Breaking the Nexus
Publication Date: December 3, 2014
Also in this series: Warrior Unleashed, Waking the Phoenix
Genres: Paranormal, Romance
Book One in the Mythrian Realm Series
Throughout
history, myths and legends of extraordinary creatures have been told and
retold. Fantastic tales of demons and banshees, gryphons and dragons, and of
course, magic. Stories that every child grows to learn are nothing more than
fantasy…or are they? Beyond the world you see lies a hidden realm, the Mythrian
Realm, inhabited by all of the creatures you’ve been told are mere fiction.
Only one thing lies between humans and the truth: the Nexus. A magical barrier
erected millennia ago to separate the two realms, it has stood the test of
time. Until now. For Mythrian Sha Phoenix, magic is nothing new. But when she
stumbles upon a portal on the verge of collapse, her fate will forever change.
Pulled through the portal into the Human Realm, she lands in the middle of
Detective Connor Flynn’s brutal murder scene. Soon it is obvious someone is
using blood magic to try to bring down the Nexus. Together, Connor and Sha must
work to unravel the secrets before the barrier falls and the realms collide.
The Nexus is breaking and all hell is about to unleash…literally.
5 Stars!
This book
sounded so interesting and had incredible potential to be a great read. It was
fabulous! I couldn’t put it down!
Lindsay
Avalon creates a whole new world and weaves it into the story so well, that I
could believe it exists. I didn’t notice any holes in the imagery and
description where she might have lost consistency. Mytheria is clearly depicted
and I was so intrigued with it! What made it even more compelling was the fact
that she threw in some normalcy, little things like hair dye. It seems
insignificant, but it ties the mythical world to the human world just enough
that you don’t feel such disconnect, that the two worlds don’t belong in the
same book.
I loved
the characters in this book. Especially Sha and Connor. Sha has a fabulous
sarcastic wit that had me chuckling out loud several times. She is forced to
fib in the beginning, but it’s so clearly a struggle for her. She is very much
a “say it as it is” kind of gal. I think heroines are harder to make likable in
a book. Sha quickly became one of my all-time favorite leading ladies. She
knows what she wants and goes after it, she’s confident in her abilities and
who she is, and she’s funny as hell. She is other worldly in many ways,
commenting on the differences between the two realms, but she is adaptable and
so believable. She’s not a damsel in distress, but she knows when to let Connor
take the lead, just as she expects him to follow her when the situation is
better suited to her knowledge. One of the best things about her though is that
she is a complete match for Connor. She gives as good as she gets.
Connor is
just so yummy. He is strong and smart, but even more important, he knows when
to roll with the punches. He doesn’t fall into denial when he sees what is
right in front of him. The instant
attraction between Connor and Sha grows really fast, but it flows with the
story line. I think when a story is full of myth and imagination, falling in
love in a few days doesn’t seem all that unreasonable. The way that Connor
comes to accept it fairly quickly, just racked up even more stud points in my
ledger. Connor’s got the sexy, tough cop thing down pat!
Sha and
Connor are an explosive duo, in and out of the bedroom. There is plenty of
steamy in the book, but also some great action! I was never bored and as soon
as I’m done with this review, I’ll be picking up the novella that follows this
book! Fair warning, it ends on a cliffhanger, but the novella and next book are
out, so you won’t have to wait and agonize!
I look
forward to more from this author!
Book 1.5 of the Mythrian Realm. Breaking the Nexus should be read
first.
Nothing is
more dangerous than a warrior unleashed. When Sentinels begin dying under
mysterious circumstances, the deaths are believed to be unrelated. Only one man
sees the truth: an unknown enemy is targeting the elite group of warriors and
no one is safe. As a panther Chimerae, Achaius Rilke recognizes the signs of an
unpredictable predator. The only person he can trust is Saia Makan, the
tempestuous Sorceri who has driven him crazy for years. But when the killer has
set his sights on Saia, Achaius faces the hunt of his life.
5 Stars!
Warrior
Unleashed is a novella that runs somewhat parallel to Breaking the Nexus as far
as time frame. However, it should be read in between Breaking the Nexus and
Waking the Phoenix. It is not a standalone.
This
novella is the story of Sha’s half-brother, Achaius and his mate, Saia. Warrior
Unleashed bridges a gap between Breaking the Nexus and Waking the Phoenix. The
reader will understand the characters and events in Waking the Phoenix, so much
better after having read it. It also builds on our knowledge of Sha’s
background and Mytheria in general.
Achaius is
an absolute alpha and sexy as hell. He seems to understand Saia better than she
does herself. They’ve danced around an attraction and pull towards each other
for years. Achaius had suspicions that they were mates, but until the beginning
of this novella, he had not pushed the issue. However, someone is hunting
sentinels and as Saia’s partner was just killed, Achaius gets a bit of a wakeup
call. He sets out to convince Saia that they are right for each other and that
they need to work together to solve the problems plaguing the sentinels.
Once
of the things I loved most about Achaius, was his understanding that Saia is
not a damsel in distress who needs to be sheltered and coddled. He knows when
to back off and let her stand beside him, rather than behind him.
Saia is a
tough chick. She doesn’t need anyone to carry her burdens, she can take care of
business all on her own. As independent as she is, I could have easily seen her
as being the kind of woman whom would need a tremendous amount of convincing when
it came to accepting Achaius. However, it just improved my opinion of her when
she saw the truth in front of her. And while, she continued to be strong and
confident in her abilities alone, she was able to see the benefits of having
someone who will constantly support you and be there if you are in need of
comfort. I loved that about these two. They gave each other the freedom that
they needed to be who they are, while giving to each what they need to find a
neutral balance in their lives.
Their
attraction radiates through them and they definitely bring heat to the pages of
this book. Their love scenes are steamy, with just the right amount of volatile
passion and sweet loving.
The
mystery that unfolds just adds to my opinion that Lindsay Avalon has an
incredible imagination. It went in direction that I would not have expected.
This is a
short read and I devoured it rather quickly. At the end, I couldn’t do anything
except move right on to Waking the Phoenix. The author kept me hooked all the
way through.
Waking the Phoenix
Publication Date: August 27, 2014
Also in this series: Breaking the Nexus, Warrior Unleashed
Genres: Paranormal, Romance
As two
Realms collide, the world descends into chaos.
From the
moment Sha Phoenix dropped into the middle of Detective Connor Flynn’s murder
scene, he had known his life would never be the same. Following her claim to be
a Sorceri from the Mythrian Realm, he had received a crash course in the
impossible as they had struggled to stop a madman. Unfortunately, despite their
efforts to stop the Nexus, a magical barrier separating the Mythrian and Human
Realms, fractured. Magic and myth are spilling over into the Human Realm,
plunging everything into turmoil. Is their love strong enough to survive the
flames of the phoenix? When Sha vanished through a portal in the middle of
battle, Connor did not hesitate to follow the woman he had claimed as his. Now
in the Mythrian Realm, they join forces with the Sentinels, the guardians of
the Realms, to protect the world they love. Will they be able to contain the
evil taking control? Or will they perish in the flames of war? This is a
continuation of Connor and Sha's story.
Book 1, Breaking
the Nexus, should be read first.
5 Stars!
This is a continuation
of the Mytherian Realm series. You need to read Breaking the Nexus and Warrior
Unleashed before moving on to this novel.
I fell in
love with Sha and Connor in Breaking the Nexus. They are such fun characters!
Lindsay Avalon knows how to weave a tale that will keep you turning each page
and hoping that nothing will tear you away from your reading until you’ve
finished the book. But, on top of the story, the hero and heroine that she has
created make the story fly by with fun, passion, action, and mystery.
Sha is the
best type of heroine. She is strong, independent, smart, and her sarcastic sense
of humor is hilarious. Her habit of getting lost in her own thoughts, makes for
some fantastic inner dialogue that had me chuckling. However, as much as she
can stand on her own, she recognizes the strength that she gains from having
Connor to support and comfort her. She pull the feminist card, but rather lets
him care for her and help her.
This same
trait applies to Connor. He is a total alpha and if he had his heart’s desire,
I’m sure he would keep Sha locked away somewhere safe for the rest of her days.
However, he loves all of her, and that includes the things that make her strong
and confident. If she let him ride in like the white knight to solve all of her
problems, she would be the woman that he loves. So, he does all that he can to
protect her, while giving her support in the times when she needs to take the
lead.
Their banter
is full of humor and passion. They have found their soul mates in each other
and so their personalities, while vastly different, complement each other. They
are fiercely loyal and desperately in love. When the sparks between them
ignite, they explode in a fiery passion that burns right through the pages of
the book. But, they both possess and sarcastic wit that adds a lightness to a
story that could be incredibly dark. Lindsay gives you moments to rest from the
overwhelming action of the tale. The world is literally ending and the events
bring us closer and closer to utter destruction. However, Sha and Connor find
optimism by feeding off each other’s strength and not letting the heaviness of
the situation consume their every moment.
Again, the
author has a vivid imagination and this story creates an incredible world to
get lost in. She writes it in such a way that I was sucked into the story and
never sitting back contemplating the unrealistic nature of the tale.
Waking the
Phoenix in the second novel in the Sha and Connor trilogy. The cliffhanger at
the end had me practically crying when I realized that the third book isn’t out
yet! However, I’m overjoyed to know that there is more Sha and Connor to come.
These are books are definitely on my re-read list!
Lindsay Avalon is a wife, owner of a
devious mini Schnauzer, programmer, and now an author. An avid reader, her
amazing husband never seems to mind the multitude of books scattered around the
house. However, after listening to the words “I have nothing to read” one too
many times, he suggested Lindsay try her hand at writing her own books.
Since
she’d never liked writing in school, she balked at the idea until her sister
pestered her to participate in NaNoWriMo. It was then Lindsay realized that it
was never writing she hated; it was writing boring essays. Creating worlds of
magic, mystery, adventure, and romance became her true calling. In 2012, she
embarked on the journey to become a self-published author and to bring her
crazy ideas to life.
In 2013,
Lindsay decided to ask a fellow author about her publishing company, Crushing
Hearts and Black Butterfly. It was a spur of the moment, impulsive decision,
and one which Lindsay is eternally grateful she made. Though self-publishing
was exhilarating, being a part of her amazing publishing family gives her a bit
of structure in her chaotic existence.
When she’s
not writing or spending time with her husband, she’s hiding out from devious
bears seeking to thwart her writing efforts, pestering her amazing friends and
personal assistant, creating works of art in resin, and a multitude of other
things that capture her attention at the moment. You can find Lindsay online
spreading insanity across Facebook and interacting with her many lovelies. She
loves hearing from her readers and fellow writers!
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