Storm's Heart

I mentioned in my review of the first book, DRAGON BOUND, that I appreciated the fact that Harrison didn't take clich‚s and run with them. While I'm not as in love with this cover as I was the first (or the third, SERPENT'S KISS), I did thoroughly enjoy this story.

Oh Tiago. You silly silly Wyr. You kind of deserve everything that happens to you after the shenanigans you pulled in DRAGON BOUND with Drago and Pia. While Niniane, aka Tricks, isn't as forceful a personality as Pia could be, she wasn't without her strong points (such as her ability to justify things). Niniane also has the advantage on Pia in that she's a Faery, Dark Fae no less and destined for the throne of said Dark Fae.

Don't laugh, but I found myself often feeling show more pained on behalf of Tiago and Niniane. Moreso then in DRAGON BOUND, Niniane and Tiago faced the knowledge that no matter what they may want or feel is right, Niniane was going to be Queen of the Dark Fae. They're not exactly a welcoming bunch. I wanted to smack Rune whenever he mentioned this however, since he always chose just the wrong moment.

Sometimes the book strayed from the main plot, indulging in some side plots and adventures that did quite a bit to show us who Niniane is, as well as what would be expected of her, but didn't move the plot (Niniane becoming Queen and the assassination plot against her) forward very much. She likes to draw up and look pretty. Niniane doesn't like being beholden to anyone and wants more independence despite her fragile appearance. We understand, please stop telling us.

I definitely enjoyed the ending of this book more than the first. This one made more logical sense and felt more organic and true to the characters. It also very nicely set up the premise for the third book, SERPENT'S KISS, which is all about Carling (the Vampyre Queen) and Rune (who deserves everything that happens to him doublefold for romance, see how he likes being interrupted by 'reality')

Review originally posted at Night Owl Reviews show less

After falling in love with [b:Dragon Bound|9637479|Dragon Bound (Elder Races, #1)|Thea Harrison|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312822853s/9637479.jpg|14524855] I didn't want to read this one because nothing could live up to that first book. Nothing. And it didn't. Not even close.

I liked Tricks before this book but here she was a bit irritating here. Irritatingly perfect at times. Everyone falls in love with her. And the one person who doesn't is the villain. A villain I identified very early on. I was unhappy to be proved right. I was hoping for it to be someone I'd never considered.

Tricks and Tiago together didn't quite feel right. Sure they had some funny flirtatious times but they were thrown together out of need. Tricks needed show more to be protected, from assassins and from herself (she doesn't know when to stop working and look after herself), and he needed a new challenge because he's easily bored if he's not out fighting. They both got what they needed but did they love each other? I can't answer in the positive because I wasn't convinced. They never really got to know each other. Character development was poor in this book compared to [b:Dragon Bound|9637479|Dragon Bound (Elder Races, #1)|Thea Harrison|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312822853s/9637479.jpg|14524855]. We barely got to know the supporting cast, even characters that were introduced in book #1 weren't given much page time.

I hope [b:Serpent's Kiss|10823507|Serpent's Kiss (Elder Races, #3)|Thea Harrison|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1305815354s/10823507.jpg|15737277] is more like [b:Dragon Bound|9637479|Dragon Bound (Elder Races, #1)|Thea Harrison|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312822853s/9637479.jpg|14524855] than [b:Storm's Heart|9665450|Storm's Heart (Elder Races, #2)|Thea Harrison|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1297195839s/9665450.jpg|14553167]. show less

Read this review at Smash Attack Reads! http://www.smashattackreads.com/2011/09/storm-heart-thea-harrison-tiago-brings.h.... Thea Harrison delivers again. And here I thought it didn’t get better than Dragos, but I might like Tiago a teeny bit more. Just a teeny. Tiago is an incredible character. As old as the skies, he’s a thunderbird whose been revered as a god a time or two in his long existence. He’s a sentinel for Dragos and a force of nature, literally. With a flap of his massive wings, he can send thunder bellowing from the sky. He’s stubborn as hell, doesn’t give Tricks breathing room and would readily rip a head off some shoulders at the drop of a hat if that head blurted a foul word Tricks’ way. Of course, this is show more also his draw. He is extremely head over heels crazy about her, which leads to serious protective tendencies. He is determined and supportive, if anything, so he comes up with a plan that will allow them to remain together, even after she takes her throne as the Dark Fae Queen. In the end, that man never lost faith in their union, and that is why he stole my heart!Niniane (aka Tricks) is my favorite character in the series so far. I like her even more than the boys. *gasp* She is full of spunk, passion, courage and honesty. Plus, she uses Hello Kitty Band Aids, drinks Bubble Gum flavored Vodka and says things like “My give-a-shit button's broken.” She truly is a woman I need to hang out with. Stat. As far as her relationship with Tiago goes, she doesn’t accept it as easily, and loses her shit a few times. This only ensures that Tiago will be right there, refusing to let her history, nerves and lack of confidence stand in her way. He holds up her so that her view is unclouded, and she is able to clearly see what she can accomplish with him by her side.I love the author’s masterful ability to go back and forth between two characters’ perspectives with ease. That isn’t an easy feat and she does it on the same page! Skill, people. She ensures that this romance has a slow build, and the frustration, fear and adoration is clearly palpable. She also gave us more beasties, like a medusa and djinn. All in all, I am way pleased. show less

Read this review at Smash Attack Reads! http://www.smashattackreads.com/2011/09/storm-heart-thea-harrison-tiago-brings.h...

Wow. Thea Harrison delivers again. And here I thought it didn’t get better than Dragos, but I might like Tiago a teeny bit more. Just a teeny. Tiago is an incredible character. As old as the skies, he’s a thunderbird whose been revered as a god a time or two in his long existence. He’s a sentinel for Dragos and a force of nature, literally. With a flap of his massive wings, he can send thunder bellowing from the sky. He’s stubborn as hell, doesn’t give Tricks breathing room and would readily rip a head off some shoulders at the drop of a hat if that head blurted a foul word Tricks’ way. Of course, this show more is also his draw. He is extremely head over heels crazy about her, which leads to serious protective tendencies. He is determined and supportive, if anything, so he comes up with a plan that will allow them to remain together, even after she takes her throne as the Dark Fae Queen. In the end, that man never lost faith in their union, and that is why he stole my heart!

Niniane (aka Tricks) is my favorite character in the series so far. I like her even more than the boys. *gasp* She is full of spunk, passion, courage and honesty. Plus, she uses Hello Kitty Band Aids, drinks Bubble Gum flavored Vodka and says things like “My give-a-shit button's broken.” She truly is a woman I need to hang out with. Stat. As far as her relationship with Tiago goes, she doesn’t accept it as easily, and loses her shit a few times. This only ensures that Tiago will be right there, refusing to let her history, nerves and lack of confidence stand in her way. He holds up her so that her view is unclouded, and she is able to clearly see what she can accomplish with him by her side.

I love the author’s masterful ability to go back and forth between two characters’ perspectives with ease. That isn’t an easy feat and she does it on the same page! Skill, people. She ensures that this romance has a slow build, and the frustration, fear and adoration is clearly palpable. She also gave us more beasties, like a medusa and djinn. All in all, I am way pleased. show less

Ok, so as much as I liked Dragon Bound, I loved Storm's Heart. There was a very different feel to this one, while still being very much the same world. In this story, Niniane, also known as "Tricks", Dragos's PR faerie, is off to claim her rightful place as the heir to the Dark Fae throne. The problem is that there are factions within the Dark Fae demesne that do not want her to take that throne. Next thing you know, her life is in danger and she is feeling lost and alone without her adopted Wyr family around to protect her.

That is when Tiago comes crashing through her motel room door as a kinght in shining armor. Or at least as a thunderbird bent on wreaking havoc for anyone with her death on their minds.

Much like the previous book, show more Storm's Heart is filled with characters that add to the depth of the hero and heroine. I liked the interaction between Niniane and her best friend, the harpy Aryal, and the camaraderie between Tiago and Rune. It gives the characters a life beyond just what is happening between them. It also gives us a bit of background for the next book in the series. There is no need to reintroduce us to the characters when we meet them again in the next book - instead, we can jump right into the action! :)

There were two twists in this book that made it unique for me. One was that there was a genuine mystery to solve. The assasination attempts on Niniane were a mystery that needed to be solved before the killers succeeded, and they were getting pretty close each time. Another interesting thing was that Ninane and Tiago had known each other for, literally, hundreds of years. Because of that, this wasn't a "struck by lightning at first sight" kind of story. Instead, it was a matter of two people, who knew each other quite well in some ways, suddenly looking at each other in a whole new light, and learning all sorts of new things! :) Very good book. I am anxiously awaiting the third in this promising series. show less

With Urien dead, Niniane (Tricks) can take her place as Dark Fae Queen. This is easier said than done considering her first meeting with the Dark Fae on her own results in an assassination attempt. Niniane can't turn to the Wyr for help anymore so she attempts to disappear. Her friends in the Wyr demesne are worried about her though and want her found at any cost. Tiago is sent to find and protect her, and somewhere along the way he find himself guarding her with his life because he wants to.

I really enjoyed Storm's Heart, mainly because I loved the characters. I fell in love with Tricks in Dragon Bound and was very excited to read more about her and her transformation into Niniane, Dark Fae Queen. I certainly wasn't disappointed. show more Niniane remained herself but we got to see her mature and work towards a more queenly personality. Tiago wasn't in Dragon Bound much so I wasn't sure what to expect, but holy cow was he kickass and smoldering! I liked that Tiago and Niniane weren't equals per say, but each had their strengths. I also liked that Niniane was always challenging Tiago so the difference between them never mattered. I also loved the character background stories, both were very fitting and didn't disappoint. I especially enjoyed the reasoning behind Niniane's nickname, Tricks.

So many books in the paranormal romance category have powerful supernatural males and either human or relatively weak women, but somehow the heroine becomes vital or she has some amazing power that no one else has. I liked that while Niniane was queen, I never felt like it put her into that silly 'special' category.

I prefer my romances to be as angst free as possible. Angst and unhappiness just aren't my thing. I love how Harrison dealt with issues in Storm's Heart. She wasn't afraid to face them head on in her writing then simply move on. I love that her characters are intelligent, fierce, loyal and loving but most of all willing to work things out and not leave me in agony.

There were a few loose ends and other aspects that I'd hoped would be included in Storm's Heart that weren't. I especially wished we'd seen more of Pia and Dragos considering her, uh, current condition. I was glad we got to see more of Rune, loved him in the Dragon Bound. He bothered me a little bit in this one because I was so involved in Tiago and Niniane's relationship and I didn't care for his actions however honorable they were. I still adore him though and look forward to his story. Carling... I hated her until the end scenes. I'm very excited to learn more about her now though, she seems like she'll be the most complex character so far. I'm really worried, however, because she might not be good enough for Rune.

All in all, Storm's Heart was an amazing followup novel to Dragon Bound. It was a little slower actionwise making it more character and emotion based. I found Dragon Bound to be more of a 'stand out' novel than Storm's Heart but I think fans of the first book will devour this one like I did.

See my blog for quotes and my thoughts as I read: http://www.bittenbooks.com/2011/08/early-review-storms-heart-elder-races-2.html show less

This book is about a guy who turns into a big golden thunderbird and a (soon-to-be) faery queen falling in love, so obviously it's AMAZING.

Seriously though, this worked for me where sequels that follow tangential characters from the previous book usually don't because the protagonist of this novel had such completely different relationships with and opinions about characters from the first book than the protagonist of that one did. There's a lady who animorphs into a harpy, and the chick in the previous book HATED her, but she's one of the best friends of the lady in this book. Lotsa stuff like that. Fun fun fun.