Review, EXCLUSIVE excerpt & SIGNED ARC Giveaway….Prince of Power by Elisabeth Staab

 

Synopsis:

This Fight Is Personal…

Wizards and vampires have been mortal enemies since the beginning. Now Anton, son of the Wizard Master, has one last chance to steal the unique powers of the vampire king’s beautiful sister, Tyra…and then kill her. But when he meets Tyra face-to-face, everything changes…

Tyra will stop at nothing to defeat the wizards, until Anton saves her life and she suddenly sees an opportunity she never could have imagined…

As the sparks ignite between them, together they could bring an end to the war that’s decimating their people, but only if they can find a way to trust each other…

_______________

My Review:

This is the second book in the Chronicles of Yavyn series and follows King of Darkness.  I was so looking forward to this book and the story of Anton and Tyra and I will say…Elisabeth friggin nailed it!

We first meet Anton and Tyra in King of Darkness and this book picks up where we had left off.

Vampires and Wizards have always been at war.  However it is at this juncture that things have reached a critical point.  Anton is the son of the Wizard Master and has been charged with the task of kidnapping the vampire king’s sister, Tyra.  The Master wants to kill Tyra and absorb the unique powers and abilities she was born with.  Only once Anton starts his surveillance, he realizes how amazing Tyra is.  She’s caring, fierce, beautiful and strong…. there is no way Anton can kill her and deprive the world of one such as her.  He’s never truly fit into the Wizard world of violence and certainly has no love for the “father” that has beaten and neglected him his entire life.  He cannot continue to live a lie and he realizes he needs to act, and it must be soon.  Now, he just has to figure out how to save not only Tyra’s life, but also his own.

Tyra has been lucky in finding something she truly loves…her work at the homeless shelter.  In the intense, brutal war she, her brother the king, and their vampire guard have been waging against the wizards, this is the one thing that brings her peace.  However, nothing like a mysterious, handsome, stranger saving your life to throw a wrench into things.  Now she has to figure out who has is and why he knows so much about her…and if she can ever learn to trust a wizard.

What a fantastic book this was!  We got see deeper into the wizard and vampire cultures and learn more of the web the two sides weave together to create the conflict they have been living for years.  There are some intense fight scenes that had me gripping my e-reader with white knuckles and parts that I audibly gasped at.  I love to feel that from a book.  I love to feel like I’m there, watching it all play out in front of me.  However, the parts I loved the most were the moments between Anton and Tyra.  Anton broke my heart.  Totally crushed it. He is a broken soul who wants nothing more than to be worthy of Tyra and her love.  He has known nothing other than hurt and violence…hate and pain.  I absolutely love him.  Tyra is the exact amount of hard and soft in a heroine that I love.  She’s a female fighter in a war but when all is laid bare…she’s a woman we can all identify with.  A woman just trying to make sense of life and trying to learn to let her guard down and give love a chance.

I found this book, like King of Darkness, to be a fresh take on the vampire world.  One of the things I enjoy most about all of the characters Ms. Staab has created is that they don’t have all the answers.  They are vulnerable in an endearing way.  They all have a weakness that we are able to see in their private moments.  Hell, we get to see the strong guys cry every now and then! I appreciate that.  It gives the characters an authenticity that is frequently lacking.

We also get to see more of our favorites from King of Darkness….Thad, Isabel, Lee, Alexia and Siddoh.  Plus, there’s a secondary story involving Theresa and Xander that put me through the emotional wringer…and I loved every tear inducing moment! I cannot WAIT for the next book and know this is a series I will be keeping up with in the future!  Thank you, Elisabeth, for another amazing read!  Oh, and for getting me to cry!

Four-and-a-Half Loves

I spoke with Elisabeth and asked her what one of her favorite moments in this book was and, well, she didn’t just tell me, she is sharing it with all of you in this EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT! Enjoy! 

Excerpt:

Dark shadows lingered underneath Anton’s gray eyes, and he needed a great deal of effort to hold himself up. He was worn out. Keyed up. She would bet he was running on fumes.

“I’ve been in torpor,” she said. “How long?”

On the desk lay a stack of those little two-packs of saltine crackers. The kind that came from the salad bars of restaurants. Or in this case, probably the shelter dining hall. He scratched his head, then picked each one up and counted as he slapped them back onto the desk. “One… two… three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine… Ten days.”

Tyra squeezed her eyes shut.

He pointed to the crackers. “I brought some back for you every day from the dining hall at dinner. Stupid, but it made me feel like I was doing something for you. Other than that–and taking a piss–I didn’t go anywhere. Didn’t want to leave you alone.”

Holy cow. He’d watched over her all that time. She didn’t know quite what to say to that. And odd warmth bloomed in her chest…

 

And, because Elisabeth is incredibly generous and full of awesome, she has given me a SIGNED ADVANCE PAPERBACK COPY of Prince of Power to give to a lucky fan! How awesome! 

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Elisabeth Staab still lives with her nose in a book and at least one foot in an imaginary world. She believes that all kinds of safe and sane love should be celebrated but she adores the fantasy-filled realm of paranormal romance the best. She lives in the Washington DC area

with her family and one big scaredy cat, where she loves to spend time with good friends, go dancing, collect wacky coffee mugs from which to drink her favorite beverage, and sing off-key in her kitchen (when she isn’t making characters fall in love, that is).