Her breathless kiss haunts him.Genre: Paranormal romance
Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan was nearly destroyed when he lost the one woman meant for him. The ruthless warrior grew even colder, never taking another to his bed—until a smoldering encounter with his enemy, Mariketa the Awaited, reawakens his darkest desires. When sinister forces unite against her, the Highlander finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive.
His slow, hot touch is irresistible.
Temporarily stripped of her powers, Mari is forced to take refuge with her sworn adversary. It’s rumored that no one can tempt Bowen’s hardened heart, but soon passion burns between them. Though a future together is impossible, she fears he has no intention of letting her go.
No deed is too wicked for her seduction.
If they defeat the evil that surrounds them, can Mari deny Bowen when he demands her body and soul—or will she risk everything for her fierce protector?
Series: The Immortals After Dark series, book #3
I wasn’t going to buy this book. Really. I read the first two books of the series, A Hunger Like no Other and No Rest for the Wicked, and I have to say something about them bothered me and I didn’t particularly like the main characters for both books… So there, I was going to stop another series. Then, I walked in the bookstore and saw this book almost two weeks before its release date! But no, I said, I was going to stop this series… till I glanced at the price, only 7.99$ Wow, that’s 2$ less than usual… and I also knew that some persons were really anticipating this book (ahem, Cindy) and that this book would be showing up on blogland... and that’s how I ended up buying it.
It was definitively a good buy. Although there are so many paranormal series out there, I liked the world that Ms Cole has created and think it is quite unique. Part of its uniqueness is due to the paranormal beings she chose which includes Valkyries (kind of like Amazon), elves and other creatures that we are less accustomed to see and also the fact that they are all immortals. Because of their immortality, many characters seem to not have adapted to the modern world and so, there is a very primitive feel to the books.
So onto Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night; the story actually overlaps with the timeline of No Rest for the Wicked, which is something unusual, but interesting. Our two main characters, Bowen MacRieve (a Lykae) and Mariketa (a witch) are participating to the Hie, some kind of supernatural Amazing Race. Bowen covets the final prize: a key that allows to go back in the past twice which he would use to go back in time and save his mate, while Mariketa wants to prove herself… See, Mariketa is the Awaited… Awaited for what, no one really knows, but she has incredible amount of power and is a witch of the 5 castes (kind of like branches such as healing branch, warrior branch, enchantment branch, etc.) which is really rare; however, she doesn’t have control over her magic and 99 out of 100 times she uses her magic, she ends up blowing thing. Thus, she wants to prove herself to her coven and her friends that she is worthy to be the Awaited one… The only problem is that the Hie is extremely dangerous, especially when you’re still mortal. See, Mariketa is only 23 years old and she hasn’t transitioned from mortal to immortal yet, but no one knows. So when Bowen traps her along with two demons and 3 elves in a Mayan temple, she’s in big trouble… especially from the incubi that have been jailed there for centuries.
I’m not going to go into more details about the plot although I want to. All I have to say is that I really enjoyed the book, especially the beginning. The storyline was interesting and clever. I also enjoyed the characters of this book a lot. We’ve already been introduced to Bowen in the previous book… he’s a bitter and violent Lykae, having lost his mate and all. He’s also ruthless, dominating, violent… and it works. I mean, I wouldn’t want him as my mate, but I understand where it comes from. First, he’s lykae… he’s also lost his mate and has lived hundreds of years of celibacy. However, we see him soften up a little throughout the book and I’ve come to like him. As for Mariketa, I really enjoyed her. She’s fun, witty and tough, but not too tough. She’s able to handle herself against Bowen, which, seriously, is admirable. Bowen and Mariketa match well also, even if they are very different, and their relationship is like a roller-coaster. Like Rosie said, seeing the issue of age (1400 y.o. vs. 23 y.o.) being addressed was also interesting... The secondary characters were well developped and recurring characters appeared, all without taking over the books.
My only complaint is when Bowen finally considers that perhaps Mariketa is his mate, he finally gives in and want to have sex with Mariketa... I found that part draggy. Also, I didn't really care for the sexual tension and sex scenes. I don't really like Ms Cole's sex scenes; I think it's because they also somehow feel primitive... not in a bad way, but just not my style. That aside, the beginning and ending of the book were strong with a good plot and characters, so it made up for it.
Grade: B+
