Customer Reviews

Dangerous Temptation (Silhouette Nocturne)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Anthropologist Zeke Kendall goes to Ireland for research. Although he works in the past, he's firmly grounded in the here and now, and the belief in fairy's or their queen, seems laughable. But, when he falls through a barrow and finds himself in the realm of Queen Mab, he discovers that one of her daughters is an irresistible and dangerous temptation. Nuala, eldest daughter of the Fairy Queen, knows her mother's cruelty and the chances she takes. Her heart has been long possessed of this mortal, and she'll do anything, including leaving the realm of the fae, if it means keeping him safe and making him hers.

This story grounds the reader in modern day Ireland, as well as in the fairy realms, and doesn't let go. Immediately, Zeke is a likeable hero, one with whom the reader sympathizes. The tiny touches, many of which I won't reveal here, make this a stirring story that grabs at you. The human characterization of Zeke contrasts with the fairies who operate by a different set of rules. Yet, in spite of being "other" Nuala comes across as a loveable, understandable woman, and this reader found herself cheering for them to finally overcome their obstacles.

I loved the world building. This wasn't just a "fairy" world juxtaposed onto our own. No, Ms. Korbel creates an entire new realm and populates it with interesting and fascinating creatures, all of which embody the full range of emotion. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat and hungering for more.

Three jewels set in threee crown maintain the balance of power between the mortal realm and that of the Faerie. When one stone is stolen and moved out of Faerie, the Dubhlainn Sidhe turn dark and malignant as they rage and become malevolent. Mab, queen of the earth fairies, rises to power; her heir Nuala will replace her when she retires to the Land of the West.

In Ireland field anthropologist Zack Kendall falls through a cairn and enters the realm of Faerie. At first he assumes he is dreaming until he meets Nuala. He begins to believe because she has loved him forever even "visiting" him and his family on the human side. She wants to send her beloved home, but the Queen insists he must pass three tests before he can choose to stay or return; failure means death. However, undergoing the quest is difficult enough, but he, Nuala and the Queen have enemies who want the trio destroyed.

This romantic fantasy is filled with intrigue, action and a love that transcends worlds. Nuala is determined to give up the only male she will ever love because he needs his mortal family and they need him too. Zack is willing to die to insure the realm of his beloved remains safe. Together they make a formidable star-crossed team who gains the hearts and souls of readers.

Harriet Klausner

Kathleen Korbel's Dangerous Temptation is a typical romance novel. Nuala, a fairy princess, has a crush on Zeke Kendall. He in turn finds Nuala utterly irresistable. Zeke falls off one of the fairy mounds and somehow changes dimensions to the fairy realm. Nuala tries to protect him from her mother, Queen Mab. Here youngest sister plots with her arranged marriage groom to change Mab's mind and turn the queendom over to the youngest daughter, Orla. Orla conspires with the Dark Sword Sidhe unleashing a battle between the light and dark courts.

I enjoyed the Celtic mythology, but the purple prose dragged the work down a bit. The characters were rather one dimensional. There was the beautiful heroine, and extremely handsome hero. The book was told alternately from the point of view of the hero and heroine. The switch from one point of view to another would through me out of the story narrative. The author's use of a thesaurous was obvious to the point of being annoying and redudant. The narrative would have flowed a lot smoother without having to come up with yet another way to describe the same person or scene again.

Anthropologist Zeke Kendall doesn't believe in fairies, but after falling down the proverbial rabbit hole, or rather an ancient cairn in Ireland, he's forced to reevaluate his definition of reality. Are the wondrous sights in front of him merely a dream, a result of his fall, or are they something a bit more . . . magical? And who is the gorgeous creature in front of him claiming to be a fairy princess?

Nuala, eldest daughter of the Fairy Queen, has watched Zeke from afar for many years. Instilled with a deep sense of loyalty to her people, she has been groomed to take over the throne, yet there is a part of her that is compelled to seek out the mortal life and most especially, Zeke. Forced to combat her scheming sister, Orla, and her exacting mother, the queen, Nuala must find a way to save both her people and the man she loves.

Told primarily from the hero's point of view, DANGEROUS TEMPTATION paints a world as beautiful as it is dark. Filled with myth and legend it also carries a sliver of intrigue and betrayal. Written in an almost lyrical style with a cadence all its own, Ms. Korbel wields a pen that is both strong and soft and ever so deadly.

I don't know what happened here, but this book simply never took off. Having never read this author before, I don't know if the writing style is typical, or if, simply, the author never quite convinced herself to believe in what she was writing. Since the writer didn't seem to become emotionally involved, neither could I.

All the elements were present (magic, true love, action), and it still didn't work (at least not for me). The love scenes had no heart, the scenery had no flavor, the action had no sense of timing or peril. Worse, in a story about faries (and I do believe in faries), I felt no magic.

I won't be investing in this author again.

This was such a good story it made me laugh and cry and it was just sweet. I am really looking forward to the other sisters getting their own stories told. Okay now this is a NEW series about the three daughters of the Fairie Queen. This kept me reading when some book after I read ten pages I just give up they are so boring but this story really kept me into the story it never lagged. The sex scenes were pretty steamy and I loved the ending. I did not know how to take the one sister who was kinda bad can't hink of her name right off but anyway her story looks like it will be a good one because I think that we may have met her hero already ya know one of the Dark ones. This book definitely deserves more than one star I mean it is entertaing and you find yourself rooting for the heroine to just keep her man for as long as she can.

Having read the stories of the other Kendall siblings,I was happy to see Zeke's story finally come to pass. Unfortunately, I was most disappointed. To me, this book comes across as simply a launching point for a new series. It has little to no resemblance to the Kendall family saga. It lacks the humor and the familial feel of the previous Kendall stories. This story did not resemble the person Zeke has been in the other novels. This comes across more as though Kathleen Korbel wrote a completely separate story, inserted the name Zeke as the hero, added a reference or two to Jake, Lee, and Gen, and called it a Kendall story. The Daughters of the Myth trilogy could be an intriguing series on it's own, but the Zeke Kendall character did not need to be sacrificed to launch it. It's as though either Ms.Korbel or her publishers figured it would be easier to garner interest in her new series by using a familiar character name, rather than finish the old series properly by giving Zeke a story of his own. This is sort of a literary bait and switch. Fans of the Kendall family stories will be lured in by the Kendall name, only to have The Daughters of Myth trilogy thrust upon them. If you are hoping for a satisfying completion of the Kendall family series, this is not the book for you.