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Words of Divinity
Daniel is a sorcerer, good at magic and taking all the credit—or so it seems to Liam. In Daniel's eyes that's vastly preferable to being Liam, a hunter who excels at killing beasts and sleeping with everything else. They cooperate only to keep their country safe—until a new and greater danger calls for desperate measures that takes them to the land of gods, and the only way home again is by facing monsters, gods, and truths they've been avoiding.
143 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 30, 2013
66 people want to read
About the author
Kayla Bain-Vrba
22 books12 followersKayla Bain-Vrba has been living in daydreams ever since she was a little girl and writing about them for as long as she can remember. It was her discovery of m/m romance that inspired her first published work at age nineteen. When she’s not writing—or is procrastinating writing—Kayla enjoys spending time with her other half, crafting, and planning things to a tee.
Connect with Kayla on her website, www.kaylabain-vrba.com.
Connect with Kayla on her website, www.kaylabain-vrba.com.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 4, 2013
WHY SO MUCH HURRY????
yes, sorry but I must start this review saying why it's not a 5 stars for me... why? WHYYYYYY? Why so much hurry?
I like fast paced stories, but this one is too much, even for me! And I still don't know why!
The Mcs are ok, but the excessive hurry don't give me time to fall in love with them
Daniel a sorcerer, Liam a hunter (warrior, that fight monsters, demonic creatures)... enemy to lover... everything that made me think this was a perfect book for me. No it wasn't.
Not just the lack of world development and description, but also more stuff annoyed me:
*the time skipping in a moment I was curious about the story
*the constant and sometimes (IMO) unnecessary change of POV confuses me.
*the otherworld should be so freaking interesting to me (COME ON! In the land of Gods! Of course I was VERY interested to read it...) but the fact it became a sexfest annoyed me. I wish there was less sex, and more world description
*of course, the lack of development in the end annoy me too.... it was a cute end, but when I read it I had the WTF feeling... like I was so distracted I lost a lot during the book... but I wasn't... it wasn't there... that's (IMO) is the risk of a fast paced story. It goes so fast that when the reader get to the end there will be "lost" feeling, not a "want more" feeling.
I think there is a lot of potential in this book. And that's it... the execution wasn't for me... I prefer more described worlds and characters.
3 stars
yes, sorry but I must start this review saying why it's not a 5 stars for me... why? WHYYYYYY? Why so much hurry?
I like fast paced stories, but this one is too much, even for me! And I still don't know why!
The Mcs are ok, but the excessive hurry don't give me time to fall in love with them
Daniel a sorcerer, Liam a hunter (warrior, that fight monsters, demonic creatures)... enemy to lover... everything that made me think this was a perfect book for me. No it wasn't.
Not just the lack of world development and description, but also more stuff annoyed me:
*the time skipping in a moment I was curious about the story
*the constant and sometimes (IMO) unnecessary change of POV confuses me.
*the otherworld should be so freaking interesting to me (COME ON! In the land of Gods! Of course I was VERY interested to read it...) but the fact it became a sexfest annoyed me. I wish there was less sex, and more world description
*of course, the lack of development in the end annoy me too.... it was a cute end, but when I read it I had the WTF feeling... like I was so distracted I lost a lot during the book... but I wasn't... it wasn't there... that's (IMO) is the risk of a fast paced story. It goes so fast that when the reader get to the end there will be "lost" feeling, not a "want more" feeling.
I think there is a lot of potential in this book. And that's it... the execution wasn't for me... I prefer more described worlds and characters.
3 stars
May 7, 2013
Review posted at The Armchair Reader.
3.5 stars
In many ways this was just the kind of book that I love. A solid fantasy (not high fantasy) that plays with alternate worlds, gods/demigods, demon-like creatures, a magical war, and a quest between worlds and back. Though I had a few problems with the book as a whole, for the most part I really enjoyed it.
Words of Divinity is told from the opposing viewpoints of Daniel and Liam, a mage and a hunter. We first meet Liam on the streets of the capitol. He's been living on the streets since the age of fourteen, a runaway from an abusive alcoholic father. While wandering the streets at night, Liam is attacked by a giant rat that nearly kills him. But in his fight for his life, Liam is able to kill the rat barehanded, an almost impossible feat that is witnessed by another man who takes Liam to the local regiment's barracks. Liam is extremely distrustful of authority, but he soon learns that he's there to recount his impressive tale and immediately offered into the ranks of a new group of warriors, a special subset of the country's military that has been organized to fight a new menace -- the demon spawn called up from the Underworld by the dark mages of a neighboring country.
Liam finds a place among the hunters. Completing training faster than any of the others, he finds that he's exceptional at something and the center of a group of warriors that look up to him. Maybe it's this new respect that inflates his ego, or more likely just part and parcel of how his experiences so far have molded him -- his abusive father, his early sexual experiences and his casual disregard of how he's been used by both people and authority. Whatever it is, this new and cocky Liam is the epitome of a bad boy -- sleeping his way across the regiment, and then into the group of mages traveling with them and the local boys at every village they pass as they march from battle to battle.
Liam soon finds that not everyone is susceptible to his charms. Daniel is a mage that the other mages avoid. He's held in high esteem by the Crown Prince Erik who accompanies their ragtag company, and they soon grow a friendship, though Daniel shuns any other company. He's secretive, and for good reason. Daniel is their biggest asset because of his ability to hear the thoughts of the demons they hunt. He has more secret abilities, however, that seem to have a mind of their own, constantly wanting to be used. While he's fighting the demon spawn with the other mages and hunters, he's also waging a war among his own powers and his own history, which he keeps locked away among his deepest secrets. When Daniel first meets Liam, he's taken by his charisma, confidence and sexy swagger. Their friendship, though, is brief when Daniel sees some of his worst qualities -- his endless meaningless conquests and his loose tongue. Liam likes to brag about his conquests and getting prudish Daniel to give it up for him is his goal, including spreading the tales afterward to anyone that wants to listen.
Now pitted against one another, they spend quite a long time at odds, only growing in animosity. They're soon thrust into a quest where they have to open up to one another and rely on each other to survive. And even more than that, they are forced to reevaluate their preconceived notions about the other.
What Kayla V-B did best in this novella is in these two characters. At times I wasn't quite sure how I felt about them. In fact, for probably the first half of the book I really hated Liam. We don't quite get a lot of his history until much later in the book so even though we know about his asshole father, we don't quite understand his vulnerability, which just makes him seem like an asshole. I think that Daniel (at least for me) is a bit easier to get close to. It's easier to understand him and to really pull for him because his vulnerability is on the surface… he's extremely tormented. The format of the book (the quest is like an obstacle course they have to maneuver, with tests that manipulate them and their feelings) makes the two come together because, honestly, I doubt they would if they weren't forced to. They're so opposed to one another. In fact, I don't know that I've read an m/m romance in recent history that deals with the enemies to lovers trope where the characters hated and misunderstood the other more. And with the world around them manipulating their actions, they constantly seem to come together to be torn apart. It makes for some nice angst that I didn't feel was too overdone. And I really liked the fact that the characters are who they are with a real fierceness, if that makes sense at all. They're both passionate, and that makes them alternately rub each other the wrong way, while at other times they can co-exist.
I had a bit of a difficult time getting into the story, though. The first few chapters traverse several years in order to set up the story, introduce both characters and a bit of their history, and then show the few years they travel together and how Liam and Daniel grow to hate one another. I think that it all comes down to pacing. At the start of the story the pace is extremely fast. We're given a lot of information while time speeds forward every few paragraphs to chapters and then when the characters are forced on their journey together the pace changes. Also, while this part of the story is interspersed with skirmishes and battles that we're shown in present time, there's a lot of narration to fill us in on the world and the characters. It wasn't until I finished the book that I could see the jog in the pace and I started to think about the beginning. Rather than telling us about their past, I would have rather been shown those scenes. It would have meant adding quite a bit more pages, but I think there would have been more balance.
But, in all, this was quite the enjoyable read and I'd definitely recommend it to fantasy fans. I'm not sure whether the author plans to extend the story at all, but I'd definitely be there, in line to read it if she wanted to. The story definitely ends with a pretty solid HFN, on the line to an HEA. I only doubt the HEA because of their past history and we don't see where their adventures are headed. It's nicely done to either let the story rest or open it again at a future point.
3.5 stars
In many ways this was just the kind of book that I love. A solid fantasy (not high fantasy) that plays with alternate worlds, gods/demigods, demon-like creatures, a magical war, and a quest between worlds and back. Though I had a few problems with the book as a whole, for the most part I really enjoyed it.
Words of Divinity is told from the opposing viewpoints of Daniel and Liam, a mage and a hunter. We first meet Liam on the streets of the capitol. He's been living on the streets since the age of fourteen, a runaway from an abusive alcoholic father. While wandering the streets at night, Liam is attacked by a giant rat that nearly kills him. But in his fight for his life, Liam is able to kill the rat barehanded, an almost impossible feat that is witnessed by another man who takes Liam to the local regiment's barracks. Liam is extremely distrustful of authority, but he soon learns that he's there to recount his impressive tale and immediately offered into the ranks of a new group of warriors, a special subset of the country's military that has been organized to fight a new menace -- the demon spawn called up from the Underworld by the dark mages of a neighboring country.
Liam finds a place among the hunters. Completing training faster than any of the others, he finds that he's exceptional at something and the center of a group of warriors that look up to him. Maybe it's this new respect that inflates his ego, or more likely just part and parcel of how his experiences so far have molded him -- his abusive father, his early sexual experiences and his casual disregard of how he's been used by both people and authority. Whatever it is, this new and cocky Liam is the epitome of a bad boy -- sleeping his way across the regiment, and then into the group of mages traveling with them and the local boys at every village they pass as they march from battle to battle.
Liam soon finds that not everyone is susceptible to his charms. Daniel is a mage that the other mages avoid. He's held in high esteem by the Crown Prince Erik who accompanies their ragtag company, and they soon grow a friendship, though Daniel shuns any other company. He's secretive, and for good reason. Daniel is their biggest asset because of his ability to hear the thoughts of the demons they hunt. He has more secret abilities, however, that seem to have a mind of their own, constantly wanting to be used. While he's fighting the demon spawn with the other mages and hunters, he's also waging a war among his own powers and his own history, which he keeps locked away among his deepest secrets. When Daniel first meets Liam, he's taken by his charisma, confidence and sexy swagger. Their friendship, though, is brief when Daniel sees some of his worst qualities -- his endless meaningless conquests and his loose tongue. Liam likes to brag about his conquests and getting prudish Daniel to give it up for him is his goal, including spreading the tales afterward to anyone that wants to listen.
Now pitted against one another, they spend quite a long time at odds, only growing in animosity. They're soon thrust into a quest where they have to open up to one another and rely on each other to survive. And even more than that, they are forced to reevaluate their preconceived notions about the other.
What Kayla V-B did best in this novella is in these two characters. At times I wasn't quite sure how I felt about them. In fact, for probably the first half of the book I really hated Liam. We don't quite get a lot of his history until much later in the book so even though we know about his asshole father, we don't quite understand his vulnerability, which just makes him seem like an asshole. I think that Daniel (at least for me) is a bit easier to get close to. It's easier to understand him and to really pull for him because his vulnerability is on the surface… he's extremely tormented. The format of the book (the quest is like an obstacle course they have to maneuver, with tests that manipulate them and their feelings) makes the two come together because, honestly, I doubt they would if they weren't forced to. They're so opposed to one another. In fact, I don't know that I've read an m/m romance in recent history that deals with the enemies to lovers trope where the characters hated and misunderstood the other more. And with the world around them manipulating their actions, they constantly seem to come together to be torn apart. It makes for some nice angst that I didn't feel was too overdone. And I really liked the fact that the characters are who they are with a real fierceness, if that makes sense at all. They're both passionate, and that makes them alternately rub each other the wrong way, while at other times they can co-exist.
I had a bit of a difficult time getting into the story, though. The first few chapters traverse several years in order to set up the story, introduce both characters and a bit of their history, and then show the few years they travel together and how Liam and Daniel grow to hate one another. I think that it all comes down to pacing. At the start of the story the pace is extremely fast. We're given a lot of information while time speeds forward every few paragraphs to chapters and then when the characters are forced on their journey together the pace changes. Also, while this part of the story is interspersed with skirmishes and battles that we're shown in present time, there's a lot of narration to fill us in on the world and the characters. It wasn't until I finished the book that I could see the jog in the pace and I started to think about the beginning. Rather than telling us about their past, I would have rather been shown those scenes. It would have meant adding quite a bit more pages, but I think there would have been more balance.
But, in all, this was quite the enjoyable read and I'd definitely recommend it to fantasy fans. I'm not sure whether the author plans to extend the story at all, but I'd definitely be there, in line to read it if she wanted to. The story definitely ends with a pretty solid HFN, on the line to an HEA. I only doubt the HEA because of their past history and we don't see where their adventures are headed. It's nicely done to either let the story rest or open it again at a future point.
June 3, 2013
REVIEW WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED AT REVIEWS BY JESSEWAVE WHERE I RECEIVED THE BOOK AS FREE REVIEWING COPY
More often than not when the blurb indicates that the story has *any* indications of “from enemies to lovers” trope, I will make a bid for the book. If the story is also a fantasy/sci-fi, I am very likely to request it. The blurb sounded awesome to me, unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. Actually I should say the only expectation I had was to read a good story, because this is a new to me author.
This book starts with Liam killing an ugly creature and then being recruited to become one of the Hunters. When I open a fantasy book (any book which would throw me in the new and unknown world ) I am open to any approach to the world building. It appeared at first that the author was employing what I call “sink or swim” approach. The readers are thrown in the middle of the action and as the story would progress we would learn more and more details about this world. I do not mind this approach at all and I had seen it employed very successfully many times. In fact often I prefer such approach to huge information dump in the beginning of the book before any action starts.
Unfortunately instead of slowly revealing more details about this world, what I thought was happening is that very few things were revealed at all in the story. I felt like the world was mostly a window dressing for romance and not very sturdy window dressing either. Until approximately the middle of the book here is basically what we know about this world besides being shown that the Hunters exist and they kill Hellspawn.
“Three years before, monsters from Hell had begun appearing in Brewin, their home country. These monsters were dark and evil, spitting fire, acid and disease. Hunters like Liam were found and trained specifically to fight these monsters and aid the regular soldiers. It wasn’t long before war was declared by Idonahai, a sorcerer tribe beyond Brevin’s western border, who had been using dark magic to raise the hellspawn from Underworld and sic them on Brewin”
Because I did not have a strong sense of what this world is like in my head, when the characters go on the certain quest and some common features of the fantasy books started popping up in the middle of the book (and hopefully you will see what I mean when I say that I did not feel that they contributed to world building much), I was amused, but not in a good way. Those features, like elves, Gods felt out of place in that world and I felt as if they were supposed to indicate to me that the story is indeed a fantasy. I cannot really explain it better than that.
As much as I enjoy fantasy/scifi with sophisticated plot, I also like romance books which concentrate mostly on the relationship, so if I would have enjoyed the main characters and their relationship, I would have at least tried to ignore my unhappiness with the world building and plot. Unfortunately I did not like either Daniel or Liam and did not feel that they had any chemistry together. This is of course just one reader’s opinion and other readers may have completely opposite reaction to their romance. I felt like Liam’s treating sex casually was described with disdain within the story and Daniel’s attitude about wanting to have sex only with person he would have feelings for was meant to be better, morally superior.
“He looked at Daniel. “Sex doesn’t equal love. It can be just a good time, you know, it doesn’t have to be a big deal.” Daniel looked away again. “It was always a big deal to me, but never to the person I was with. I thought it mattered to them, but they didn’t care”.
Liam was not shown to ever sexually abuse anyone, to even try to force himself on anyone, why could not he just have fun without being looked down upon? But it got weirder for me. When they were having sex during one of the scenes Liam was being called a virgin. I am annoyed every time mm romance tells me that because gay man did not have anal sex, but had plenty of other sexual encounter the character is apparently a virgin. In this story Liam just never bottomed and he is a virgin as well? Now it is all magically okay since he did not have a specific sexual experience despite having *plenty* others? I am sorry, no, really not. Liam was not a virgin even if he never bottomed in his life. Not that I am saying that it was not in any shape or form NOT okay when Liam was treating sex casually, but the story apparently was not okay with that.
Then we have the whole “from enemies to lovers”. I have to say – I love any kind of genuine chemistry which goes from antagonistic to loving. The guys do not have to be full blown enemies, they could just dislike each other or pretend to dislike each other, as long as there is a believable shift in their relationship I would be ready to eat it up with a spoon. This story tried hard to portray this trope, but instead I felt that their dislike was artificial and not portrayed in depth at all. In fact I just did not think that the story treated anything in depth – be it relationship, character development or world building.
I also have to admit that POV change drove me crazy. Luckily we only have Daniel’s and Liam’s third person limited in this story however the changes after a single paragraph or even in the middle of the paragraphs gave me a headache. I mean, at times we are shown when POV is changed – it is divided by asterisk, but at times, no such luck. And the more story progressed, the more often POV changed at random.
Unfortunately I cannot recommend this story.
More often than not when the blurb indicates that the story has *any* indications of “from enemies to lovers” trope, I will make a bid for the book. If the story is also a fantasy/sci-fi, I am very likely to request it. The blurb sounded awesome to me, unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. Actually I should say the only expectation I had was to read a good story, because this is a new to me author.
This book starts with Liam killing an ugly creature and then being recruited to become one of the Hunters. When I open a fantasy book (any book which would throw me in the new and unknown world ) I am open to any approach to the world building. It appeared at first that the author was employing what I call “sink or swim” approach. The readers are thrown in the middle of the action and as the story would progress we would learn more and more details about this world. I do not mind this approach at all and I had seen it employed very successfully many times. In fact often I prefer such approach to huge information dump in the beginning of the book before any action starts.
Unfortunately instead of slowly revealing more details about this world, what I thought was happening is that very few things were revealed at all in the story. I felt like the world was mostly a window dressing for romance and not very sturdy window dressing either. Until approximately the middle of the book here is basically what we know about this world besides being shown that the Hunters exist and they kill Hellspawn.
“Three years before, monsters from Hell had begun appearing in Brewin, their home country. These monsters were dark and evil, spitting fire, acid and disease. Hunters like Liam were found and trained specifically to fight these monsters and aid the regular soldiers. It wasn’t long before war was declared by Idonahai, a sorcerer tribe beyond Brevin’s western border, who had been using dark magic to raise the hellspawn from Underworld and sic them on Brewin”
Because I did not have a strong sense of what this world is like in my head, when the characters go on the certain quest and some common features of the fantasy books started popping up in the middle of the book (and hopefully you will see what I mean when I say that I did not feel that they contributed to world building much), I was amused, but not in a good way. Those features, like elves, Gods felt out of place in that world and I felt as if they were supposed to indicate to me that the story is indeed a fantasy. I cannot really explain it better than that.
As much as I enjoy fantasy/scifi with sophisticated plot, I also like romance books which concentrate mostly on the relationship, so if I would have enjoyed the main characters and their relationship, I would have at least tried to ignore my unhappiness with the world building and plot. Unfortunately I did not like either Daniel or Liam and did not feel that they had any chemistry together. This is of course just one reader’s opinion and other readers may have completely opposite reaction to their romance. I felt like Liam’s treating sex casually was described with disdain within the story and Daniel’s attitude about wanting to have sex only with person he would have feelings for was meant to be better, morally superior.
“He looked at Daniel. “Sex doesn’t equal love. It can be just a good time, you know, it doesn’t have to be a big deal.” Daniel looked away again. “It was always a big deal to me, but never to the person I was with. I thought it mattered to them, but they didn’t care”.
Liam was not shown to ever sexually abuse anyone, to even try to force himself on anyone, why could not he just have fun without being looked down upon? But it got weirder for me. When they were having sex during one of the scenes Liam was being called a virgin. I am annoyed every time mm romance tells me that because gay man did not have anal sex, but had plenty of other sexual encounter the character is apparently a virgin. In this story Liam just never bottomed and he is a virgin as well? Now it is all magically okay since he did not have a specific sexual experience despite having *plenty* others? I am sorry, no, really not. Liam was not a virgin even if he never bottomed in his life. Not that I am saying that it was not in any shape or form NOT okay when Liam was treating sex casually, but the story apparently was not okay with that.
Then we have the whole “from enemies to lovers”. I have to say – I love any kind of genuine chemistry which goes from antagonistic to loving. The guys do not have to be full blown enemies, they could just dislike each other or pretend to dislike each other, as long as there is a believable shift in their relationship I would be ready to eat it up with a spoon. This story tried hard to portray this trope, but instead I felt that their dislike was artificial and not portrayed in depth at all. In fact I just did not think that the story treated anything in depth – be it relationship, character development or world building.
I also have to admit that POV change drove me crazy. Luckily we only have Daniel’s and Liam’s third person limited in this story however the changes after a single paragraph or even in the middle of the paragraphs gave me a headache. I mean, at times we are shown when POV is changed – it is divided by asterisk, but at times, no such luck. And the more story progressed, the more often POV changed at random.
Unfortunately I cannot recommend this story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2017
3.5 Stars I liked this enemies to lovers story. Both Liam and Daniel were interesting and I was glad we got both points of view. Unfortunately, it was sometimes both in the same paragraph. I thought the world was well thought out, we don't see everything but we see enough. I liked the Otherworld and the trials they faced there.
It was a quick and satisfying read.
It was a quick and satisfying read.
June 25, 2013
3 1/2 Hearts
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
Daniel’s a sorcerer, Liam’s a Hunter both fighting for the same side against the hell spawn and Idonahites. Daniel despises Liam for his callus attitude and his bed hopping and bragging and Liam hates Daniel for his cold snobbish behaviour, but when they fall for a trap Daniel has to take drastic action. Liam and Daniel end up in the land of the Gods to get back home they have to face gods, monsters and their own truths before finally arriving home just in time to help in the final battle.
This is a pretty good fantasy story where two men hate each other, but when they are searching for a way home they begin to understand what drives the other. Daniel has great power and he has a special power that makes him invaluable to the fight against the hell spawn, he can hear their thoughts, but it is a power that comes at great cost. Liam is a hunter and it is what he is good at, well that and seducing any man he sees, he was a street rat and the hunters saved him from a life on the street or prison. Liam lives each day to the fullest and grasps any hint of happiness in both hands. Daniel protects his heart from hurt and keeps everyone at arm’s length.
Both Liam and Daniel are well written characters, the story switches between their perspectives so you get a very clear picture of what each of them think of the other. Liam gets on your nerves a bit with his sluttish attitude and bragging skills and the way he callously treated Daniel when they first met, but as you get to know him he sort of grows on you as you begin to figure out that his attitude is its own shell to protect Liam. Daniel is the one that you get close to straight away because his damage is all there for us to see as soon as we get in his head, his botched romance, and the debilitating pain he suffers from because of his powers and his wish that he had someone just to talk to.
The storyline is quite good with the twist of going to the Gods lands and having to cross the lands to get back to the human realm, with the monsters and mind games that is thrust upon them. I liked the way that both men first started out as tentative friends but then turned to adversaries when Daniel discovered Liam’s plan to seduce him then brag about it. The way that on the journey they began to understand why the other ticked and came to a sexual understanding and then love, only to have it implode just before they got home and then after the final battle they both put aside their pride to maybe start something meaningful.
I recommend this if you love fantasy, hellish creatures, magic, dealing with the Gods, finding love that is rocky and a happy for now ending that could well be a happily ever after.
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
Daniel’s a sorcerer, Liam’s a Hunter both fighting for the same side against the hell spawn and Idonahites. Daniel despises Liam for his callus attitude and his bed hopping and bragging and Liam hates Daniel for his cold snobbish behaviour, but when they fall for a trap Daniel has to take drastic action. Liam and Daniel end up in the land of the Gods to get back home they have to face gods, monsters and their own truths before finally arriving home just in time to help in the final battle.
This is a pretty good fantasy story where two men hate each other, but when they are searching for a way home they begin to understand what drives the other. Daniel has great power and he has a special power that makes him invaluable to the fight against the hell spawn, he can hear their thoughts, but it is a power that comes at great cost. Liam is a hunter and it is what he is good at, well that and seducing any man he sees, he was a street rat and the hunters saved him from a life on the street or prison. Liam lives each day to the fullest and grasps any hint of happiness in both hands. Daniel protects his heart from hurt and keeps everyone at arm’s length.
Both Liam and Daniel are well written characters, the story switches between their perspectives so you get a very clear picture of what each of them think of the other. Liam gets on your nerves a bit with his sluttish attitude and bragging skills and the way he callously treated Daniel when they first met, but as you get to know him he sort of grows on you as you begin to figure out that his attitude is its own shell to protect Liam. Daniel is the one that you get close to straight away because his damage is all there for us to see as soon as we get in his head, his botched romance, and the debilitating pain he suffers from because of his powers and his wish that he had someone just to talk to.
The storyline is quite good with the twist of going to the Gods lands and having to cross the lands to get back to the human realm, with the monsters and mind games that is thrust upon them. I liked the way that both men first started out as tentative friends but then turned to adversaries when Daniel discovered Liam’s plan to seduce him then brag about it. The way that on the journey they began to understand why the other ticked and came to a sexual understanding and then love, only to have it implode just before they got home and then after the final battle they both put aside their pride to maybe start something meaningful.
I recommend this if you love fantasy, hellish creatures, magic, dealing with the Gods, finding love that is rocky and a happy for now ending that could well be a happily ever after.
September 7, 2014
Sorry this just wasn't for me. When I'm trained to hate a character for almost half of the book, a bit of feeble heart to heart doesn't fix all the issues present.
Liam's sex addiction, insubordination and blatant bullying is not something I can accept as character flaws.
Daniel is in a position of power and influence yet is frequently belittled, looked down upon and crushed, all for it to be forgiven because he is stuck with Liam who eventually overcomes his adversion to sex.
Daniels father seems childish, petty and undeserving of his power, how his role was drawn out so unnecessarily long is beyond me. And the unnecessary inclusion of several little explained side characters only offsets the pace even more.
And as such, the pacing is all over the place. Vast leaps of time followed by a single days detailed and focused rendition before several more leaps is the mainstay of the first half, and the second is just filled with sex and mush. There isn't any transition between the two halves of the book and the characters are all but bipolar in the moments they're not ripping one another's clothes off to 'overcome all obstacles' or become incredibly sentimentally romantic just because they relived stress at times of peril with sex.
For the length of the journey and the sporadic nature of the story telling the ending was abrupt, simple and overly cliche, with the haunted pasts of the pair being resolved in a few simple interactions with the dead, and suddenly the pair get their happy ever after with multiple questions being left open.
I hope the issues with this book are because of the topic rather than writing style. I'd like to read something else by the author to see if it's just this book which tries to contain too much action and loses itself to word limitations, or if this might not be the author for me.
Liam's sex addiction, insubordination and blatant bullying is not something I can accept as character flaws.
Daniel is in a position of power and influence yet is frequently belittled, looked down upon and crushed, all for it to be forgiven because he is stuck with Liam who eventually overcomes his adversion to sex.
Daniels father seems childish, petty and undeserving of his power, how his role was drawn out so unnecessarily long is beyond me. And the unnecessary inclusion of several little explained side characters only offsets the pace even more.
And as such, the pacing is all over the place. Vast leaps of time followed by a single days detailed and focused rendition before several more leaps is the mainstay of the first half, and the second is just filled with sex and mush. There isn't any transition between the two halves of the book and the characters are all but bipolar in the moments they're not ripping one another's clothes off to 'overcome all obstacles' or become incredibly sentimentally romantic just because they relived stress at times of peril with sex.
For the length of the journey and the sporadic nature of the story telling the ending was abrupt, simple and overly cliche, with the haunted pasts of the pair being resolved in a few simple interactions with the dead, and suddenly the pair get their happy ever after with multiple questions being left open.
I hope the issues with this book are because of the topic rather than writing style. I'd like to read something else by the author to see if it's just this book which tries to contain too much action and loses itself to word limitations, or if this might not be the author for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2015
I really liked the main characters. I was looking forward to seeing how they would learn to get along, much less get together. Between Daniel's insecurities and issues with sex and Liam's apparent nymphomania, I couldn't put the book down as I waited to see how they would help each other find a happy medium.
That didn't quite happen. Once the pair ended up stuck together, everything seemed rushed. They started to get to know each other and we learned more about each of them as well, and it felt natural how they revealed little bits at a time but still didn't automatically get along. I wasn't even surprised by the suddenness of the love confession--they thought they were going to die, after all. What did surprise me was how easily Daniel went along with having sex with Liam frequently. It was a big part of his worries, having casual sex and worrying that was all Liam wanted from anyone, but he just went along with it time after time.
I was even more annoyed with them after the battle grounds, where Daniel finally showed Liam the powers he had that he was afraid to use. I understood Liam's anger, but they both seemed to forget how Daniel had just mentioned that their minds would be messed with in the battle grounds. So they let their anger get a hold of them and... just walk away from each other, just like that. I understand that once they got back to their land they were thrown right into preparing for war, I was just so frustrated that things fell apart so easily and they had never even really discussed what happened between them in jail before they went home.
It was a mostly enjoyable read, the settings and characters were very likable. I wish it had been a little longer and expanded more on the feelings of the characters (and I'd have loved to see more of Daniel's friendship with the prince). And perhaps I wouldn't have minded a bit less sex...
That didn't quite happen. Once the pair ended up stuck together, everything seemed rushed. They started to get to know each other and we learned more about each of them as well, and it felt natural how they revealed little bits at a time but still didn't automatically get along. I wasn't even surprised by the suddenness of the love confession--they thought they were going to die, after all. What did surprise me was how easily Daniel went along with having sex with Liam frequently. It was a big part of his worries, having casual sex and worrying that was all Liam wanted from anyone, but he just went along with it time after time.
I was even more annoyed with them after the battle grounds, where Daniel finally showed Liam the powers he had that he was afraid to use. I understood Liam's anger, but they both seemed to forget how Daniel had just mentioned that their minds would be messed with in the battle grounds. So they let their anger get a hold of them and... just walk away from each other, just like that. I understand that once they got back to their land they were thrown right into preparing for war, I was just so frustrated that things fell apart so easily and they had never even really discussed what happened between them in jail before they went home.
It was a mostly enjoyable read, the settings and characters were very likable. I wish it had been a little longer and expanded more on the feelings of the characters (and I'd have loved to see more of Daniel's friendship with the prince). And perhaps I wouldn't have minded a bit less sex...
August 28, 2013
Daniel and Liam are the results of two very different childhoods. Liam, a street rat with an abusive drunk for a father who left home at fourteen, and Daniel, a Lord and sorcerer who’s not really accepted because of the strange “feel” of his magic. Liam is cocky, arrogant, sleeps with any male once and surrounds himself with admirers, while Daniel isolates himself. The only thing they have in common is stubbornness and the fact that they were both well-known even before they finished their respective training.
They meet when they are both assigned to the same squadron and although it seems like they will actually get along very well, their different opinions on sex cause a severe rift and the story rides a turbulent roller coaster from there.
I enjoyed this story, probably because it could be classified very easily as a fantasy adventure about how Daniel & Liam come to accept themselves and their pasts as they fall in love. Set during a war between countries, it is definitely worth reading. Lovers of angsty romance, or complex fantasy world lovers (or both) will love this story for the complexity of the world and characters.
If you can’t handle the occasional point-of-view jump, it may not be for you. Personally, I don’t like frequent POV jumps, but the occasions it happened, I was able (and wanted) to get back into the story afterward.
They meet when they are both assigned to the same squadron and although it seems like they will actually get along very well, their different opinions on sex cause a severe rift and the story rides a turbulent roller coaster from there.
I enjoyed this story, probably because it could be classified very easily as a fantasy adventure about how Daniel & Liam come to accept themselves and their pasts as they fall in love. Set during a war between countries, it is definitely worth reading. Lovers of angsty romance, or complex fantasy world lovers (or both) will love this story for the complexity of the world and characters.
If you can’t handle the occasional point-of-view jump, it may not be for you. Personally, I don’t like frequent POV jumps, but the occasions it happened, I was able (and wanted) to get back into the story afterward.
May 4, 2015
Gah, this could've been an amazing story. But I felt like the character development was lightning fast and there were a lot of loose ends. What happened with that bet, for example? Also, it never addressed whether Liam was going to stop sleeping around; the reader only assumes that he'll suddenly be monogamous with Daniel. And where the heck did Liam get all those random handyman skills?? AND, Daniel should have had a struggle with believing Liam when he said he loved him. But he just accepted it as if he'd never gotten hurt that way.
In general... not enough background information or world-building >.< (Also, I felt the sudden, out-of-genre -- as I saw it -- presence of elves and dwarves was sort of stupid. Felt like someone switched the channel to Lord of the Rings for several pages.)
Ah, and yet I liked it regardless.... so I guess I'll give it three stars.
[edit: Oh yeah >.< I also had a big problem with the fact that the evil people were dark-skinned and the nice people were pale. One of the goddesses was even white as snow all over her body. Bleh)
In general... not enough background information or world-building >.< (Also, I felt the sudden, out-of-genre -- as I saw it -- presence of elves and dwarves was sort of stupid. Felt like someone switched the channel to Lord of the Rings for several pages.)
Ah, and yet I liked it regardless.... so I guess I'll give it three stars.
[edit: Oh yeah >.< I also had a big problem with the fact that the evil people were dark-skinned and the nice people were pale. One of the goddesses was even white as snow all over her body. Bleh)
November 25, 2013
I had semi-hope for it, but alas, it was for naught. The timing's not quite right, the author doesn't really tell us enough of the world, the characterization isn't quite there, and thus the relationship doesn't quite feel genuine/believable.
This is another story that felt like it could have been really great with another author. The writer tried to tackle too great a story/subject matter with too little idea of how to go about doing so. I suppose LT3's a bit hit-or-miss with these epic fantasy types. The fairy-tale-esque ones are generally pretty good, though...
High fantasy of epic proportion generally is hard to get kind of right. You either nail it and it's great or you fall way short and end up with a wholly uninteresting story.
Musings aside, I'm really sad and disappointed because this is one of those that I could feel could have been really, really great/epic, but instead fell way short.
This is another story that felt like it could have been really great with another author. The writer tried to tackle too great a story/subject matter with too little idea of how to go about doing so. I suppose LT3's a bit hit-or-miss with these epic fantasy types. The fairy-tale-esque ones are generally pretty good, though...
High fantasy of epic proportion generally is hard to get kind of right. You either nail it and it's great or you fall way short and end up with a wholly uninteresting story.
Musings aside, I'm really sad and disappointed because this is one of those that I could feel could have been really, really great/epic, but instead fell way short.
May 31, 2014
It's a pretty nice story that left me with the feeling of reading a story from the Iliad in a modern MM retelling :) There were gods, demi-gods, hellhounds and many many quests, but there were some sprinkles of Tolkien here and there (with elves, dwarfs and evil sorcerer armies).
(short summary ahead - maybe slightly spoiler-ish)
The main characters are, at first glimpse, total opposites
(short summary ahead - maybe slightly spoiler-ish)
The main characters are, at first glimpse, total opposites
June 10, 2013
I really liked this little book. I found it a little hard to get into at first, but after just a few pages I was completely immersed in it. The world the author has painted is very vivid and there's still a lot to see which makes me hope a little that we'll get to return to it at some point, although the characters' storylines feel very satisfying and complete.
I adore the descriptions of the monsters—Hellspawn—in here; they're so horrible! And the gods are pretty damn awesome too.
The characters are really cool. I love Daniel and the chemistry between him and Liam. And of course, I loved the trickster even though he wasn't in it long.
Definitely worth a read.
I adore the descriptions of the monsters—Hellspawn—in here; they're so horrible! And the gods are pretty damn awesome too.
The characters are really cool. I love Daniel and the chemistry between him and Liam. And of course, I loved the trickster even though he wasn't in it long.
Definitely worth a read.
May 31, 2013
MC's, Daniel and Liam were really hard characters to like. Both had their own issues and their hostility and complaints about each other kind of made this a bit of a frustrating and a little annoying read. Not the usual romance story but the plot was interesting. There are plenty of sex scenes between Daniel and Liam about halfway through the book so if that is something that may interest you, the book may be even more enjoyable.
August 13, 2015
The Mythology was handled in interesting ways, the battle scenes were cool, and the descriptions of the Hellspawn were great. I even like the imbalance in sexperience between the MCs. Daniel's outlooks left me a bit annoyed sometimes, but I could still see where the character was coming from. I loved Laim to pieces. Pretty good if you're jonesing for a nice Mage/Rouge romance.
June 3, 2013
3.5 stars
Read
June 2, 2013Not for me.
January 15, 2014
Such a rich imagination! This book transports you to another universe. i loved every single word. Want to read more from this author in the future.
April 19, 2014
Too hurried, not enough world building, unlikable MCs.
August 21, 2013
I had much higher hopes for this.
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