Avenge

Patronus #2

by Sarah M. Ross

Six months ago, Lucy Donovan thought that being killed by a drunk driver was the worst thing that could happen to her.
She was wrong.
Now, the person she loves most has been ripped away from her, soul held hostage, and Lucy has vowed to stop at nothing to get it back.
Part of a new team with enhanced powers, Lucy and her friends begin a quest to avenge the souls that have been stolen. Enemies of the Patronus have united however, and a spy from within the Patronus realm is feeding the enemy their every move.
When a mission goes horribly wrong, Lucy’s soul becomes compromised. It will take a strength she didn’t know was within her to escape the darkness, return to the light and avenge the soul she loves.

Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Suspense, Romance

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Sarah started her obsession with reading at an early age, often sneaking BabySitter Club and Nancy Drew books into math class. She would read any book she could get her hands on. Her love of reading quickly evolved into a love of writing and stories began to pour out of her.

She grew up in Pittsburgh, graduated from The University of Pittsburgh with a degree in English, and taught eighth graders to love reading as much as she does for several years. She currently resides in Pittsburgh with her husband and daughter.

Sarah's debut novel, AWAKEN, released in January, 2012. Other novels include AVENGE, ATONE, ECHO OF AN EARTH ANGEL, INHALE EXHALE, THE SECRET CRUSH, and NEVER GONNA TELL.

Stalk her here:
Website- http://www.sarahmross.com
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/SarahtheAuthor
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/SarahtheAuthor
Instagram- http://instagram.com/authorsarahmross/

Reviews

[Shelly Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, Max..... :)

[Mandy Reads Indie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy is in search of her sister who has been stolen by a bunch of vicious blood suckers. Going on mission after mission stealing back souls that were once taken, she rarely has a moments rest. Lucy feels if she doesn't find her sister soon it may be too late. In the midst of looking for her and taking down vampires, the unthinkable happens, Lucy is kidnapped and held hostage. But it's not really her who the vampires want. It's someone much dearer to her. So when her true love gets taken away, Lucy is left feeling the pain. With her emotions all over place, Lucy has to find a way to get Max back. In the end, she may lose everyone she loves…but it’s a risk she has to take.

I thought Awaken was wonderful...but Avenge came in and kicked a little bootie. Ok, a lot of bootie. I was so surprised to see that I loved it more than Awaken. I especially loved the second half of the book where the action and suspense was knocked up a notch or two. And while coming up on the ending, I was so worried that something bad was going to happen. But I thought that Ross ended it perfectly; leaving me happy and satisfied. So much so, I am looking forward to the next book and what James has to say.

Did I mention we get a snippet of Max’s POV? Um yeah, and it was flippin great. Would love to have ‘heard’ more from him in the story though. But even so…it was great just getting that little bit from him. And it just made me fall a little more in love with him.

I will say that I am loving Lucy’s character a little more in Avenge too. I felt she has really grown from the first time we met her Awaken. Lucy has really adjusted to her role as a Patronus and matured as a person. Seeing that change makes it easier to connect with her character a little more than before.

So if you haven’t read Awaken, get on it. If you have, then you really need to get to reading Avenge. You are going to love the conclusion to Max and Lucy’s story.

[Tee loves Kyle Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Avenge we pick up right where Awaken left off. Lucy Donovan is getting used to her new life and her new friends. She is still fighting the good fight against the evil werewolves and vampires. She has her team by her side and she has Max who is there helping her every step of the way. But she is still on her mission to find the one soul she loves and wants to see again. She will stop at nothing to get to see this soul and make sure the person is okay.

What she encounters while she and the team are looking for this soul is more mayhem. It seems at every turn she has to fight to get to what she wants. But in the end she knows the fight is worth it if she can get the reward she seeks.As they go on their mission to avenge the souls that were stolen Lucy will hit a snag in the road. Someone within their tight nit group will betray them and put Lucy's soul at risk. What will Lucy do about the betrayal? Will she be able to get back to her team in tact? What will happen between her and Max? Will she find that lost soul she is looking for?

In Avenge you will get all these answers and more. You will learn the background and history of the Patronus people. Plus you will get to see Lucy fight her way back to where she was before her soul was compromised. This is a great series and I recommend it to all paranormal readers.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah did it again with Avenge!! I loved this book from the very first page until the very last one. I cried so much reading this book and my heart broke for Lucy and Max. There's a lot that goes on in this book and I don't want to give anything away or ruin it for anyone else. I will say that Lucy and Max go through some very hard and dark times and you wonder if they'll pull through as them selfs or will they be lost to evil. You get to know the team more and I realize I love every one on the team and I hope Sarah writes a book for some of them ( cough... Adam lol) I love that you get to see the Patronus kick major butt in this book and the spy is fully outed. Sarah tied up Lucy and Max's story perfectly and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us in James's book. If you haven't read this series you really should. Sarah's writing is amazing and you will fall in love with Lucy and Max just like I did..

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start out by saying thank you for this wonderful series Sarah I was pulled in the moment I started reading, and I am actually re reading Avenge again just in case I missed something lol. I am not one for spoilers so let me just say the story of Lucy, and Max is amazing I haven't read a book with this kind of story line so it is something new for me. I like YA paranormal books, and this has got to be my favorite. When I read the end I was happy, but sad that the story ended until I went to the next page (can't wait for next year now). This will be up there with a few other books I will re read again and again because I like it so much. I hope to read more from this wonderful author & I hope you take a moment to sit down, and read this wonderful book too.

[L.P. Dover · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always I am astounded by Sarah Ross' work. I fell in love with Awaken which is the first book in the series and now I am inlove with this one. The plot is engaging and it kept me turning the pages until the very end. The relationship between Lucy and Max warms my heart and I enjoyed watching their relationship grow. Sarah's books are easy to read because the words flow right over the pages. I can't wait to read more of what Sarah Ross comes up with. Her ideas and imagination are unique and creative and I can't wait to see what she comes up with in the future. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers.

[Jackie -Sated Faery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This was totally crazy and intense, but awesome! Just when you think things can’t get any worse… But this group of friends is amazing and can tackle anything together, even after discovering a spy in their midst. I had many tearful moments and just as many “wth??” moments while reading this, so it was quite a roller-coaster ride of emotions. I have really grown to love Lucy and the gang!

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to read this as a Arc and i loved it.
I can't say much but this story has a few surprises that will shock you excite you and just leave you wanting more.
And of course the love between lucy and max grows stronger and they both find out what being one half of a pair really means.
I loved Avenge and hope you all enjoy it as much as i did.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

really enjoyed this series. love the characters. I could not put this down read it in one day. can not wait to read about James' story.

[Sarah Geiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love this series. :) Such an innovative and refreshing take on the afterlife.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Max & Lucy! Such an amazing story! I recommend these books for everyone!

[Chris Torretta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a series review for both Awaken and Avenge so there may be spoilers for the first book if you have not yet read it!!

How this series starts seems a bit weird for me. Not really in a bad way but I was really thrown off by how much in love she is with Max after she’s met him. She’s like completely entranced by him and that made me mistrust him straight away!! You do learn why she is so enamored, and he with her might I add, and it makes sense to me but it was so over the top that it nearly took some of the fun out of the book, for me. I realize that this actually does add something to these two and I did get it so just realize this and stick with it if it throws you off also. And to credit Lucy, the connection does leave her just as confused as me but it all comes out in the end.

Lucy is also someone you don’t want to trifle with. She grows tremendously as she’s learning and making mistakes, which I thought was fabulous! Cassie is also a favorite, she’s feisty and fun!

The plot was really interesting! Don’t like angel stories? Don’t worry, these guys are not angels, nor are they guardian angels. They do guard souls however from those out there that could feed off of them. Another thing I found very interesting is the fact that all the myths that you’ve heard about these creatures, like vampires are totally wrong. The patronus has to think it’s way out of a situation without using anything that they’ve learned in their human lives because that is all wrong!! I hope that’s not true about zombies if ever there is a zombiepocalypse! Tons of action, really fast past books leave you guessing what’s going to happen next.

Book two, Revenge picks right up where Awaken leaves off although takes a little bit more time to get to the meat of what’s going on. I wasn’t able to call the twists which always makes me happy! And if you love Lucy and Max in Awaken, you’ll love them in Avenge. It was bordering on a little too lovey dovey for me but still a fun, action packed read! Lucy has grown and we even get some of Max’s point of view although I really wish we got a bit more of that.

[Suzanne Huffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of Avenge –The Patronus Book 2

**Warning! –Contains spoilers if you haven’t read Awaken – The Patronus Book 1**

Avenge is the second book in the Patronus series by Sarah Ross. It picks up a short time after the end of Awaken. Lucy Donovan and her soul mate Max are now part of an elite team of Patroni who are actively hunting vampires, rather than just defending the souls of the newly dead as they transition from Earth to Heaven. Lucy and Max are living together, but Lucy can’t completely enjoy the domestic bliss. Her sister Jessica’s soul is still lost, and Lucy fears that by the time they find her the vampires may have corrupted it beyond redemption.

Lucy is much more seasoned as a Patronus in this book. We see her taking an active role in hunting for the vampires who took her sister’s soul, and looking for a traitor within the Patronus ranks who is leaking information to the enemy. She’s been granted a new power that helps her defend herself against vampires and werewolves, a coating of silver armor she can summon at will.

The romance between Max and Lucy is demonstrated beautifully throughout the book. Sarah Ross does a great job of showing an intimate adult relationship without going into details that would make the book inappropriate for a YA audience. Max demonstrates the depth of his love for Lucy not just with words, but with caring and thoughtful actions. When it really counts, Max and Lucy are both willing to sacrifice anything to guarantee each other’s safety.

The pacing of the story is fast and suspenseful. There’s plenty of action and drama as Lucy, Max and their friends confront vampires in New Orleans. Lucy and Max are separated and suffer, but ultimately are reunited, the bond that has joined them from the beginning of time stronger than ever.

I stayed up until 1:30 AM to finish this book. The action is non-stop and I couldn’t put it down. I would recommend the Patronus books to anyone who is a fan of the supernatural genre.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the end of Awaken something bad happened and a soul was stolen. A soul that was linked to Lucy. Now in Avenge she’ll stop and nothing to get it back and send it to its rightful place. The team don’t have it easy though as there is a spy in their realm who’s feeding information to the vampire enemies.

I loved Avenge just as much as Awaken. I did think that Avenge was darker and even creepier in some parts than Awaken, but that was good as the vampires had more of a starring role this time, so I wouldn’t expect anything less than creepy

Lucy had a lot to deal with in this second book. She went through hell at the hands of the vampires and had to deal with the loss of the stolen soul and also someone else she cared for coming to harm. We got to see Lucy’s dark side this time and how she dealt with those dark emotions that she found herself experiencing after Max’s disappearance.

The group don’t have a clue who they can trust with a spy in their midst and that causes a lot of stress for everyone. I actually worked out who the spy was, just by guesswork – I had no idea why the spy would be who it was, I’m not that good a detective!

I thought the writing was just as good as that of Awaken and the story had me even more hooked in the second book. I finished it within 24 hours of starting it. Now it’s not a long book so that’s probably nothing remarkable to read it in 24 hours but when you’re busy running around after 3 little boys it can get hard to slot in reading time sometimes. I just had to go back to reading whenever I could.

I saw at the end of Avenge that there will another story in this series, this time coming from the POV of James, the leader of Lucy’s Patronus group. I can’t wait for that and I’ll definitely be reading it. I definitely count myself as a fan of Sarah M. Ross and The Patronus series.

[Stephanie Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Avenge' is the second book in the Patronus series, which continues to follow Lucy Donovan and her team - a group of immortal beings known as Patronus - guardians of souls and spirits. In this installment of the series, Lucy and her friends continue to hunt for the soul of someone Lucy loves dearly, all while kicking some serious vampire and werewolf butt. On top of all that, Lucy and Max's relationship deepens, and they must face some of the hardest trials they will ever endure.

Just like the first book in the series, I thought that this was a really fun and fast paced book, and I couldn't put it down. I loved reading more about the history and backstory of the Patroni, their realms, and their purposes. I found it to be just as refreshing and original as the first book. The characters all show growth throughout this novel - especially Lucy, as she deals with immeasurable pain, suffering, and must reach deep inside herself to overcome great obstacles. There continues to be lots of action throughout the book along with interesting twists to keep things moving. The plot was very engaging and kept me guessing, which I really liked. I really enjoyed the development of Max and Lucy's relationship. It was a bit mushy at times, but still incredibly romantic and I enjoyed reading about them. Overall, this is a great continuation to the series, and is a very well written story that readers will love.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Avenge" keeps up the Patronus action that we learned about in the first book "Awaken" and adds a few new twists in the storyline of vampires, souls, and guardians. Sarah M. Ross did a good job with her second installment of this series. The relationship of the two main characters, Lucy and Max, are explored further and new insights into how they are connected is revealed.

"Avenge" is a fast, easy read, but fell a little short when compared to the first book "Awaken". "Awaken" was an entirely new concept in the paranormal romance genre, but "Avenge" was a little too slow to get to the fun action parts and a bit too repetitive with the romance scenes. If I was to recommend something, it would be to change the conversations and interactions of the main characters so there was more depth and variety and decrease the depressed thoughts Lucy has. Overall, the book was good and I look forward to reading the next installment, with the hope that there is more detail and better interactions with the characters.

[Alisia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book. It was really interesting and had me turning the pages all night long. We got to get to know the characters more, they saved more souls and they all got new powers. I loved that Lucy and Max got so much closer. They were close before but now you get to see how their love and each other effect the other one. How they can feel each other when they are near (and also what happens when bad things happen). It's great!
When reading it, you really connect with Lucy and how frustrated she gets when she can't find her sister.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm impressed with this book. I don't often stray from Epic/High Fantasy but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I like the main character quite a bit and didn't mind the romance between her and Max. I'm not really a romance person either. I'm sad that this is the last book with Lucy as the main character but I think I'll pick up the other ones as well.
If you like a different twist on fantasy then I think you'll enjoy this book!

[Mayra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avenge picks up right where Awaken left off. This one was action packed and definitely has you at the edge of your seat. There are twists and turns you don't see coming as well as some emotional moments. Can't wait to know more about the Patroni!

[Tena Clifford · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to make myself finish this bookI was grinding my teeth the whole time hoping it would soon end! )-:

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Michelle Leah Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good installment of the PATRONUS series!
A bit sexier than book #1, with plenty of intrigue, emotion, and action.
-Full review to come

[Mandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way better than the first in my opinion

[Dayte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think i loved both books equally, but this book was a little more action packed then the first. I really enjoyed this book and I recommend this book also. great series if you ask me!

[Jeana · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[Tracy Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it!