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Embrace Of The Damned (2012)

by Anya Bast(Favorite Author)

3.86 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0425247961 (ISBN13: 9780425247969)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Berkley Sensation

series

Brotherhood of the Damned

review 1: This is a nice paranormal romance.Jessamine is a bit tiring at times I have to confess. At the start of the story I really liked her: she doesn't immediately swoon over the hero and is suspicious of his motives. Later on she really got on my nerves though. She just kept Broder on a leash, letting him pleasure her, but then pushing him away when he wanted more. I wanted to tell her to just make up her mind and stop playing with Broder. If I had been Broder I would have lost my patience pretty soon.The story overall was really nice. I really liked the world building and the idea of the brotherhood. I also loved Loki, he's a very intriguing deity and I think Bast did him justice for the most part (He's cast a bit too much like a villain at times imo). There was a pretty clear... more case of Deus Ex Machina near the end of the story though and even though this is a story that has actual gods in it, I felt myself robbed of a normal solution. So in the end this was a nice read, but I don't think I'll be reading more books in this series. I might pick up another book by Bast in the future though, if the premise sounds interesting.
review 2: Viking berserker Broder Calderson's punishment for slaying innocents and feeling no remorse amid the carnage, was to serve Loki as a member of the Brotherhood of the Damned and unlike his brethren, Broder must also remain celibate for a thousand years. The only bright light to his penance is that if Broder repents and is steadfast in his duty to protect the earth from the minions of the goddess Hel, after those thousand years he will earn the woman who is perfect for him. Now that wait is finally over and Jessamine is more than he'd ever hoped for, but with his first taste of Jessa's lips, Broder questions whether the woman he was promised is truly a reward, or just a part of his punishment.I liked Embrace of the Damned, despite my frustration with the heroine. It probably helped that I am extremely hero-centric, plus the world that Bast created has a lot of promise. I am a fan of mythological tie-ins, so I appreciated the premise of damned Viking warriors in service to the god Loki fighting against the minions of the goddess Hel to try to stave off Ragnarok (the Norse Armageddon.) Also adding to the world are Valkyries, witches, shape shifting sorcerers and Hel's minions, the Blight, who are demons with fangs but who shatter into ice when killed. My nits: Embrace of the Damned was a bit heavy on the thwarted and actual sex, and the big conflict of Jessa's root and Broder's history are quickly and neatly resolved. But one thing that Bast does in her series starter that I thought was really smart, is that she concentrates on the leading pair and the world-building and doesn't inundate the readers with tons of supporting characters. I really appreciated not having to keep track of a whole slew of potential leading men – or ladies – though, I can definitely see Valkyrie Halla, and Dmitri, the minion rebelling against his brethren taking a turn in the spotlight. And I am not sure if this is going to be a theme for the whole series but it was since Loki is the Trickster god Broder's match was probably intended as a cruel joke – call me perverse - but I am hoping this is a reoccurring theme in the rest of the Brotherhood of the Damned books because I think the mismatched soul-mates is a trope that has a great deal of potential. So, I ended up liking Embrace of the Damned even though the heroine was not my favorite, I loved the potential of the world and of the characters who hopefully have their own happily ever afters in store for them. less

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