this review is for a book I read in LAST year's challenge but I never got around to writing and posting the review before now.
Performed by Gabrielle de Cuir and Stefan Rudnicki
Harlequin Enterprises/Silhouette Nocturne #19/Audible
Category Romance
Paranormal Romance/Dark Fantasy
Unabridged Audio Book
Rating: 3
Mercy Raintree is the guardian of the Raintree Sanctuary and hopes to keep the secret of her daughter from her daughter's father. But war is coming and soon the secret will be out. Mercy's daughter is the child of Judah Ansara, dranir of the Ansara clan and Mercy's blood rival.
As the solstice grows ever closer, tension between the clans heats up and Mercy finds the safety of her clan, and of her daughter, is in imminent danger. Will Judah be successful in wiping out all of the Raintrees or will his passion for Mercy and their daughter become his salvation?
I enjoyed Sanctuary through most of the book, happy to see the action really pick up as Judah’s brother Cael becomes more desperate to take over the clan. I also loved Mercy in the beginning, admiring her for her quiet inner strength and her fierce dedication to the protection of her family, her daughter, and their sanctuary. I found myself easily understanding what it was about Judah that Mercy loved. I wasn’t especially fond of Eve’s personality, as she had a tendency to get on my nerves, though I was highly impressed at the talents she so easily wielded at such a young age.
My enjoyment however, came to a screeching halt in one particular scene. Here, Judah does something to Mercy that is unforgivable to most women. What was worse though, was that I totally and completely lost respect for Mercy in the same scene and from there on, I was unable to empathize with her anymore. While I had a stronger reaction to Dante’s treatment of Lorna in Inferno, Judah’s behavior wasn’t much better in this one scene. This ruined the whole book for me and from there on it was very difficult to finish. Such a shame too because Sanctuary was shaping up to be a fantastic book until then.
As a whole, I was disappointed in the Raintree trilogy, only truly liking Haunted, the middle book. I was happy to see the resolution to the entire story arc and liked the way the ultimate story ended, but as individual stories, I felt the series was sorely lacking.
© Kelley A. Hartsell March 2008. All rights reserved.
