Customer Reviews

Entice Me at Twilight (The Doomsday Brethren, Book 4)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Story

The fourth installment of the Doomsday Brethren features Simon "Duke" Northman. The Doomsday Brethren are a group of wizards and witches that fight against the evil wizard Mathias. The Duke is due at his brothers wedding when the Brethren find out Mathias is out to resurrect Morganna Le Fay. Shock an allegedly double agent tells Simon that he has recently come in contact with an Untouchable, and that is what Mathias needs to get to Morganna. An Untouchable is a magical deadener. Simon returns to his brother's wedding only to discover the Untouchable is his brothers fiancé. Simon takes Felicia to protect her against Mathias much to his brothers dismay.

Thoughts

In my opinion any work of Shayla's is outstanding, haven't read a book of hers I didn't love. When I first read the description, that Simon takes his brothers fiancé, I was skeptical of how that would work out. Shayla wrote a complex paranormal romance, with layers of plots and feelings to sort out. The pace is fast and captivating! Everyone in the human world views Simon as a playboy, they couldn't be more wrong. It was fun reading and Felicia finding out on her own who Simon really is. I love this group, they feel like old friends I'm catching up with. Shayla stepped up the plots and relationship nicely. Simon and Felicia's relationship is real, and tentative, Felicia is afraid of loving so its complicated. The characters have depth and are relatable. This story is perfect and beautifully done! Can't wait for Lucan and Anaka's book in 2012, that is the biggest anticipation since the beginning of this series!

I'm not going to write you a mini story like most people do. This book is similar to the other ones she has written in this series. Great chemistry between the characters and great love scenes. I would recommend this book anyone who enjoys any of her other "types" of books. :0)

"Entice Me at Twilight" is book 4 in Shayla Black's Doomsday Brethren story. For those not familiar with the books, the Brethren are a group of good wizards who have banded together to fight off the evil sorcerer Matthias --and to keep a powerful book, called the Doomsday Diary, away from him.

Simon is a member of the Brethren. As our story begins, he is preparing to attend his human half-brother's wedding. He is attracted to the bride, Felicia. But he doesn't realize that she feels only deep friendship for Mason, her groom. Quickly, it's revealed that Felicia is "an Untouchable," a special human born once every 1000 years who nullifies magic. She doesn't know what she is or anything about magickind. The only thing she knows that makes her different is her ability to smell a lie.

Anyway, Matthias has his sights set on Felicia. He wants to use her to open the tomb of Morgan Le Fay and resurrect her. So, Simon whisks her away from the wedding to protect her. They fight their attraction to each other, mostly because they both care about Mason's feelings. But soon, even that is not enough to keep them apart. What does serve as a barrier between them are Felicia's serious emotional problems. She is so afraid of letting someone in that she has cut herself off from love. It's frustrating to watch Simon put himself out there for her, over and over, while she continues to hold on to her insecurities.

We're told Felicia's problems stem from her sister's suicide. That just didn't hold up for me. It would have been easier for me to accept loyalty to Mason as a stumbling block... but maybe that's just me. I liked the book, though not quite as much as "Possess Me at Midnight (The Doomsday Brethren, Book 3)." The teaser at the end makes it look like the next book will be Lucien's, so I am looking forward to that.

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Also in this book, we lost a member of the Brethren to a gruesome death. Not only was I upset by the loss, but I didn't feel like it got nearly enough attention. I felt like this should have been made a much bigger deal than it was.

4 stars.

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:

www.allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com

While the quick snap of love at first sight is a common occurrence in paranormal romances, falling in "trust" usually takes the span of an entire book or series. I would have guessed that a heroine with the magical ability to sense lies would have a fast track through the trust building process, but ENTICE ME AT TWILIGHT proved me wrong.

On the day of her wedding, Felica's truth-sense helps her quickly accept that her life is in danger and that her future brother-in-law is not quite human, but no magic will make her believe that love can last forever. Throughout ENTICE ME AT TWILIGHT there are hints that events in Felicia's past make her frightened of falling in love and opening up to another person. These hints were never sufficient for me to feel invested in her motivations, and I often lost patience with her behavior.

Luckily, this frustrating heroine had a stellar supporting cast, and a pretty great hero. I loved that when Felicia's magical power is revealed to the Doomsday Brethren, the cohort of wizards fighting on the side of good, Simon's only response is to be more careful in choosing his words (making him the only man on earth who would think having a soul-mate who can detect lies isn't a big deal). It was also interesting seeing how Simon, who holds the human title "Duke of Hurstgrove" and often goes by "Duke", balances a life or death war with life in the public eye. I can't imagine celebrities like Paris Hilton or Colin Farrell having a secret, wizardly identity underneath the constant public scrutiny, and Simon certainly struggles with just that task.

While ENTICE ME AT TWILIGHT was an easy book to pick up and jump into, I found I was most interested in subplots rather than Felicia and Simon themselves. It is apparent from back-story provided in ENTICE ME AT TWILIGHT that there are some great relationships and uncommon plot gambits in this series' prior books. I plan on picking up books one through three and a half for my TBR pile, and will be in a hurry to buy any future book that will tell me more about the chief wizard's disappearing soul-mate or Shock, a complex mind-reader who can't seem to decide which side of the war he is on.

While I enjoyed the tantalizing (and damaged) future heroes in the background, I was never particularly engaged by Felicia and Simon themselves. Both of the main characters made decisions I found frustrating, and that decreased my enjoyment of their particular plot line. To someone familiar with the series (and perhaps invested in Simon from previous books), this book could be much more satisfying. As for me, while my appetite has been whetted for more of the Doomsday Brethren, the main event in ENTICE ME AT TWILIGHT just didn't click.

Sexual Content: References to sex, sex scenes, and a mutual masturbation scene.

What with the repeated series duds I have been reading lately (Showalters latest Alien Huntress and JK Becks entire filippin series) I was seriously pretty terrified to pick this book and read it.

However I was pleasantly surprised. This book took me one entire Sunday to read, which was nice.

It took me a little while to gear up to the series again since it had been sooo long since I read the first three and I was worried because I didn't quite remember the hero Simon but worry not!

The author does a pretty good job of recreating the previous books in the series so that you are like, "Oh yeah... them" and you are able to easily continue reading.

This is a pretty tortured romance with alot of action, more action than romance in some parts which is fine for the story.

Simon and Felecia are really like able and their romance is pretty intense and the supporting characters in the book are just at the right level of involvement and number (ie not fifty people involved in the sidelines, who you struggle to keep up with).

That doesn't mean this book was perfect and was by far not my favorite for the series. The ending turned into this Indiana Jones and the last Crusade thing that lasted WAY too long.

And while I liked Felecia I think the author tried too hard to create depth and therefore we had this kinda back story for her that was sad but obviously for a major plot pusher. It just wasn't very subtle and a bit overdone.

Good news is the next book looks to be really good!

I;m just waiting on poor tortured Shocks love story...

Okay so I give a four, good read.

Blood Trinity (Kenyon/Love) Here I come! Wish me luck ;)

Gilly

Her British character is not British. I've never heard a British person say, 'where is your auto.' You mean car? I found her odd word choices for the English heroine to be distracting.

But my biggest beef is this-- we spend about a hundred pages waiting for this bonding scene and instead of getting it, she ends the chapter before it starts and begins the new chapter after the event!!!

Then we get a small crummy description of what occurred in a flashback. Nalini Singh did the same thing in Kiss of Snow. Do they have the same editor or something? who thinks this is a good idea? I expected that scene, the author made a promise that that scene was going to occur and then she didn't deliver. I really had a problem with that.

Reviewed at Another Look Book Reviews - my review is written as if you have read the series from the beginning so I don't have to explain the complicated history.

All I can say is thank gawd Shayla Black put in a bit of a teaser of Embrace Me at Dawn (book 5) at the end of Entice Me at Twilight. Otherwise I just might have filled her Twitter feed begging for answers. Whew, she took pity on her readers and shared a bit of what's to come. Instead of dying of angst, I am giddy with anticipation so that's a way better to go.

Since Entice Me at Twilight is a part of an ongoing exciting Doomsday Brethren series, the book does end with some unanswered questions. If someone were to ask me if Entice Me at Twilight could be read as a stand-alone I'd have to scratch my head and think about it. I would say no. There's just too much of a back story to really grasp it all. You'd need to understand the beginning. Beside the first book, Tempt Me with Darkness still remains my favourite of the series so you'd be starting out at a great beginning.

I want to start off this review talking about Simon Northam, Duke of Hurstgrove. I have loved him since the first book. He's classy, easy going and honest not to mention that I melt a wee bit when he talks. Ok let's discuss this "honesty". Well thank God he is honest because he's the only man in the world that is now mated with a woman who can tell with 100% certainty if a person is lying or not. Felicia is a rare human called an Untouchable and one of her gifts is knowing when someone is speaking the truth. I found it interesting that none of the other Doomsday Brethren teased him about that fact. I don't think many men would be too excited that their mate for the next 1000 years will know every single time if he is telling the truth or not. Yikes! I wouldn't like that if my hubby had that ability.

Felicia's other ability is rendering a witch or wizard magically useless while in their presence. That would be a bit scary for the Doomsday Brethren as well so it will be really interesting reading in the next book the complications that ability causes.

I wasn't a big fan of Felicia. She frustrated me and she certainly came off being weak. I am personally drawn to flawed yet kick ass girls. The other part that I struggled with was the Doomsday Brethren, male and female mates, not giving her full details regarding the mating. So on one hand, I was frustrated that she was hesitant about Simon and his intentions and then on the other I was frustrated why nobody would explain the magical culture to her more. Bram finally did later when they were in peril but I was angrier that he hadn't shared it with her earlier. So I was mad at someone many different times in the book.

I loved the little snippet Felicia offered us into the Bram's mate, the mysterious Emma. I am very curious about that. *ponders*

Entice Me at Twilight was an excellent addition to this great Doomsday Series. I loved Simon and Felicia's private moments and it was great to see Simon fall totally in love. Mathias, the villain is still the baddest bastard around and his cruelty remains as vicious as ever.

Shock was different in this book. I think he talked more in this book than in any of the other books. He seemed like a different character however he remains just as confusing as ever. I really don't know what side he's on. Shayla Black has done a phenomenal job keeping the readers at bay regarding Shock. I had a feeling in this book that he is on the Doomsday Brethren side more and it's tearing him up being a double agent. Drowning himself and his emotions in alcohol was definitely a character adjustment for him. The Shock, Lucan and Anka love triangle is going to be so interesting to read. *rubs hands together* I honestly have no theories how it will all end up. If you are a fan of the books, I'd love to hear your thoughts?

2012 is a long time to wait for the next book. Maybe I still will fill Shayla Black's twitter feed begging to read an ARC. Hee hee

Simon lives a dual life as a wizard and the playboy bachelor Duke of Hurstgrove. He is begrudgingly the best man at his younger brother's wedding to Felicia. Duke had discovered that his soon to be sister-in-law was in danger by the evil wizard Mathias because she is an Untouchable, a rare human that disables the use of magic with her presence. Since Mathias needed an Untouchable for his nefarious purpose to enter the legendary tomb of Morgan le Fay, Felicia's kidnapping became front and center in his plans to control the magic community.

Can Duke keep Felicia safe without betraying his brother and claiming Felicia as his own? Or will he let Felicia walk away even though he wants her more than anything in the world?

Entice Me At Twilight does everything readers have come to expect from one of Shayla Black's novels. She tells an emotionally romantic story that remains focused on the overall scope of the series.

I adored Duke and his dual lives. Throughout the story, the readers discover how his short and average life as a wizard contrasts greatly with his glamorous life as the bachelor Duke of Hurstgrove. Even better, he uses his status in both parts of his life to keep Felicia, the woman he believes is his mate, safe.

On the other hand, Felicia is hard to like. She's pretty and simply wants an average life with a husband and kids. But, she has some personal issues that prevent her from trusting and allowing herself to love. Her relationship with Duke is strained and, at times, odd. By the end of the story, I wanted to shake some sense into Felicia! Although frustrating, my emotional reaction only solidifies the quality of the storytelling.

The plot fits perfectly with the other books in the series, tying directly into previous books. Therefore, it is necessary to read previous installments to truly appreciate this story. Also, the story arch for the series is maintained and moved forward. By the end of the story, I felt the overall story did not progress much even though Duke and Felicia's relationship grew immensely. Luckily, the excerpt for the next book in the series solidifies the continuing plot, indicating that Entice Me At Twilight really did push the story arch forward more than one would expect.

Entice Me At Twilight is superb. Actually, the book is so good I read it in one day. Although lacking the emotional response I had for its immediate predecessor, this book is better than most paranormal romances I have read recently. If you haven't read the Doomsday Brethren series yet, you should. ASAP!

BookingIt Grade: A

Simon Northam, Duke of Hurstgrove, doesn't want to attend his estranged brother Mason's wedding because he wants the bride for himself. When evil wizard Mathias d'Arc threatens Felicia's life, Duke must kidnap the bride to save her life. Felicia is thrown into a world of magic and sorcery and she'll have to choose between the friend she was going to marry and the only man she's ever truly desired.

The only thing worse than falling for someone else's girl is falling for your brother's girl. Duke faces more than that seemingly impossible dilemma in Entice Me At Twilight. He must betray his brother, save Felicia from a magical madman, and try to convince her of his devotion to her while under the influence of a mating frenzy. Felicia's special talent makes things go smoother between her and Duke. Without it, Duke's chances of breaking the barrier around Felicia's heart would be bleak. While the plan Duke creates to hide Felicia in plain site is a bit outrageous and doesn't work out as well as he hoped it would, it serves to bring them closer together. Duke and Felicia are not the only ones who feel angst and heartache. They find their happily-ever-after, but some of the Brethren are still searching for theirs. The Doomsday Brethren is an exciting, sensual, and romantic series, and it's in need of a final showdown. There are a few characters I want to read about first, though.

Nannette

Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

It wasn't as if, Simon Northam, Duke of Hurstgrove a.k.a."Duke", intended on ruining his brother's wedding. His relationship with his brother was already on rocky ground, but he really did have good intentions. He was trying to save Felicia's life, not to mention the world. I really liked Duke's character and in truth, I felt sorry for him. He hid who he truely was, for the sake of his family and the Brethern. Even though at times, it didn't shine a positive light on him in public and never complained about it.

When Mason confessed his adoration for Felicia, she knew then, that it wouldn't have worked out between them. She wasn't marrying him because she loved him. No, she intended on marrying him because he was safe. But, now that she heard Mason's confession, she didn't think she could go through with it. How dense can someone be? Of course he loved her, he asked her to marry him! So, when Duke attempted to take her from her wedding, I did't understand her problem. I mean seriously...her life was in danger, she knew Duke was telling the truth, and she was being given the perfect opportunity to bale out of the wedding.

While the chemistry was there in the beginning, I couldn't help but wish Duke would find another mate and leave Felicia to Mason. I don't know how many times, I wanted to slap her, shake her, something...I mean come on... She wasn't confused, she knew her own feelings, she just didn't want to admit them. No, she was in constantly denial, whiny and too self absorbed. She knew Duke was sacrificing everything to keep her safe. But, she hid behind her loyalty to Mason...the man she didn't love. Then, when she decided that it was okay to bed with Duke, but she wouldn't allow herself to fall in love with him...Why you ask? Because her sister had a bad realtionship...OMG!!! BooHoo!!! I never wanted to scream more than I did at that moment. I was like..."That was it? That was the big secret? The big tramatic event? OMG!!! Get over it already... you stupid girl". I absolutely loved when Ice shamed her and Bram gave her a big verbal smackdown. Hell Yeah, you go Bram!

Overall, this was a great read. As you can sense from above...the author pulled me in, got me emotionally enthralled and passionate with her writing skills. I really loved the underlining plot of the series and how the author created a crediable alternate tale to the Merlin and Morganna le Fay mythology. The characters were very engaging, and Duke should have been titled a saint for all the crap he went through. He was probably my favorite. I also enjoyed the way the author entertwined the other Brethern and thier relationships, as a way to update and tease of things to come. If you have never read this series, you are missing out. This book can be read as a standalone, but, I recommend reading the whole series, you won't be disappointed.