Series: Sisters of the Heart #3
Published by berkley, Jove on May 27, 2014
Genres: PNR, Rom-Suspense
Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
Source: Advance Reader Copy
Goodreads
The sisters of Sea Haven, bound by the heart and the magical power of the elements, return in this soul-stirring new novel from Christine Feehan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Spirit Bound...
For as far back as she can remember, Airiana Ridell has always been aware of her extraordinary gift. She can intuit revealing and illuminating 'patterns' in the air around her-whether in a spray of mist, in billowing clouds, or in the dense swirls of an impenetrable fog. Her abilities led to her placement in a secret government training facility when she was a child, but everything changed after her mother was murdered.
Airiana fled the program, but she couldn't outrun the desperate members of a shadowy cabal who want her, who need her, who will kill to get her. Kidnapped and held aboard a ship bound for dangerous seas, her only chance for rescue is Maxim Prakenskii. He has his reasons for helping her, but he isn't about to reveal them to Airiana. Not yet. Not as the two are drawn together as moth to flame. Not when there are so many secrets yet untold that could shatter the quaint community of Sea Haven and all who reside there...
It’s been over a year and I’m still at about 60% through Christine Feehan’s first Carpathian novel. That should have been a sign. Sigh. This author doesn’t work for me. I’m so dang frustrated because I want her to work.
Prepare for a rantypants rant:
First things first, do not read this as a stand-alone. I’d even suggest reading the Drake Sisters series as well because it’s a cross-over. The biggest annoyance of this book was the repetition. You know when you pick up a book in a series and the author really quickly and concisely goes over the previous books? That didn’t happen here. Oh, she went over what happened, but it was convoluted and confusing. If you’ve read all of her other Drake Sisters and the first 2 Sea haven books you will probably get it. Otherwise, prepare for constant reminders about what happened and all of it’s confusing. It’s like I needed a family tree to keep everyone straight!
Okay, so moving on, basically Airiana is a genius. Not only is she brilliant, she is an air element. She can manipulate the air, she can see patterns in the air, and she can predict things based on the patterns. The air speaks to her. As a child she is recruited to a government school for child prodigies. Her mother is also brilliant, but when Airiana is about 14, her mom starts drinking heavily to quiet her mind. A couple years later, her mother is tortured and killed. Airiana blames herself and refuses to work for the government anymore. They don’t release her until she’s 20, though. The problem is that everyone wants Airiana’s mind.
A Greek billionaire tycoon.
Her father.
Our government.
The Russian government.
But now she lives on a farm with her “sisters” (friends she calls sisters of the heart).
This is where the action starts. Airiana is kidnapped, and the man who kidnaps her has better control of the air than she does.
Not only that, but he’s a brother of 3 of her sisters’ husbands. This series should be called the Prakenskii Brothers rather than Sisters of the Heart.
He’s an assassin. He’s Russian. He kidnaps the heroine to take to her Russian father whom she’s never met. Danger follows everywhere. this seriously sounds like Kresley Cole’s The Gamemaker series.
Luckily there are differences, but still…
Airiana as a heroine fell flat for me. She’s tiny, like as tall as my 9yr old. I actually have a friend I kept imagining as Airiana, so it was easy to visualize, but Maksim is like 6’5″ and huge. At one point, the author describes her chest is at his groin. That’s…teeny tiny. He carries her everywhere. She reminds me of a teenager in the way she acts and she’s absolutely perfect.Not in a good way. She’s able to protect herself against master assassins, she’s always saying and doing the right thing, she’s beautiful, she’s a brilliant genius, she’s able to hold it together in their many many many bad situations. I’m in shape, and I’d have trouble doing all they did. Maksim has seen so much and done so much, I can see where he’s fascinated by her, but she is so childlike to me, that it’s hard to enjoy.
Finally, the part I could not wrap my head around:
If these 2 can manipulate air to the point that Maksim, who has the dimensions of a Brother from Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood (ie he’s HUGE!) can hang upside down with the air holding him, or spider crawl on a ceiling, or practically cloak himself from view and become invisible, if they both can call in wind, fog, storms, etc, why can’t they breathe underwater? My first thought was to create a bubble of air for Airana. Why can’t they move bullet trajectories? Maksim was shot a few times, why couldn’t he nudge the bullet a different direction? it’s like the air power was only used when it was convenient.
But, it wasn’t all bad. Moving on…
The good:
If you’re a Feehan fan, this will not disappoint. It’s action-packed and full of adventure. The paranormal aspects add a different dimension to the book since it’s not paranormal in the sense of vampires, werewolves, witches, etc. The side characters are all well-developed and interesting, the love story was actually pretty good. I’m all for insta-love, so that worked well for me. I loved Maksim’s personality and how Airiana was able to make him laugh.
Air Bound is intriguing, and the action doesn’t stop. Literally from the first chapter to the last, the suspenseful plot kept my heart pounding.Â
***ARC courtesy of Berkley/Jove
I totally understand. I’ve read a few of the Carpathian series, but they are pretty same same to me and so descriptive. I like the Drake and Leopard series best, but they are still quite thick and have a convoluted writing style. Its definitely something you have t o be in the mood for.
yeah and as much as I like cross-over series, I shouldn’t have to have read the first series to enjoy the next.