Scorched (Dark Forgotten Series #2)

Story with a little love with its paranormal.

I read Ravenous before I started reviewing, so I did't do a review for it. Do you need to read it before this book? No, I don't think you do. You could if you would like to get just a little bit more idea of the background but I don't think it is needed to get into this story.

Mac returns to Fairview a year after the big show-down, which killed the female demon who made him the demon he is now - or what is left after Holly Carvers' spell that left him strong as his demon and very hungry but not able to eat human souls. Alessandro Caravelli has been waiting Macs return... to kill him, as punishment for his involvement with the demons against all other supernatural creatures trying to live peacefully with the humans and against the humans as well.

Alessandro seems to have softened some with living off his love with Holly now as apposed to feeding on blood, and puts Mac in the Castle - a supernatural prison. In the Castle Mac learns more of the Castle and its inhabitants along with finding a case that calls to his human nature. The Castle itself is in danger of failing. I start to feel for Mac in this book. He is just an innocent man who got mixed up with the wrong girl in the last book and now has to suffer as an unwanted demon. But Mac starts to find his way.

There is not as much in this book with Holly and Alessandro. These two are a wonderful couple (witch and vampire) and I really started loving them in Ravenous. You do get to meet Ashe, Hollys' sister. Now, you thought you had it bad with the in-laws? Try being Alessandro, living with probably the most powerful witch to live from a family of witches and her sister... being a vampire slayer.

I really enjoyed the tremendous amount of possible angles to the storyline here in the beginning. There was a good bit thought to happen with five great characters storylines. I really enjoyed getting all the different views in the beginning. Then, getting into the book it seemed to slow down in the storyline for me. It seemed that Holly, Alessandro, and Ashe got put on the back burner with Mac and Constance being the front line of the story. Which I loved learning about this couple, but I would have liked more from the others.

It was also given that the Castle is a very dangerous place, but I was expecting more from the Castle than I got. Then I got to the last seventy to eighty pages and the story picked up wonderfully again. I got here what I wanted from the Castle and got to have my favorite characters in the action as well.

The couple Mac and Constance was hard for me to accept at first with the way they got together. It seemed a little rushed or pushed, but by the end of the book they were perfect together.

In the end of the book I loved all the characters and all seems great... for a time. There is an opening to go into a book three. I will pick up book three because I have liked these characters again and the author has left me with hope for book three to have great possibilities.

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Good journey to HEA

Mobi/Paranormal Romance: This is book two of the Dark Forgotten series. It was slow in a few spots, but there were many parts that really kept me reading. I thought the story would continue with Holly and Alessandro (book 1), but instead it is the story of Mac. After being a "sorta demon" for the past year, he finds himself changing for the worse after entering the Castle again. I like when I get hints from an author of how the book is probably going to end, and then I guessed completely wrong. When an author does not take the easy way out, it shows a courtesy to the reader. I say this because I have read a lot of easy endings lately. Yes, this is HEA, it's a romance novel, but when the journey to the end takes lots of unexpected turns, it makes my good list.

Excellent read a must read

Excellent follow up to the other books in this series. Paranormal/urban romance rocks. Sharon Ashwood is one of my favorite authors, bring it on!

Hot, Fun and Exciting!

In Sharon Ashwood's previous book, Ravenous: The Dark Forgotten, Detective Conall Macmillan ended up losing his job, most of his soul, definitely his dignity and we weren't sure, but perhaps his life. All this happens because of Macmillan's particularly nasty lover-- literally a demon lover. This book, Scorched, picks up with Macmillan taking stock of what's left of his friends and home. And particularly what is he going to do next. It doesn't take him long before trouble finds him again in the form of a lovely, innocent, but certainly not helpless vampire who needs help in rescuing her son. Mac finds himself in the Castle, a supernatural prison, once again. There he not only faces a powerful foe but finds out a dark and dangerous secret about himself.

I really enjoyed the character of Mac. He is a fun, down to earth, and definitely not without appeal on the heroic front. The heroine, Constance, is believable, innocent but not without self awareness and strength. These two characters do as those of a good book should -- grow and evolve as they complete their adventures, but in the end you can still see them together. I was struck again by Ashwood's ability to create an excellent, smooth and sustainable plot. A great book to loose yourself in by the fireside!

Scorched

I recommend your read the previous book Ravenous, before reading this book. I categorize this book and series as a romantic urban fantasy. At first I thought this installment was going the way of romance but I couldn't have been more wrong. While this installment does mirror romance on the level that it has certain main characters and they each get their own turn during each installment for love. Also, as with most romances, the story was pretty predictable and in addition, the person in place to be Mac's love interest was obvious as well. That being said, the author did a great job of hybridizing the different formats and elements from both urban fantasy and paranormal romance. The story picks up a year from where Ravenous leaves off. Detective Connall Macmillian has been struggling to recover from his date and mistress from hell! No one likes to contract an infection on their first date; however, one year ago, Mac's date intentionally infected him with the essence of a soul-eating demon. Suddenly his life went from being on the job and being of service to the community and enjoying life, to suddenly getting the craving for sucking out human life. Fast forward one year later, Mac is a wanted demon possessed criminal on the lam. Unfortunately for Mac, Alessandro Caravelli, the sheriff of the supernatural community has finally caught up with him and dumps him in the Castle. The Castle is a prison for the supernatural community. It houses/incarcerates the world's worst supernatural beings and over time has become the worlds dark forgotten. To Mac the Castle is a death sentence, until he realizes his luck has finally changed, because he meets and falls in love with Constance. Constance is a vampire who is also incarcerated at the Castle, whose incubus son has been kidnapped by the guards of the castle for their own nefarious reasons. Seeing Constance in such distress gives Mac a reason to be needed again. He finally sees that being half demon isn't a curse but can be a blessing if he uses his new talents to service others. In this dark world that Sharon has created, magic exist and loads of supernaturals have come out of the closet to the public. As with all things different, human beings in all their predictable glory allow the supernatural community to attempt to assimilate into human society but only as second class citizens. As a result of this oppression to the supernatural communityI judged this book solely on its entertainment factor alone. I completely enjoyed it and it kept me thoroughly engrossed from beginning to end. There were plenty of parts in this book that were just laugh-out-loud funny! I highly recommend this book to fellow dark urban readers and look forward to the next book Unchained due out 7/6/2010.

The second Dark Forgotten urban fantasy is a terrific thriller

Former detective Connall "Mac" Macmillan honestly can say he was on the date from hell; in fact it went so bad he was turned into a demon. He prays all the time to regain his humanity and being able to destroy Geneva the demon was a large step at regaining what he lost.

However Alessandro Caravelli the vampire distrusts the demi-demon so incarcerates him in the Castle, a prison with magical bars. For centuries Constance the vampire has resided at the Castle where she served Atreus the sorcerer who recently has gone insane. When the guards kidnap her adopted son, she pleads with Mac to find and rescue him. Unable to resist her, Mac investigates inside the prison he reluctantly with no choice calls home, but he begins to find clues that something is not right at the Castle and unless rectified many will die.

The second Dark Forgotten urban fantasy is a terrific thriller as Mac goes from the bad that happened to him in Ravenous to the ugly of being Scorched in a magical prison. The key to this super tale is his investigation inside the realm of magic as fans will want to join his escapades. Sharon Ashwood provides a super saga leaving the audience what next will befall Mac.

Harriet Klausner

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