A Book Obsession..: Storm Born

Storm Born

, by Kt Clapsadl

Storm Born by Richelle Mead

Dark Swan #1

Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every horny creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants...

Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world. Mercenary, yes, but a girl's got to eat. Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite. Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy--one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie's first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it.

Now Eugenie is a hot target for every ambitious demon and Otherworldy ne'er-do-well, and the ones who don't want to knock her up want her dead. Eugenie handles a Glock as smoothly as she wields a wand, but she needs some formidable allies for a job like this. She finds them in Dorian, a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage, and Kiyo, a gorgeous shape-shifter who redefines animal attraction. But with enemies growing bolder and time running out, Eugenie realizes that the greatest danger is yet to come, and it lies in the dark powers that are stirring to life within her...

Eugenie's days typically consist of kicking Otherworld creature's butts, and her nights are spent quiet and very alone. So, when every otherworld creature seems to suddenly want to get her in the sack, she really isn't sure what the heck is going on. Against her best judgment, she takes a job to rescue a young girl from a vindictive Otherworld King. She stumbles across a horrifying prophecy, her first born will doom the world for humans. Suddenly, all those propositions are starting to make sense. She will have to rely on two men to help her, the fairy king, Dorian, and Kiyo, a mysterious shape-shifting Fox. She'll have to be careful because each has their own agenda that may or may not match up with her best interests.

Eugenie is a very interesting character. She is very loyal and will work herself to death protecting innocent people, yet at the same time she is very much an introvert. She keeps herself apart from the very people she is trying to protect. She just seems to have a hard time relating to other, and as the book went on the reasons for this became more apparent. I did have one issue with her, however. She is supposed to be highly trained and feared by many, yet numerous times she just went off half-cocked without a plan. Considering the fact that she had to be "saved" by others several times, it makes me wonder how she survived before. That being said, one of the biggest things I liked about Eugenie was her ability to see past the prejudices that had been ingrained into her. Of course, she does drag her feet at first, but she doesn't stay in denial for very long. I found this to be a very refreshing trait as many urban fantasy heroines can be too stuck in their own ways at times.

There is a love triangle set up in this book that was executed very well. Eugenie is such a strong person, so I'm very glad neither of the men turned her into a pile of mush. While this book is much steamier than Mead's other novels, the additional sexual aspects were very tastefully written, and help to further the story. The best part about this book was that Eugenie maintained her own throughout, never once fully caving into either of the men's demands. However, she wasn't cold towards them at all. I love a book where the heroine can have a relationship with a man that is real, but she also can and will stand on her own when necessary.

I enjoyed this book, yet I couldn't help but be slightly disappointed at Eugenie's extreme impulsiveness. I'm really hoping in the future books she will start to tone that down a little and live up more to the reputation she is supposed to have. Yes, she may be very strong, but to be a full forced threat, she also must use her head and go into things with a plan. This book definitely gave the series a nice setup, and it allows things to go many ways. I'm eager to read the next book to see which path Eugenie takes. Overall, a good read, with a few character flaws, but definitely worth checking out.

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