Storm's Heart by Thea Harrison
Genre: Paranormal Romance (Fantasy, dragons, gryphons, faeries, elves, goblins, explicit sex scenes, alpha male, fated mates)
Series: Book two in The Elder Races series
Original Language: English
Publisher: Berkley
Country: United States
Publication Date: August 2, 2011
ISBN: 978-0425242667
Page Count: 336
My Rating: ★★★★

Summary

Able to wield thunder and lightning, wyr sentinel Tiago Black Eagle has ruled the skies for centuries. His massive build and thunderous power make him one of the wyr's best weapons. And he's the one sent to protect Tricks, heir to the Dark Fae throne, when she's almost assassinated in Chicago. Soon Tiago and Tricks will fall prey to the stormy hunger that engulfs them-a passion that will shake the very foundation of all the worlds.

REVIEW

This is the second book in The Elder Races series by Thea Harrison. It was a very good follow up to the first book (which I absolutely loved) but was a little lacking on the action side for me, so it doesn't quite get the full five star treatment as that one did.

Whereas in book one we had kidnappings, incarceration, prison breaks, shock twists and surprises and all sorts of yummy things to keep us entertained, this one was more based around the political machinations of the Dark Fey as they accept (or not, as the case may be) Tricks, aka Niniane Lorelle, back into her rightful place as Queen of the Dark Fey.

We learned a little about Niniane in book one: that her family, the previous Dark Fey royals, had been brutally murdered by Urian, the baddie from the last book. Since Dragos more than took care of him in that story, this opened the way for Niniane to finally return to her home after hiding out with the wyr for nearly 200 years. Niniane wasn't entirely thrilled at the prospect of returning, afterall, all that she would find there was bad memories and constant reminders of all that she'd lost. But she also felt a sense of duty and obligation, so off she went. I liked what little I'd seen of Tricks in book one. One of my favourite scenes, actually, was her and Pia drunkenly making the tablecloth of shame. So funny. I found her initially to be just as amusing in this book, but as the story progressed, it was almost like her light-hearted side got knocked out of her bit by bit by having to deal with all the conspiracies, murder attempts and betrayals, which was a bit of a shame.

Tiago, the ancient, tattooed Thunderbird, was the one who volunteered to go and be her bodyguard. The wyr protect what's theirs and no matter where Tricks resides from now on, she will always be one of theirs. Tiago though, suddenly finds himself thinking more along the lines of "mine" instead of "ours", and it's fun watching the big guy fall and fall hard. I really enjoyed Tiago's character. He was a bit of a contradiction, though; one minute he was the sweet, caring bodyguard stroke mother hen. The next he was a dirty-talking stud muffin. Some of the things that came out of that boy's mouth! I ought to wash it out with soap and water! Tsk, tsk *grin*

All of their scenes together were enjoyable, both the sweet moments and the smexy ones, and they made a great couple. We were also introduced to the female for the next book in this one too. I'll be honest, I didn't care for her, so I will start the next book with a little apprehension. I have faith in Thea Harrison's writing by his point, though, and I'm sure she'll have changed my mind about her by the time I finish her and Rune's book.