibly think of putting into show more your "dream man". Strong, mysterious and -not a wee bit either- dangerous. Oh lordy, Seelie and UnSeelie Princes have nothing on this guy.
V'Lane, our glorious angel...what other hidden secrets did you know and do you still hold on to?
Christain, dude! You rock. Hope things get back to normal-whatever that is- for you!
Rowena- never liked the hag and really really disliked (try not to use hate as it is such a powerfully negative word) when all is said and done. All I could think anytime she was involved...what a bitch!
Kat, Jo, and the rest of the girls at the Abbey....sheep no more. Think for yourselves dammit!
Mega Dani- kid you broke my heart but I know that you are going to go and make the world your playground. Nothing is going to get in Mega Dani's way!
K'Vruck....could I borrow this "pet" I have a few I would like him to eat, I mean meet.
Jack and Rainey Lane- these two have to be some of the coolest and open minded parents in the universe. I can so see why the thought of not belonging to them caused Mac grief.
Ryodan and the guys- Jericho's wingmen so to speak. Interesting group of guys. Will we be let in on more of their secrets and what would happen if one of them were to find a mate? Very interesting indeed.
UnSeelie King- was he crazy evil or crazy in grief? Read, learn then decide.
Now I know the next book in the series starts off on Dani's story; since I am toast and feel the need to crawl in a corner and rock for a few days, weeks, months...thinking I'll give my system a chance to recover and get my big girl undies out of the wad before I wade into it.
Book was excellent in characters, timing and dialogue. There was such a flow to it that I forgot I was reading and could see all this playing out in my head with each word. Those are the books I like the best. I invested in Mac and Jericho. I cared about them, they became friends that I wanted to spend more and more time with.
Until I gather the strength to keep going, I'm out to read the Three Little Pigs or something else less taxing. ;) show less
Since I don't want to give any spoilers (boy, that limits me right?) I will say; this started off on an emotional low, carried me on a roller coaster of emotions and discoveries, sent me on an emotional high, then lastly let me gently put my feet on the ground.
Having said that....I WANT A JERICHO BARRONS OF MY OWN! This man is everything and anything you could possibly think of putting into show more your "dream man". Strong, mysterious and -not a wee bit either- dangerous. Oh lordy, Seelie and UnSeelie Princes have nothing on this guy.
V'Lane, our glorious angel...what other hidden secrets did you know and do you still hold on to?
Christain, dude! You rock. Hope things get back to normal-whatever that is- for you!
Rowena- never liked the hag and really really disliked (try not to use hate as it is such a powerfully negative word) when all is said and done. All I could think anytime she was involved...what a bitch!
Kat, Jo, and the rest of the girls at the Abbey....sheep no more. Think for yourselves dammit!
Mega Dani- kid you broke my heart but I know that you are going to go and make the world your playground. Nothing is going to get in Mega Dani's way!
K'Vruck....could I borrow this "pet" I have a few I would like him to eat, I mean meet.
Jack and Rainey Lane- these two have to be some of the coolest and open minded parents in the universe. I can so see why the thought of not belonging to them caused Mac grief.
Ryodan and the guys- Jericho's wingmen so to speak. Interesting group of guys. Will we be let in on more of their secrets and what would happen if one of them were to find a mate? Very interesting indeed.
UnSeelie King- was he crazy evil or crazy in grief? Read, learn then decide.
Now I know the next book in the series starts off on Dani's story; since I am toast and feel the need to crawl in a corner and rock for a few days, weeks, months...thinking I'll give my system a chance to recover and get my big girl undies out of the wad before I wade into it.
Book was excellent in characters, timing and dialogue. There was such a flow to it that I forgot I was reading and could see all this playing out in my head with each word. Those are the books I like the best. I invested in Mac and Jericho. I cared about them, they became friends that I wanted to spend more and more time with.
Until I gather the strength to keep going, I'm out to read the Three Little Pigs or something else less taxing. ;) show less
Tl;dr summary: disappointing and gross. Now, on to the bulletpoints!
1. This is PNR, not UF.
Yes, the Fever books got pretty hot and heavy by the end, but in the Fever books Mac started with a single mission (find her sister's killer) that carried through the entire series. Barrons started with a single mission (obtain the Sinsar Dubh) that carried through the entire series. These missions, the worldbuilding, drove much of the books.
ICED is more a monster-of-the-week type book. People are show more dying in Dublin in a mysterious way. Our protagonists must identify and destroy the big bad before the book is over. More "epic" stuff happens in ICED than happened in the first two or three Fever books combined, but Mac and Barrons' quests felt so much more epic. Why? Because the plot of ICED is just a thin excuse for relationship drama.
2. Dani is charming. I loved her.
I didn't expect to, but she was great. She's an unrepentant rascal, cheery and hard-bitten, tough and wide-eyed. I loved her POV.
3. Ryoden is awful.
He is the anti-Barrons. Let's examine some differences, shall we?
Barrons waits for Mac to come to him. She's desperate and he takes advantage, but she's free to leave anytime. Ryoden makes demands of Dani that she wants to refuse but cannot, because Ryoden cages, tortures, and threatens her (and NO, none of those words are exaggerations - the first example occurs very early on in the book, when Ryoden keeps Dani manacled in a dungeon for several days without food or water). She is not free to walk away.
This is particularly bad because, as we also learn early on, Dani has a profound fear of cages and restraint. Ryoden knows this and does it anyhow.
Barrons shows his increasing admiration for Mac by making her stronger, fiercer, and more independent. By the end of DARKFEVER, Barrons has given Mac the Spear of Light - an immensely powerful weapon. Ryoden shows his interest in Dani by trying to take things away from her, trying to make her feel helpless and powerless. Prime example?When Dani loses her sword, Ryoden refuses to help her retrieve it. In fact, he makes a hands-off deal with the thief and tells Dani he'd just as soon she never gets it back.
The way Barrons treated other women never made me want to vomit. Not a huge accomplishment, I know. No gold stars for "well, I didn't want to vomit". But I thought he was upfront and fair with Fio. Ryoden, on the other hand, is vile to the women he has sex with - sleeping with his employees, discarding them like - KMM's words here! - "used condoms". The worst part, maybe the grossest thing in a book full of gross stuff, was whenRyoden starts sleeping with Dani's friend Jo. Why? To separate Dani from a friend? To hurt Dani and make her feel betrayed? Because it's the closest he can get to having sex with 14-year-old Dani? This whole scenario just made me want to shut the book and say, "Enough of you people."
4. Forget the slow build
To my mind, the thing that made Mac and Barrons' romance so epic is how long it took to develop. For the first few books, I was actively rooting for Mac and Barrons NOT to get together. It wasn't until late in the Fever series that we started getting major revelations,like the fact that Barrons can't die . These revelations cement the intimacy Mac and Barrons have developed and, because the trust between them is so hard-won, every one felt like a victory.
There's one thing that hasn't changed: I was definitely rooting for Dani and Ryoden NOT to get together in ICED. In fact, I was rooting for them NEVER to get together and for Dani to pick a different guy because, as I mentioned in #3, Ryoden is awful.
And I might have faith. I'll read the next book just because KMM has proved she can accomplish some amazing reversals. But there's no slow build here. From the beginning, Ryodan has decided that Dani is his girl. He'll wait until she's older to have sex with her, but in the meanwhile he plans to groom her into his ideal woman by subjecting her to a constant barrage of abuse and degradation.
We get some major revelations in ICED - many of them familiar from SHADOWFEVER - but there's no victory this time, no sense of a milestone having been reached. For example:Dani sees Ryoden die. At this stage, there's no trust or affection between them. When Ryodan comes back, he makes it clear that only Dani can know about his resurrection - if any other woman finds out, she'll be killed. So this huge, wonderful plot point of SHADOWFEVER is slapped down in ICED much, much too early and becomes just another example of how gross and creepy Ryodan is.
5. Dani is 14.
For some reason, I didn't expect this to bother me. Maybe because I assumed the Dani books would give us another slow build, plenty of time for relationships to grow and evolve naturally, in the least-creepy way possible.
Boy was I wrong.
Here are some gross, inappropriate things that happen in ICED: Ryoden gets in Dani's bed, Dani ends up in Christian's bed, Dani strips at various points for both men, both of whom are attracted by her body, Christian uses his new death-by-sex aura on Dani, Ryoden is so overwhelmed by attraction to Dani that he has to go have sex with another woman immediately.
It's gross.
6. So why 3 stars?
Because there are new books ahead, and KMM has surprised me before. There's still some possibility that all the gross stuff in ICED is meant to be gross. If it turns out we were supposed to be revolted and offended, if we're supposed to hate Ryodan and he's going to evolve away from the person he is now, I could get back on board.
3 stars is my way of saying: I loved the Fever series enough that I still have hope. show less
1. This is PNR, not UF.
Yes, the Fever books got pretty hot and heavy by the end, but in the Fever books Mac started with a single mission (find her sister's killer) that carried through the entire series. Barrons started with a single mission (obtain the Sinsar Dubh) that carried through the entire series. These missions, the worldbuilding, drove much of the books.
ICED is more a monster-of-the-week type book. People are show more dying in Dublin in a mysterious way. Our protagonists must identify and destroy the big bad before the book is over. More "epic" stuff happens in ICED than happened in the first two or three Fever books combined, but Mac and Barrons' quests felt so much more epic. Why? Because the plot of ICED is just a thin excuse for relationship drama.
2. Dani is charming. I loved her.
I didn't expect to, but she was great. She's an unrepentant rascal, cheery and hard-bitten, tough and wide-eyed. I loved her POV.
3. Ryoden is awful.
He is the anti-Barrons. Let's examine some differences, shall we?
Barrons waits for Mac to come to him. She's desperate and he takes advantage, but she's free to leave anytime. Ryoden makes demands of Dani that she wants to refuse but cannot, because Ryoden cages, tortures, and threatens her (and NO, none of those words are exaggerations - the first example occurs very early on in the book, when Ryoden keeps Dani manacled in a dungeon for several days without food or water). She is not free to walk away.
This is particularly bad because, as we also learn early on, Dani has a profound fear of cages and restraint. Ryoden knows this and does it anyhow.
Barrons shows his increasing admiration for Mac by making her stronger, fiercer, and more independent. By the end of DARKFEVER, Barrons has given Mac the Spear of Light - an immensely powerful weapon. Ryoden shows his interest in Dani by trying to take things away from her, trying to make her feel helpless and powerless. Prime example?
The way Barrons treated other women never made me want to vomit. Not a huge accomplishment, I know. No gold stars for "well, I didn't want to vomit". But I thought he was upfront and fair with Fio. Ryoden, on the other hand, is vile to the women he has sex with - sleeping with his employees, discarding them like - KMM's words here! - "used condoms". The worst part, maybe the grossest thing in a book full of gross stuff, was when
4. Forget the slow build
To my mind, the thing that made Mac and Barrons' romance so epic is how long it took to develop. For the first few books, I was actively rooting for Mac and Barrons NOT to get together. It wasn't until late in the Fever series that we started getting major revelations,
There's one thing that hasn't changed: I was definitely rooting for Dani and Ryoden NOT to get together in ICED. In fact, I was rooting for them NEVER to get together and for Dani to pick a different guy because, as I mentioned in #3, Ryoden is awful.
And I might have faith. I'll read the next book just because KMM has proved she can accomplish some amazing reversals. But there's no slow build here. From the beginning, Ryodan has decided that Dani is his girl. He'll wait until she's older to have sex with her, but in the meanwhile he plans to groom her into his ideal woman by subjecting her to a constant barrage of abuse and degradation.
We get some major revelations in ICED - many of them familiar from SHADOWFEVER - but there's no victory this time, no sense of a milestone having been reached. For example:
5. Dani is 14.
For some reason, I didn't expect this to bother me. Maybe because I assumed the Dani books would give us another slow build, plenty of time for relationships to grow and evolve naturally, in the least-creepy way possible.
Boy was I wrong.
Here are some gross, inappropriate things that happen in ICED: Ryoden gets in Dani's bed, Dani ends up in Christian's bed, Dani strips at various points for both men, both of whom are attracted by her body, Christian uses his new death-by-sex aura on Dani, Ryoden is so overwhelmed by attraction to Dani that he has to go have sex with another woman immediately.
It's gross.
6. So why 3 stars?
Because there are new books ahead, and KMM has surprised me before. There's still some possibility that all the gross stuff in ICED is meant to be gross. If it turns out we were supposed to be revolted and offended, if we're supposed to hate Ryodan and he's going to evolve away from the person he is now, I could get back on board.
3 stars is my way of saying: I loved the Fever series enough that I still have hope. show less
Faefever is the third in the Fever series and I devoured it like a Shade eats flesh, leaving only the fluttering paper husk of the book behind.
Moning does an amazing job of layering on the world-building so that it doesn't feel as if you're drinking from a firehose, trying to sort it all out. She ratchets up the tension with enemies around every corner, and keeps you guessing as to whether her allies are trustworthy at all.
I will say this, though: I would be coming unglued at the seams if I show more didn't have book four on the shelf, ready to go. The way that Faefever ends is nothing short of criminal. Cliffhanger doesn't begin to describe it.
A Twitter friend commented that the Fever paperbacks may be laced with cocaine, since they are so addictive. I wouldn't doubt it. And I wouldn't change it. :) show less
Moning does an amazing job of layering on the world-building so that it doesn't feel as if you're drinking from a firehose, trying to sort it all out. She ratchets up the tension with enemies around every corner, and keeps you guessing as to whether her allies are trustworthy at all.
I will say this, though: I would be coming unglued at the seams if I show more didn't have book four on the shelf, ready to go. The way that Faefever ends is nothing short of criminal. Cliffhanger doesn't begin to describe it.
A Twitter friend commented that the Fever paperbacks may be laced with cocaine, since they are so addictive. I wouldn't doubt it. And I wouldn't change it. :) show less
I have been putting this off since I finished Dreamfever because gosh darn it, I did NOT like how that book ended, and didn’t want what happened there to be real. Still am slightly bitter about how it ended – what a horrid place to end a book. (This is why I get angry during a series. Too often, they end the book at the worst possible place.)
So I didn’t want to pick this up and have what happened to be true… Finally, I could put off reading this last one no longer (because no matter show more how angry I am at it, this is still a darned good series, and I am in love with Jericho Barrons).
And at first, I was still angry, but then something awesome happened that undid all of my anger at the previous book’s ending: Mac got kick-ass. So much so that she really ought to be a part of the BAMF Girls Club. We all know I’m a sucker for kick ass female leads, so the fact that the character I had a hard time caring about at the beginning of the series was ready to seriously take down all the fey, humans and other beings that stood in her way to get her hands on the Sinsar Dubh left me thrilled and excited, and helped me to forget all my past grievances with this series.
In fact, I think that they way Mac acted in this book was the best part about the whole series – who she became and what she realized that she is. It was wonderful! (Seriously, is there anything better than a crazy strong kick-ass female lead? NO, of course there isn’t!)
Not that Mac’s character development was the only awesome thing about this book – the conflict between the whole large ensemble of characters always kept me entertained, and knowing that all of the characters had their own secret reasons for wanting the Sinsar Dubh was definitely interesting. You never really knew who to trust or what fully motivates them… So much conflict!
Shadowfever kept surprising me. Whether they were the big huge surprises (Seriously? Cruce is WHO? WTH) or even smaller ones (and these really shouldn’t have been smaller surprises because they were actually rather big things, like Barrons’ son, but compared to Cruce they were all tiny), I’m always impressed by a book that keeps throwing curve balls at me.
So, while this was the last in the series, I know there are more than Moning has written that take place in the same universe. I’m interested in both Fever Moon and the new series about Dani (Fever World), but I’m a little worried that I won’t love them as much as I did this series.
The Bottom Line
Loved this. Want more Jericho Barrons. Love Jericho Barrons. Also, fans of urban fantasy should read this. show less
So I didn’t want to pick this up and have what happened to be true… Finally, I could put off reading this last one no longer (because no matter show more how angry I am at it, this is still a darned good series, and I am in love with Jericho Barrons).
And at first, I was still angry, but then something awesome happened that undid all of my anger at the previous book’s ending: Mac got kick-ass. So much so that she really ought to be a part of the BAMF Girls Club. We all know I’m a sucker for kick ass female leads, so the fact that the character I had a hard time caring about at the beginning of the series was ready to seriously take down all the fey, humans and other beings that stood in her way to get her hands on the Sinsar Dubh left me thrilled and excited, and helped me to forget all my past grievances with this series.
In fact, I think that they way Mac acted in this book was the best part about the whole series – who she became and what she realized that she is. It was wonderful! (Seriously, is there anything better than a crazy strong kick-ass female lead? NO, of course there isn’t!)
Not that Mac’s character development was the only awesome thing about this book – the conflict between the whole large ensemble of characters always kept me entertained, and knowing that all of the characters had their own secret reasons for wanting the Sinsar Dubh was definitely interesting. You never really knew who to trust or what fully motivates them… So much conflict!
Shadowfever kept surprising me. Whether they were the big huge surprises (Seriously? Cruce is WHO? WTH) or even smaller ones (and these really shouldn’t have been smaller surprises because they were actually rather big things, like Barrons’ son, but compared to Cruce they were all tiny), I’m always impressed by a book that keeps throwing curve balls at me.
So, while this was the last in the series, I know there are more than Moning has written that take place in the same universe. I’m interested in both Fever Moon and the new series about Dani (Fever World), but I’m a little worried that I won’t love them as much as I did this series.
The Bottom Line
Loved this. Want more Jericho Barrons. Love Jericho Barrons. Also, fans of urban fantasy should read this. show less
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