Threat of Darkness

Witches Knot #6

by Lauren Dane

Threat of Darkness Lauren Dane "This book is a spinoff of the Witches Knot series, but can be read alone." Mei is a Warrior for the Balance. She stands between good and evil. So when her boss tells her she's got to head to Tir na nOg to help the Fae she is most displeased. Mei's mother Aine, the queen of the Fae, betrayed and exiled her millennia ago. Or so she's been led to believe. But Aine was misled by her own sister, and suddenly everything Mei has thought was true for thousands of years falls down around her ears as she looks up to see the face of her husband. Her first husband, a man she'd thought was dead. Jayce MacTavish is surprised to find that his wife, thought millennia dead, is alive, but his joy is tempered by the realization that she's got another mate. Mei, Card and Jayce must find a way to be together as three while a threat from the Dark Fae and a new enemy darkens the horizon. "Publisher Note: This book contains brief scenes of male/male sexual enjoyment."

Genres: Paranormal, Erotica, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Magic, Fantasy, Adult

206 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Lauren Dane has been writing stories since she was able to use a pencil, and before that she used to tell them to people. Of course, she still talks nonstop, and through wonderful fate and good fortune, she’s now able to share what she writes with others. It’s a wonderful life!

The basics: Lauren is a mom, a partner, a best friend and a daughter. Living in the rainy but beautiful Pacific Northwest, she spends her late evenings writing like a fiend when she finally wrestles all of her kids to bed.

Reviews

[Anachronist · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started to read this novel while on holiday by the sea. I was feeling rather optimistic at the time - you see, it enjoys a pretty high rating average on Goodreads, 4 stars out of 5, nothing less. Why - my mind boggles. It was horrid. It was stupid. It was a fantasy book without one inch of imagination or, well, fantasy. The fact that your characters are fairies, demons, trolls and werewolves DOESN'T mean anything without the proper world build and here there was no such a thing. Still I was the first Goodreads user who actually has given it one star. There must be something wrong: with the universe, with me, with the books and the publishing industry, with the world at large. Horribly, terribly wrong. How cannot people notice? HOW?

It is a relatively short novel - just 133 pages. One third of it consists of sex scenes. Boring, repetitive and schematic sex scenes I must add. Any and every conflict is resolved by either sex or deus-ex-machina magic performed by some gods - Freia and Carl Donovan are among them. Carl Donovan a.k.a. the Donovan is really a strange choice of name for a divine entity but whatever - if you compare it to the fact that all characters of this beauty take the expression "too stupid to live" to quite an insanely low level one inappropriate name is really a minor glitch.

Ponder over this: Mei was imprisoned and tortured by some BDSM demonic afficionados for a millenium. Yes, a millenium of torture and rapes, you read it right. Nobody even thought of looking for her because everybody believed she had been killed in a battle. Why? Her aunt said so. Nobody found the remnants of Mei's body, nobody saw anything but all those great fairies, Mei's mother and her very loving husband, Jaice, among them, assumed that if Eire (the aunt) says Mei is dead then Mei is dead, end of the story. Irrefutable logic, right? 

Then Mei is freed from her prison by Card the half were half demon, soon to be her hubby number two;  after a period of recovery she returns home and she is said that Jaice is dead, her mom doesn't want to see her anymore, she is disinherited and basically she can go and jump to the lake, thank you very much for the visit, don't bother to show your face the second time. Yes, you guessed right: once again her lovely aunt was the source of those completely false revelations. Actually she sent one of Mei's mother flunkies to do the dirty job. What Mei, a clever warrior and a fairy princess several millenia old, does? She believes in every word of that flunkey - without even thinking of contacting anybody else. If you are said by a third party your beloved husband is dead and your mum hates your guts you should ALWAYS believe it straightaway, right? Even without any proof presented? *headdesk*

Then the novel went from bad to worse. Yes, I mean the baddies, whose characterization was non-existent. You see, they are bad because a) they are DARK fae (got it? DARK!!!) and b) they hate humans. Oh well, sometimes I am not so fond of humans either and I dress in black - I bet I am bad too, right? 

Not that the goodies were better, believe me, they were not. Both male interests of the main heroine  could be described very simply as a red-headed, long-braided Scot with great physique (Jaice) and a half-werewolf half-demon with yellow eyes and great physique (Card). Here you go - now you know everything there is to know about them. I bet plenty of male catwalk models show more of their personality during an average photo session than those two. Their main role is to satisfy Mei in bed (or anywhere else if the mood strikes) and generally take care of her.  If you are now wondering I rush to add the crucial bit of info: both do it at the same time. Mostly. In order to spoil you even further: they are her two husbands and they are fond of each other as well. How come? Magic! Nothing else is needed in a successful relationship, right? (btw thanks Tasha/heidenkind for that little beauty below!)

If only magic extended also to the plot, the dialogues and the overall writing quality...unfortunately the plot was HIGHLY predictable, I bet my dog would guess any major turn and twist without any problem, the dialogues were wooden infodumps full of cliches and maudlin love and/or independence declarations (independence so you knew Mei is kick-ass), some sentences were clearly grammatically incorrect and after reaching the half point I decided I really don't need to torture myself any longer so I dumped it. Still I amused myself with  checking the finale grande. Yes, I guessed EVERYTHING right.  What joy ;(

Final verdict:



So not for me that I can hardly contain myself, limiting the amount of expletives to zero. If you want to know how a fantasy erotica novel looks when gone completely awry, read this one but don't blame me afterwards - you have been warned.

[A.R. Von · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy all I've read from Lauren Dane thus far. The only ONE thing I have to complain about is her endings. They seems to end abruptly with some loose end left untied. Yes, she does have more in the series and they do include the characters we all know and love from the start. But I feel more should be said at least on the main relationship at the end of her works. All-in-all I enjoyed the story thoughout. Mei is a very powerful character that we all could learn from.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually found this by mistake ... and i thought i had read all the Witch knot books!! This is the last one!! hehehe You see/meet new characters and of course come across a few old, the Charvezes as well as the Fae's. But glad to finally see the Dark Fae & I guess, the Good guys meet to battle it out!! Bringing an end to an awesome story (all 5 books, Witches Knot series). Loved it!!! ;D

[Amanda Kern · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book

Lauren. Dane books are different. I mean that in a good way. This book can be read as a stand alone. If you do though it makes you want to read the other ones just to explain some of the characters mentioned in passing.

[Cathy Beckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lauren has done it again. She has written a book that I literally could not put down. I read this in one sitting. The story was action-packed and fast-paced. The love scenes were HOT!
If you like hot, torrid love scenes and a fast, action-packed read this book is for you.

I LOVED IT!!!!!!!

[Angela Crockett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew there would be no sleeping until I finished this story. The last Witches Knot book in the series, I liked the way Lauren Dane brought most of the characters from the earlier books in the series. How many times can you save the world? Apparently 6 times. lol.

So Mai's story can be described a few different ways. A fae that has suffered thousands of years in captivity, is rescued and falls in love with the were/demon (Card)who saves her.

A fae that is reunited with her first bond mate, her first love Jayce.

This story could be all about one husband thinking you are dead and finding out thousands of years later you have remarried. . . . but it's so much more. I did mention the part about saving the world right?

I like to focus on what Mai has done to recover when she finds out not only has she lived thousands of years believing a lie but treachery sometimes comes from family members. . . . .
Did I mention the part about the obsessed madman who wants the end of the world only because it means he can have Mai back in his evil clutches again?

A warrior princess will be always a warrior princess.. . . what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

[Yogi Yogi · Rating 4 out of 5]

story of warrior Mei, the princess daughter of Aine (queen of the Fae at Ter Na nOg) and warrior for The Donovan/The Messenger, and her two mates, Jayce MacTavish (sp?) best friend of Con (both fae warriors and part of the queen's inner circle advisors; he was with Mei before she lost a battle and was taken prisoner at prison hell), and Card Leviathan (short for Cardxxxx; he's the brother of Simon Leviathan, whom we get to know in Bound by Magic book #2), part demon, part werewolf (but really Lycian which is stronger), part something else cool, he was with Mei for 2,000 years after he rescued her from prison hell

[Chelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like all of these books have a plot line that could be turned into a movie. They would have to take out some scenes and change some things, but the actual plot line is good. One downfall I find with most of this series is that the climax of the stories are too short. There's a huge build up throughout the whole book and then it ends in three or four pages.

[iliana G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jayce Mei and Card...

puuursss

i enjoyed the book but i got a lil tired...and in times confused as i lost track of people and events.

As most of the times the ending of the book left you with lose ends and question marks

but still an enjoyable book

[Llwells · Rating 2 out of 5]

It felt rushed and put together....not at all the usual that I expect from this author.

[✿~Danielle~✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Card, Jayce and Mei

Read 19th May 2013