Kari Edgren

It can be rare for me to like a second book more than the first, but that is exactly the case with A Grave Inheritance, book two in the Goddess Born series. The author has really outdone herself with this one. As we follow Selah to England so she can meet up with her love James and they can finally marry, the story starts off with an exciting occurrence (before the voyage to England) and just keeps getting more and more intriguing and interesting as the story progresses.

In this book, we show more really get to see the author's writing chops, as her historical detail is impeccable. With every page, I could picture the action as it was happening. I could see the clothes of the era and the scenery in my mind's eye, and it was a very pleasing reading experience indeed. Yet it's not just the historical elements that make this a great series. The characters are wonderful. Selah is an honorable and strong woman who stands up for what she believes. I so admire that in my female protagonist. James irritated me early on, but he is also honorable and so in love with Selah. They're love is a great love and it makes the story even better (and I'm not much for mushy love stories...not that this is). Add in the paranormal elements tied to legends from Ireland and the book, really the series, is the entire package. Historical fantasy at its finest!

If you have not picked up this series, I recommend that you do. I'm so looking forward to Book 3, as yet untitled. It's sure to be an exciting conclusion to what I believe is a planned trilogy. Of course, if the series extends past a trilogy, I won't complain. show less

I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Goddess Born (see my review here) and devoured this book. A Grave Inheritance picks up a few months after the end of the first book, making it seem like I never left Selah's world. Selah's betrothed, Lord Henry Fitzalan has returned to London, leaving Selah behind in the Colonies with one of his men, James. Henry must find a way out of his betrothal to the King's daughter, Amelia. When Selah finally arrives in London to join Henry, she leaves show more behind a mysterious attack by a large white dog in the Colonies. Selah wants nothing more than to marry Henry and return to her home so she can refuel her powers in Brigid's waters. However, as soon as Selah arrives in London, trouble begins following her around.

A Grave Inheritance was filled with action right from the start. I'm glad more of Selah's powers were explored as well as introducing more characters that are Goddess Born. It was interesting to hear more of the history of Brigid's people and the other gifts they possess. It was also quite a surprise to me to see how Kari wrapped these characters together so they would be in close contact with Selah and she didn't even know. It was an even greater surprise to see how they were connected to Selah. Selah faces troubles from both the natural and supernatural in this installment; even though the issues stemming from the supernatural were much more dangerous, Selah's interests lie deeper with solving her natural troubles first as these would stop her from marrying Henry. The love story that continued between Selah and Henry was sweet and devastatingly romantic. The ending of the book leaves off with a cliffhanger surrounding Selah's issues with the supernatural, so I can not wait to dig into the next book.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less

This book has one of the most unique premises I've read in a while: set in 1730 in the Pennsylvania colony, our heroine Selah Kilbrid is literally a direct descendent of the goddess Brigid. Her divine gift is that of healing, a gift she cannot refuse to use when asked -- but a gift she has to keep hidden lest she gain some unwanted attention. From an Irish Catholic family, she lives in the heavily Quaker town of Hopewell, a well-liked healer and farmer's daughter.

Pursued by a Quaker show more preacher, Nathan, whose interest in her crosses into dangerous obsession, Selah agrees to an arranged marriage with a cousin per her father's wishes. But upon arriving in Philadelphia, she instead finds herself bound together with the (stunningly sexy) Henry Alan, an indentured servant.

I admit I have a love/hate relationship with romance novels: I adore me some hot and heavy flirtation but really loathe some of the childish, alarming, or emotionally unstable behavior that gets trotted out in the name of plot. But Edgren's historical romance has everything I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurve in a romance novel: fabulously fun heroine and hero, great setting, delightful obstacles that don't make me mentally scream, "Just tell him!", and a believable chemistry that had me swooning within a dozen pages.

Selah was a believable heroine that I loved from the first page: bold in ways that felt authentic and historically accurate (even as a demi-goddess!), who acted in a manner that read reasonable and believable -- even when she made dumb choices. As Edgren stays solely in Selah's first person POV, we don't know much about Henry and his motivations, but he's a dreamboat with a dramatic backstory. The complications between Selah and Henry are interesting and actually challenging: how does she handle her goddess-ness with him, and how much can she trust a man who is literally indebted to her but legally has rights to her inheritance?

And as for the sex...there is none! Don't despair, as I might have if I learned this tidbit ahead of reading, as there's plenty of tension and some making out that's fun. The absence of sex only stood out to me as this is from Carina/Harlequin, so I just assumed there'd be sexytimes, but in terms of storytelling and plot, how everything shakes out for our hero and heroine reads perfectly. I didn't miss the sex, and I still had happy sighs throughout the book.

This is clearly the first in a series, and I am frothing with impatience for the next book. (The danger of inhaling new releases, am I right?!) I read this book in a day -- started it in the AM and just kept sneaking glances throughout the day, pausing only when necessary -- and it's a great escapist read for those who enjoy some armchair time travel and competent heroines. The Pre-Revolutionary War Philadelphia and Pennsylvania setting is wonderful, as is Edgren's Quaker community -- a locale I rarely come across in historical fiction.

If you like historical romances, get this for sure. If you like some paranormal or supernatural elements in your fiction, but aren't into urban fantasy, also consider this one -- it has some magical themes that blended seamlessly into the story and never jarred me out of the rest of the narrative. show less

Selah Kilbrid is Goddess Born, half human and half divine descending directly from the Goddess Brigid. She is blessed with the gift to heal others, but with that gift comes the obligation to keep it a secret. Selah's grandparents were removed from their homeland and came to Pennsylvania to settle. Now Selah and her father live among the Quakers in 1730. One of the Quaker ministers, Nathan, has been hounding Selah for her hand in marriage and has turned to threatening her, but because of her show more gift, Selah must marry within the other descendants of Brigid. Upon his deathbed, Selah's father tells her to marry her cousin as soon as possible. Selah sets off to complete her father's wishes, but runs into trouble when she finds out that her cousin has passed on the ocean crossing. Not wanting to return home unmarried for fear of Nathan, Selah sees a handsome indentured servant for sale and convinces him to pose as her husband in return for time off his sentence. The servant, Henry, agrees, but he is hiding a secret himself.

This was the perfect blend of history, paranormal and romance. Selah's character was strong and feisty. The idea of Goddess Born was also unique, I liked that Selah was very careful with her gift of healing. She had to know to heal just enough to save a life, but leave enough to be healed with traditional means so that it did not appear to be out of the ordinary. Her gift also made her story very dangerous and suspenseful when the notion of witchcraft came into play. Henry was the perfect handsome, strong, mysterious hero; I could see where their relationship was going to go pretty early on, however it turned out to be very sweet and I couldn't guess what Henry’s secret was until the end. Another part I enjoyed was the setting; it was differed to learn about a Quaker settlement, their views, meetings and daily lives. Now, I can’t wait to see what will happen in the next two books.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less