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Lord Of War: Black Angel (2013)

by Kathryn Le Veque(Favorite Author)
4.07 of 5 Votes: 5
languge
English
genre
publisher
Dragonblade Publishing
series
De Russe Legacy
review 1: I didn't care for this book as much as I liked the 3 other books by Kathryn Le Veque that I've read thus far. The story line was okay enough, but I just never really connected to the characters, and I felt there were rather unnecessary deaths that did nothing to contribute to the plot. Some of the situations felt contrived, and I did not care for the ending at all. Also, there were instances of import that were left out of the story completely. Finally, I did not particularly care for the dreams the heroine kept having throughout the book. I have no issue with her having premonitions, but I felt like these gave away so much of the ending. To me, it was much like the stories that begin with a prologue or scene at the climax of the book, and then chapter one picks up s... moreometime prior to that scene. It just gives you a major spoiler for what is to come later, so that you never get to have any great surprise.I noticed this author is still stuck on over using the word "massive" as an adjective (though at least with this book it was not always the hero the word was used to describe). She also over did it with "enormous", but at least I did see a "gargantuan" and a few other synonyms. When she was describing the castles and baileys, I felt like "expansive", "sprawling", "extensive", etc. would have been a nice change over "massive" merely because the word seems to be a favorite of this author's (I did a word count check for massive. It came up 41 times in this book, and that does not include "massively" or other closely related words. I did not remember to do one for "enormous" but I rather suspect it would have had similar results). As with a previous review, I mentioned this author's tendency to overdo it with the word "well" when a character is hesitant in his or her speech. We see that still happening here. I was laughing trying to imagine this "massive" warrior expressing himself the way it was written with a "well" thrown in there on one of his hesitant dialogues. It just didn't jive for me. There were also editing issues again. Like with a previous review I gave on one of her books, you can tell someone used spell-check because the words that are incorrect are words that are wrong in the context, but still words that would be recognized with a spell-check program. I am not sure why this author does not utilize a proof-reader or editor to catch these little flukes, but the keep coming up. For the most part, her stories are fun and original, but they all seem to have the same issues which are normally so easily corrected in the editing phase.I was able to read the book entirely, and I wasn't bored, but I wasn't engrossed into it either. I likely could have walked away even 75% of the way through the story, and not thought twice about it after a day or two. It just wasn't one of those books that will stick with a reader long after finishing. I usually want more, more, more when I come to the end of a book. With this one, I was just glad it was finished.Ah, well. This is the fourth book of her's I've read, and the other three were very enjoyable. Every author is allowed a dud every now and again, I suppose.
review 2: This is a exciting story of knights, battles, and strife.You have to love a knight...that when the woman he is falling in love with him tells him his heart is hurt...he reacts by asking her if she will heal it for him. That kind of sincerity and vulnerability in a battle hardened knight touched my heart. I don't even think Brandt the hero in this story knew he was starved for love until the heroine Ellowyn gifted him with hers. Brandt according to his reputation is the 'Black Angel of Death'. He kills unmercifully, with cold indifference and is brilliantly cunning. Most of this is true, but he is also a man of great emotion and when given the chance to love...he loves very deeply. He is also somewhat socially awkward with a dry witty sense of humor. These are the things that I think make him very enduring to a reader. Ellowyn starts off as kind of a shrew. This quickly changes once you get to her know her better. She is sometimes abrasive and stubborn. But she is also kind, considerate, witty and EXTREMELY loyal. I think she may be one of the best heroines KLV has brought to life. I like 'em feisty! ; )I really enjoyed getting to know all the minor characters and getting to revisit some old stories of KLV's. Such as 'The Falls of Erith' and 'Dark One, Dark Knight'. If you havent read these two stories you must! They are some best by this author. Dark Knight is actually about Brandts great-great-great grandson and Falls of Erith is about Ellowyns grandfather.I did feel like the ending was a little abrupt but the great epilogue more than makes up for it. There also a few editing problems but for me it didn't deter form the story at all. I was waaaay to engrossed in the characters to care about that.I also really enjoyed the dream sequence in the beginning of some chapters...it added a great extra dimension to the story.If you enjoy a story that is heavy with battle and action this is the story for you! It's medieval romance at its best and is a page turner from start to finish. less
Reviews (see all)
chloro8
I loved the story but felt like it just ended in the middle.
ivykwokonki
Great book.
Cassandra
DNF
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