As King of the Celestial realm, Adoni should have everything he wants, but he lacks the one thing he desires, someone to love.Inheriting the throne while still a child, Adoni always did as the council expected of him. He has watched others fall in love and start a family but was afraid he would never find a person who wanted him for anything other than his title. With the threat of war looming, Adoni does the one thing the council forbids, he tours his kingdom to unite his people. When Adoni meets Navarah, a mage from the Dark Realms, he enters into a love affair he knows will be forbidden, but when Navarah is kidnapped by those who wish war, will Adoni be able to save the one he has come to love?
Born and raised in the middle of the bible belt Rider has always used books to take her to places she never believed she would see and to help her live a life that she could only imagine. Her first taste of city life was when she moved to Las Vegas Nevada after high school and experienced a whole world that small town country life hadn't prepared her for. For the next ten years she experienced a world of new things before returning to the small town life in Kansas and starting to write. Her stories sat on her computer for a while until a friend suggested submitting them to a couple of m/m publishers. The result was a contract for the book she co wrote with her friend Angel called Faelon. Her first solo project is Legion. Just recently she was offered a contract for her second solo project called Forgotten. Rider would love to here from her fans so feel free to drop her a line or ask how you can become a member of her street team.
First, I must admit that I Hadn't read book 1 but I got a good gist of the world which I found mildly interesting.
With that out of the way, I can't really say I particularly enjoyed any part of the book/story. Aside from Adoni who was okay, I really didn't care for or connect with any of the characters. Also,the writing was choppy, the story was a bit convoluted and the POVs were all over the place. I expected a story about Adoni & Navarrah and I know what the author was trying to do by making the world (as it were) bigger and trying to make it more than just the two of them , but it just... didn't work.There were just too many things going on and most didn't interest me in the least.
It was a struggle not to give up numerous times and then to my great dismay it just... fell off. Yup! This ended on a cliffhanger. Sigh.
Needless to say I will not be reading the next book. I don't think I have it me to endure another book like this one.
**eARC Graciously Provided by Publisher In Exchange For An Honest, Unbiased Review**
*** ARC provided to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for a fair and honest review. ***
Adoni is the King of Celestial Realms and has recently come to the realization that his brother Legion, who we met in book 1 of this series, is more loved and respected than Adoni is. Deciding to take a more hands-on approach to ruling, Adoni visits some of the realms under his power, and finds that he's neglected them by abiding to what his council said. Visiting one of the Dark Realms under his brother's dominion, he meets Navarah, who is as similar to his brother as can be, with the same rebellious spirit and he can't stop himself from falling for him. But their love is forbidden and there are forces that threaten to keep them apart, will Adoni learn to rely on his brother, despite his growing jealousy, to save the one he loves?
I really liked Legion, so it was wonderful to revisit him and Nico in this book, as well as some of the other characters we met on book 1. I adored that they were such a big part in this book, too, not just as secondary characters, but with almost equal "screen time" to Adoni and Navarah.
I have to admit I didn't particularly care for Adoni at first, he was too whiny and I think he hid beneath his council and mother until he saw that people loved Legion more than they loved him. It was nice that he took action and visited the realms so he could see the reason why they loved Legion, and while he was still whiny, at least he saw that he'd allowed others, namely the council, to decide what he should know or not, cutting him from interacting with his people. Navarah was the one that opened his eyes to this more effectively, seeing as he wasn't afraid to speak up and tell Adoni a few truths about himself. It was nice to see Adoni actually grow up and put what he'd learn in action.
Navarah was irreverent and used to do what he wanted, pretty much like Legion, but he was also honest, finally managing to get through Adoni to show him the error in the ways of how he'd dealt with being a negligent king. The attraction between the two was instant and they were hot together, not as much as Legion and Nico, though.
The book was good, very enjoyable, but as with the first book the final portion was too rushed and that evil cliffhanger at the end made me want to scream. Still, I'll be waiting on pins and needles for the third book because I definitely want to know what will happen next.
This is my first Rider Jacobs novel. I received an advanced reader's copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I didn't realize this book was part of a series, so I was a little lost at times since I didn't know the backstory.
Overall, I thought the story was okay. The characters are well developed, and the plot is interesting. I realm the author created is unique and full of intriguing characteristics.
My one main criticism is... I felt that there were too many stories in this book, because the author kept shifting perspectives to other characters. I felt that more of the book should have been focused on the main characters of the story, rather than the supporting characters.
Also, the story ends on a cliffhanger so be prepared.
2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Adoni by Rider Jacobs Clearly part of an ongoing series there were places that I felt a little lost when the characters were describing events or people that were not part of the immediate plot. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable, easy read.