Tempest's Legacy

Half-selkie Jane True is struggling for balance in her life. Balance between her human and selkie sides, balance between the normal world and the supernatural, balance in her relationship with bad boy baobhan sith Ryu. When her old friend and secret lust Anyan arrives bearing terrible news, Jane's entire world falls apart. Even worse, one of the most powerful supernaturals, Jarl, continues to target Jane and those close to her. Jane is sick of being a passive little seal waiting to be clubbed. This time, she's ready to wield the club herself.

This third book had a lot of surprising twists and turns and I was surprised by the darkness at some points. Jane really goes through hell, and Peeler handles it in an adept manner. I especially show more like the twists in the romantic subplot. Ryu isn't a bad sort, but he is very selfish, and I'm really glad that Jane is attuned to that. Her attraction to Anyan makes perfect sense and the book is really more fun with that romantic temptation instead of Ryu and Jane just falling into bed at every opportunity (not that that was a bad thing--Peeler creates some fabulous, laugh-out-loud sex scenes). show less

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A smart yet darker adventure for our young half-selkie. This one displays a different take on the supernatural community and its citizens than Jane has seen before.

Opening Sentence: I love it when people pre-laugh at their own jokes.

The Review:

Tempest’s Legacy, the third book in the Jane True series, is progressively darker than the previous books were. Don’t get me wrong, there are still lots of quippy remarks and funny internal dialog to enjoy. But this book is centered on the hunt for the person (or persons) that murdered Jane’s mother; a very serious action.

Jane True is still a small town girl. She enjoys hanging out with her friends and working at the bookstore. Even show more though her mother left her and her father when she was very young, Jane’s introduction into the supernatural community has led her to rekindle her hope to see her mother again. When Anyan arrives with news of her murder, Jane is determined to find and punish whoever did this heinous deed. Anyan, Ryu and the gang set out toward the Borderlands, land not ruled over by the Alfar, for more information. What they discover there will change Jane’s view of the supernatural world forever; fertility clinics that are covers for torturing and killing both halfings and the purebloods that gave birth to them. Can a half-selkie make a difference in the face of such obvious cruelty?

Jane’s training is coming along. She is competent in defensive magic (shielding) but she still struggles with offensive (mage balls of doom). Oddly, it is Anyan that helps her better understand how magic works. Is it because he has such strong feelings for her that he is able to understand her better? Or is it because Jane is more receptive to Anyan’s critiques because she has a middle-school-style crush on him? Will there be more to them in the future and how will the vampire ex-boyfriend, Ryu, take that?

The thing that separates this book from the others is Jane’s new darker side. Her fury and anger towards her mother’s death is a far cry from the lovable and easy going girl we have seen up to this point. These new darker emotions circle around her enemy, Jarl. Admittedly, the Alfar’s indifference to halflings and their “rightful place” has never sat well with Jane. But when she is exposed to his hatred and deliberate cruelty of her kind, she is put on a path that will lead to a final showdown between the two of them; Jarl representing the status quo in the supernatural world and Jane representing the halflings and their rights. But is this really just a local problem, or are the implications between these factions much more global than anyone anticipated?

The readers are also introduced to several new characters in this book. In the Borderlands, halflings are not considered secondary citizens. We get to meet a group of halflings that are strong, sexy, and confident in their place in the world; the Triptich group of Capitola, Shar, and Emuishere. These ladies are in charge of helping out Jane and her group with getting to the bottom of these murders. Jane and Julian, another halfling, get to see another way of life for supernaturals like themselves. The differences in treatment have a profound effect on the both of them. Can they go back to being considered less when there are places out there that don’t?

The other new character that is introduced is slightly vague. Jane calls her Blondie and she has powers that none of them have seen before. What does this mean that she is so willing to help out Jane against her enemies? What is this person’s true motivations? I really hope that we learn more about her in the future.

As dark as this book is, I still really enjoyed it. It stayed true to Jane’s character while allowing her growth and development. As always, Jane’s raunchy mind and accident-proneness make for a delightful read.

Notable Scene:

“Well, I’m not the only one who enjoys the view,” he said, eyeing me pointedly. Just like him, I was about to protest, when I realized it would do no good.

“It’s true. You’ve got me.” I giggled. “I can’t help it.”

“I know. Those thighs.”

“Oh, those thighs.” I groaned in agreement. “And that keister.”

“Oh, yes,” Julian murmured as we both turned to stare with appreciative eyes at Anyan. “And let’s not forget that…”

“Package!” came a loud shout from the doorway, causing Julian and me nearly to jump out of our skins. We looked at each other with wild eyes.

“Package! I’m here to collect a package?” the voice shouted again, revealing a woman standing in the doorway and wearing some sort of delivery-service uniform.

Julian and I looked from her, to each other, to Anyan, before bursting into hysterical laughter.

FTC Advisory: I purchased my own copy of Tempest’s Legacy. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. The only payments I receive are hugs and kisses from my little boys. show less

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:
www.allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com

I had mixed feelings throughout this book, but not because of the characters or the writing. Simply put, this is a dark book for the Jane True series, with difficult subjects and situations. Therefore, it evoked a mixed bag of emotional reactions. I still laughed at Jane, admired her relationship sense, and enjoyed her developing powers, but I already hated Jarl so much before this book even began, reading this installment in the series was difficult. Fans of Jane will not be disappointed, and Peeler doesn't toy with our emotions when it comes to love triangles or super-villains, but I don't think I'm going to be unequivocally happy with the series until I show more read a book with Jarl's blood on the pages.

TEMPEST’S LEGACY opens a month after Jane and Ryu’s break-up. Very few relationships end with a clean break and unblurred margins, and Jane and Ryu’s is realistic in the most painful sense. The doubts, emotions, and make-up/break-up cycles are familiar parts of a relationships ending (or just taking “a break,” which brings the emotional rollercoaster back to “doubts”). I never felt like Peeler crossed the line to melodrama, but she writes very realistically about a painful subject, and succeeded in bringing my own emotions to the foreground.

Jane’s attraction to Anyan was another well-written, tense subject, and I have to say Peeler writes the best uncertain crush I’ve read in a long, long time. Jane is never sure of the nature of Anyan’s affection (and seeing as how the man prefers to hang out around Jane as a hellhound, I think her confusion is reasonable). The chemistry and uncertainty with Anyan kept me going through the dark parts of the book, just as Anyan himself supports Jane.

By “dark parts,” I’m not referring to Jane’s break up with Ryu. Jane’s ability to navigate relationships, while not without slip ups, is a pleasure to read. While I don’t want to offer any spoilers, this book contains genuine grief, loss, and despicable cruelty. Even writing about it euphemistically gets my teeth clenching and heart rate up. Seriously, Jarl needs to die. Slowly. All of the over the top wonderful aspects of this book were necessary to carry me past how much I loath Jarl and am completely impatient for his messy demise.

The further I read into the Jane True series, the more impressed I am by Peeler’s deft writing and emotionally savvy plot lines. She has created a world that I would like to live in (despite the despicable Alfar), and a cast of characters I would love to be friends with. Finishing this book would have been easier if I could have rush right into EYE OF THE TEMPEST, but Jane and her friends have given me enough to hang on to until August.

Sexual Content: Explicit sex, threats of rape, descriptions of rape. show less

Not sure why I marked this a a DNF last year. My panties must have been in a serious wad because this was a good one. I feel like I should apologize to someone, but I'll just move on to the next one in the series.

Favorite Quotes:

"She must have been a good six feet tall, and she and the barghest fit together perfectly. I only fit with oompa-loompas, I thought sadly.

"I’d never been on a motorcycle before, but, after a moment or two of fear, I decided I liked it. Really liked it. We like it, too, my thighs purred"

This is the third book in the Jane True series by Nicole Peeler; right now Peeler has six books contracted in this series. I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley.com. This book was an absolutely fantastic addition to the series, I loved it a lot. It is funny, broadens the story a lot, Jane really grows as a character and there is more Anyan. I do have a warning for readers who are into this series coming from the paranormal romance angle; this book is definitely more of an urban fantasy. In the previous books there were a lot (a lot, a lot) of hot scenes between Jane and Ryu, in this book the romance is mostly absent. So if you are reading it for the hot scenes beware that is not really what this book is about.

This book starts show more off with Jane training with Nell about how to throw those mage balls she has so much trouble with. Then Anyan arrives with some horrible news, Jane's mother has been kidnapped. Now Jane didn't really know her mom, but she was really hoping to know her someday so this pretty much destroys Jane. Now Jane wants to be in on the lab investigations more than anything, mostly to revenge her mother's death. Jane joins Anyan, Ryu and team in investigating these horrible labs where supernatural women are being experimented on and killed. The investigation will take Jane into the Borderlands and back. Jane will learn a lot about her past and be confronted with a lot of horrible things she has to deal with.

This was a really great book, but it was by far the darkest book in the series and was more of an investigative urban fantasy than anything else. To be honest I enjoyed this book more than any of the previous books, but then I am a huge urban fantasy fan and the lack of romance didn't bother me. Jane has to go through some horrible things and she is confronted with murder and torture at every turn; so there are definitely some heart wrenching parts to this book. That being said it isn't all death and torture; Jane remains her realistic, goofy self and had me laughing out loud a number of times. This is still a fun book to read, it just isn't as light and fluffy as previous books...it deals with some heavy, painful stuff.

I absolutely loved that Jane is getting her power under control and that she has to train to do it. I hate it when heroines get supernatural powers and instantly just know what to do! I love that Jane is having to work hard and practice in order to figure out how to get her powers to work the way she wants too. I also loved that we spend more time with Anyan. Ryu always bothered me a bit because he was just too smooth, Anyan feels so much more real to me. Anyan and Jane have good chemistry, but their relationship remains....frustrating.

I also love that we got to go into the Borderlands in this book. It introduces us to a wonderful new set of characters and a wonderful alternate lifestyle for the supernaturals. We also are introduced to an ancient and powerful supernatural race that wasn't in the earlier books.

The book ends well wrapping up the main storyline in this book. There are a number of surprising plot twists towards the end that will surprise the reader and these twists open up some major story-lines for the next book. Even though it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, I was dying to know what happens next to Jane and crew.

Overall this was an absolutely wonderful addition to the series. It really takes the series to a whole new level. This book wasn't as fluffy and funny as the previous books, the fun was still there but it was tempered with desperate situations and dark happenings. I loved this book, definitely check out this series if you are a fan of urban fantasy with humor laced throughout. It features a normal girl with extraordinary magic, that you can't help but love. Now I am on pins and needles waiting for the fourth book, Eye of the Tempest, to come out! show less

4 ½ Stars

This review is also published at http://thebookaholiccat.com

Jane True Series is one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series. I love Ms. Peeler's smart writing style and with Tempest Legacy she does not disappoint us.

Tempest Legacy starts a couple of months after the events in Tracking the Tempest. Jane has recovered and has continued with her magic training. She is more adept with its use now.
Anyan returns to Rockabill, and gives Jane some devastating news. Jane demands him to let her participate in his current investigation of some clinics, in which Halflings and Pureblood women are being used for horrific experiments.
This investigation takes them to the Borderlands where we are introduced with new and very interesting show more characters. The Borderlands is a place where the Alfar ruling doesn’t have any power and where Halflings are accepted as equals and can live without the stigma of not being pureblood.
During this investigation, Jane is confronted with difficult emotional situations. Not just in regards to the case but in a more personal level. She is force to make hard decisions that could lead to serious consequences.

I was amazed with the transformation Jane had in this book. Comparing the Jane in Tempest Rising to this new and kick-ass Jane, she is a completely different person, in a good way. She has learned to control her magic, now she has power and she is not helpless anymore. This new Jane trusts herself more, making her a more confident woman without losing the witty side of her that I adore.
We also see her grown emotionally, now she knows what she wants, what she needs and what is good for her. She also realizes who is the right person for her; seeing her coming to terms to this revelation was also very amusing.
One of the things I enjoyed the most in this book were Jane’s conversations with her libido. Sometimes her libido had so much presence that it felt almost as if it was a character in its own way.

We see a different facet of Anyan in this book, a more real and more approachable. He proves us even more that he cares deeply for Jane. In this book he is the one that keeps Jane grounded and in the difficult times he is the one that keeps her “Jane”.
My favorite scene is this book is almost at the end of the book, it’s with Jane and Anyan after a big event, this scene was so emotionally charged that if I had any doubts about Anyan they were completely extinguished after this.

Ryu is going through a difficult time, he doesn’t want to accept Jane’s decision (Tracking the Tempest), he thinks he knows what is best for her, but in reality he doesn’t know her a bit. He is a little bit lost in this book, emotionally he is dealing with Jane’s decision, he’s also out of his element while working in the Borderlands. He is used to be in control and it doesn’t go well with him when he founds himself depending on others.

The supporting characters in this book are a great addition to the plot. I loved all we learned about Julian, I loved seeing him taking responsibility for his life when making a great decision.
I loved the new characters from the Borderlands. And I hope to see more of them in the future books.
We are also introduced to a very mysterious character that has an interest in Jane. I guess she will be a big player in the next installment, Eye of the Tempest.

Tempest Legacy is a great complement to a great series. This is one of those books in which the pages flow without you even realizing it. When you notice is almost midnight and you don’t want to put it away. You start to say to yourself repeatedly “just one more chapter and I go to bed” until is three in the morning and you had finished the book. This book is that good. Ms. Peeler has done it again.
I can’t wait to read Eye of the Tempest.

If you like Urban Fantasy you HAVE to read this series, and read the books in order. I guarantee you won’t regret it. show less

Book three in Peeler's epic about the selkie girl Jane True picks up right where the second book ended; in a dark place that is going to get darker before it gets better. Besides getting to the bottom of the horrific medical experiments conducted on magical beings, and the real powers behind these acts, Jane is going to spend more time sorting out just what her life can be; let's just say that the cute cover art of the American edition is probably ever less appropriate for the series.