Broken Soul

The European vampires are coming to town, and so of course, who does Leo want providing security? That would be Jane Yellowrock. But unfortunately, there’s something super creepy hiding in Leo’s basement, Jane’s being tailed, and there’s a terrible rainbow light dragon creature stalking them. Fun times.

As usual in a Faith Hunter novel, top notch world building, attention to detail in weaponry and complex battles. This one had an interesting focus on the changing relationships within Leo’s house as his Primo and other high positioned guards had changed over in the last book and I found that interpersonal drama mixed in with the blood drinking fascinating.

I ship Jane and Bruiser together more with every book. And of course show more I love the way the mystery surrounding who the villain of the book is always slowly unfolds with every chapter. Dragon light creatures. Vampire lore. European vamps. The ability to manipulate time. Jane’s going into her beast form… I was so impressed with how Faith Hunter tied all the pieces together to make the plot work. This was a super read!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

This book in the Jane Yellowrock series gave me something I've wanted for a long time: Jane and Beast truly cooperating and merging powers, while staying their individual selves. I'm glad they didn't merge entirely, because I enjoy the I/we of Beast and Beast's sly sense of humor when she plays jokes on Jane.

This book, far more than any other in the series, described the characters, including their races. It was cool to know I was right about Eli's looks--and nice to see that Jane's New Orleans is as diverse as New Orleans should be. As part of that, the author went into a bit more detail about the original vampires and their migrations, which was pretty cool.

Broken Soul
4.5 Stars

Jane Yellowrock has her hands full with her “temporary” position as Leo’s enforcer. Not only are the European Mithrins coming for a visit, but Satan’s Three are on the loose and there is a mysterious energy force stalking her. Things are also coming to ahead with her quasi-symbiotic connection to Beast and her uncertain relationship with Bruiser.

The best book in the series so far. The action is non-stop and Jane’s personal life is finally going in the right direction.

More details are forthcoming in several areas including the Sons of Darkness, the magical artifacts and the origins of Leo’s power. Jane’s abilities are also expanded on and there is finally some closure in her struggle for dominance with show more Beast.

In the romance department, Rick takes a back seat and it is looking like he is well on his way out, thank goodness! Bruiser, on the other hand, is front and center. The flirting and slow build up of heat between him and Jane finally comes to its natural conclusion and boy is it sexy and steamy!

Leo is up to his old tricks in more ways than one. He really needs to learn not to keep Jane out of the loop and his possessiveness is also getting out of hand. There is a surprising twist here whose outcome is not fully explored and may have consequences for Jane and Bruiser in the long term.

In sum, a fantastic addition to the series and I am eager to find out what happens next. show less

The Post in Which I Muse on the Series.

I dropped this series a few years back. Heavy on vampire politics and with a lead character who had a fair amount of romantic angst, it just wasn't consistently interesting. However, my cousin was looking for new reads and I started her out on the early books in this series (this is under the philosophy of being willing to have said books returned in less-than-perfect condition). She loved it so much that she bought the rest of the series--Hunter having finished it by then--and brought them back to me to read.

So here's the thing about series: they're very much the same. It was interesting to me to fall back into a story after a few years and feel very familiar with everything happening. In fact, show more the plot ended up reminding me very strongly of one of the first three book. So it was with mixed emotions that I read on: one, that I wouldn't have to invest much in my read; and two, that there probably wouldn't be very much that was challenging here.

Perhaps that's why we like series, because they offer a predictable world and story in a world that is neither predictable nor coherent. Depending on the author, you can be guaranteed the outcome; that the hero will live another day, that justice will triumph, that lower-level evil will be vanquished, that love will conquer all. I like series for these reasons too but I also want to feel like there is a greater sense of purpose (going back to that lack of parallel in the real world here...).

I'd be hard-pressed to find that in the Yellowrock series. Despite starting out as a contracted vamp-killer for hire, Jane, the lead, has morphed into a security consultant for the head vampire of the New Orleans area. As such, most of her job has surrounded detailed vampire politics. Apparently, Hunter is calling the upcoming visit of the European vampires her overarching series plot, because while I remember it from earlier books, it's brought up again here in context of a lot of security preparations. The series structure is pretty straightforward: contract to protect vamps. Preparations. Weird stuff happens. Protect vamps. Figure out weird stuff. Work with/fight vamps (there's always the troublesome ones). Fight extra-weird thing causing trouble. The End. The side plot usually seems to consist of Jane deciding who she wants to date, what she wants to wear on their date, the date, and then emotional fallout after the date.

It's pretty straightforward storytelling. Hunter is very competent at it, to be sure; I'd say far above average from what I remember of various forays into the genre. I do like that Jane is a determined, stubborn, and faithful character. I also enjoy the impact of the Beast character, and that seems to have been evolving in interesting ways. There's steady action in this book, which maybe keeps the reader from realizing that a lot of it is just that--action--and not actual steps towards solution. I felt like the New Orleans setting was used well, and had to laugh when at one point Jane mentions that the showers never got really cold.

I just don't care about imaginary politics; I'm troubled enough with real-life ones. There's also a bit more detail on guns and security issues, which is a non-interest for me. There's some magical computer hacking with a Kid Genius, which is always somewhat problematic for me (I mean, why introduce computer stuff as an issue if you are going to solve it with a talented hacker?). Jane's also only marginally improved on the emotional security front (one chapter end: "I've become a girl") which was somewhat distressing, although I appreciated the nod to the flippy skirt she bought and danced in in book one. And, as was normal for this series, there is a distressing lack of females. Jane prefers being 'one of the guys,' and her environment reflects that. She lives with two guys, the majority of the vamp team she works with are guys (except Leo's new second, so naturally, they have a conversation about Leo), and many of the women seem to see her as competition (Leo's second, Katie the vamp from book one). Her friend Jodi makes a brief appearance, as well as a woman from the government Psy division. So there are women scattered around the book; I think it's not problematic author portrayal as much as a character that is herself problematic. She continues to resent any soul-searching and only reaches out when she needs help.

I'll likely try the next, if only because it's sitting on my bookshelf, courtesy of my cousin. There can be a certain comfort in a decently written but non-demanding read. show less

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Jane finds herself in trouble again, with a light dragon and a deadly trio on her tail in this fast paced addition to the Jane Yellowrock series.

Opening Sentence: Visiting the Master of the City of New Orleans was always challenging, but it was worse when he was in a mood.

The Review:

Life has never been simple for Jane Yellowrock, and her current situation is no different. She keeps getting attacked by a light dragon, with no knowledge of what it really is or how to stop it. She’s being courted by Bruiser, and while interested, she’s still nursing some hurt left in Rick’s wake. She’s trying to prepare for the European vampires’ upcoming visit – and by prepare, we mean show more training in various fighting styles so she can handle all the duels that will be coming her way. To top it all off, a deadly trio known as Satan’s Three is in town, and they’re looking for Jane. Nothing is ever simple, is it?

I have never been so happy to be so wrong about a series after reading the first book. I was less than impressed with the first two books in this series, but I have since become a complete Jane Yellowrock convert. I can’t read these books fast enough. Thankfully, this book is no different. It’s fast paced, and full of all of the things I have come to love about this series.

First off, I adore Jane. I love how she so tough and yet vulnerable at the same time. She’s adjusted to having a family in the form of Eli and the Kid, and it’s great to see her so comfortable with them. I also love how her relationship with Beast has evolved over the course of the series. When the series first started, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about Beast and really didn’t like the parts that were narrated by her. As the books and their relationship has progressed, however, Beast’s appearances have come to be some of my favorite parts of the book. I’m very interested to see how their relationship continues to evolve.

I can’t do a review of a Jane Yellowrock book without mentioning Bruiser. To all Bruiser fans: our patience up to this point has been greatly rewarded in this installment. Greatly. Rewarded. There was plenty of Bruiser to go around in this one, and I am just so happy that we got to see so much of him. The exposure to him in this book just solidified my opinion that he is the best option for Jane in the Bruiser, Jane, Rick triangle.

As for the plot of the book itself, I have no complaints. It was fast paced – although it did take a bit to get underway, as is the case with many of the books in this series. Once the action picked up, it was a very hard book to put down. There were some developments that have me very interested to see what’s going to happen next. All in all, aside from the slow start, I have nothing but praise for this installment in the Jane Yellowrock series. If you haven’t started it yet, do yourself a favor, and get the first book in the series ASAP!

Notable Scene:

“I thought for a long time about how to approach you. I thought about jewelry, or a Harley. I have a beautiful, fully restored Indian I thought you might like. I thought about a piece of Cherokee pottery I have somewhere, packed away. But each of those things touches on only a part of you.”

I tilted my head, watching out hands, not his face. His hands were well formed, fingers slender and strong.

Not reacting in my silence, Bruiser went on. “I chose these things because they seemed to speak to the heart of you. To the deep darkness that is part of you. That still, lightless, solemn place where, I think, no one has ever gone.”

My hand tightened, ever so slightly, when he described me, the hidden me, the soul home where all that I was, and all that I am, and all that I might someday become, lived. My soul home, in the tribal fashion, was a cave, an empty cave, with water-smoothed rock walls, and a fire pit in the center.

“You have honor,” Bruiser said. “That is a rare quality in this world.” He lifted my hand and pressed my knuckles to his mouth. His lips were hot and firm on my icy flesh.

I was now breathing too fast and shallow and I felt the cold prickles of hyperventilation.

“Men don’t think to give you flowers,” he murmured, his lips moving on my skin before he let our hands drop, still clasped, “because you have the heart of a warrior. The soul of a priestess. The heat of a long-burning fire. But we should give you flowers, all of us, if for nothing but to share their wonderful fragrance and beauty.” He smiled slightly, his lips moving in my peripheral vision. His thumb stroked the skin on the back of my hand, once, twice, slowly. “That is why the flowers. The catnip, that quiet, delightful scent, is for your beast, the cat I saw you become, one night.”

I pulled in a slow, nearly painful breath. Smelling the catnip.

Inside, Beast rolled over, paws in the air, and purred.

FTC Advisory: Roc/Penguin provided me with a copy of Broken Soul. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. show less

My favorite so far - Bruiser is the main star bumper, but there's also a finally sock it to Leo. Beyond that, there's a great and twisted story involved, an amusing scene with Soul that had me laughing. Jane learns some new tricks - actually several - and becomes even more valuable. I do think the Warrior Woman stuff is a bit hokey, but Jane has learned much more about herself and making peace. The 'cases' she worked on were also fascinating and stayed interesting.

The primary focus of this series, for me, has never been Janes love life and I would not place it in the romance genre for that reason. For this reason Jane's underwhelming love interests have not been a huge issue for me up to now. Never-the-less, I've always thought it was a bit sad that Jane always seems to be an outsider as far as relationships go, Molly and Evan, Eli and what's her face and now Rick and Paka. I keep hoping Jane will find some happiness of her own but then she keeps falling for weak men. More than in any other book this issue bugged me in this one. Bruiser, even after he makes his grand gesture of independence from Leo, yet again shows us he is totally Leo's b***h. The action, the mystery, the continuing political show more machinations of the vamps are all great contributors to the overall plot of Broken Soul. Janes lack lustre love life is the only thing dragging it down. Be it Leo or someone new, Jane needs a love interest who is her equal in strength, which means he's not going to bend over and take it every time Leo has a hissy fit. show less