Immortal Beloved (Immortal Beloved Trilogy, #1)

by Cate Tiernan

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Immortal Beloved is a dark tantalizing paranormal romance filled with overwhelming struggle in the face of adversity and a timeless yet inescapable romance. It is a compelling world filled with rich complex characters, intriguing plot, and a clever look at paranormal in an original way. Tiernan has this wonderful way of grasping reader's attention, by casting these fantastic characters that are daring and wild, complicated and ambiguous, yet likable and easy to connect with. She doesn't shy away from introducing the pitfalls or drawbacks of the supernatural, while giving them their own unique realistic flaws. In her world, the past plays as much of an important role, as coming to terms with the present and dealing with what's at hand.

Tiernan cleverly crafts this world where River's Edge is like immortal rehab for paranormals to figure out the mess they've created with their lives. It's run by River, who's past is just as ambiguous as she is to readers at this point. She's a wonderfully likable character, who cares enough about every paranormal who finds themselves seeking refuge there by sharing her own wisdom and advice on life with them. There are mysteries intricately woven around her and her own haunted past. Change is an important element in this novel, since most of it seems to hinge on self-discovery, than anything else.

Nataysa is a complex and complicated, yet likable and unlikable character at certain points in the story, which makes her even more intriguing to readers. She's filled with wildness and wreckless abandonment, who feels absolutely nothing at all and could care less. It isn't until she finds herself high on drugs, out of her mind, and witnessing her best friend (a dark Immortal) torturing a human that she decides things needs to change. Once at River's Edge, she's going to have to come to grips with learning how to deal with the messy complications of her past, while discovering who she is.

Reyn is a dark alluring mystery, who doesn't come into play until much later in the book. He is an incredibly strong, sexy, silent type sure to get reader's blood pumping. He and Natasya share a very complicated connection due to their past issues. Tiernan does something wonderfully brilliant with these two, by focusing more on Natasya discovering herself, instead of building on any romance that could potentially happen between these two amazing characters. Of course, their chemistry is delicously scintilating, what little reader's are given of it and it only adds to further intrigue. There seems to be an underlying theme revolving around the importance of being true to oneself, than anything else.

Immortal Beloved is not your standard typical vampire novel, it is so much more than that. It's filled with the pain of betrayal, dark and unpredictable secrets, love and heart-breaking moments, and mystery fueled by excitement. Tiernan's masterful writing, attention to detail, and dark atmosphere is sure to hook reader's and have them craving more. Fans of paranormal romance will absolutely not be disappointed.