5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What do you do when you see your own face staring at you from an obituary?, December 1, 2006
This review is from: Veiled Legacy (Silhouette Bombshell) (Mass Market Paperback)
Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques
WARNING: If you have not read at least through Shadow Lines in The Madonna Key series, you may want to stop here. This novel reveals major spoilers for events in the earlier books.
What do you do when you see your own face staring at you from an obituary?
Nadia Bishop, former MI-6 agent living under the radar in Great Britain, finds herself in this predicament as Veiled Legacy opens. She was adopted as a young child and a nagging memory leaves her searching for answers now. When she sees Scarlet Rubashka's photo, she is convinced there is a connection between them. Now she is on a mission to uncover the truth.
Nadia never expected that this journey for secrets would lead her to the Marians, protectors of an ancient legacy of the Black Madonna that could set the world upside down. She also never thought she'd run into the one man she dearly loves, Joshua Adriano, whose evil family wishes to crush the Marians and the powers they protect. Now Nadia ventures across Europe, to Ireland, Paris, St. Tropez where Scarlet was brutally murdered, and even to the ancient ruins of Pompeii, hoping to recover a great secret, the Madonna Key. Hot on her heels follows Joshua, but is he her most dangerous enemy? Or her greatest ally?
Veiled Legacy was my first book by Jenna Mills, but it will not be my last. She has a great talent for wonderful adventures full of taut suspense. I was absolutely blown away with this chapter in the saga of the Black Madonna. I know I keep saying each book in the Madonna Key is better than the last, but that is once again the case here. Maybe it's the fact each story delves deeper into the story of the Marians that holds me fascinated. Or is it the sheer talent of the authors working together on the Madonna Key legacy. Or maybe it's the breathless adventure that grows more dangerous and desperate in each story. Whatever it is, I grow more and more rapt as we venture even farther into the ancient past to learn more about the Marians.
Adventure, excitement, and danger are at a maximum velocity throughout Veiled Legacy, carrying readers at a breathtaking pace from the moment Nadia realizes the significance of Scarlet's picture in the paper. Secrets are revealed and others hinted at that are bound to keep you reading late in to the night to find out what happens next. Surprises unfold and I have to admit to at least one that I was not expecting at all, though the clues were there all along had I picked up on them. And yes, we find out exactly what the Madonna Key really is in this installment in the series, but you'll just have to read for yourselves to find that answer.
The attraction between Joshua and Nadia plays a large role in the story as well. They have a history and that adds to the sizzling magnetism between them. I have a tendency to steer clear of stories where one of the protagonists is married or in a relationship with someone else. So I admit to being a little bit concerned about how Nadia and Joshua's love affair would play out. Jenna Mills did a remarkable job telling their story and I found I ended up not having any problems with the romance between them. How the issue gets resolved is very satisfying and will not leave readers feeling uncomfortable.
One of the best things about this story was that we finally find get the answers to who Scarlet is and where she came from. It's very sad what fate had in store for her, but that was the catalyst for everything that happens in Veiled Legacy. I found myself crying when we get the answers Scarlet so desperately wanted.
As the overarching story of the Marians continues to unfold and more answers are forthcoming, I am pulled deeper and deeper into the adventure, reading faster and faster. Veiled Legacy sets up the pending finale to the series perfectly and I don't know how I am going to wait to see how it all ends!
© Kelley A. Hartsell, November 2006. All rights reserved.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
superb Madonna Key thriller, December 16, 2006
This review is from: Veiled Legacy (Silhouette Bombshell) (Mass Market Paperback)
Her young daughter Lexie shows her mom former -MI-6 agent Nadia Bishop the obit picture in the paper that looks exactly like her; thirty-two years old Scarlet Rubashka killed because she looked too much like her. The homicide hurts even more because Nadia knows it relates to her as the location is Saint-Tropez, a place she fled from just a few years ago.
Nadia knows she must return to the town where her former lover Joshua Adriano lives to uncover who killed Scarlet as she expects the culprit to come for her and her beloved daughter. However, she must continue to hide Lexie from her biological father Joshua, whom she does not trust because his family would want her for their diabolical use, as a means to obtain control of a mosaic with powers beyond the understanding of mortals. She must also decide whether to rely on the priestesses guarding the mosaic for in Saint Tropez she will meet human and inhuman demons, yet the bottom line is Lexie is all that matters.
The latest Madonna Key thriller hooks the audience as innocent Lexie shows the obit picture to her mom saying how pretty she is; this sets the comparative tone of good vs. evil with the heroine refusing to rely on anyone as she believes the man she loves wants her dead so he and his family can obtain the mosaic. Nadia is intrepid though scared, but not for herself; her biggest fear is that Joshua will know Lexie is his offspring and take her whether the former espionage agent lives or dies. Jenna Mills provides a non stop action exhilarating thriller.
Harriet Klausner
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read., December 4, 2006
This review is from: Veiled Legacy (Silhouette Bombshell) (Mass Market Paperback)
Long ago there existed a fabled race called Marians. They were forced to go underground and eventually disbanded. However, before they disbanded, they disassembled The Lady and hid the tiles away. Other than their enemies, no one remembered the powerful race.
Nadia Bishop had been adopted as a child. No one knew anything about her, except that an ancient key was left in her possession. Now Nadia has grown into a lovely woman. She is a former MI-6 agent with a two-year-old daughter, Lexie, to care for. Lexie's father, Joshua Adriano, is from a powerful and cruel family. Therefore, Nadia never lets Joshua know that he has a daughter. It would have remained that way, but when Nadia sees an obituary of a lady named Scarlet that looks exactly like her, she knows that she must seek out information. Nadia has always yearned to know of her biological family and this may be her only chance. As she investigates Scarlet's life, Nadia learns that the lady had an ancient key too. When Nadia finds out that the Adriano family is involved in Scarlet's affairs and Scarlet's death, she knows it is too late to back out.
Nadia must pick up the gauntlet thrown down and hidden by her ancestors, the Marians. If not, the Adriano family will force an apocalypse upon the world.
**** The Madonna Key series is completely author-generated, the collaborative product of several authors. This one is number six and by author Jenna Mills. Through Jenna Mills's creative talent, I traveled France and Ireland. I could feel Nadia's determination to protect her child, her yearning to learn of her own heritage, and of her confused emotions about Joshua and the Adriano family. You do not have to read the previous books to totally enjoy this wonderful adventure, but if you do the story will mean much more to you. Recommended! ****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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