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Core #2
Vane
The second full-length novel in the CORE SERIES.
Ava’s starting a new life. Somehow, there is someone who loves her—not with a passion that surges and then fizzles, but with a love that grows steady and real.
Yet something’s wrong. Everything’s wrong.
The new life she’s discovered comes with conditions. Hard ones. Painful ones…and she can’t free herself, no matter how strong she becomes.
Cale would do anything for his Ava. He would fly for her, die for her…but he just can’t accept what she’s becoming. Not when she keeps disappearing. Not when her secrets are bigger than the truth.
As the world spins out of control, a storm brews between dragon and rider. The chaos that ensues might be the only thing that sets the balance straight.
Look out for the next installment, A Grey Novella, coming January 2015.
Ava’s starting a new life. Somehow, there is someone who loves her—not with a passion that surges and then fizzles, but with a love that grows steady and real.
Yet something’s wrong. Everything’s wrong.
The new life she’s discovered comes with conditions. Hard ones. Painful ones…and she can’t free herself, no matter how strong she becomes.
Cale would do anything for his Ava. He would fly for her, die for her…but he just can’t accept what she’s becoming. Not when she keeps disappearing. Not when her secrets are bigger than the truth.
As the world spins out of control, a storm brews between dragon and rider. The chaos that ensues might be the only thing that sets the balance straight.
Look out for the next installment, A Grey Novella, coming January 2015.
- GenresDragons
ebook
First published November 21, 2014
5 people are currently reading
379 people want to read
About the author
Teshelle Combs
60 books587 followersTeshelle Combs is the award-winning author of books like The Underglow and the First Collection.
She's well known for her fantasy romance standalones like The First Dryad, The First Stone, The First Nymph, and The First Flame. (Read in any order, listed in order of writing).
Tropes include enemies-to-lovers, forbidden love, arranged marriage, twists & turns, and more.
Find TC @booksarebrightstars on TikTok.
She's well known for her fantasy romance standalones like The First Dryad, The First Stone, The First Nymph, and The First Flame. (Read in any order, listed in order of writing).
Tropes include enemies-to-lovers, forbidden love, arranged marriage, twists & turns, and more.
Find TC @booksarebrightstars on TikTok.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 6, 2014
Note to everyone writing a sequel: Please have someone read it who hasn't read the first book. Because they'll (rightly) be able to help you add in the 1-2 sentences that will jog memories or provide a quick synopsis of what happened in the first book. Don't expect your readers to be Harry Potter-level obsessed with your work and know every nuance and character as well as you do - especially if you have an abundance of characters.
I resisted this at first with my editor with my own sequel, but after reading Vane and seeing my own reactions, I am a bit more hyped on this than usual.
That is to start off this review saying that I spent most of it scratching my head and trying to remember who everyone was, why they were important, and what the hell was going on. Which was FRUSTRATING because this book had such good moments in it, but I spent too long playing catch up that I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.
Ava and Cale - the former who is an adopted tough girl and the latter a red dragon - are in exile (never fully explained why) and struggling to get by (although apparently living with her adopted mother, never really explained). Things get more heavy when a Black dragon shows up with his red dragon pregger wife - a no-no. The Black Dragon asks them to keep watch, which they don't, because they go to Ireland. And then to the Gray Dragon lair, where there's all this talk about the Pearl. Also, Ava is a Phoenix, and she kept dying and returning, and wanting to stay but needing to go.
Besides the boatload of drama, there were chunks - HUGE CHUNKS - of exposition missing. A few chapters seemed to toss us into the middle of the action without any details or connection to the chapter before. Sometimes this works, but for a book where I was already playing catch-up, I just got more frustrated. Most notable - Ava disappears to the Gray Dragon lair and we don't get to see it.
The best moments were between Ava and Cale. They were bonded, they were close, but there was tension between them as there were parts of Ava that Cale couldn't get to. Her worry for him and his worry for her were palpable.
This book deserved more stars for the plot, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Three stars.
I resisted this at first with my editor with my own sequel, but after reading Vane and seeing my own reactions, I am a bit more hyped on this than usual.
That is to start off this review saying that I spent most of it scratching my head and trying to remember who everyone was, why they were important, and what the hell was going on. Which was FRUSTRATING because this book had such good moments in it, but I spent too long playing catch up that I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.
Ava and Cale - the former who is an adopted tough girl and the latter a red dragon - are in exile (never fully explained why) and struggling to get by (although apparently living with her adopted mother, never really explained). Things get more heavy when a Black dragon shows up with his red dragon pregger wife - a no-no. The Black Dragon asks them to keep watch, which they don't, because they go to Ireland. And then to the Gray Dragon lair, where there's all this talk about the Pearl. Also, Ava is a Phoenix, and she kept dying and returning, and wanting to stay but needing to go.
Besides the boatload of drama, there were chunks - HUGE CHUNKS - of exposition missing. A few chapters seemed to toss us into the middle of the action without any details or connection to the chapter before. Sometimes this works, but for a book where I was already playing catch-up, I just got more frustrated. Most notable - Ava disappears to the Gray Dragon lair and we don't get to see it.
The best moments were between Ava and Cale. They were bonded, they were close, but there was tension between them as there were parts of Ava that Cale couldn't get to. Her worry for him and his worry for her were palpable.
This book deserved more stars for the plot, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Three stars.
July 11, 2023
A thrilling read!
Tess Combs mind is amazing. I love the vivid details to everything. The Phoenix's struggle to remain true is overwhelming. The pain she endures keeping everyone safe breaks my heart.
Book three is filled with so many adventures, new beings, and desires that it's impossible to put down. I need to start book four immediately!!!
I highly recommend this series.
Tess Combs mind is amazing. I love the vivid details to everything. The Phoenix's struggle to remain true is overwhelming. The pain she endures keeping everyone safe breaks my heart.
Book three is filled with so many adventures, new beings, and desires that it's impossible to put down. I need to start book four immediately!!!
I highly recommend this series.
July 5, 2023
Intense!
This was such a good book, it had so many twists and turns and it kept me so interested!
I loved this story so much.
This was such a good book, it had so many twists and turns and it kept me so interested!
I loved this story so much.
November 25, 2023
LOVED this book. It sucked me right in. And Tess being the author she is I ended up crying like a baby. I am quite attached to these characters and really hope for more, I’m very invested in this.
April 30, 2015
You are each other’s greatest gift. 5 stars
“Every time,” he said. “Ava every time” He loved all of her, the way a dragon should love his rider. WOW! It just takes me breath away! I honestly didn't think it would be possible to love this series any more than I already did, but WOW!! Teshelle has wrapped me even deeper into her series with this amazing second full length novel!! So many things went on, a lot of new discoveries, so much that I didn't expect, nor see coming and so very much more still to happen! While I love that this series is not a 'simple' one, nor is anything explicitly spelled out for you, I still wish that I knew more of what was going on! I am just too impatient to wait for more books!!! This series is written with a big picture mindset so not all of your questions - or Ava & Cale's either- are answered in each book. Since Vane is the second full novel in The Core series, some questions from Core (book 1) might be touched on, expanded on or even answered, but be prepared to have a lot more questions left to be answered in the books to come. In my opinion, that is one of the many reasons that I love both this book, and the series! I cannot wait to read the next book! I absolutely love Teshelle's writing style, the way she has everything unfolding, building up to a great big epic conclusion to an utterly fantastic series, whenever that may be, is one of the many examples of why I think that this has me so obsessed with this series! Teshelle has this phenomenal gift for writing and story telling that enables her to be able to write a series of this scale so masterfully & so beautifully. Ava has spent so much of her life being alone, WANTING to be alone, that she has no idea how to be a friend, daughter, someone who cares, someone who even knows HOW to do any of that, but now she is finding out just why this is. Cale is the opposite. He has a family, friends, he knows how to talk to people, how to touch & hug people. Together they try to be what the other needs, even at a great cost to themselves. So many shocking & devastating parts in here had me gasping, madly reading to see what was going to happen next, even had me sobbing! On the flip side, there were quite a few moments where I found myself smiling, chuckling and I even burst out laughing a few times too. All in all I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves a very wonderfully written story that encompasses you and sinks you so deep into the pages of the book that you can see & hear everything that the characters do, feel what they feel but most importantly, you are entertained from the very start through to the very end! And if you are anything like me, you will very quickly become consumed, obsessed & fully entranced with this series and will read the books over & over again while very (im)patiently waiting for the next installment, your next Core fix, to take you even deeper in the World of Cale & Ava a Dragon & his Rider!
“Every time,” he said. “Ava every time” He loved all of her, the way a dragon should love his rider. WOW! It just takes me breath away! I honestly didn't think it would be possible to love this series any more than I already did, but WOW!! Teshelle has wrapped me even deeper into her series with this amazing second full length novel!! So many things went on, a lot of new discoveries, so much that I didn't expect, nor see coming and so very much more still to happen! While I love that this series is not a 'simple' one, nor is anything explicitly spelled out for you, I still wish that I knew more of what was going on! I am just too impatient to wait for more books!!! This series is written with a big picture mindset so not all of your questions - or Ava & Cale's either- are answered in each book. Since Vane is the second full novel in The Core series, some questions from Core (book 1) might be touched on, expanded on or even answered, but be prepared to have a lot more questions left to be answered in the books to come. In my opinion, that is one of the many reasons that I love both this book, and the series! I cannot wait to read the next book! I absolutely love Teshelle's writing style, the way she has everything unfolding, building up to a great big epic conclusion to an utterly fantastic series, whenever that may be, is one of the many examples of why I think that this has me so obsessed with this series! Teshelle has this phenomenal gift for writing and story telling that enables her to be able to write a series of this scale so masterfully & so beautifully. Ava has spent so much of her life being alone, WANTING to be alone, that she has no idea how to be a friend, daughter, someone who cares, someone who even knows HOW to do any of that, but now she is finding out just why this is. Cale is the opposite. He has a family, friends, he knows how to talk to people, how to touch & hug people. Together they try to be what the other needs, even at a great cost to themselves. So many shocking & devastating parts in here had me gasping, madly reading to see what was going to happen next, even had me sobbing! On the flip side, there were quite a few moments where I found myself smiling, chuckling and I even burst out laughing a few times too. All in all I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves a very wonderfully written story that encompasses you and sinks you so deep into the pages of the book that you can see & hear everything that the characters do, feel what they feel but most importantly, you are entertained from the very start through to the very end! And if you are anything like me, you will very quickly become consumed, obsessed & fully entranced with this series and will read the books over & over again while very (im)patiently waiting for the next installment, your next Core fix, to take you even deeper in the World of Cale & Ava a Dragon & his Rider!
December 14, 2014
I loved the first book which I didn't expect at all. For everyone who liked the first book this book is a must read. It is as well written as the first one and, as far as I know, it has a unique plot. I have never read something similar. There is one thing which bothered me a little. In this book Ava struggles to be alone and independent from everyone because of her phoenix nature. But I don't remember her being that extreme in the first book.
Looking forward to book 3.
Looking forward to book 3.
September 15, 2015
I liked it, but sometimes I had to skim the next paragraphs to figure out who is the next chapter talking about. I got lost in some situation, I didn´t know how or when someone appeared or who were on the room. There we some writing mistakes but nothing too hard to undertand.
January 24, 2015
I didn't like this book as much as the first one. It seemed disjointed and all over the place for me. It still has an interesting concept that's why I finished it but I don't know if I'll read the next one. Rating is closer to 2.5 than 3.
May 3, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. Although, I didn't think it was as good as the first one. There were some plot jumps that made the story a little harder to hollow than the first book. Overall, I enjoyed the continuation of the story and look forward to the next book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews