Scarlet Hyacinth

This fourth book in the series is as interesting as the other three and focuses on building the overall story further. I really liked that the somewhat mysterious dragon shifters get to play a bigger role. With the addition of vampires, most of the mythical beings I can think of have now made an appearance. The stage seems set for a grand finale...

Jared is the werewolf (Loren and Flame's younger brother). He was happy to find his mate at the end of book #3, but is now devastated because the show more dragon shifter returns to China - and doesn't come back to him. Jared feels betrayed and when he is finally attracted to another man, he pulls back. The combination of past hurts and the idea that a werewolf only has one mate (even though that was shown to be wrong by Loren) holds him back.

Zongxian is the dragon shifter who wants nothing more than to be with Jared. But his sense of honor requires him to return to China. His punishment is so severe, it made me cry out at the injustice of it. There is a lot wrong with a society that has laws as strict as the dragons'. The potential for more drama as that group sorts out its internal differences and advances to a more just way of handling things is enormous.

Tomas, a vampire who starts out as an assassin, grows the most in this book. He changes from someone who follows orders to thinking for himself (motivated by having found his mates) and, in many ways, is the key to normalizing Jared and Zongxian's relationship. The way he and the vampire nation are portrayed isn't very flattering (initially), much like the snakes and dragon shifters used to be.

So far, each of the books has not only contributed its piece to the overall story, but has also added depth and understanding of each of the 'bad guy' races. Seen through the eyes of the main characters and their developing relationships, Scarlet takes us on a journey of discovery that is more than 'just' a love story. The examination of prejudice adds yet another layer to this multi-faceted world. I can't wait for the next book! show less

As finales to a series go, this book is definitely a grand one. Not only does it have great characters with a lot of depth and bad history who have to go through a LOT of suffering, it ties up all the loose ends very nicely and adds a touch of the mystical which gives the whole world created in this series a very poignant twist.

Klaus is probably the most difficult main character to like. Well, he was for me. He seemed very cold and focused only on his duty in the previous books; yes, he is a show more loyal friend to the Magistrate, but to let that overrule his personal needs to that degree? Not good. What we see in this book is the effect it has on him ignoring his mates as well. Let me tell you that he does redeem himself, in a big way, but not until the very end. So, be prepared to hate him for a long while - and then totally admire him.

Clay had my sympathy from the very start. Actually longer than that, since his story starts in volume 4. He comes back here and his suffering deepens. If he wasn't such a great guy with such a big heart, this could have easily ended in a major disaster. Nobody but him would have been able to deal with both Klaus and Ross as mates. Talk about a tough life!

Ross also appears in volume 4 and seems to be a total bad guy, a**hole and whatever other name you can think of. Pretty quickly we find out what was going on - and I rooted for him from then on. To have gone through what he has and come out the other end as relatively sane and loving as Ross is a great achievement.

This is the final book in the Spirit Wolves series, and that is NOT FAIR! I was just beginning to understand what this is all about and it's the final book? Luckily, I managed to find Scarlet on Facebook, wanting to find out if maybe I had gotten it wrong. Unfortunately, she confirmed that this is, indeed, the final book in the current series. However, apparently she plans spin-offs so that we will see these characters again. That will help.

As for this series: I loved it. Bravo Scarlet! show less

Really good, unique in the often cliched world of shifters, complex, and it just got better the further into the book I got. And I cannot wait to find out who the prince's mate is going to be. That little bit at the end made it ambiguous after I thought I knew...

The characters developed well, and beyond just the two MC's--for it would have been more boring if it had focused completely on them rather than the imminent interspecies war and a select few other characters--I grew attached to all show more who had POV's in this book.

I loved the levels of this world and the horror (though not explicit, sadly it is PG where it could have been graphic in violence) of its history. This is a really solid and well-done first for a series. It laid out the foundation, was multi-faceted, and left many windows open for the future books linking with the over-arching plot and the romantic subplots. It will be fascinating to see where it goes.

Highly recommended. show less

With this book Scarlet Hyacinth has achieved two results: first she proves she has matured from that first book I read, that had potential but that maybe too often fell into the traps for first time published authors, and second she proves also that, even if you are writing an “elven” story this doesn’t mean that your characters have to be beautiful and ethereal men dressed in frilly garments.

On the contrary, if not for the author who tells us these men are elves, aside for the show more pointed ears and the immortality, they are not much different from “ordinary” fantasy warriors and heroes. Jan’ke is a Darl Elf and a General of his people; he joined the war like many other young men did, in this fictional story and in reality, hoping to help his people, and instead found out that war is not heroic, but only death and pain. He is tired and he would well like to be left alone, with his pain; but Jan is also an important man, and his family want political bindings with the fae elves, and Jan will be the “bridge”.

During a party in the fae palace, Jan meets Alix, a blind fae elf; despite his disability, Alix is a warrior as well, and like Jan, he doesn’t like the war; the two men find a common ground and a solid basis to build a relationship, starting from friendship but soon landing in love. The problem is that, Jan has not the strength to fully opposing to his family’s plan, and Alix has a secret, a secret even to himself, that pushes him towards violence, the same violence he said he abhor.

I liked how the author balanced the two men; even if Alix is blind and also lower in social and military status, I have never found that he was “inferior” to Jan. Moreover, even if he assumes the submissive role during their lovemaking, this doesn’t influence so much his external behaviour, he is, and still remains, a warrior. Even the beauty of the two men, Alix more fragile and ethereal, Jan more dark and handsome, is described but not “emphasized”.

The camaraderie between the two arrives before love, and so for this reason, the first part of the book is a little more “dry”, and sex comes a bit later. But even when it comes, nor Alix or Jan turn in shrinking violets: Alix is not emasculated, even when he is weak and ill, he is the same man, the same warrior, the man in which Jan found a soul mate, someone who shared his same experience in a battlefield, and looked at it at the same way.

Actually, Unseen Paths is at the same time a romance but also a “military” journal: part of the story is told in retrospective, from the same words of Jan or Alix, who are remembering their past actions, and maybe trying to understand if they regret something. What they probably are judging as wrong is their “planning”, but never their love: even if it’s not emphasized by words and actions, the feeling is nevertheless strong and sustains both of them when they need it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Z0CUNW/?tag=elimyrevandra-20 show less