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D'Vaire #7
The First Sentinel
Skeleton Lord Albrecht Daray spent nearly two thousand years trapped behind thick walls in a compound that tore away his memory. Now, the sentinels belong the Council of Sorcery and Shifters and Albrecht’s little more than a blackened set of bones struggling to find his place in this new world.
Venerable Knight Vann Ruarc was the third fallen knight resurrected and has served the Council faithfully all his life. But he’s hungered to find his mate and know more about the differences which separate him from his brethren.
When the pair meet they already know they must be patient if they want answers to the mysteries that surround them. And while Albrecht worries over the future, Vann is confident with perseverance they can find friendship and love. Together they will face the past and neither one of them could have ever guessed exactly where that road takes them.
Venerable Knight Vann Ruarc was the third fallen knight resurrected and has served the Council faithfully all his life. But he’s hungered to find his mate and know more about the differences which separate him from his brethren.
When the pair meet they already know they must be patient if they want answers to the mysteries that surround them. And while Albrecht worries over the future, Vann is confident with perseverance they can find friendship and love. Together they will face the past and neither one of them could have ever guessed exactly where that road takes them.
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2018
50 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Jessamyn Kingley
54 books140 followersJessamyn Kingley has published over forty titles and refuses to pick a favorite among them. With an extraordinary passion for her characters, Jessamyn eagerly crafts new tales and avidly re-reads them whenever her schedule allows. Jessamyn shares a home in Nevada with her husband and their three spoiled cats. When she is not writing or adding new ideas to her thick stack of beloved notebooks, she is gaming with family and friends.
Visit her website at: www.jessamynkingley.com
Join her Facebook group, Jessamyn's Ruffians: https://www.facebook.com/groups/13768...
Visit her website at: www.jessamynkingley.com
Join her Facebook group, Jessamyn's Ruffians: https://www.facebook.com/groups/13768...
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 31, 2018
Awesome book
It just gets better and better. I love how the storyline continues to build upon itself as we get to know each character and they find their mates.
It just gets better and better. I love how the storyline continues to build upon itself as we get to know each character and they find their mates.
July 8, 2024
Cringy
Edit: Reread 2024
For some reason I have decided to reread this series. It is possibly because I stopped at book 10 (I think) and now there are 30 more and counting. My review for this hasn’t changed much. I still can’t stand Chand, Van is probably one of the best characters in this series, and Albie has issues. The one thing that has changed is that I actually think this is worth reading all the way through. Oh, there are parts that can and should be skipped. One of this writers flaws is that they have a bad habit of monologuing the plot to previous books. This is helpful the further you are in the series since you are introduced to a large cast of characters. However, there are so many characters that that a good chunk of the plot is someone either explaining who so and so is to other characters or they having an out of place inner dialogue of who they are and what events took place.
Useful but annoying at times for those of us who like to binge read. If the person has their own book there is a good chance that I don’t need a break down to who they are. If they don’t, please explain.
This second read through changed me as I found myself growing to like Albie. He wasn’t as angsty teen as I had first believed but…ok this might just be me but I feel like a lot of these people aren’t written with their actual age in mind. Yes, they are adults but their actions are what I expect from children. They even make jokes about how immature they are.
I am pretty sure that’s what I disliked it so much. Also why I hate Chand. I can’t take them seriously as adults.
All that said and done I think she has the best my second favorite so far. This isn’t the greatest series but it is definitely engaging. I would honestly watch the crap out of this if it ended up as a TV series.
This wasn't as bad as previous books. Mainly because both MC were actually likable (looking at you, Chand, I despise you)
So cue my surprise when I ended up not liking it. This author seems to struggle with figuring out how to plan their plot. Basically, they give away all the important bits of information in the prologue. Making reading anything between the beginning and end worthless. Seriously, you dont have to go read the full story to understand it. It's a waste of time to do so. The only added feature is knowing people's personalities but considering Vann is in other books, you dont even have to do that. Vann is an absolute delight btw. Albie, not so much. His matter of fact manner can be adorable but his issues are filer at best. Since we know what happened the author had to find some way to add some substance to the story. Her way around this is by making Albie jump between whining preteen and angsty adult. The one thing that is supposed to make us feel is way sided by other things. It isn't as important because we get the idea within the first few pages. So it's all pointless. I like the couple in this but you can skip it no problem. Well, maybe read the ending five chapters but you don't really have to. The next book will explain all that happened. And if it doesn't, the one after that sure will.
Edit: Reread 2024
For some reason I have decided to reread this series. It is possibly because I stopped at book 10 (I think) and now there are 30 more and counting. My review for this hasn’t changed much. I still can’t stand Chand, Van is probably one of the best characters in this series, and Albie has issues. The one thing that has changed is that I actually think this is worth reading all the way through. Oh, there are parts that can and should be skipped. One of this writers flaws is that they have a bad habit of monologuing the plot to previous books. This is helpful the further you are in the series since you are introduced to a large cast of characters. However, there are so many characters that that a good chunk of the plot is someone either explaining who so and so is to other characters or they having an out of place inner dialogue of who they are and what events took place.
Useful but annoying at times for those of us who like to binge read. If the person has their own book there is a good chance that I don’t need a break down to who they are. If they don’t, please explain.
This second read through changed me as I found myself growing to like Albie. He wasn’t as angsty teen as I had first believed but…ok this might just be me but I feel like a lot of these people aren’t written with their actual age in mind. Yes, they are adults but their actions are what I expect from children. They even make jokes about how immature they are.
I am pretty sure that’s what I disliked it so much. Also why I hate Chand. I can’t take them seriously as adults.
All that said and done I think she has the best my second favorite so far. This isn’t the greatest series but it is definitely engaging. I would honestly watch the crap out of this if it ended up as a TV series.
This wasn't as bad as previous books. Mainly because both MC were actually likable (looking at you, Chand, I despise you)
So cue my surprise when I ended up not liking it. This author seems to struggle with figuring out how to plan their plot. Basically, they give away all the important bits of information in the prologue. Making reading anything between the beginning and end worthless. Seriously, you dont have to go read the full story to understand it. It's a waste of time to do so. The only added feature is knowing people's personalities but considering Vann is in other books, you dont even have to do that. Vann is an absolute delight btw. Albie, not so much. His matter of fact manner can be adorable but his issues are filer at best. Since we know what happened the author had to find some way to add some substance to the story. Her way around this is by making Albie jump between whining preteen and angsty adult. The one thing that is supposed to make us feel is way sided by other things. It isn't as important because we get the idea within the first few pages. So it's all pointless. I like the couple in this but you can skip it no problem. Well, maybe read the ending five chapters but you don't really have to. The next book will explain all that happened. And if it doesn't, the one after that sure will.
February 3, 2021
No! Just no!
This is a terrible terrible terrible installment of the series! Who wrote this?! Deffo not the author who wrote the previous ones! The seasoned reader knows about ghost authors, but this...?! it was a horror show!
Repetitive not even covers it! Vann deserved better, i wish the author rewrite the entire book!
The dialogue ?! It's like sitting between 12 years old who grew up on the mean grills tv show! Just eff no!!
I swiped trough it !
P.S.
Chand as well deserved way better at the end!
I will continue to the next but if it's as bad as this one i think it will end there for me!
This is a terrible terrible terrible installment of the series! Who wrote this?! Deffo not the author who wrote the previous ones! The seasoned reader knows about ghost authors, but this...?! it was a horror show!
Repetitive not even covers it! Vann deserved better, i wish the author rewrite the entire book!
The dialogue ?! It's like sitting between 12 years old who grew up on the mean grills tv show! Just eff no!!
I swiped trough it !
P.S.
Chand as well deserved way better at the end!
I will continue to the next but if it's as bad as this one i think it will end there for me!
April 30, 2020
Rating: 4 stars
I think this is one of my favorites of the series so far. I love the banter between all the characters, especially the sentinels and their crazy over competitiveness. I really liked how Albrecht and Vann’s story played out. I really felt bad for everything they went through. I was glad to see them get their HEA. It will be interesting to see where the author takes the series from here.
I think this is one of my favorites of the series so far. I love the banter between all the characters, especially the sentinels and their crazy over competitiveness. I really liked how Albrecht and Vann’s story played out. I really felt bad for everything they went through. I was glad to see them get their HEA. It will be interesting to see where the author takes the series from here.
April 23, 2023
/!\ This review will encompass this series in general not this book in particular.
I have a strange relationship with this series. Here is why :
- first of : the writing. I don't why but the writing is off for me. Sometimes it feels robotic, other times it feels really "teenagy". I like humor and snark in my romances , but strangely the humor between characters here doesn't work for me. They talk like teenagers sometimes, and to come back to the robotic part, sometimes, the way phrases are formulated don't flow, they don't feel like real conversations... I don't know how to explain it... The stories lack action, angst, real passion... almost nothing happens for 70-80% of the book, and right at the end there is some action.. If you could call it that. Yes the books focus mostly on the romantic relationships, and I'm not against that, but if the conflicts are boring and inner monologues drag on, even the romantic part of the books becomes a drag.
- 2 : I skim a lot of pages in this series because sometimes it just drags and gets boring for me. I like knowing what characters think and feel, but not when it drags for 3 to 4 pages... I skipped books here and there because the MCs didn't interest me. Yet it didn't handicap me in the stories because everything that happened in previous books is very often reexplained in each book. So you can skip some and not feel lost when you pick one without having read those before it.
- 3 : the romances are very... Blah. I mean based on the characters, background and everything they have the potential to be very unique, yet it's not the case. They all feel similar, with almost the same development and hurdles... It's a shame.
- 4 : now, this might be because I skipped a few books, but there are many characters in this series, and some of them have weird names and titles that end up getting me confused and mixed up most of the time. I can only keep up with those who have short and easily spoken names when there are so many characters.
- 5 : I read a review that said something like : the stories aren't really entertaining yet you strangely feel the need to continue reading them. And I totally agree! I present my apologies in advance to the author, but for me this series is sadly lacking when it comes to the writing and story development, yet it has great potential in regards to the characters, supernatural species and magic component.
Will I continu reading this Serie :
... Yes. And I still don't know why...😑
Will I reread any of this books :
I really doubt it 😅
I have a strange relationship with this series. Here is why :
- first of : the writing. I don't why but the writing is off for me. Sometimes it feels robotic, other times it feels really "teenagy". I like humor and snark in my romances , but strangely the humor between characters here doesn't work for me. They talk like teenagers sometimes, and to come back to the robotic part, sometimes, the way phrases are formulated don't flow, they don't feel like real conversations... I don't know how to explain it... The stories lack action, angst, real passion... almost nothing happens for 70-80% of the book, and right at the end there is some action.. If you could call it that. Yes the books focus mostly on the romantic relationships, and I'm not against that, but if the conflicts are boring and inner monologues drag on, even the romantic part of the books becomes a drag.
- 2 : I skim a lot of pages in this series because sometimes it just drags and gets boring for me. I like knowing what characters think and feel, but not when it drags for 3 to 4 pages... I skipped books here and there because the MCs didn't interest me. Yet it didn't handicap me in the stories because everything that happened in previous books is very often reexplained in each book. So you can skip some and not feel lost when you pick one without having read those before it.
- 3 : the romances are very... Blah. I mean based on the characters, background and everything they have the potential to be very unique, yet it's not the case. They all feel similar, with almost the same development and hurdles... It's a shame.
- 4 : now, this might be because I skipped a few books, but there are many characters in this series, and some of them have weird names and titles that end up getting me confused and mixed up most of the time. I can only keep up with those who have short and easily spoken names when there are so many characters.
- 5 : I read a review that said something like : the stories aren't really entertaining yet you strangely feel the need to continue reading them. And I totally agree! I present my apologies in advance to the author, but for me this series is sadly lacking when it comes to the writing and story development, yet it has great potential in regards to the characters, supernatural species and magic component.
Will I continu reading this Serie :
... Yes. And I still don't know why...😑
Will I reread any of this books :
I really doubt it 😅
October 19, 2020
I was anxiously looking forward to this story coming out after reading book five. I wanted to know more about Albrecht and if my suspicion was correct. I was happy to say it was but it was also so much more than I ever thought. I loved learning about Albie’s past as tragic as it was. Vann’s past however I suspected after the first couple of paragraph’s of this story.
It as still a wild ride with all the sentinel’s, fallen knights and the new mystery surrounding the three resurrected warlocks. I love this series so much. Drama, suspense, mystery, action and love all packed into each well written story.
This is one of my favorite books in the series so far. I loved reading about Albie and Vann. This couple was definitely done so wrong and for a disgusting reason as homophobia. I was incensed at the way they were treated especially Vann. You’ll have to read the story to find out what I’m talking about as I won’t spoil what happened.
Heart breaking yet joyous is the emotions that come front and center when looking back on this story. I felt so bad for what Albie endured for a very long time. My heart wept at the injustices done to him and Vann yet at the same time I was happy and thrilled with the end of their story.
I am looking forward to reading more in this series.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed for mmgoodbookreviews.com
It as still a wild ride with all the sentinel’s, fallen knights and the new mystery surrounding the three resurrected warlocks. I love this series so much. Drama, suspense, mystery, action and love all packed into each well written story.
This is one of my favorite books in the series so far. I loved reading about Albie and Vann. This couple was definitely done so wrong and for a disgusting reason as homophobia. I was incensed at the way they were treated especially Vann. You’ll have to read the story to find out what I’m talking about as I won’t spoil what happened.
Heart breaking yet joyous is the emotions that come front and center when looking back on this story. I felt so bad for what Albie endured for a very long time. My heart wept at the injustices done to him and Vann yet at the same time I was happy and thrilled with the end of their story.
I am looking forward to reading more in this series.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed for mmgoodbookreviews.com
June 19, 2019
OK I think this will be my last read in this series despite having the next 2 books.
While I was very interested in Albrecht and Vanns story I found the telling to be repetitive. Too often the side characters are portrayed as silly and childish. I found I skimmed large portions just to get back to the story. As with other books this one was well padded with sex.
I'm sad to say this series never got above a 3 stars as it had great potential, but if anything the books got worse instead of better for me.
While I was very interested in Albrecht and Vanns story I found the telling to be repetitive. Too often the side characters are portrayed as silly and childish. I found I skimmed large portions just to get back to the story. As with other books this one was well padded with sex.
I'm sad to say this series never got above a 3 stars as it had great potential, but if anything the books got worse instead of better for me.
October 31, 2019
This series just keeps getting better! We continue to meet new couples and still get to interact with favorite characters from previous books! This book fills in gaps in the history of the world, and I really enjoyed learning along with the characters! I really enjoy how this author continues to keep each book fresh and different from the previous one. While everyone has their Fated Mate, each couple has a unique journey and I absolutely love it! Can't get enough of the D'Vaire world!
January 8, 2019
Love this series
In this book one of the skeleton lords, Albrecht gets reunited with his horrible past and finds his way back to his mate that he lost thousands of years ago. These books are filled with excitement and danger and love and just leave you feeling so happy for the characters.
In this book one of the skeleton lords, Albrecht gets reunited with his horrible past and finds his way back to his mate that he lost thousands of years ago. These books are filled with excitement and danger and love and just leave you feeling so happy for the characters.
December 15, 2019
Ok, I figured it out.
These books are utter crap.
But I realized it's in the "turn your brain off and enjoy the garbage" kind of way. You know, like tv shows that you know are formulated for you to turn off your logical brain and just give in to the fantasy?
These books.
This series.
Just roll with it.
These books are utter crap.
But I realized it's in the "turn your brain off and enjoy the garbage" kind of way. You know, like tv shows that you know are formulated for you to turn off your logical brain and just give in to the fantasy?
These books.
This series.
Just roll with it.
April 24, 2019
Great addition
This was a great addition.... I'm glad for Chander and I loved both MC'S as well... I was so sucked into their love story .... This continuing plot is what's up as well... I liked how something is finished but then another plot takes its place... Off to book 8
This was a great addition.... I'm glad for Chander and I loved both MC'S as well... I was so sucked into their love story .... This continuing plot is what's up as well... I liked how something is finished but then another plot takes its place... Off to book 8
March 1, 2022
Incredible!
As we get more involved in the story, as well as the background of the characters, I’m finding it fascinating! Jessamyn Kingsley has created a series that rivals the best known authors in this genre, but with a gay twist. Absolutely incredible! Highly recommended
As we get more involved in the story, as well as the background of the characters, I’m finding it fascinating! Jessamyn Kingsley has created a series that rivals the best known authors in this genre, but with a gay twist. Absolutely incredible! Highly recommended
August 7, 2019
Still loving this series. Well written with well developed characters
January 5, 2020
This series is binge worthy
Loved the continued story line. We never really have to say goodbye to anyone we love because they are large parts of the books.
Loved the continued story line. We never really have to say goodbye to anyone we love because they are large parts of the books.
March 20, 2018
Every one of the D'Vaire books is gold and I will fight to the death anyone who disagrees.
Also, NEXT STORY EVERGREEN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!
Also, NEXT STORY EVERGREEN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!
January 11, 2023
As the Lich Sentinel Alaric Daray prepares to destroy the prison that housed the 8000 sentinels for thousands of years, those sentinels whose humanity was stripped from them by evil necromancers leaving them skeletal join him and the Arch Lich in a loud and hilarious family.
The last to be found, and the last to regain his flesh form is Skeletal Lord Albrecht Daray. Albie's bones were blackened by some tragedy he can no longer recall. Making the matter more difficult, he finds his mate in Venerable Knight Vann Ruarc.
Vann takes his mate's skeletal form in stride. And sets out to woe the skittish skeletal lord.
There's a lot of sweetness here. The parts of the story which show Vann interacting with the mostly literal minded sentinel family are hilarious. Including a crazy, competitive mini golf outing.
But the story is also tremendously angsty. When Vann and Albie finally get their past memories back, tissues were definitely needed. A great story.
The last to be found, and the last to regain his flesh form is Skeletal Lord Albrecht Daray. Albie's bones were blackened by some tragedy he can no longer recall. Making the matter more difficult, he finds his mate in Venerable Knight Vann Ruarc.
Vann takes his mate's skeletal form in stride. And sets out to woe the skittish skeletal lord.
There's a lot of sweetness here. The parts of the story which show Vann interacting with the mostly literal minded sentinel family are hilarious. Including a crazy, competitive mini golf outing.
But the story is also tremendously angsty. When Vann and Albie finally get their past memories back, tissues were definitely needed. A great story.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews