The Darkest Day

Immortal Heat #1

by Britt Bury

ALL-CONSUMING DESIRE . . . Izel Campbell was raised to believe she is an immortal Fionn with the magical skills of persuasion. But when she travels to Scotland to visit her ancestral home, Izel discovers that she is actually the world's last living human. Forced to run for her life, Izel crosses paths with Kelvin Kerr, the Campbells' greatest foe-and the most magnificent warrior she has ever seen.BURNS BRIGHTEST . . .A thousand-year-old battle chief of the Kerr clan, Kelvin lives only to avenge his father, who died at the hands of the bloody Campbells. Honor demands he kill the Campbell heir, but when he learns that the lovely Izel is both Campbell and human, Kelvin is torn between duty and desire . . . ON THE DARKEST DAY Word 86,000. This is Book 1 in The Immortal Heat series.

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Magic, Fantasy, Vampires, Demons

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2012

About the author

Britt Bury writes paranormal romance where the immortals are fierce, the stakes are high, and desire can be deadly.
Britt was raised in Corvallis, Oregon and attended Oregon State University majoring in Liberal Studies. When her dream of being a professional karaoke star and Elvis impersonator didn’t pan out, she turned to writing. She currently lives in the Silicon Valley with her brilliant husband, two sons and an obscene amount of fish.

Britt's first paranormal romance releases July 2012 with Grand Central's imprint: Forever Yours. Britt is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

Reviews

[♡Karlyn P♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW, LOVED IT! This may be the BEST PNR debut book of 2012. The story grabbed me from the gitgo and never let up. What a fun, sexy hot book! I can’t wait for more of this series. It was PURE ROMANCE CANDY, and I devoured it!! If you like your PNR books HOT and have a thing for warrior highlanders, this one is for you. I haven’t been this excited for a new series in a long, long time.

The Darkest Day is a debut PNR set in a world where immortal creatures rule earth and other realms. Mortals are all extinct (so they believe), but many immortals still have traces of mortal blood in them.

Two immortal Scottish highlander clans have been feuding for centuries, but a curse by one clan meant to bring down their worst foe may actually be their own undoing.

After killing the Chief of the Campbell clan in revenge for killing his father, Kelvin Kerr has been searching 25-years for the missing heir to the Campbell throne. Hidden away and protected by a magical spell, Izel Campbell is not only the last mortal alive on earth – she is the missing leader of the Campbell clan.

Surprised to find Izel is female – and human! – Kelvin cannot simply kill the lass. With matters complicated and her protection spell broken, they journey to his Castle in order to hide her away. Kelvin cannot believe the human enemy before him is his fated mate, and the drive to have her wars with his need to do right by his clan.

Izel and Kelvin made a GREAT pair. Their banter was pitch perfect and hilarious at times, and they smoked up the pages! Izel’s protection spell kept her human emotions at bay, but now that the spell is broken she finds herself struggling with a plethora of new feelings. She is naïve in some ways, yet incredibly intelligent where it matters.

“What? You don’t like me talking of other men?” She traced a finger between her breasts. “Does the thought of them touching me—”

“Woman! You’ll mind your mouth, else I’ll make ya regret those words.” He was breathing hard. His muscled chest heaved. She was literally jabbing at a sleeping beast. A wiser person would stop, but nothing about him made her want to be wise.

“Make me regret my words, huh?” Pursing her lips, she looked him in the eye. “That’s pretty big talk, coming from a man who never follows through with his threats.”

He growled and clasped her nape in his large palm. Only a knee-high wall of porcelain separated them. The water swished along the bottom of her knees. Kelvin yanked her face inches from his. “You goad me on purpose.” He wrapped her hair around his fist, his snarling lips hovering over hers. “Human, you have no idea what you’ve awakened.”

What makes this such a great debut novel it that it does not suffer from the dreaded ‘first book-itis’. Thankfully, there is no endless info dumping nor long introductions to characters for future books. Instead we get enough world building to understand Kelvin and Inez’s story, the many great secondary characters we meet along the way are all relevant to this story, and we get several great teaser sub-stories on other characters to peak our interest for more.

OMG, there are a few secondary characters in this book that I can’t wait to read more about. It is clear there is more going on in this world than we will see in just this book, and other characters are certainly having their story unfold but we will not know more until their books are written. I get the feeling many of the future books will over-lap a bit with this one. It was great balance for a debut book, the author did a great job setting up the series without over doing it.

In summary, imagine taking the mega-hot uber alpha highlanders from Karen Monings’ Highlander series then dumping them in a mad PNR world similar to Kresley Cole’s IAD series, and then toss in a lot more crazy magical being, more hot highlander warriors, and pit them against Immortal clans who have been feuding for over one-thousand years, and you have an idea of what to expect in THE DARKEST DAY.

I highly recommend it to all PNR fans who like their books hot, sexy, alpha, and laced with some good dark humor.

(ARC copy provided by Netgalley.com)

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars

Britt Bury’s debut novel and first in the Immortal Heat series.

We are introduced to a world where humans are extinct and is now filled with many different supernatural beings such as vampires, warlocks, witches and various other creatures. I am sure that over the series Ms. Bury will acquaint us with more but this book focused mainly on two of the races, the Pookahs, who have various different inner animals but cannot shift, and the Fionns who are a magical race consisting or warriors, poets and mystics and have been enemies of the Pookahs for centuries.

Kelvin Kerr is a Pookah and is on a mission to kill one of his enemy’s descendants but instead of a man he discovers that the Fionn heir is in fact a woman, and to make matters worse Kelvin discovers that she has been shielded with a spell since birth and that she is human! At his brothers command he has to now take her back to the Kerr castle in Scotland and try to disguise her scent so that she is not discovered by other beings who may attempt to kidnap or kill her. Despite his refusing to believe it, Kelvin’s body recognised its mate right from the beginning but he fought against it and was determined that he would not disgrace his clan/family and mate one of their eternal enemies!

Izel Campbell has been raised as an immortal Fionn, but is in fact human and was shielded and protected by her grandfather. Throughout her life she never felt any emotion, but when the spell was lifted her appearance and scent completely changed, and those emotions were starting to come fast and furious which made it confusing and frightening time for her. Believing that Kelvin was her enemy and was going to kill her she did try to escape a few times but soon started to give into the attraction that she felt for him.

I was a little apprehensive about reading this as I am not keen on reading debut novels and I always dislike starting a new series too as they often suffer with ‘first in the series syndrome’, so putting these two together is usually a no no for me. I did go ahead and read it on the advice of my friend here on GR (thank you KarLynP) and I am glad that I did. I did have some moments where I raised an eyebrow saying really! But once I looked upon it as a light PNR I start to like it and enjoy.

A good example of one of those raised eyebrow moments was Kelvin’s silly and immature bits of dialog during some sex scenes. Instead of dialog that would make our knees tremble we were given sentences like him saying “Do ya wanna see it?” and Do ya wanna touch it?” not the vocab I would credit from a sexy fully grown man. When I read those his image in my head shrank from this huge sexy alpha male to a gangly teenager!....They are not the sort of words he should have been saying, in fact at that point he shouldn’t have been saying anything at all, the only noises we should have heard is groans, pants and the sound of a zipper coming down!

I really didn’t like the name Pookah, every time I read it I was mentally taking away the kah which only left me with Poo, and as you can imagine it was not a nice or remotely sexy image to have! However, ignoring that his race was badly named Kelvin ticked all the boxes for me and thought that Ms. Bury did an excellent job of giving us an image of a man that revved our motor :) I liked the use of the Scottish accent….with many books I struggle to make the accent sound authentic, but every time I read a bit of Kelvin’s dialog I could hear him talking with a good clean Scottish accent.

In future installments I hope that we get a bit more of a history lesson on the background of this world especially about what happened to all the humans and why they are now extinct. In some ways I was really pleased that we didn’t get a full history lesson in this book as it could have ended up being a tragedy to that first in a series syndrome but I don’t think this one did, which is why it probably worked for me.

I really struggled with rating this book as some parts of it do leave a lot to be desired and could have been done a lot better, but ya know, warts 'n all it still grabbed me and I thought it was a good debut and will continue reading the series. I am looking forward to more about the Court of Contention which happens every 400 years where all four realms open up and all beings battle. I am also looking forward to reading more about some of the other characters such as Ramsey who is a Fionn and Ian, Kelvin’s brother and therefore a Pookah.

Copy kindly supplied by Grand Central Publishing via Netgalley

[KatLynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Darkest Day by Britt Bury
Debut
Book #1 in the Immortal Heat Series
Read: 6/27/2012
Heat Factor: 5/5 - Passionate, Steamy Hot Love Story
My Rating: 5/5
Expected Release Date: 7/3/2012

...She was everything he craved, everything he hungered for. Her body was his personal fixation. Her skin and lips were drugs he had to taste in order to survive...

I loved this book! This is one of the best PNR debut novels I’ve read. There’s no wading in to get to the goodies! From the very beginning I was held captive, drawn into the world of the Fionn, Izel Rose Campbell and the Pookah, Kelvin Kerr. It is an incredibly sexy read with the perfect balance of suspense, romance, and humor that kept me totally invested.

For me, it had all the elements I love in a good Highlander Romance! A dripping sexy as sin alpha warrior who is as possessive as he is loveable; A heroine that I admire and adore; great dialogue that at times is as funny as it is sexy, and intense heat that scorches the pages along with a believable story that ran the gauntlet on many of my emotions. How this author could take me in the middle of a heated love scene and have me smiling and endearing these two more closely to my heart is amazing. I loved that!

The setting is present day Scotland and The Earth Realm. The Earth Realm is now the home of immortals. Humans no longer exist. Along with witches, warlocks, vampires and other magical beings there are two main races that live in this Realm.

Izel Campbell is of The Fionn Race and there are three breeds of Fionns; the Mystic, the Poet, and the Warrior.

Kelvin Kerr and his older brother Ian are of the Pookah Race. There are three breeds of Pookahs; the Razorback; the Wolverine; and the Bear.They are the strongest among the immortals and each breed possesses a different animalistic instinct.

From the very first moment these two locked eyes they are irresistibly drawn to each other. For Izel, she found him stunning, mouthwatering. Bombarded by his masculine scent, her entire body responded to him. And though Kelvin may not want to acknowledge his feelings, he is drawn to her like a moth to a flame. He scented her and his blood boiled hot!

Kelvin Kerr is an immortal Warrior, a Razorback Pookah and the Battle Chief of the Kerr clan. Tall, strong and handsome, this Pookah reeks raw masculinity with his thick biceps, meaty forearms and ridged muscles. And with his intense icy blue gaze he could melt you to liquid fire! Oh, and this man is inked! Tattooed around his hip bone and torso is his clan’s symbol…a Celtic rendering of a Razorback. I’ll just step up and say right now, I want me a Pookah!!

While he is sinfully delicious, he can be cold, fiercely aggressive and a dangerous savage with incredible strength and superhuman senses. The Campbell’s are his most hated enemy and he has vowed to avenge his father’s death by killing this last heir. But when he meets the lovely Izel and learns she is the last living human, he cannot follow through with his threat. Instead, he decides to take her to his family castle hoping there he can learn her secrets and any upcoming plans against his clan. And while Kelvin may try to convince himself this is his only motive, we know there is a deep almost unstoppable craving for this woman. He becomes completely possessive as well as protective in his relentless quest to keep his “fragile treasure” safe. And while this man may make her knees weak and her “quim” quiver in her deep desire for him, Izel is determined not to be just another conquest.

There is so much I want to say but I don’t want to give anything away. This new world and its inhabitants are not at all deep and complicated making this very easy to follow. Izel Campbell’s story is unique. Not only do I love her name but from the moment she enters her grandfather’s cottage I found myself rooting for her until the very end. She is meant to be great and as the secrets of her destiny are revealed I became more immersed. It is filled with peril, mystery, suspense and betrayal but the absolute winner for me is the intense passionate love story. The sexual pull is so strong it is palpable! Every day that she and Kelvin are together their desire becomes fever pitched until finally it is pure “blistering need” and can no longer be denied! And there is an element to this story concerning lifetime mates that had me nervously holding my breath!

If you love a Hot, passionate love story filled with humor and suspense that includes an uber-alpha, possessive hero with the ability to melt you with just one searing look and a heroine that is smart, compassionate and full of courage, then you will want to grab this one! It also has a perfect epilogue!

Congratulations Ms. Bury on a winning debut! This is a keeper and one that I will enjoy re-reading again as I anxiously await the next installment!

And many thanks to my GR friend, KarLynP for recommending this sexy, hot, fun read!

My thanks to netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy of this eBook.

[Anna (Bobs Her Hair) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade: B- or 3.5 Stars (rounded to 4 stars)... Britt Bury enters the PNR scene with very promising debut! What readers will find: Original paranormal beings, snarky humor, and steamy sexy times!!! If readers like Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series or Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series then this book will most likely appeal!

The Story
A thousand years ago, Kelvin Kerr vowed to avenge his butchered and decapitated chieftain father by eliminating every last member of the Campbell Fionns. The immortal Pookah and Fionn clans’ feud lasts until the Campbells have one Battle Chief, also known as “the McCall”, remaining in their bloodline. Nothing will sway Kelvin from what must be done, until he discovers the woman he must kill is his mate and the last human on Earth. The clock is ticking. As the winter solstice approaches, his kind go into a mating rut; his Pookah animal’s instinct rises as the nights last longer; and taking his mate on the darkest day will permanently bind him to his clan’s hated enemy.

Izel Campbell has been glamoured, emotionless, and kept in ignorance her entire life. She journeys to Scotland at the request of her Mystic grandfather. Izel is unaware of the danger she’s about to face. Her mystical disguise vanishes revealing her mortality and true appearance. Emotions flood her being. Now she needs answers.

Once it’s revealed the Campbell Fionn is the last human and likely Kelvin’s mate, the Immortal who’d been about to kill Izel offers to take her to Kerr Castle, lead her to her people and, possibly, her missing grandfather. In a world where beings with a heavy ratio of humanity offers the sweetest blood and most savory flesh, Izel will need the strongest type of immortal for protection from flesh-eaters and vampires.

Praise
There are some very creative aspects in the Immortal Heat world I’ve never seen in a paranormal romance. Due to the natural selection process, humans have become extinct. The immortal races carry ‘superior’ genes but retain a spark of humanity. Some may carry the human recessive gene or inherit some human genes marking them as a highly desirable prey. Applying evolutionary theory and genetics to create this alternate world is incredibly clever! Loved it!

Britt Bury introduces readers to new paranormal beings! There’s the animalistic Pookahs (Razorback, Wolverine, Bear), and the magical Fionns (Mystic, Poet, Warrior), which feature in The Darkest Day. They have distinctive characteristics and mating processes. The world also includes witches, warlocks, ghouls, vampires, and dryads, just to name a few. (Ms. Bury doesn’t overwhelm the reader with tedious detail. Only a few of the immortal races are introduced.) The author’s description of one of the worst kind of demon is my favorite!

The creature was something from a nightmare. It was just as big as Kelvin, but with translucent skin and thick black veins. Dark blood vessels tracked all over his face, neck, and body, live rivers on a map. He truly was a Hell beast. His yellow eyes glowed against the darkness and darted around as he neared Kelvin. “I can smell the human, Pookah. Best to just hand her over and I’ll be on my way.” The demon’s voice was venomous, and the way his ebony lips drooled out ashen spittle had Izel covering her mouth in disgust.

More, more, more!!!

Criticism
For all her originality I wish Ms. Bury would have spent a little more time with her world-building. These superior beings are set over today’s human world and technology, which didn’t jibe with their magic and supernatural abilities. What little I saw of society didn’t seem culture specific or different. When Kelvin runs across the street to grab a pizza I was put out.

My biggest criticism is the way Izel’s transformation was handled. For twenty-five years she functions without feeling and has a completely different appearance. She changes in an instant, passes out, then functions fine. The blonde ‘Plain Jane’ is gone! In her place is beautiful olive-skinned brunette bombshell. Her mystical glamour may as well not have been included as her change was never expanded upon or explored. Izel’ grandfather hiding her mortal scent seemed the only useful aspect of the glamour. This was a lost opportunity for character development.

Final Thoughts
The Darkest Day is an entertaining paranormal romance. It’s humorous with snarky dialogue. Lovers of growly alpha males with Scottish brogues will be very happy with the possessive Pookah hero. The sexy love scenes steamed up my ereader’s screen. Spicy hot!!! The characters don’t always make the most plausible choices yet their chemistry make up for it, and they did engage my emotions.

This book sets up future pairings without distracting the reader with unnecessary subplots. I anticipate future work from Ms. Bury. The Immortal Heat series has the potential to become a darker series, but whether she takes future books in that direction she’ll have paranormal romance fans who will love her fierce Immortals and brand of humor. Who knew Pookahs could be so damn sexy?!!!

Humorous Moment

”Wha-der you doing?” she mumbled, feebly swatting at his hands.

“I’m undressing you for bed. “ His hands slid down her smooth legs and began unfastening the clasps of her heels.

“I can do it myself,” she protested as she gripped Kelvin’s shoulders for balance. She stepped from her shoes and he tossed them aside. His fingers met the hem of her skirt. “I said I can do it,” she slurred again, but he ignored her, removing the flimsy material she deemed a skirt.

“Donna fight me. I am verra capable of disrobing a woman.”

“Galh! You know what, you rake, you may have ‘disrobed’ your share of ‘lasses’ in your stupidly long life” –was she air-quoting?—“but just know that all this”—he watched Izel, clad in only her black lace bra and panties, run her hands over her generous breasts and down her flat belly—“is a no-touchy for you.”

Release Date: July 3, 2012Kudos to the publisher for marketing the ebook at a reasonable price.

ARC courtesy of Grand Central Publishing via Netgalley

[Jess the Romanceaholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Quickie Review. For the full review, please visit The Romanceaholic.

Expected Release Date: July 3, 2012
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Imprint: Forever Yours
Author’s Website: http://www.brittbury.com/
My Source for This Book: Netgalley
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 1, Immortal Heat
Series Best Read In Order: N/A
Steam Level: Hot

I think a lot of readers are going to be drawing parallels between this story and Kresley Cole’s incredibly popular Immortals After Dark series… The biggest comparison I found, outside of the wonderful chemistry and wicked humor is the existence of the Court of Contention – where every 400 years, Heaven, Hell, Earth, and Cypher all open up for four days of mayhem and horror. This reminded me a lot of the Ascension from the Immortals After Dark series, which of course is every 500 years instead of 400, but still involves all of the paranormal species basically trying to wipe the floor with members of the other species.

Don’t get me wrong, while I, personally, thought the Court of Contention was a wee bit too similar to the Ascension for my comfort, I never felt as though this book was in any way a knockoff of the IAD series, and instead, consider the drawing of comparisons between the two series to be a compliment.

The fresh new species of paranormal creatures, the important and interesting fact that full-blooded humans are now extinct, and the fascinating world building all blend well with the more personal factors of delicious chemistry, devastating betrayal, and some truly lovely groveling. Overall, a great start to what promises to be an incredible series.

4/5 Stars

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Posted on Under the Covers

THE DARKEST DAY is the first book of a new series called the Immortal Heat. I love warrior men with accents so I thought I would give this one a try. Here are my thoughts on it:

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS BOOK:

-The best part of this book for me is the spunky heroine, Izel Campbell. Izel was grown up to believe that she is an immortal Fionn, however when she goes to Scotland, she learns that she is actually the last living human in the world. I really enjoyed Izel’s character. She was spunky and funny and also very strong under the circumstances she was put through.

- There is a good amount of humor in this book that I thoroughly enjoyed. It made the reading fun and never tedious and there were times when I laughed out loud. I love it when a book does that.

-Along the same lines as the humor of this book, I found that the dialogue between Izel and Kelvin to be very entertaining. I loved their banter and the way Kelvin spoke as if Izel knew who he was and what his place in the clan meant. Izel keeps him on his toes .

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK:

- Kelvin is a fierce Pookah warrior. Unfortunately for me, the name ruins it all. I just think of beady-eyed kittens when I heard the word “Pookah” but that’s just how my head works.

- I did not like the fact that there was a drastic change in Izel’s appearance. I understand that she was disguised and then –surprise! - she was revealed, but it irks me when the description suddenly turns into one of a gorgeous woman. I didn’t think it was necessary to change her eye and hair color and the shape of her body completely.

- There is one scene in this book where the hero Kelvin tells Izel the ways of the Razorback warrior. On winter solstice and the days leading up to it, the warriors feel this animalistic urge to mate. However, in order for the warrior to recognize their true mate, they have to screw them. Sometimes they screw someone and they aren’t their true mate, so they go on to find another woman until they find the one they are supposed to be with. This caused me to raise an eyebrow. What irks me more is the fact that Kelvin says something along the way of, this is the way of the warriors. Accept it. This is how I felt most of the book is. The author states the mechanics of the world, but doesn’t really take the time to make readers BELIEVE it. It lacked that persuasion that some other books have. In countless instances, I found myself questioning why such a thing occurs, but in the end, there weren’t good enough explanations as to why. It just does and that’s that. I felt like the author was trying to sell something to me without telling me what I was buying. Unfortunately, I wasn’t buying any of it. I wished she took more time explaining WHY certain things occurred so that the worldbuilding was stronger. I just didn’t get that this time around.

So in the end, it’s a split decision. There were three major things I loved about the book but there were also three major things I disliked. I think I will still be checking out the next book in the series to see if there is more to like there. I’m not ready to give up just yet.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review is also available on my blog.

HOLY COW!!! Britt Bury, you're my new favorite! HOT! HOT! HOT!

Are you ready for gushing? Here goes:

A stunning debut in the PNR genre, The Darkest Day delivers a mighty punch - I couldn't put this book down. And even though it's the first in what I hope is going to be an amazing series, it does not suffer from what many first books do - info dumping. Information trickles in as the book progresses, and fits the scenes in which it comes. Also, possible future characters are not endlessly introduced but merely mentioned, almost in passing. They serve a function in this book, but are not delved deeply into - only hints of their possible futures are given. The author skillfully weaves teasers of things to come into the main story, and what a story it is!!!

From the first moment, upon introduction to Izel Campbell and Kelvin Kerr, the story takes the reader on a wild ride, with witty and engaging dialogue, descriptive scenes, fighting, action and a love story that is almost too hot to handle. The UST was panty-damaging, and as the two main characters grow closer, yet fight their undeniable attraction, the heat between them almost had my poor Nook melting in my hands.

If you liked Kresley Cole's IAD series or J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, this is the book for you. It's chockful of hot, dominant alpha male who's matched with a female that gives as good as she gets.

I adored both Kelvin and Izel - she is an amazing female lead, smart, sassy, witty and doesn't back down from a challenge. He is the ultimate alpha male, yet soft to the core when faced with his fated female, willing to lay down his life to protect her. Their romance is at the center of this book, going from mortal enemies to annoyed travel companions to lusting for each other to a love that burns everything in its wake. Even the drama is not for the sake of drama, but fits nicely into the story and is never overdone. Their verbal sparring was engaging and grin-inducing, and OMG, the love scenes!!! The chemistry between the two was utterly amazingly written, and I squirmed in my chair numerous times as they gave in to their passion.

It is by far the best PNR debut novel I've read in a long time, and I am salivating for the next installments of this series. I'd love to see what happens to Ian and Alistair and Ramsey, and yes, even Andrew.

Where do I sign up??

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley - thank you sooo much!

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to start by saying I finished this in two sittings, I was only interrupted by my need to sleep! This debut novel from Britt Bury is a very promising start and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! It's a very easy and quick read and has everything I love reading in a paranormal romance.

We are first introduced to Izel when she gets to her grandfathers home in Scotland. Once there she finds that he is missing but she does stumble upon Kelvin. He's from a rival clan and is there to find the heir that he can seek vengeance on. He is shocked to find that not only is the heir of the Campbell tribe female, but the last human on earth. That changes everything for him.

Needing to find answers about who and what she is, she agrees rather reluctantly to Kelvin's offer of assistance. Soon we follow Kelvin and Izel as they traipse through Scotland on their way to Kerr castle where he promises to help her and keep her safe from the things that go bump in the night.

Most of this book is about Izel and Kelvin on their journey. Kelvin trying to deal with what fate has dealt him in the form of Izel while both of them are fighting a budding mutual attraction.

"You donna wanna stab me, lass." He tilted his head. "In fact, I think you wanna do something else entirely to me." His voice was laced with such potent seduction it made her knees weak.

This book has some very steamy moments. Outdoors, Scotland while it's raining? Oh yes. That was a very hot scene. They are well written and not rushed. Though the attraction was pretty much from the beginning, there is no professing of undying love or quick lays. There is a build-up to this romance and bumps along the way. Exactly what I like in a romance.

How the family rivalry is dealt with is very satisfying and introduces us to some interesting side characters like Ian, Ryo and Ramsey. The way this ends wraps up the storyline for Izel and Kelvin but there could easily be more in the series revolving around these characters. If that's the case, sign me up now 'cause I want to read them!

ARC provided by Netgalley.
Review posted at Sinfully Delicious Book Reviews

[Katie_la_geek · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars


For this review and others visit my blog

Oh yes, Britt Bury, yes!

This is exactly what I have been looking for. I have massive love for PNR (Paranormal romance) but nothing has really captured me since the early Black Dagger Brotherhood books. Well finally something has. I just loved this book. It had everything; action, drama, humour and romance. It was just great.

Ok, so what made this book so great? I will start with the idea. I think Britt Bury is incredibly smart because she has taken the top three (or there about) romance sub-genres and somehow mixed them together. This is a Highland novel, it is set in Scotland. Our hero, Kelvin, is a Scottish clan warrior…but he is also something else. Kelvin is a paranormal being, closely related to shape shifters (although his species doesn’t actually shift). This novel might look and feel like a Highland novel but it is set in the modern world. So it is a highland, PNR, urban fantasy novel…but wait, there’s more (stick with me here.) This modern world has no humans (almost) they all died out. The world is full of paranormal beings but things are still somewhat derelict. So to conclude The Darkest Day is a highland, PNR, Urban Fantasy, Dystopian novel. Sounds a bit too much doesn’t it? Except for the fact that it works perfectly. Bury has written this book so well that the joining of so many genres doesn’t distract from but enhances the reading experience. This book is written in a way that is also utterly entrancing. I struggled to put this book down. It was engaging from beginning to end. The prologue set the tone immediately and that atmosphere and intensity stayed with the book the whole way through.

Let’s move on to the characters. Essentially there are only two characters in this book. There are others who pop their heads in (I think/hope this was more for the next books in the series) but there are only two people who really matter in this book, Kelvin and Izel.

Izel is a great female lead. She is funny, smart, sassy and just all round awesome. I didn’t once find her irritating or weak. She was not kick-ass or unemotional but she was no doormat either. Kelvin (honestly if you could see what this guy looked like in my head you would faint) is just devastating. If I met him I wouldn’t stand a chance. He is strong, hard and tough. He has responsibilities and obligations. He at times probably comes across as a little scary. He is rash, stubborn and infuriating. But behind all the brutishness he is loving, gentle and fairly emotional. When he loves he does it with all of his heart and he would do anything to protect that person. Like Izel he was not once annoying.

The romance between Izel and Kelvin was just amazing. I loved the growth of their relationship, from enemies, to annoyances, to lust then finally to love. Sure, there are some bumps along the way but it was not done just for the sake of drama. Most of the humour in this book came from the banter between them. In the beginning the sparred verbally back and worth which gave the book a light-hearted feel but slowly that turned to something darker. The tension and chemistry between them poured off of every page, it was fidget inducing brilliant. It oozed from the characters and created bucket loads of sexual tension.

The Darkest Day proves that there is still some imagination in the romance genre. It is by far the best PNR I have read in a while and I strongly recommend it. I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this review on Got Fiction?

A couple years ago, several friends recommended this book to me. The back of the book makes it sound like something I'd love! So I downloaded it, but before I read it, another friend told me she thought it read a lot like one of my books. That sort of turned me off, but it still sounded really good. So a couple years later, here I am.

I will say, it reads a lot more like Kresley Cole than it does Laura Hunsaker. In fact, many many reviews mention the similarities. But the book has enough differences that it can stand on its own. Mostly. Someone described it as IAD lite. I'd agree with that.

There is very little world-building, which kind of stinks because it's an interesting world. Humans are extinct, or at least very close to, and it's only immortals who remain. We are seeing the Campbell clan and the Kerr clans mainly in this. There is a glossary at the end, I'd suggest reading it before you start.

Kelvin Kerr is a Pookah-he's a razorback pookah...I guess there's different types in this book, Razorback, Wolverine, and Bear. I always thought pookahs were mystical horses who lured people to their deaths in the waves of the ocean, but hey, PNR needs something fresh, and this was a neat direction to go.

Now this is where I began to have trouble with the book. Kelvin is very much like Kresley Cole's Lykaes. There's even a sentence in there that felt the same. "I know my female's tone," is straight from Bowen and Mariketa, and in the same kind of situation, Kelvin says, "I'm beginning to recognize that tone." BUT with that being said, that's not really what I had trouble with. He's not honorable. I really had a hard time liking him.

Kelvin is an asshat. he's not just pushy, he's mean to her. And he's been killing innocent people for centuries. He may be weary of it, but he still does it for his 'revenge.' When it's been several centuries, it's ok to stop. You got the guys who killed your father, isn't that enough? He and his brother spend centuries exterminating the Campbell line. Izel comes along, he knows she's his female, and he still plans on killing her for no other reason than she's a Campbell. It seems too contrived, and seriously, he's going to kill a woman, the last human on earth, a woman he's admitted is his only chance at happiness and is innocent of everything, for a vengeance sworn centuries ago. It's too much. and he realizes this too, but not til the end, because priorities.

Izel has come to Scotland to meet up with her grandfather. She is blonde, and thin, and pretty. But she has no emotions. She has never had any emotions, ever. And as she walks into her grandfather's cabin, she sees Kelvin (who is there to kill her) and she is both hit with emotions, and then her body and face change. She's dark-haired, olive-skinned, and curvacious now. I hate how she changed in appearance. No emotion, drab appearance, gets emotions, bam is a knockout! It was unnecessary.

But, it turns out she is also full-human. Her mother was an Incan queen with a lot of power, and Izel is rumored to have inherited power from all three castes of her clan. She is just a Poet, but her words have no power yet, but they will...

I could look over the eye-rolling similarities to IAD, but this was too much. Who wants a hero who kills innocents? The only reason he doesn't kill Izel is because she's his one fated mate. Not because he thinks it's wrong, not because she's innocent, not because she has nothing to do with his sworn vengeance and feud. Because killing her will make him lose his one chance at happiness.

Now, I do get that he's so old, and immortals can hold long grudges, but it didn't seem as if there was any honor in killing off the entire Campbell clan to fulfill a vengeance sworn on a battlefield hundreds of years ago. I think that my feelings on this book are mixed. I really enjoyed the writer's style. There are many authors who have that fun and sassy voice like Cole does, so I don't think she plagiarized anything. But I don't know why her editors didn't have her just pull out the too-similar parts and run with it! This story has so much going for it! I may not have liked Kelvin, but the story itself and Izel and the whole living without emotions had a great set-up for the series! I would read her again, if only to see where she goes with it.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like book two every happened. Her website hasn't been updated since 2012, her twitter has the last tweet as 2012 as well, she was writing more books, but nothing ever came of this series. I see very VERY few bad reviews, so I really don't know what happened. She hasn't answered my email, I'll update if she does.

***ARC courtesy of Forever Yours

[Jen Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me a lot of the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole. I have somewhat mixed feelings about that. I'm a big fan of those books, and many of the things I like about them, I liked about this. But at the same time, it bothered me just a little every time I saw a parallel.

The story follows Izel, a descendant of the Campbell clan of Immortals. She has gone to visit her Grandfather, a great magician. But when she arrives at his home, he is gone. In his place is a hulking warrior named Kelvin. He is member of the Pookah race, sworn enemies of the Campbells. He is there to kill who he expects to be the last son of his old rival. Instead, obviously, he finds a daughter.

Though she is descended from magic, Izel is really quite weak. She is plain and has never felt emotions. But as Kelvin advances on her, everything changes. A powerful spell that was cast on her long ago, drops away. She is revealed to be beautiful --and mortal. The last remaining human on earth. And all those emotions she has never felt, coming rushing in with a vengeance.

Kelvin is shocked by what is revealed. Even more shocking, he realizes she is likely his fated female. That is some pretty unwelcome news, considering she is his family's enemy. The only way he can be sure, however, is if he "attempts" her on the Solstice that comes once a year. Translation = has sex with her (much like the demons in IAD.) He decides to bring her back to his people as he tries to figure out what to do with her.

In the meantime, all the immortal races are preparing for the Court of Contention, a time of chaos and war among all the factions (much like the Ascension in IAD.) Kelvin's brother and cousins are doing their part to fight the races of the lower realm. They even have their very own ever-knowing, snarky yet slightly crazy witch helping them with visions of the future (much like the loveable Nix in IAD.) Obviously, they are dealing with their own fated mates off-page, in stories I suspect we will see in the same time frame through different perspectives in future books (much like IAD books 1,2, & 3.)

Anyway, Kelvin and Izel must deal with their growing attraction to one another over the course of their journey. This is hard for Izel because she is overwhelmed by her new emotions --and it's tough for Kelvin because his feelings fly in the face of his family honor. There's a lot of spark in their relationship. They've got a fun battle of wits and wills going on. The sexual tension is great --and it was weird to find myself hoping they WOULDN'T have sex because it wasn't the Solstice yet. Kelvin is keeping some pretty big secrets and it becomes a waiting game to see how long it will take before they blow up in his face and then to see how much damage they will do.

I liked it. It was funny. It was sexy. The Pookah's had a fantastic brogue. And there is a great glossary that could help with the world-building. Unfortunately, it was at the end of my ebook, so I didn't see it until after I read the story, but I encourage you to check it out first. I think it you'll be glad you did. It's a good story... just some of the elements felt a little familiar.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Darkest Day' heralds the start of a new paranormal series 'Immortal Heat', but apart from atypical paranormalians (*cough* "Pookah" *cough*) and a unique world overrun with "immortals" where the human species is near-extinct there was nothing overly novel about this story.

There have been some very apt comparison's of this book with Kresley Cole's awesome IAD series, and I would concur that Britt Bury has most definitely been influenced by KC's brand of paranormal romance - this was a sexy story with some snarky humor, and there was even a wacky soothsayer-type blithely guiding characters towards their HEA's. BUT I didn't nearly enjoy this book as much as I have the IAD books - the whole fated-to-be-mated-to-your-"enemy" schtick just wasn't very original. Indeed, a lot of this plot very much reminded me of KC's 'Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night".

However, as a debut novel in an overpopulated genre, 'The Darkest Day' was a decent enough series intro and I'd be willing to try the next book when it comes out. I just hope the stories get a bit original from here on in....

[Lynsey A · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a 3.5 to 4 star read for me. There were times where I really enjoyed reading this book and others where I just didn't care that much. It was definitely an interesting story and had some great characters. I love Ryo and I love Ram. I definitely hope we see more of them in the future.

There were hearbreaking scenes in this book. I just wish I felt more during those scenes. There were some definitely cry worthy moments but the tears just wouldn't come. However, because those scenes were there I really liked the story.

I'm interested see what is going to happen with this series. Since the feud between the Kerrs and the Campbell's is done because of the uniting of Kelvin and Izel and their future children I would love to know how the rest of the series is going to go.

I'm definitely reading the rest of this series and hope I grow to love each one more as the series goes on. It has definite potential.

[Tiya Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

We had a rough start, you and I, Darkest Day. What with the TSTL episodes and the constant reminders that I am sorely missing me some Immortals After Dark, it was touch and go for a while. But once you shed those tween angst and pseudo doubts and confusion and just embraced the raunchy side of you, I believe you were worth the the enthusiasm I had when I received your ARC.

In a world full of immortals, Izel Campbell is the last full human. She had no idea she was, though, thinking she was a Fionn until a transformation happened when she arrived at her grandfather's cottage in Scotland and suddenly she's this mortal human woman. Complete with a boob job and some other cosmetic improvements. I shit you not. She was a shapeless blond Fionn one minute and a voluptuous brunette the next. Girl didn't even bat an eyelash; just looked at the mirror and shrugged like you get to be Victoria's Secret model material every day. And all the clothes - underwear included - she has brought with her fit, by the way. Even after the transformation. Do with that what you will.

Kelvin Kerr meets her prior to the transformation at her grandfather's cottage where he was waiting to kill her since she's the Campbell heir and all and the Kerrs and the Campbells are pulling some paranormal version of Hatfields and McCoys, only with less interesting characters. Kelvin draws his sword to make the killing blow, Izel transforms into instant hottie, and inexplicably he feels this sudden attraction that made him not want to kill her. Boob jobs, ladies and gentlemen, saving lives since 1895.

So with the circumstances of Kelvin's task having changed - Campbell heir is actually a woman, a human, and a stone cold hottie - he's now ordered by his clan chief aka his brother to bring the woman in for questioning and as a possible bargaining tool. He agrees and entices Izel to come with him promising answers, protection, and a reunion with her kin. You'd think that Izel would say hell no to an invitation from her clan's sworn enemy, but girl must have been suffering from the worst case of lack of curiosity because she knows practically nothing about her people. She says yes, they travel, bicker, fall in heat, in love, and drive me crazy - mostly not in a good way.

Let's start with the heroine. If the PNR world is going to start giving out awards, I'm nominating Izel Campbell right now for "Drama Queen of the Year" in her performance right here:

"It had taken all the strength she had to keep from crying at Kelvin's earth shattering insults."

You see what happened was she kept on badgering the guy about his sex life and since she's emotionally a tween, she said something along the lines of he's shit out of luck if he's thinking she's gonna be a notch in his bedpost and he replied by saying he's not his type at all. Apparently, in Izel's world, that was earth shattering. Tween, I tell you.

She's also had some serious TSTL moments that I begged for her to come out of the book so I can just finish the job Kelvin set out to do. It got to the point where I was ready to DNF the book and then I thought about her transformation and her feeling stuff for the first time ever due to it and I decided I'm going to start reading the rest of the book as if Izel were fourteen years old because good lord that was how old she was behaving the entire time.

And Kelvin - heavens, Kelvin? Really? Might as well have named the guy Eugene or Hubert - is no better either. He kept on going on and on about how he should hate her and should he have told her that and now she's hurt because of what he said but he didn't mean it and he should be happy she's upset but oh how her bosoms bounce and he should kiss her again but no that might go somewhere and he's not pulling a Johnse Hatfield and bang an enemy of his clan and he should just get it over with and screw her senseless. Izel's thoughts are pretty much in the same route with does he like me and do I like him but he kissed me so he probably likes me but why is he mean and oh those abs. It was like watching an episode of Sweet Valley High.

The turning point of the book came about halfway through when Britt Bury decided to turn off the tween channel and give us what we expect in PNRs - sexy times. And they were sexy, indeed. You can say anything you want about Izel and Kelvin - and I've said quite a lot - but you can't deny that the two have chemistry. The lovin' was steamy and sexy but still quite romantic. I'm not saying that having a well written sex scene can change how I view a book, but it sure as hell didn't hurt in this case. Especially since - without their sexual frustrations - the two became better and much likable characters.

The world building is still something Bury has to work on especially with how she got her ending. It was a little too convenient and raised more questions than answers. There was deus ex machina at work but we don't even know the specifics cause she just left things like how your mom usually does - with a "because I said so".

Also, if you're a fan of Kresley Cole and the Immortals After Dark series, prepare for some similarities. I dunno if I'd have noticed if I hadn't read reviews mentioning this book along with IAD, but they were pretty obvious for a fan.

The contract thing in Bury's world brought to mind IAD's Vow to the Lore, Court of Contention is The Accession, the attempt before mating practice is a rage demon thing, and the one I'm not a fan of is the Ryo-Nix similarities.



No one can pull off the "I'm awesome and all knowing" better than my favorite Valkyrie.

The Darkest Day is Britt Bury's debut novel and, while it is leagues away from being my new PNR obsession, it still kinda worked. The chemistry was there, there was enough material to create a decent series, and it was funny at times. I just hope that the next book's heroine has a bit more working for her than her boobs and we actually get an ending that fits with what we know about this world.

This was supposed to be 3.5 stars (mostly due to the chemistry of the MCs), but since 3.5 is pretty cool for a debut, I feel like it deserves half a star more.

ARC provided by Grand Central Publishing via Netgalley

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review posted: Happily Ever After - Reads

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she walked behind Andrew. Nothing was simple. But by God, she would fix this. The Campbell-Kerr rivalry had gone on long enough. Yes, she wanted to find her own path, but maybe Kelvin was the salvation she was looking for. Together, they could end this feud and bring about peace. Finally the hatred could end.

And then maybe they could slide down a rainbow into a swimming pool of gumdrops.

The Darkest Day is set in a world filled with immortals, save for one last human, Izel Campbell. Rare is it to find a full human and Izel has no idea that she is one. Cloaked in magic for all of her 25 years by her Grandfather, her true self and powers were hidden to keep her safe. She’s to come into her powers during her 25th year, and it’s believed that she’ll have the powers of all three Fionn races, very rare and very dangerous. But up until this point, being held back by magic, she’s lived a life with no emotion at all, believing that she’s a Fionn Poet with the power of persuasion, a power she’s never been able to tap into. She hasn’t formed any attachments to people, physically she blends in and there is nothing about her that stands out. She starts to emerge from the spell after she comes across Kelvin Kerr, a Pookah and enemy of her clan and her new life begins.

This new world is filled with realms: High (like Heaven), Low (like Hell), Earth (where the story takes place) and Cypher (the realm you really want to avoid, where souls are extinguished entirely). The story primarily follows the feud between two families with the Fionn and Pookah races. Each race has three breeds. The Fionn’s have the mystics, poets and warriors. The Pookah’s are the razorbacks (this is our hero), wolverine and bear. The razorbacks have strong instincts that become even more so at night and their biggest time of the year is during the Winter Solstice, this is the only time during the year that a razorback can find and claim his mate. Ok whew - there is a lot of information going on, but there is a glossary at the end of the book, I’d suggest reading through that first. I didn’t and things made a LOT more sense to me after I read it at the end.

Kelvin, the razorback Pookah is out to find and kill the last Campbell family heir, the family killed his father many years ago. Kelvin believes that there is one remaining heir and he must find and kill him…the him turns out to be a her, Izel. He senses right away that she’s his mate but fights it because of who she is, and what he feels he must do to avenge his family.

The story focuses on Kelvin trying to get the full human Izel back to his home, Izel trying to reach her out-of-touch Grandfather for answers, Kelvin fighting the mating bond between them and Izel dealing with an overload of emotions that came roaring back to her after she changed into her true self and lost the magical cover her Grandfather had put over her. During all of this, Izel and Kelvin have such a strong reaction to each other, and with Izel’s crazy emotions, the ride is fun with a lot of ups and downs between them.

I really like the back and forth romance between Kelvin and Izel. For her to become his mate, he has to wait to have sex with her on winter solstice – the darkest day. Legend says if he has sex with his would-be-mate prior to the winter solstice, he’ll lose her forever. But one big thing for them both to consider, becoming mates means they’re bound together completely, one of them dies, so does the other. Kelvin is an immortal, but Izel isn’t, and his life would end as soon as hers does. They have plenty of foreplay, always stopping just before they cross the line. Izel wants Kelvin badly and at times it’s hard knowing what he wants. He wants his mate, but doesn’t want to bind them together knowing the dangers to her with their clans at war. He ultimately can’t deny her, but it’s far from smooth sailing for these two as plenty of post-sex angst keeps them apart for a time, all at Izel’s doing.

Also back and forth was the banter between Izel, who seems pretty clueless about the world she’s living in, and Kelvin. Their dialogue was fun, fast paced and gave a great picture into who these two characters are. Izel is at her core very sweet and caring, Kelvin is every bit the warrior he acts like and the combination of the two of them is at times explosive and very sweet. I also liked that since Izel is fairly new to her surroundings, a lot of the world building is done through their conversations, Kelvin explaining things to Izel. It was a good way to get the information to us as readers without it feeling too overloaded in details.

There are some interesting side characters that are introduced along the way, Ryo a semi-psychotic witch, at least according to Kelvin’s brother Ian. There’s the random woman that Ian is holding in the dungeons of his home, a Dark Prince Daughter – yes, that’s a spawn of Satan; Andrew, the man that Izel was betrothed to by her Grandfather, who’s a strong warrior in his own right and struggling to deal with Izel’s rise in power. There are many other characters mentioned and many storylines that are left open, the biggest being the Court of Contention: a time when the barriers separating all four realms come down for four days. It’s coming up and everyone is starting to get ready for the fighting and mayhem that comes along with it.

I really enjoyed this story. The love between Kelvin and Izel is a romance that I got completely into, I loved that he found his mate early, but they still had a hard road between them to make it work. I also got caught up in this world and all the possibilities that were set up for future storylines. This was a great start to a new series that has me ready for book 2.

[Letitia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: C ... Heat: Warm

I have to be honest… At around 20% in, I almost DNF'd this one.

I initially picked it up because other reviewers were comparing it to Kresley Cole's series, Immortals After Dark. Miz Cole is my numero uno favorite PNR author. She writes it, I will read it. Period. So buzz linking this book to her, it grabbed my interest.

However, in that first 20%, the similarities were almost too much for me. Sure, there are the PNR staples: Alpha hero? Check. Ability to sniff arousal? Check. Overuse of the word ‘mine’? Check, check.

But then there came Ryo the Righteous, an eccentric witch who can see into the future and calls herself all-knowing. Which instantly felt like Miz Cole’s character Nix, or Nucking Futs Nix, a Valkyrie who see’s into the future and calls herself ever-knowing. Ryo simply felt like a Nix-lite to me and I found it hard to see past the similarities between the two.

Then a little thing called 'Court of Contention' was introduced. A four day period where the four realms open, all hell breaks loose, and war causes mass casualties between all the immortals. And it happens every 400 years. Which sounded a little like 'The Accession' from the Immortals After Dark series. A period of all-out war and battle between every immortal faction, which occurs every 500 years...

There were other notable similarities, but those two are the most glaringly obvious to me. And I almost couldn’t see past it all and focus on the story. Almost.

Moving on to The Darkest Day itself…

Izel Campbell is a Poet Fionn from clan Campbell. What is a Fionn, you ask? I don’t really know. I take them to be simply an inherently magical being that can use said magic in one of three ways: Poets by mouth, or their words. Mystics by blood. Warrior by body, or their strength. Only, Izel has never been able to make her magic work—in any way. She is also mortal and THE last human. Period. And she has never experienced any emotion whatsoever… That is, until Kelvin Kerr comes along.

Kelvin Kerr is a Razorback Pookah from clan Kerr. What is a Pookah, you ask? They are apparently animalistic shape shifters who do not actually shift shape into their said animal. And there are only three types: Bear, Wolverine, and Razorback. Yes, Razorback as in wild boar. Or pig. Not exactly the sexiest animal… Razorback Pookahs are ruled by darkness. At night they are at their strongest. And on the Solstice, or longest night of the year, they can ‘attempt’ women in hopes of finding their mates.

And Kelvin knew at first whiff that Izel was his mate. But, as Izel’s father killed Kelvin’s father and Kelvin then killed Izel’s father and pledged vengeance on all Campbells… He’s fighting his overwhelming attraction for her tooth and nail. Which makes him suffer from mood swings and often treat Izel cruel one moment and kind the next. And they say women are moody… Psh.

So, as Kelvin and Izel traverse the Scottish countryside, making their way toward clan Kerr’s castle, there are moments of action and intrigue. Bad guys show up to make their journey fraught with peril—and Miz Bury writes those scenes wonderfully. Kelvin’s macho alphaness is at it’s most potent when protecting Izel from harm. Or, if I’m being honest, when he’s teaching Izel the emotions of lust and desire. The tension and attraction between Izel and Kelvin kept me turning the pages.

While this book doesn’t suffer from any world-building info dumps, it does suffer from vagueness and a lack of clarity. The author kind of throws you into the deep end and hopes you can make sense of Fionns and Pookahs and Dark Prince Daughters and four realms and what have you. It was a tad overwhelming at times. There is a glossary of terms at the very end (it may be located at the beginning for non-ARCs), which I wish I had known about sooner. I didn’t discover it till more than 40% in.

It also wavered on the storytelling… between showing and telling. The first two thirds felt more like showing while the last third felt more like telling. The best example of this is the character of Ramsey. We’re told he’s sarcastic and witty and fun but never really see him being that way. It would’ve added a more well-rounded and fleshed out quality to see these things instead of simply being told they are so.

Bottom line? This a fun and sexy paranormal adventure with a new set of supernatural characters. I applaud Miz Bury for daring to go outside the vampire and werewolf standbys, even if a Razorback does seem like an odd choice. And while this book feels like a first novel, it also shows great promise and the growth potential is definitely there.

-- A Romantic Book Affairs Review

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[Emily Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

As seen on Ed and Em's Reviews!

1.5/5 Stars

You know what phrase I'm tired of using? "This book had so much potential." Because really, there was so much potential in The Darkest Day. But there isn't much else to say about this book.

The cover is hot. Extremely sexy. And the pink writing is a great contrast to the blue background. It really drew me in. And then when I read the summary, I needed to read it. Hellllllllo pretty Scotsman and paranormal romance. I thought this was going to be REALLY good. I was so wrong. So very, very wrong.

I liked it in the beginning. The world that Ms. Bury has set up is very interesting and I could've been really entranced by it. That is if there was more of a plot than just a weird relationship. Usually, I'm okay with a lot of romance, but really, what drew these two together? The only thing that I can remember them saying about each other is how hot the other one is and how they wanted to get in each other's pants.



Can I just ask something? Why is Kelvin's "race" called Pookah? It's not really a question I want or need answered. I just want to make a point about how ridiculous it sounds. Seriously, does that sound at all legitimate to anyone? Every time I read it, I wanted to go smoke some hookah. I even had to google Pookah to know if was an actual paranormal being. It wasn't. In fact, the only thing I could find on it was an urban dictionary entry that says Pookah is "a term of endearment for someone you're dating" or "a verb meaning great or extraordinary." It's not a good creation. It was impossible for me to take it seriously.

The main characters in this story are Kelvin Kerr and Izel Campbell. Neither of them appeal to me. Izel is just another woman who lets her life be controlled by a man. Kelvin is a jerk. There is literally a part in the story where "Kel" admits to verbally abusing Izel. REALLY. AND THAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE HOT. The minor characters were more interesting than these two. I really, really loved Ryo. She and Ramsey were my favorite, and really, the only two characters that I liked. Ryo was funny, witty and had a much better personality than Izel. Honestly, I think that Ryo would've made a better mate for Kel than Izel did. Basically, I just don't like Izel. (Or Kelvin. (But mostly Izel.))

I could rave and rant about Izel's idiocy all day, but I'll just mention a few key points that made me loathe her: SPOILERS. SPOILERS. SPOILERS.
1) Izel storms into a town knowing that if she was found out, she would be dead in an instant.
2) Her way of standing up for herself is by endangering herself.
3) She leaves without telling Kel where she is going, while they are in a crowded town. And goes to GET DRUNK. REALLY. REALLY? Because that's safe.
4) She doesn't even know Kel and she thinks she's in love with him. It would make more sense if they were just mates and then grew to love each other. But noooo, after traveling with him, for what felt like a few days, she's in love with him.
5) She goes back to a guy who tried to push her away by mocking her innocence, virginity and who was a possessive jerk.



Now for Kelvin's good attributes? He's a gorgeous male specimen. He's a good fighter. He's a good lay. …Is that is? Yeah… Yeah, that's it. So obviously, you can tell that I'm not a fan of Kel. Nor will I ever be.



There is really no love lost between me and The Darkest Day. At 38%, I noted that I wanted to flounce. You know it's bad when you can't even get halfway through a book before wanting to drop it. This is another series I'm breaking up with. I just do not like the characters, or the plot that barely exists until the last 40%. And the only parts that I enjoyed were in that last 40%. That's the reason this gets a 1.5 instead of a .5, because the plot picked up after 60ish% and the characters got a little better. Very little. Like the-size-of-my-pinky-nail little. Really, the rest of the novel is them fighting strange sexual tension, having "relations" and annoying each other/yelling/fighing/annoying the hell out of me. Not jumping on board this crazy train. Thank you very much.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

The Kerr and Campbell clans have been enemies for centuries and Kelvin has vowed to rid the world of Campbells if it's the last thing he ever does. He has spent years searching for the remaining heir but when he finally finds her Izel is not what he expected. Izel doesn't even know that her family is at war with the Kerrs, she has been raised to believe that she is an immortal and has travelled to Scotland in search of her grandfather for answers to some of her questions. When her paths cross with Kelvin he is determined to follow through on his vow and kill her but after discovering that she is the last remaining human he wonders if that is really the right thing to do. As they journey together to Kelvin's family home the attraction between them is undeniable but Kelvin has begun to suspect that she is his fated mate. But surely fate wouldn't be so cruel to make his enemy his mate? Can he put his feelings to one side and do his duty by destroying Izel? Does he even want to?

The Darkest Day is the first book in a new paranormal romance series by Britt Bury and was an enjoyable read. Although the story is set in modern times it does have a historical feel to it as the pair travel across Scotland together to the Kerr castle. Kelvin is a highland warrior from a family of Pookah's (Immortal Warriors with special powers linked to animals but without the ability to shapeshift). I have to admit that I really don't like the name pookah - every time I read it it made me think of fluffy bunny rabbits and it doesn't shout out sexy highland warrior to me. If you ignore the stupid name I did really like Kelvin, he was definitely a gruff and sexy alpha male who knows what he wants and is prepared to take it. At times he could come across as a little on the scary side but he was actually a sweetheart once you got to know him and although he does a few stupid things I couldn't help but forgive him.

I found myself really liking Izel though. Her whole life is turned upside down when she arrives I Scotland. Not only does she discover that she is the last remaining human but she has to learn to cope with a whole new set of abilities that she never realised she had. With nobody else to talk to she relies on Kelvin to give her the information she needs and to help her find her family. She is drawn to this sexy warrior and hopes they can build something together but she doesn't know the secrets he is keeping. Nothing goes smoothly between these two but you can't deny the heat that is between them and I really enjoyed watching their banter and the building chemistry.

There were a few things about the world building that bugged me - apart from the ridiculous pookah name I wasn't keen on the way males had to sleep with their mate before they would know for sure that they were fated. I could have lived with that but it seemed really silly that they had to sleep with them on a particular night of the year or they would miss their chance at a happy ever after - if they got a bit over enthusiastic and slept with them early they would never be able to complete the mating ceremony. I understand the author was trying to bring something different to the table but I prefer rules that make a bit more sense - this didn't work for me from a purely biological point of view considering that Kelvin was desperate to sleep with Izel because he thought she was his mate and he came close to loosing his chance to be with her. That doesn't leave me with a lot of hope for the species as a whole - especially when it was stated that he liked to sleep with a lot of women while he searched for his mate. How many pookah's out there would end up missing their chance to be with their one fated mate?

Anyway, ignoring that irritation I still really enjoyed the book and am looking forward to reading more of this series. We don't spend much time with most of the secondary characters in this instalment but I'm already dying to find out more about Ramsey's history and really hope he is getting a book of his own. I think The Darkest Day will appeal to fans of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series and I'll be keeping my eye out for more by Britt Bury in the future.

[Syahira · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's a lot of issue in this book that far outweighs the abysmal plot it have. Just a word of warning, if you like Twilight fanfiction, maybe you will love this book. If you like Fifty Shades of Grey but hated the 'BDSM' in it, maybe this would suffice. To me, there's nothing in the world more saddening than having to read these kind of characters again and this is the moment where I would have wanted some warning with those "If you love Twilight and 50 Shades then you will love this..." labels.

Apparently the story started with a Pookah on a revenge against the Fionn Clan Campbell because they slaughtered his family. So Kelvin Kerr vow to kill every last bit of the family. Some thousand years later, he found the heir of the clan and wanted to kill him until he saw that its a girl. And for some reason, the 'ugly' blonde girl magically changed into a brunette human and was overwhelmed by this bombardment of human emotions. Apparently, she's a pure human and last of her kind in the world where everyone is a supernatural creature. This would have gone into a beautiful reading relationship filled with smut had Bella Swan Izel doesn't became that Special Snowflake she is.

One of the major issue I had was the character Izel. I suppose its a trend for authors to make a virginal airhead girl to mirror the readers in a way which said a lot about writer herself who think her readers is dumb enough for that. I for one, have no problem with virginal girl since I am one and one of the reason why this is laughably bad was the intention of providing the male character a virgin so that one could reintroduce themselves again with the idea of sexually incompetent and the eventual exploration.

If this book was plain erotica, this would suffice but no, it is a very lengthy novel about a virginal born-again human falling in love with a boar shapeshifter in completely nonsense plot just to have them exuding emotions and their feelings and trying not to hump on each other because there's a magical prophecy with the girl who apparently a superhuman herself since she's not completely human either.

As for Kelvin Kerr who was supposed to be this powerful alpha male that was said to rival the alphas of "Immortal After Dark", I can't find a single moment worth likable about the male character. He is like a mesh between emotionally needy and abusive and borders on having a sexual predator personality. There's a couple of scenes in this book that was supposed to bring conflict in the plot but end up being totally out of context and overly non-sexy. Izel decided to go into a bar alone because she have this magical potion that hide her scent and then baiting Kelvin with other men so that he would feel jealous. And then later Kelvin suddenly throw some verbal insults or 'hurtful' words to Izel and then Izel bolts away and then Kelvin said he's lying and that he like her more than a lot and basically molesting her even when she said "No" but then the writing were like "she means yes" when she said "No". Add to that, his dialogues is completely illegible. Was it suppose to be a Scottish romance or just spelling errors to make it sound like an accent?

This book is a mess of confusion and mixed signals and virtually emotionally problematic characters and riddled with immature dialogues that made me question whether my sense of humor has gone AWOL. If you regularly read Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy and aren't one of those chic-lit jump shippers, reading this would be disaster.

[rameau · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review can also be found on Blodeudd's Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell. -blog



This might be a case of mislaid expectations. I was hoping for a paranormal with romance and erotica on the side, not an erotica with romance and paranormal on the side. But that's what I got. When the main couple wasn't having sex they were thinking about sex instead of things that normal individuals think about. Like survival.

There was a lot of promise there. I like the idea of an alternative world where humans have become extinct and immortals, demons, vampires, and such rule the earth. I like the idea of following different clans and watching their family feuds evolve. I like the idea of a rich and complex world-building with endless adventures and pairings--on the side.

All the plot points were hit, all the beats in the character arcs were hit, I just didn't like how the tune was played. I didn't like the excessive use of words female and male as substitutes for woman and man nor did I like how the Scottish accent was implied with a no'. I don't like the overtly done eroticism that appears shallow without any real character development shown during the story arc.

Bury's writing style isn't for me. I prefer a subtler touch. I prefer heavier emphasis on the plot and showing the action. Internal monologues are important in the sense that they're the window into a character's mind, but I've always preferred houses with smaller window to all-glass houses. And I happen to think that whatever windows the author offers should only confirm what can be inferred from the garden of the text.

I might be too harsh referring to Izel as a too stupid to live or a vapid, insipid diva and ingenue heroine, but I can't help it. While I appreciated the fact that she didn't go down without a fight and just let Kelvin carry her to the Kerr Castle, the manner in which she kept showing her independence was the most inane way possible. It was like she didn't have a sense of self-protection or survival.

She's told that she's human and that anyone within a paranormally enhanced scenting distance can smell her, and what does she do? She goes gallivanting in town. Admittedly she had magical help to disguise herself, but nowhere was it said how long or how thoroughly the effects would last. This and the handling of her change in the beginning made me think the author hadn't thought through Izel's reactions to her newly found humanity. Bury was trying but couldn't quite nail it.

As a character Kelvin, the Pookah, Kerr had more promise, but unfortunately his good qualities were of the one track mind quality. I like my men, fictional and real, more complex than that.

This book also suffers from being the first in a series and the setting up syndrome that comes with it. While I could appreciate getting to know Ian and Ryo, most of the information they provided could have been explained elsewhere.

The ending that either makes or breaks it, this time only saved the three star rating. It was predictable in its outcome but managed to surprise me in the details. There were too many tears throughout, but it would have been truly a sweet moment, if only I'd cared about the characters.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Julie Ramsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this world Britt Bury created, things are very different. The world is full of magic, creatures and full of unknown demons, beings and everything that goes bump in the night. The one thing that is newly extinct is humans. Immortals are the norm and humans are thought to be a thing of the past. Izel, thinks she is a normal Fionn(works magic), she knows that something is about to change. She has received a letter form her grandfather. He has told her to leave all she knows and come to him. She loves him and he is the last of her family. So, she comes to Scotland. After walking for miles she comes to his home and finds it empty. She is startled by a large man behind her. He calls her a McCall, the name that her grandfather had warned her of. If a man comes and calls you by this name, you RUN! She tries but, he is too big. He is going to kill her. Everything changes at that moment. Kelvin, a Pookah (razorback shifter), is sworn enemies of the Campbell clan. He is immortal. The clans have been fighting for hundreds of years, since they killed his father. He is searching for the mystic of the Campbell's, who has been missing. After arriving in his home he meets a woman. The woman who is the McCall(next leader) of his sworn enemies. He is going to kill her. For 25 yrs Izel has lived with feeling nothing. No love, no passion, no hate, nothing, for 25 yrs the mystic has been hiding Izel, hiding the fact she is the last human left on Earth. A prophecy says she is meant to bring peace to the clans and have great powers....Unless she meets a Pookah who will change her fated path.

This was an AWESOME story. Tons of action. My only complaint is some of the terms of the different types of people are a little confusing. Saying that, once you figure that out, oh my! The sexual tension is phenomenal.The actual scenes even better. You watch these two characters, Izel and Kelvin, grow, fight their attractions, lose that fight, and finally fall for one another. Just when you think things are going well, the floor drops and Izel's world changes. She, loves and hates this man. Loves what they shared but everything is based on a lie. This book was one of the best I have read in a long time. It also sets the stage for upcoming books that I will be looking for. If you like fantasy, paranormal, romance this is a must read! Adults only!!

[Julia]

I only made it 16% of the way through this one (thank you, Kindle, for pointless specificity). My first issue was with regards to the hero reacting to his father's death, NOT with the vow to kill the murderer. Oh no. He was going to wait for said murderer to find a wife, settle down, have children, and then our fine boy was going to kill them all. That's pretty darn premeditated and creeptastic. Skip forward to the "present", humans are extinct, our heroine, despite seeming pretty normal all around, claims she's never experienced an emotion. She claims this just as she's, well, experiencing emotions for the first time. And growing boobs and new hair. Yup, insta-puberty. Raging hormones, new body... despite the deep psychological consequences of having your face changed (in the real world), she reacts to her "new self" pretty well. Especially considering the fact that physical attraction sends her off the deep end, but for some reason a complete identity/species change doesn't flip her switch.

Then we get to the goodstuff, the "Fated Mate" explanation. Both hero and heroine are fighting their attraction when Kelvin decides to explain some little "quirks" of Razorback Pookah biology. They can only have sex with a woman once (winners). If she's not their mate, they're never interested again (typical). If she *is* their mate, they'll never want anyone else again (awww, that's sweet), unless they sleep with her on any day other than the Solstice, in which case, even though she IS their mate, they'll never sleep with her again and live life alone (what the hell?). In addition to being silly arbitrary, this little science lesson sucks any anticipation that may have survived thus far right out of the book. Let me tell you a secret, they're going to sleep together on the Solstice. Not until then, nope, feel free to skip all the weird family feuds and heavy breathing, they're going to wait until the Solstice. Someone will probably try to kill them or they'll have decided they're mortal enemies or Izel will have to chose between Kelvin and her "family", but it's going to happen, they're going to bang. And I have no desire to jump through more weird narrative hoops and wait for them to just get there already.

[Beckyloohoo Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ aka Mrs. Acheron Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for review from Netgalley.

I have to say I really enjoyed this debut PNR series by Britt Bury. It's unique and funny and very sexy. Of course it's sexy, there's Scottish men in it, and you know how I like my Highlanders. Yumm.

In this book, the world is populated by all kinds of paranormal creatures. So much so that the the weaker pure-breed humans have become extinct. Everyone accepts that they have some degree of humanity still in them, but to varying degrees. Now everyone living is something immortal - vampires, pookahs (people who have the instincts and strengths of animals but do not shift), witches, demons, etc.

This story focuses on the centuries old feud between the Kerr and Campbell clan. Kelvin Kerr has vowed to avenge his father's death by killing the offspring of James Campbell, and it seems that the Campbell clan has cursed Kelvin in return. Nothing good comes from years of hatred. Enter Izel Campbell. She is the last living Campbell, offspring of James Campbell. And the kicker, she's been kept in the dark her whole life about who and what she is. In an effort to hide her she had been magically altered in appearance and scent. Why? Because she's also the last full human. And she's Kelvin's destined Mate, of which they only get one. Izel is foretold to have incredible magical strength and bring peace to the feuding clans. All Kelvin has to do is protect her from the others creatures that are dying for another taste of human, the creatures who want kill her off before she becomes all-powerful, and the Kerr clan who want to torture her for being a Campbell, all without binding himself to his fated mate/enemy. Good luck with that Kelvin. LOL

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole. There's even a Nix-like seerer that drives them all crazy. The character's attraction is steamy and all around delicious. I will be on the look out for others in this series.

Would I reread this book? Probably
Would I recommend this book to a friend? Yes! :)

[LoveYourShelf (LAB☺) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was almost a DNF for me. I put it aside around the halfway mark and then read like 3 good books and then picked it up again. But I still had to skim through it.

This is a clone of Immortals After Dark. I thought I knew that going in but was not prepared for just how unoriginal it was. The similarites were staggering and when compared to IAD this book fell way short. (Shifter-type hero with a scottish brogue, people take vows they can't go back on, there is a witch with a weird name who sees the future and is all vague with what she says, instead of the Ascension it is the Court of Contention....I mean, really?)

The main issue was that the nothing much happened for the first half of the book and there was no depth to any of the characters. I just didn't care about them or what was going on.

[Ren Puspita]

Put aside of this for a while. Just not interested too read any further. Maybe later when I have time.
My first thought about this? Like Immortal After Dark by Kresley Cole rip-off (I don't sound harsh, right), especially about the mating way.

[Mandapanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Putting it aside for a while. The heroine is a bit TSTL which is annoying and the similarity to Kresley Cole's IAD series just highlights this book's weaknesses.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has Some Highs and Lows
You think you've got it rough? Try being Izel Campbell, the only firstborn Campbell born female. She's the McCall, "Son" of the Battle Chief, but she's a Poet Fionn, not a Warrior like her father was before her. She's also lived her twenty-five years of life without feeling one single emotion. Ever.

She's flown a couple of thousand miles to Scotland on the vague hope her very powerful grandfather can help fix her. She found his home, which is great, but he's not there, which isn't. Bigger problem, someone else is.

That someone is Battle Chief of the Kerr clan, immortal Pookah warrior Kelvin Kerr. A tall, gorgeous male who for some reason has every intention of removing her head from her shoulders, though from what he says, he feels really bad about it. Because that's a consolation.

Before he has a chance to behead her, Izel is plunged into hell, and all those emotions she has never felt crash into her at the same time. Terror. Sorrow. Anger. Helplessness. Combined they become a physical agony she doesn't understand and has no ability to process.

Kelvin has no idea what's happening to the woman he's sworn to kill, but suddenly he feels her pain and watches as she changes right in front of him. The lass suddenly lights up his senses like nothing he's ever felt before and two things become painfully clear. The first, she's his fated female, but he doesn't want to think about that. Especially as the second thing eclipses everything else.

Izel Campbell is mortal. A full human. As her species was thought to have become extinct decades ago, she's also the only human.

With that inconceivable revelation, Kelvin's goal changes. In the shadow of a prophecy he doesn't fully understand, he can no longer kill the Campbell as he's sworn to do. He has to protect the last human against a world of beings who will want to eat her and deliver her to a destiny he doesn't know if she'll survive.

~*~

Some reviews are just harder to write than others, and this is one of those hard ones. Bury's debut has a lot of good points. I loved the concept for the series. There were a few elements that reminded me of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series, but it has enough individuality and uniqueness to stand on its own merits. I also loved the idea of humanity being extinct...or mostly extinct...and the world being home to all the things that go bump (and apparently bump-and-grind) in the night.

Yeah, that's probably me just being twisted or some such psychobabble. What can I say? I'm over humanity being the go-to species for fictional focus.

The writing was another plus for me in this debut. Bury has a gift for quip-laden humor and snappy comebacks. I enjoyed Izel and Kelvin most when they were sniping at each other, or when their sardonic inner thoughts practically dripped disdain. I wouldn't say there was a large amount of humor in the book, but there was enough snark sprinkled throughout to entertain me.

I had some problems with the plot, though, and a couple of the story elements hit up against some of my personal preferences in reading. I wish the world had been better explained or fleshed out more. It felt like I was getting a lot of terminology, but not a clear understanding of what the words meant and how they fit into the world. That made reading the book feel a little like looking through a telescope; I could see and understand what was going on where I was looking, but out of my direct field of vision, everything was still a murky black.

The beginning of the book was one of the two largest stumbling blocks for me, story-wise. So much happens just as we meet Izel and Kelvin that the first quarter of the book was a bit of a chaotic jumble for me, and some things poked at my reading preferences. I'm a little tired of the fated mate trope. I've read it done well, I've read it done poorly, but my biggest issue is that I've just read it too often. It wasn't done badly in this book. In fact, I liked that Kelvin avoided thinking about it as much as possible and wasn't too keen on the idea. I'm just tired of it being used at all.

More of a disappointment were some of Izel's points of character. When we meet Izel she's a relatively plain-looking, unprepossessing female who hasn't come into her "power" yet. Before we even get to shake her metaphorical hand, she becomes the most important find on the planet, the last of her kind, and a prophesied Major Power in a coming confrontation. If that's not enough, she also goes from being average looking to stunningly, heart-stoppingly gorgeous. And she's a virgin. Of course.

The characters and story do settle and start to mesh as the book progresses, but a little too much of the plot stays focused on the romance threads. I would have appreciated a comprehensive and layered plot-driven conflict to add depth and dimension to the read. I also would have enjoyed more page time for the secondary characters, because they were a couple who were truly bright spots in the book. I couldn't possibly have loved Ryo the witch more than I did, and the Fionn warrior Ramsey was sorely underused.

There were, however, a sequence of scenes in the second half of the book that didn't work for me on any level and seemed to so contradict what readers had learned about the main characters and the evolution of their relationship to that point that the whole of it struck me as one horribly egregious plot contrivance. So much so that I was genuinely annoyed by everyone and everything in the book for several of the subsequent chapters and it colored my overall impression of the book.

Without a doubt I believe there is a foundation for a strong and imaginative series here, and several characters with a huge amount of likability have some great story potential. There just weren't quite enough good points in this particular book to fully countermand my dislike of the things that failed for me personally. I would love to see where Bury takes the series, though, because with a few different characters and a few different elements here and there, this series could really rock my world.

Quotables:

"Don't flatter yourself. I basically prefer your company over death. Well, that and-" she tapped her chin and looked to the sky- "nope, just death."


She was not stomping away and throwing a fit like a five-year-old. She just happened to enjoy pounding her feet on the ground while she walked, that's all.


"The McCall title was given to describe one with a unique heart and great power. It was you all who thought that the only powerful creature must be male."

Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Forever Yours publisher Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.
~*~*~*~
Reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.

[Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

From http://readingandwritingurbanfantasy....

At a Glance
I enjoyed The Darkest Day. It had a very interesting world, and I liked the dark feel but some other things just fell short.

The Good
Here's the Story...
Summoned to her ancestral home, Izel sets out to find her grandfather in Scotland. But what she finds there instead is Kelvin, the battle chief from a rival clan, who has every intention of killing her to avenge his father's death by her ancestor's hands. But before he can accomplish his goal, Izel goes through a transformation that changes her appearance and her status as immortal to last human on earth. Now Kelvin is conflicted. Killing the last human is not appealing. And the fact that from the first moment he set eyes on her, Kelvin knew Izel was his destined mate does not help the matter either. Can he love someone from a clan who has killed his people? Can Izel fall for a man who planned to kill her? Not knowing what else to do, they both set out on a journey hoping to get some answers because their mutual attraction could get them both dead.

Human's Not Included...
It really was the world that drew me in from the get-go. The last of the humans have been killed off years ago and the supernaturals run the world. Now only the strongest survive. You better pray you don't have any human blood running through your veins because that just guarantees you a painful death. Bury created a dark, terrifying world that gave me the chills. There was an array of new creatures to learn about and even the usual vampires and witches felt like refreshing concepts with Bury's imaginative and vivid writing.

Izel...
I loved watching the backlash of Izel's huge transformation. She goes from a lanky blond to a curvy, red-haired bombshell. From the day she was born, she has never felt emotion. Now, the emotional sensory overload is making her second guess herself. She doesn't understand how people can live life feeling anger and lust without it crippling them. She is so confused, she doesn't know how to control these emotions and it's causing her to make bad decisions. What a unique concept, right?

Kelvin...
Kelvin is a jerk. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I think his surly, domineering attitude gave some spice to the story. His life has not been an easy one so he really doesn't know any other way to act. Especially when his mate is a relative of the man who killed his father. All he can think about is getting rid of her, finding a way out of this mess. But he finds it hard to resist her lure and beauty. His clan's vengeance requires that he end her, but his body and soul call out to her in every way.

The Extra...
The dialogue was one of the better aspects of The Darkest Day. It was both humorous and snarky, which is my favorite kind. And the side characters really added something extra. Ryo, a witch and prophet, was just freakin' hilarious. She was the most entertaining of the bunch.

I don't know if this is a good or bad thing but The Darkest Day and the world it is set in is very similar to Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series. Take that as you will.

The Bad
With such an exciting world Bury created, I wish she spent more time with world-building. We get a very small idea of what society and different cultures are like because we spend the majority of the book in a forest.

The character development was not so great. Though I think Kelvin being a jerk was kind of funny most of the time, sometimes he was down right vicious towards Izel and it made me hate him a little. If being an a-hole is your defining characteristic, something is wrong. And then Izel could be very pathetic sometime. She lets Kelvin walk all over her and she still follows him around like a puppy. Also, why in the hell did she barely react to her transformation? If my whole exterior changed in a matter of a few minutes, I think I would panic a little, or at least feel more emotion about it.

The book really did drag sometimes. The plot got lost in Bury's attempt to build Izel and Kelvin's "relationship."

The Snuggly
Expect some sex scenes that will make you blush. Not for the faint of heart. The romance was fricken hot. Well, it's not as much romantic as it is steamy and sizzling. The attraction between Kelvin and Izel is so raw that it transfers into their sexual encounters. Bury did not hold back when it came to the sex.

Overall
The Darkest Day was an enjoyable paranormal romance. It didn't hit every mark, but I think it was unique enough that many will love this book. I see a lot of potential for this series. Recommended for paranormal romance readers.


Quotes
His bright blue eyes bore into hers, staring at her face with a look of...hunger? He was beautiful. Deadly. She marveled at his large hands, desperately wanting them on her skin. She fought the urge, yet again, to throw herself at him.

"You donna wanna stab me, lass." He titled his head. "In fact, I think you wanna do something else entirely to me." His voice was laced with suck potent seduction it made her knees weak.

Stupid knees.

[Crystal _ Reading Between the Wines Book Club · Rating 4 out of 5]

Britt Bury weaves a spellbinding story in her debut novel, The Darkest Day, that I never wanted to end!

In a world of Immortals and the wilds of Scotland the Campbell Fionn and Kerr Pookah have warred for centuries. Death and vengeance reigns by those who live by the sword and magic.
Izel Campbell, an immortal Fionn, arrives in Scotland seeking answers from her grandfather; cursed since birth to never feel emotions she has lived a half-life. But once she arrives at her grandfather’s home the curse falls away and Izel is bombarded by new feelings as well as a new look leaving her with more questions then she started out with.
Kelvin seeks the last of the Campbell line to fulfill his vow of vengeance for the death of his father. Expecting a male he is surprised to find a woman, but what shocks him more is when the woman’s cloaking spell falls away and this ordinary Fionn transforms into a gorgeous human - the last human alive. What he feels for this little human is even more surprising though and something that he intends to fight.
As Kelvin tries to balance his duty to both his family and his fated mate, Izel must learn to tap into her prophesized powers but they each face an uphill battle, will they find the answers they seek in time?


The Darkest Day was a wonderful start to the Immortal Heat series. Britt Bury writes with an old world feel and this story could have easily taken place in the historical Scottish Highlands as well, which I especially loved. The first half of the book was slow to start but once it found its pacing, the story took off. I really enjoyed reading about the characters the author has created in this magical world. Izel is a heroine that you can easily get behind and cheer for while Kelvin is a hero that you will fall in love with. The dialogue between both was fun and entertaining; they played off each other so well.

Izel Campbell grew up believing that she was an immortal Fionn, although different from the rest of her family – cursed, only to discover she is the last human being alive. Izel can roll with the punches though and is full of spunk and good humor. Kelvin is a fierce and honorable warrior, but he is constantly trying to push Izel away and acts out towards her often. He ends up regretting his actions of course and grovels for forgiveness, which Izel makes him work for. His hot and cold emotions confuse Izel but she knows that he will protect her, as the last human she will be extremely coveted by all. I loved how the romance unfolded between these two, it was unique in the sense that I was both rooting for them to get it on while at the same time dreading it and hoping that they would wait.

I would have liked more background information on the world created here; where did these immortals come from, did they live alongside humans? How long have humans been extinct? The world building could have used a little more padding and I found myself asking “Why?” often. I’m eager to see what the Immortal Heat series has in store next though, and how the series will further develop. There were plenty of other characters that intrigued and I look forward to reading more about them. Arcane prophecies, dark curses, quirky witches, sexy alpha males, feisty females and an immortal battle on the horizon; The Darkest Day has it all with sizzling sexual tension, heart-pounding action and suspense, secrets and betrayal, and most importantly an impassioned romance. Britt Bury is definitely a new voice in the paranormal romance world to keep your eyes on!

Note to readers: I do suggest reading the glossary before starting the story, which I didn’t see until the very end. :-/ Not sure how this will be set up in the final version since I received an ARC through NetGalley but if you don't see the glossary in the front, flip to the end. It’s extremely helpful with the unfamiliar terms and characters.

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite Quote: “I do no’ need you anyhow.”

“Oh no?” She looked down his body. “That thing tenting your pants just called you a liar.”

The Darkest Day is the start of a new paranormal series I’m pretty excited about. My initial thought while reading is how it has a Kresley Cole vibe to it. I like to call it, ‘Immortals After Dark – Lite.’ Not quite as violent, not quite as witty, but the world and characters remind me of Cole. There is a ‘Court of Contention’ that happens every 400 years allowing the four realms to open up and chaos and war ensue (sounds like Cole’s Accession). The females are sassy and the males are very alpha, broody and overprotective. The witch’s name is Ryo the Righteous and she can see into the future, but is a little crazy herself (Nix anyone?) But I also feel like this author definitely has a voice of her own.

The Campbell bloodline (who are a breed of Fionns, possessing magical traits) are full of warriors and have always produced male offspring. That is until Izel comes along. The last of the bloodline, Izel knows she has the gift of persuasion within her body, but she can’t figure out how to call it forth. A simple poet, she feels weaker than her relatives but not any more stubborn. Izel sets out to find her grandfather to get answers but instead runs into Kelvin Kerr, the Campbell family’s most hated enemy. The Campbell’s killed Kelvin’s father long, long ago, and Kelvin has made it his mission to wipe out all Campbell blood.

Kelvin is a Pookah, more specifically a razorback Pookha. He doesn’t shift, but at night and on the solstice, his animal instincts take over. Kelvin is about to kill Izel but learns two things by sniffing her out. One, she is very much a human (and humans are totally extinct in this world, which now baffles Kelvin). And two, she could possibly be Kelvin’s mate, which just throws a wrench into his revenge plans. So his new plan is to drag her back to his castle where his brother is residing to figure this all out. Pookah’s only have one mate, and they won’t know for sure it is them they sleep with them on the winter solstice. Izel is not amused but she also feels like Kelvin could maybe lead her to people that know more about where her grandfather is. Plus there is this almost immediate attraction between them that unfolds very nicely.

While The Darkest Day is a paranormal – there are immortals and magic, it has a very strong highlander feel to it. Kelvin has a heavy scottish accent that I love so much. He is so alpha and controlling, yet so warm and lovable. He is the huge, scary hero that you just want to hug. The author does a nice job with making him very sexy too. I really think the readers will like him a lot. Izel too is a nice heroine. She fights him and fights him, and I love that she tries to be as independent as possible around this oafish man. She has sass to her and really goes through a lot in the book as she learns who she is.

There is a lot of action in this book and we meet some supporting characters, Kelvin’s brother Ian and their witch Ryo who add a lot to this story. While I’m glad the author doesn’t do a huge info dump on the world, I do feel like we only learn a tiny, tiny piece of it. I wish we could have grasped the world a little better. I received my advanced copy off of NetGalley, so I don’t know what format the final version will be in but please note – there is a very nice glossary of terms that showed up at the very end of my book (Kindle version). It would have been helpful to know it was there as I was reading. I also think the first half of this book is slow, and it took me a bit to get into it. Once we got going though, I enjoyed myself.

Rating: B