Robin D. Owens

Well, she's done it again. It's always a treat to visit Celta, and this is no exception.

Trif Clover, of the non-noble but prolific Clover family, discovered during her last Passage that she has a HeartMate. Young and impatient, she sets about trying to find him, using a charm key (the cover illustration--it's a gorgeous cover, btw).

Unfortunately for Trif, her HeartMate is avoiding her. He's Black Ilex Winterberry, a guardsman from a noble family but working for a living. Not only is he twice show more her age, and thinks she deserves someone younger, but he has a talent for prescience, and he's foreseen his own death--in the very near future. When HeartMates are bonded, and one dies, the other dies shortly after as well, and he's desperate to save Trif from that fate.

Unfortunately for Ilex, someone is going around killing young people with unstable Flair, and Trif fits the victims' profile, so he's compelled to stay close to her and keep her safe.

As with the other books in this series, the worldbuilding is superb. I'm not a very visual person, but I'm pretty sure if you plopped me down in the middle of Celta, I could find my way around. The way magic works is clear and consistent--and unusual.

Also as usual is the emotional depth. Ilex in particular has a very rough time of it. Knowing of his own death in advance is bad enough, but the more he's around Trif, the more painful and intense his feelings for her become. He's also been smacked with family difficulties that hurt him, and that I'm crossing my fingers will lead to future stories in this series.

Trif doesn't have it quite as rough, but her emotions are right there on the page--excitement, impatience, and frustration at first, and as time goes on, they become more complex as well.

I also enjoyed the mystery component of Heart Quest, particularly the details of how Flair is used in criminal investigations. My only teensy problem with it was that I'd hoped a certain person would be implicated, but that's mostly because that character made me so angry.

Again, all the intensity is balanced by humor, much of which is provided by the fams: sentient, telepathic pets. The cats' voices in particular will sound very familiar to anyone who's ever had a cat.

I'd say more, but everything's turning out fangirly-squeeing. Bottom line: great book. I loved it. show less

Superb worldbuilding, realistic characters, imaginative stories, exciting action, satisfying romance--is it any wonder Robin D. Owens is one of my absolute favorites?

Lawyer Alexa Fitzwalter is all alone in the world after the death of her best friend. Now she's also having strange dreams and hearing chanting and music and a gong, and she feels compelled to follow the song in the mountains at night. Then the hallucinations become visual as well, and when she hears the plea "we need you," she show more steps through the arch into another world.

The world of Lladrana has been protected from the evil beyond its borders by a magical fence, but the fence posts are failing and more and more monsters are getting in, and soon they'll overwhelm the Marshalls' and Chevaliers' ability to fight them. The Marshalls know that only an Exotique (human from Earth) will be able to restore the fence posts, and so they're summoning one: Alexa.

Alexa's immediately confronted with a monster, then finds herself in a circle of what appears to be sorcerers, who apparently want something from her, but who also seem bent on tormenting her. She endures test after test, and finally learns some of what's going on when she's befriended by Sinafin, the little shapeshifting feycoocu.

Among the demands of the Marshalls is the demand that she take a mate, which will make it more likely that she'll stay in Lladrana when the time comes for her to choose.

I think I'd better stop there before I give away the entire story. I loved Guardian of Honor so much that I guess I just want to relive it while I'm writing this.

Alexa's character is one you can really root for, and identify with (at least with wishful thinking). She's strong and intelligent, and she needs to be needed. When she meets Bastien, the Chevalier who's an outcast because he's a black-and-white (meaning his hair is striped black and white, a sign that his magic is wild and uncontrolled), their mutual outsiderness (I was going to change this, but I discovered it is a real word after all) draws them believably together.

I thoroughly enjoyed the political machinations of the Marshalls--some of them genuinely trying to help, others trying only to further their own agendas, but all of them arrogant to one degree or another. And I loved how Alexa shook them up. They wanted a tool, and they ended up with something much, much different. I cheered (aloud, even, if nobody was around) several times, and just thinking about it is making me grin.

The world of Lladrana was wonderfully complex and unique. I loved how everything was tied together with song, and especially how the Lladranans' personalities were shaped by their world, just as Alexa's was by being human. It's something I've come to expect from Robin's work, but I appreciate it even though it's not surprising.

I can't be too sorry that I waited so long to read this, even though I bought it the month it was released, because I've already read the second book (I'm a few weeks behind in writing reviews), and don't have to wait for the third. I just have to dig around the TBR pile to make sure it's there. show less

I'm not sure about this one. There's an excellent story here - an interesting universe, well-structured characters (all of them, the protagonists down through the brownies to Spark), and a well-earned happy ending. The only part that bothers me, but it bothers me a lot, is the way she handles sex - it's the overwhelming attraction trope to a fare-thee-well. Rafe started it - stealing a kiss, and touching. Amber doesn't object, though. But they end up falling in bed too easily, to my mind. I show more think it would have been a much stronger story if they'd resisted more, if sex wasn't a casual adventure in the middle but an aim in itself. I don't know quite why it does bother me so much - there are plenty of other books where sex starts early, including others by Robin D. Owens, and it doesn't bother me. Maybe because it feels like the sex is all the bond they have, then suddenly there's true love - the other annoying romance trope, if the sex is great it must be true love. Unconvincing. But I will read the others in the series, at least once. show less

Wow. As I think about the story afterward, it's a pretty standard romance - interesting SF/Fantasy setting, but nothing very new. But when I finished it, it was as if a large and gentle whirlwind had just set me down - I was totally caught up in the story. Just wow. I want the rest, and the Summoning books, too. A lot of standard tropes, well-handled - class differences, I-am-not-worthy (in both directions), misunderstandings (but not over-done). Interesting and well-drawn characters - no show more cardboard here, not even in the minor villains! And a very interesting setting - pretty much standard fantasy (with psi as magic) except for the constant references to the starship that brought them there (many generations ago). Love it. And a couple months later - I just discovered that this was her _first_ (published) novel. Wow all over again. More! show less