Reviewed by Cocktails and Books on

2 of 5 stars

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For thirteen years, Chalice has been forced to steal artifacts for the man who abducted her from the only home she ever knew. He's used her differences to his and his organizations advantage while making life for Chalice a living hell.

It's on a mission for Gavin, her sorcerer captor, and his organization Vyantara, that she discovers there is more to the world she lives in than what she was led to believe. It's Aydin, a 900+ year old Turk warrior who helps her realize that her gifts are important to bring together a circle of women warrior who can protect the world from evil.

I was hopeful this was going to be another book that would sway my angel reluctance. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Here's my issue with the story.

Chalice is a woman that was abducted and abused by Grant, who has delusions of grandeur on ruling the magical underworld. He forces her to steal magical artifacts for this purpose. He's also managed to bond her with a gargoyle, which must lick her every three days or she'll die. Nice guy...right? I should have felt sorry for her, having gone through all of this, but I didn't. Instead, I kept wondering why she didn't do something to change what was happening to her. Sure Gavin always seemed to know where she was and what she was doing, but at some point don't you figure out how to be sneaky just to get away from the bastard?
The "romance" between Aydin and Chalice was weird. She liked him, she suspected him of lying to her and then she liked him again. Then she suspected he was still in love with someone else. He was never more than outwardly friendly with her during the entire story, then towards the very end, they're is almost a declaration of love. WHAT???
I'm still confused about the Saint Geraldine, the angel talkers, the Fallen, the Vyantara and what the heck is going on. There was no back history on who the Vyantara are or why they are doing what they're doing today.


I'm sure others will enjoy this book, but there were one too many unanswered questions or moments were I was scratching my head to engage my interest.

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  • Started reading
  • 3 September, 2011: Finished reading
  • 3 September, 2011: Reviewed