Customer Reviews

Raintree: Sanctuary (Silhouette Nocturne)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I felt that Mercy was the weakest of the Raintree royals. Her powers seem to leave her in a weakened state. Her weakness was constantly illustrated in her dealings with her daughter and ex-lover. I wanted Mercy to be as strong as her brothers. While she did illustrate her bravery in the battle scenes, it wasn't enough. The book lost a lot of appeal for me because Mercy was more a damsel in distress instead of a strong Princess. The book does give more insight into the Ansara saga. While Beverly Barton did manage to tie in the first two books, I felt this book was more about the Ansaras than Mercy Raintree. Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it.

This is the third book in the Raintree trilogy. I read book one (Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard) and rated it a 2 star book. Book two (Raintree: Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones) rated 4.5 stars from me. This one falls somewhere in between.

Mercy Raintree is the guardian for the 999 acres called Sanctuary deep in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina by the wizard clan known as Raintree. They engaged in The Battle two hundred years ago with the evil wizard clan Ansara and emerged the victors. Since then the Raintree clan has been strong and continue to expand their powers. Raintree members see it as their mission to remain close to the humans and help them with paranormal powers whenever possible, yet still hide their magic from discovery. They think the Ansara were beaten so badly that they dispersed and their few remaining members became almost completely absorbed by the human world. This last book in the trilogy shows just how wrong the Raintree really are. Books one, two and three all take place during the same one week period and form the platform for the epic battle which will take place to decide the ruling wizard clan of the world.

This is the first book I have read by Ms Barton. She actually had the hardest job of the three authors because she had to tie up all the ends left dangling in the two previous books. I think book two could be a stand-alone but obviously you get the complete picture by reading all three. I wonder why the publishers didn't bring these out as a package deal. Or even as a related anthology. My main problem with Ms Barton's writing is that she seemed to forget that she had written something one time so she wrote it again. I am Ansara, you are Raintree. I am Raintree, you are Ansara. Eve is my daughter, I will never let her go. I will never let you take Eve from me, she is my daughter. Echo will learn to master her gift over time. Echo will master her gift as she matures. Over and over again I read the same phrases, sentences and thoughts. I wanted to say, Yes, O.K., I get it! You can stop now! It felt as if she had written a lot of the book in short bursts and then didn't re-read what she had done previously before beginning the story again.

Overall, I would recommend this but probably only if you read at least book two also. I didn't particularly like the hero here (Judah Ansara) but if you like the really, really masteful type, he's your man. The reason he met Mercy originally was extremely cold and calculating and I personally did not see (or believe) that he had changed all that much by the end of the book.

After reading this book, I came to the conclusion that I wasted my time and money.

Basically, head of family from the bad side seduces sweet innocent virgin from the good side. Innocent virgin figures out who guy is but is pregnant. She flees, has baby with unbelievable magic powers. Bad guy saves girl from super evil 1/2 brother and realizes he has feelings. She of course is in love with him still after 6 years but is afraid he is there for their daughter. He still wants her so forces himself on her. After a night of unmatched passion (isn't it always), she realizes she loves him still, etc. Their daughter saves the families with a scene that reminded me of how I have been taught the 2nd coming of Christ will be. Of course, bad guy become good. Good girl and now changed bad guy take their daughter and become good family and fly off into the sunset.

I think it took Beverly Barton all of 1/2 an hour to come up with the plot and a 1/2 a day to write it.

Save your money and write your own ending to this trilogy.

I liked the first one...in this series. This book I could not keep my attention and the hero and heroine were not people I liked. The hero just appeared mean and why the heck the heroine was attracted to him is beyond me. I am not going to go into the plot, because the readers sbove me did so well with it...their rendition of the story is all you will ever need. Save your money.

I wanted to like this book, but the 2 main characters really got on my nerves! He was a not very nice bully and she was a wimp. How he got to be the head of the clan is obvious.. he was meaner than everyone else in the book except the villian. But how she got to be the keeper of the home place is totally beyond me! She has 2 brothers who are pretty powerful themselves yet she lets this guy come into her home, her clans sacred place, and start bossing her around, all because she doesn't want to tell her brothers that that he is her baby's daddy. Give me a break! This is the kind of "I love him---I hate him" writing that gives romance a bad name. Come on lady make up your mind, take a stand and defend that stand to your last breath. If you want him go get him, don't whine and cry and agonize, we all have wanted the bad boy at one time or another. Go get him or move on and don't take half of the book to make a decision.

Oh boy. I shoulda skipped this one but I'm a Beverly Barton fan so I went ahead and bought it. One-dimensional characters and the male lead was a step up from a caveman. I'm done with the Silhouette Nocture Line.

The Raintree clan is arch enemies with the Ansara clan and war between the two is inevitable. Mercy Raintree is the guardian of Sanctuary, the Raintree royal family home place. Mercy fears the coming war may mean the secret she has held for the past six years will be revealed.

As the Dranir of the Ansara clan, Judah Ansara is gearing up for the coming battle with the Raintree. Judah plans to eliminate all of the Raintree and has declared Mercy Raintree as his to kill. When Judah encounters Mercy and her daughter Eve, he realizes he may be forced to change his battle strategy.

I have adored this series! Every book is equal in its deliciousness. All three authors managed to maintain the continuity of the mythology and deliver engaging stories. Beverly Barton concludes this fantabulous series with Raintree: Sanctuary and it is heart-breaking, heart-pounding and heart-melting. With a strong and empathetic heroine, an alpha and mouth-watering hero and a climatic battle between good and evil, Beverly Barton's Raintree: Sanctuary is marvelous!

Annmarie
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

As with all fairy tales, it was to be expected that the Raintree trilogy would end with everyone living happily ever after (no spoiler there). However, Beverley Barton first takes you on an action-packed journey before everyone walks into the sunset.

Mortal enemies since time immemorial, Judah Ansara knew he should have stayed away from the Raintree clan's princess. But blinded by her beauty, he spent a night with her against his better judgment never realizing the complication that that one glorious night would bring.

Mercy Raintree is the most powerful empath of her clan. As guardian of the Sanctuary, it is she who protects the Raintree's sacred home. But Mercy also has her own secret to protect - that of her daughter Eve's real father. To reveal the truth means revealing the unforgivable treachery that she has committed against her people, the most ultimate of all betrayal.

Now as the summer solstice looms, the time has come for the final battle between the two clans. Judah has ordered his people to annihilate the entire Raintree clan with Mercy as his own kill. But as he sets out on a warpath to avenge their loss, Eve Raintree is one complication he has not anticipated, especially not the powers that the six-year-old girl possesses. Judah knows that Eve is the key to winning the war, but can he ignore the unexpected feelings that he feels for both mother and daughter? And can he prevent his evil half-brother from finding out about Eve?

I wasn't certain how Beverley Barton would conclude the saga and therefore I was delighted with how the story turned out. Barton effectively built up the final battle, setting the pace fluidly from start to finish. The tension rises as you get to the middle of the book and I was surprised and excited at the battle scenes. Magic galore! It was great to see the three Raintree siblings reunited and engaged in full blown battle. The other secondary characters also provided much entertainment. However, the highlight is definitely the precocious Eve. There was never a dull moment in each scene she was featured in. I didn't really much care for the romance between Judah and Mercy, not because it wasn't interesting, but more because I really wanted to get to the finale when the two clans clash. This was a fast-paced read and a good conclusion to the trilogy.

Although this book does tie up the series (and we get to see Dante/Lorna and Gideon/Hope again) it was not a very romantic romance. It had such potential, after all there is nothing more appealing than redeeming a bad guy and turning him into a hero. Well Judah, the leader of the "evil" Ansara(Dranir,actually - terrible title by the way, sounds like a plumber)is no hero, he just less bad than the other bad guys and Mercy, who is supposed to be a powerful sorceress and warrior, is one of the good guys but is no heroine.

Judah's relationship with Mercy is based on humilation and lust and the author does not provide anything in their thoughts and interactions to make us beleive that Judah and Mercy's relationship could ever develop into love. When Judah and Mercy come back together for their big "romantic" reunion, Judah fully intends to force a half-dead Mercy to have sex with him, ignoring her no's, chasing her down and magicly tearing her clothing. Of course as soon as she's skin to skin with Judah, Mercy submits to him, because she realizes how much she "loves" him. Get this girl a therapist!

If you've made it through the first two books of this series (which were much better), you will probably want to read this one to finish off the series, otherwise skip it. There are plenty of other great paranormal romances out there, even other Nocturnes.

I did not enjoy this book as much as I had anticipated. I felt that Mercy was the weakest of the Raintree royals. Her powers seem to leave her in a weakened state. Her weakness was constantly illustrated in her dealings with her daughter and ex-lover. I wanted Mercy to be as strong as her brothers. While she did illustrate her bravery in the battle scenes, it wasn't enough. The book lost a lot of appeal for me because Mercy was more a damsel in distress instead of a strong Princess. The book does give more insight into the Ansara saga. While Beverly Barton did manage to tie in the first two books, I felt this book was more about the Ansaras than Mercy Raintree.