N. Isabelle Blanco

This author could rewrite the phone book and I would read it. This was just another example of why she is an automatic one-click author for me. PNR romance is usually pretty hit and miss for me, mainly miss, because I struggle with it seeming authentic. I realize it is fiction but for some reason, I need to feel like it could happen in the real-life world. The author gave me that in this book. I found myself lost in the location and the whole New Orleans hoodoo voodoo feel of it.

Hot steamy times, an intriguing premise, and chemistry galore gave this book all the thrills that I could have wanted. I didn't want it to end. There were also some great secondary characters that made me want to dive further into because they had something to them as well. Rumor has it that there might be a story coming for them in the near future and I am here for that as well.… (mer)

This series gives me purpose.

**Updated 4/26**

I reread this in order to read the extended chapters that would tie this book fully into the Ryze series. These chapters really enhanced the book and blended well with the world-building of it. I appreciated that. It gives me an idea of what is to come with Ryze 4. This new version of this story has me jonesing for more of this world. There is a reason that it is my favorite series.

The moment this baby dropped on my kindle I stopped what I was doing. The television was turned off, I logged out of all social media, ignored my son (he is an adult so don't think less of me), and just grabbed the bottle of wine and sat it down next to me so that I wouldn't have to get up because I KNEW that all real-world or things that needed me to adult would be out the window. I was right for having done this because this book is EVERYTHING.



I had the pleasure of reading a large chunk of this in Beta but that didn't stop me from starting at the beginning and reading it as if it was new. The formatting is stunning, and the book was even better than I was expecting even though I had read parts of it. For anyone that has not beta read, I cannot express how hard it is to only get parts at a time. I swear, this author is the devil and I was at the crossroads about to promise her my eternal soul (and my son-- although to be fair he loves her more than he loves me so that was a sacrifice that I was willing to make) for her to give me this book in its entirety. On the plus side of reading this in snippets, it gave me the chance to see how this author goes about the process, and to say that I was in awe of her mind would be an understatement of epic proportions.



This powerful couple has a history. I felt for both of them. Kles for his guilt and trying to come to grips with what was slowly taking over him. Meg, for the horrors that she went through and for the betrayal that she felt. There was a lot of crap that they went through due to the actions of others. It made me posit whether if the Gods were in fact real if they would have deserved the reverence that was bestowed on them. It feels like the ones that should have been good were, in fact, bad and that the ones that were considered bad were only that way because of the ministrations of the "good" ones. This is yet, another reason that this author knocks me on my derrière because she makes me think, truly THINK.



From the very first book of this series to this one I have been in awe of the world-building and blending of Gods and Goddesses in the modern world. Time is not how it is felt in the real world. Things are happening that have an almost Butterfly effect. There is a certain pattern or plan that is unfolding and just like every season has a reason so too do the characters in this book. Some of the characters we have seen with books of their own, others, just as side characters who have yet to have their purpose uncovered or planned, and some like Kles and Meg that are just now coming into play but that still have such pivotal roles in the future. As I said, I am in awe that this series does what it does. I am not sure if the author had always intended to write the characters of Meg and Kles, or if they were just written to be a part of the Sinister Fairy Tales collection and she manipulated them into the story to kill two birds with one stone. I cannot imagine them NOT being a part of this series now that I have read it but if she just did work them into the timeline then that makes me even more awestruck than I was.

Watching these two characters navigate through everything in order to find their truth, possible redemption, and possible forgiveness/acceptance was raw and believable. The dialogue, banter, hatred, desire, and the connection was intense and worth it. Sweet lord, the anticipation leading up to the character's steamy moments (which were FIRE) made the story even more enticing. Add in suspense, action, mind games from a certain God, and appearances from a few other characters made this another 5 star read. It paved the way for the next book to continue and I cannot wait to see what happens next. I did not want this story to end, not that I ever do, and will leave me thinking of possible theories for months to come as I try and figure out the endgame. Well Done.… (mer)

4.5 stars

I have read this book twice now and can say that it is even better the second time around. The first time had a lot of new writer errors that I was able to overlook because of it being a new foray into writing. This book has been rewritten and revised and all the early errors that I found were no longer there. I was able to see how far her skill has come as she has progressed in her time as an author. That was thrilling to me because, as someone who pursued a degree in literature knows, nothing is ever finite in writing. It is always evolving and a writer will always grow from the things that they change and learn.

This book reminded me in many ways of the old movie, Indecent Proposal. Even though there were differences in the storyline, the obsession that Chase felt for Aria was much the same. Chase had the world at his feet and none of it mattered, in this case, the millions of dollars that Douglas had stolen, because in his eyes, Aria was worth whatever it took. I liked that aspect of his characterization. He was charismatic and not afraid to show every facet of what made him tick without thought as to how that could be perceived. Aria was an enigma to me. On one hand, I was sympathetic to what she had experienced married to Douglas. However, it was harder for me to understand why she wasn't able to let those feelings go once she discovered everything that Douglas had done in their marriage and not think the worse of Chase. After reading this a second time though, I realized that I was being a tad hard on her character. I think that she was consumed by the powerful man that Chase was. I think she acted out the way that she did because she needed to rediscover herself without being consumed by everything that was Chase.

I look forward to what is in store for these characters in the conclusion that will be coming this fall. I have a funny feeling that things are going to not go as smoothly as I would like and that Douglas is not going to just fade away.… (mer)