Thursday, August 6, 2015

STARRY KNIGHT by Nina Mason



Title:  STARRY KNIGHT
Series:  Knights of Avalon #1
Author:  Nina Mason
Publish Date:   08.04.2015
Publisher:  Lyrical Press
Category /Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Romance
Recommended for:  18+ due to sexual content
Received from:  Lyrical Press via NetGalley (in exchange for an honest review)
Goodreads link: Starry Knight
Date completed: 07.06.15

Description from the publisher:

Can these star-crossed lovers bridge two worlds?

British aristocrat Vanessa Bentley has beauty, fame, and fortune, but she gets no respect for her decision to become a paranormal investigator. Determined to prove the naysayers wrong, Vanessa ventures to the misty moors of Caithness, Scotland. There stands the immense Castle Barrogill, where a vampire is rumored to be stalking the dungeons—a vampire Vanessa is determined to find. She’ll just have to get past the resident shape-shifter…

Callum Lyon is the gorgeous reclusive astrologer and faery knight who guards the castle. For free-spirited Vanessa, seducing him proves to be easy. After all, he was once a breeding drone to a Queen. But astrologically, their differences are harder to overcome. Will Vanessa’s mission—and Callum’s secrets—be more than their burgeoning love can take? Or will flesh—and blood—win over the ghosts that haunt them both? ….
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This is the first book in the Knights of Avalon series.  Each will stand alone, but it will be best to read them in the order of publication because of the overlaying arc of the stories. 

I loved the story.  Though I tend to be a-political, the historical information regarding the political under-theme was presented very well in a show-don’t-tell manner.

Let’s see – we have ghosts, knights, fae, tarot cards, vampires, shape-shifters, and astrology.  Legends, rumors, and secrets help to move the story forward while always feeling as though I had one foot holding onto the past in a perfect balancing act.

I love, love, love the background story of the Island of Avalon and how Callum arrived and his escape.

The characters are engaging.  Though I thought Vanessa was acting like a poor-little-rich-girl at times, she still had more layers than the usual mean girls brought up with money.  She was a little confusing in her determination to be alone, as if that proved her strength as an individual.  Callum is a gentleman through and through.  Born in an age when chivalry was born and embraced as                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    a birthright, he knows when to protect with words and when to proceed with action.  I loved both of them, but the character that stole the show in my mind was Callum’s first wife, Sorcha.

I hope in the future of this series we will be taken to visit a modern Avalon.  Has Avalon become modern?  Or are they an island lost in time caused by their self-imposed isolation?  I am curious – I definitely want to know more!

I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.  Nina Mason is one of my favorite authors, simply because she can make history come alive and sprinkles it with plenty of heat, heart, and heroes.

Grammar/editing:  ungraded – book received as an unedited ARC / errors excused

The Knights of Avalon series:
  1. Starry Knight
  2. Dark and Stormy Knight (coming soon)
Other Books from Nina Mason:
  • The Queen of Swords
  • The Tin Man
Royal Pains Series:
1.      Devil in Duke’s Clothing
2.      The Duke’s Bedeviled Bride























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