Friday, February 25, 2011

Love Immortal by Felicity Heaton

4 Stars


We've all struggled with feeling out of place at some point in our lives. Now imagine being saved from a werewolf by a gorgeous man—who then explains you're a reincarnated goddess he has protected for three millennia. Oh, and your destiny is to kill the first and most powerful werewolf, before he destroys Olympus.

Oh, yeah. We're talking big story here.

I love the way Ms. Heaton weaves classical mythology with urban myth, to create a preternatural world, hidden within an everyday existence. This combination makes the heroine's life anything but ordinary. Lauren must face the outlandish claims, accept the proof her savior Julian provides, and ready herself for a battle that will end in certain death for some of its warriors.

The nearly 700-page novel certainly provided the canvas to show Lauren's journey toward discovering her inner strength, finding true love, and fulfilling her destiny. Julian's character is *swooning*a fantastic combination of emotional vulnerability, physical perfection, and deadly skilled protector.

Any woman in her right mind would recognize Julian's amazing qualities, the feelings he stirs and act on them, right? Well, Lauren does…eventually. The sensual tension between our main characters scorches the page. Unfortunately, they don't work out their insecurities and satisfy their (and the reader's) need to consummate their bond until around 600 pages into the story.

Lauren's character is a strong, caring woman that inspires others in her world to fight for what is right. The reader roots for her to succeed on this journey, but is left with an almost perpetual feeling of waiting—for the moment she and Julian resolve their issues, for the ultimate battle to finally occur.

And therein lies the only issue I have with LOVE IMMORTAL. The story took too long to happen. Some information was repeated initially, but for the most part the extra details dragged the story out. Don't get me wrong, this is a good read. For me, I think in this instance less would have been more—making it a great book.

Having said that, anyone that loves sweeping paranormals will enjoy the book. And after becoming acquainted with Ms. Heaton's voice and storytelling skills, I'm sure I will enjoy her other works as well.

This review originally written for The Romance Reviews.

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