Customer Reviews

Daughter of Destiny: Sisters of the Ark (Silhouette Bombshell)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought the first 4 books in the Bombshell Series, and this was the first one I read. What a disappointing start! I gave it 2 stars because although the author set up a pretty good plot, I just didn't care for what she did with it. It's always a bad sign when I start scanning through to get to the end, and that's what I did with this book. Also, there is very little romance in this book. Kai and Jake spend the whole time tip-toing around each other. Am I mistaken, or is this supposed to be a romance series? Hopefully, things will get better with the next book.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

This kick-off book in the new Bombshell line will satisfy readers in many ways.

Kai Alseoun has led a hard life. Her father had been an alcoholic, who killed himself and her mother in a car accident many years ago. Just when she had found a life she was happy with, as a Navy combat pilot, it's all torn away from her by a betrayal from a fellow military man. She retreats to the reservation where she grew up with her Grandmother, and begins to realize there is another path meant for her, a life that comes to her through her vision dreams.

Three sacred crystal totems are stolen from the Cherokee people and only Kai holds the key to finding them again. Her quest leads her to the heart of the Australian desert, in order to recover the first of the three objects. When an old friend is found to be her partner on this mission, Jake Stands Alone Carter, old feelings come rushing back to her - feelings of safety and security and, could it be... love? But she is emotionally scarred from past experiences. Will Jake's strength be enough to help her complete her mission, and heal the wounds of her heart once and for all?

This was a good romance story, with enough action to keep most readers eager to share the adventure. Danger is around every corner for Kai and Jake, and will keep readers anticipating what is next to come. However, there were a few parts that dragged, in between the action scenes, and can take one longer to get through those sections of the story. For the most part though, this story does move steadily and details are revealed as the quest continues, making the villains seem all the more ominous as a result.

There is quite a bit of information scattered throughout the story as well, which will delight readers whom are fascinated by Native American religions and beliefs. Ms. McKenna quite obviously did her homework, researching rituals and powers held by those most revered of the Cherokee people, their Medicine Women... and Men. This reviewer was captivated by the bit of knowledge used in the story to give it depth, and could actually feel the power flowing through the sacred totem and the medicine people of the Cherokee and the native Australians.

Though the primary focus of the Bombshell series is on the strong female leads and their adventures, there is plenty of romance in this book. Correction... it reads more as a love story then a romance, but will please fans of the genre. Kai is a wounded soul, scarred by her past experiences with her emotionally abusive alcoholic father, her ex-lover who could not handle her strength of character and mind, and the man who cost her a military career. Though she and Jake have a past between them, where Jake was always her "savior" of sorts, due to her other experiences with men, she finds it very hard to trust him when he reappears in her life again after so many years. Jake understands her though, and how he deals with her fears will make readers fall in love with him for his kind and loving nature. When the two finally conquer Kai's doubts, and come to the end of their quest, readers will cheer them on to their much-deserved happy ending.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, October 2004. All rights reserved.

This is the first of a new Morgan's Mercenaries trilogy focused on the retrieval of 3 stolen Cherokee artifacts with mystical powers.
This book is exciting, tense, action packed and suspenseful. The aboriginal mysticism in Australia is nicely balanced by people shooting bazookas at our heroes in a helicopter!

I only have one complaint and I think this is a generational thing with the author- her dialog when she tries to use colloquialisms feels stiff and unnatural. Very few women or men- even gung ho military types use "dude" as much as she uses it. This is a term that went out with valley girls 20 years ago. "Buddy", "guy" or even "hey you" would be more current. This is a quirk I have seen in a number of books by the author- just a little thing- but it does disrupt things. Editors- please take note and get out a thesaurus.

As a regular reader of Harlequin Intrigue, I was excited by the idea of a new series that focused on strong female characters as the heros of the stories. At least, that's what I thought the Bombshell series was supposed to be, a sort-of Grrrl Power romantic action/adventure line.

Sadly, I have been quite disappointed. After having read this, the first offering in the line, and the 9th, Maureen Tan's A Perfect Cover, I decided that I was mistaken about the focus of the Bombshell line. Yes, the stories did focus on a strong female character. These main characters are more focused and dramatic than those in some other Harlequin/Silhouette categories. There is a male character to be the romantic interest and there is action and adventure.

But there's very little romance. (Assuming you've read the very apt descriptions of the plot by other reviewers here) The interaction between Kai and Jake seems to sometimes belong on a soap opera and sometimes in a young adult novel. In their particular story, it seems that everything important has been their from the past, and we're just waiting (page after page) for Kai to get over herself and love Jake, while he just stands by and waits for it. And, I suppose this kind of sensitive give the lady her time and space approach is fine in life, but it doesn't make for very good romantic fiction.

Rather than developing a romance, the author has set one up in the characters' past and spends the action of the book on building a main character and on accomplishing the given task, rather than in allotting a portion of the word count to developing a romance. Even at the end of the book, she never reaches where most romance readers expect her to be with respect to the protagonists' relationship to achieve a proper sense of satisfaction with the conclusion.

As an action novel, I would say that this is fairly good, well-paced with vivid descriptions of places, events, and cultural particulars. As a romance, I would consider the Bombshell line a bomb.

WHEN KAI'S MILITARY CAREER IS OVER SHE IS AFRAID TO BELIEVE IN HERSELF. BUT DETERMINATION REINS AND NOT ONLY DOES SHE REACH HER GOAL BUT GETS JAKE TOO.

After being court-martialed and receiving a bad conduct discharge from the navy for striking a superior officer, Kai returns to her grandmother's home on the Qualloah Eastern Cherokee Nation in North Carolina to lick her wounds. She is bitter that the navy didn't believe she was defending herself from a sexual assault. Her grandmother has her go on a vision quest and she dreams she must find one of the secret totems that were stolen from the tribe. The dream shows her she must go to the Australian Outback to meet with an aborigine shaman.

Her grandmother convinces her that she was chosen to return one of the totems and she must go to Australia because her dreams are a method of communication between shamans. Morgan Trayhern's organization Perseus agrees to fund her mission provided she partners with her childhood friend Jake Carter. Although she is turned off by men, she has no choice but to agree to the condition. The two fly to the outback where they find adventure, danger and the possibility of a lasting love.

Lindsay McKenna is a brilliant author who writes romances that are action packed and character driven. In DAUGHTER OF DESTINY the audience will empathize with the heroine who had a physically abusive father and grew up determined to be strong so that no man would hurt her again. The hero, who has loved her since he was a child, tries to prove to her that not all men are predators and he is deserving of her trust and love. If this book is any indication, the Bombshell line is going to be a smashing success.

Harriet Klausner

This is a great read! DAUGHTER OF DESTINY contains romance, action and mystery - what else do we need? Oh yes, and exotic locations. We meet sympathetic characters with real-life problems, like an abusive family background, disciplinary charges, unemployment... But events take an extraordinary turn. Kai finds herself in a life and death struggle to fulfill her destiny on behalf of her people, the Eastern Cherokee: to win back a stolen talisman. She is ably supported by a hunky hero from her past, Jake, who is not afraid to follow her lead sometimes and work with her as team.

Much of the action is set in the Australian outback, near Ayers Rock. The book has a real sense of place. The author must have done some hands on research to be able to describe the thrills and spills of riding a camel so well. She also highlighted the situation of the Aboriginal people in the area. I enjoyed the metaphysical elements of the story, like the need to work on our wounds in order to be able to meet our destiny, how dreams can be real and the importance of trusting our intuition.

With two other talismans still missing, I feel a trilogy in the offing. Bring 'em on, Ms. McKenna!