REVIEW: Possess Me at Midnight by Shayla Black

ISBN 9781416578468

Series: Doomsday Brethren, Book 3
Genre: Paranormal Romance

(c) November 2009, Simon and Schuster

Shayla Black's website

Rating: 2 stars

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"Could be better."

The Doomsday Brethren series is a continuing saga of the fight against Matthias, the evil wizard who wants to take over magickind.

When Matthias attacked Bram's (the leader who'd been injured in the previous book and is now unconscious) mansion for the Doomsday Diary, the warriors had to flee for their lives. Isdernus Rykard or Ice was charged with protecting Sabelle Rion, Bram's sister, who had the diary. Attracted to Sabelle from the moment he'd seen her, Ice couldn't help but issue the mating Call to her when he kissed her, for wizards knew their mates by taste. However, they faced a lot of obstacles: social gap (she's Privileged while he's Deprived), enmity between Ice and Bram, Sabelle's reluctance to mate without Bram's approval and the need for her to have an advantageous union that would aid in the fight for the good of magickind.

Sabelle, as seen from Ice's point of view, is good, kind, courageous, etc. Not that we really see the good and kind parts. She's more of a watering pot to me. Many times throughout the book, Sabelle is either crying or fighting not to cry. I mean, I get that she's under a lot of emotional strain, what with worrying over her brother, fearing that Matthias would get the diary or kill Ice or take over magickind, but really, does crying help? Descended from Merlin, she's like magickind's princess with the gift of emotional suggestion. Her saving grace is that at times, she's smart and diplomatic and proves she's not the helpless princess after all.

Ice, on the other hand, is big, bad and dangerous. He's able to kill 80 Anarki all by himself, but a slip of a woman felled him. He'd give up his life for Sabelle and that's so romantic, except that I don't see how Sabelle is worth it, especially when she can't make up her mind about Ice and uses the convenient excuse of needing Bram's approval. Ice is an interesting character, but how he almost defeated Matthias didn't quite ring true. That Ice is incorruptible...I don't buy it. Because no one is incorruptible. Evil attaches to evil, well, isn't there something evil/bad about Ice's need for revenge against Matthias (he tortured and killed Ice's sister)? The way Ice let revenge drove all his actions and created a wedge between him and Bram? Is revenge okay just because the object of the revenge is the villain?

I think I'm more interested to know Lucan's and Shock's stories. Will Anka return to Lucan or was their relationship damaged beyond repair? What about Shock? On whose side is Shock really throwing his lot with? Duke sounds interesting as well. But Bram? Didn't like him in this story and his murky relationship with the mysterious Emma didn't pique my interest at all.

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REVIEW: Seduce Me in Shadow by Shayla Black

ISBN 9781416578444

Series: Doomsday Brethren, Book 2

Genre: Paranormal Romance

(c) September 2009, Simon and Schuster

Shayla Black's website

Rating: 4 stars

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"Teeming with magic and mayhem, adventure and romance!"

Due to a mishap in his childhood, Caden hated magic and decided to live among humans. However, he went back when his brother Lucan needed his help, only to find himself embroiled in a war among magickind as Matthias, an evil wizard, has come back from his exile, more powerful than before.

A powerful artifact called the Doomsday Diary has been stolen from Bram, the leader of the Doomsday Brethren, an underground force dedicated to battling against Matthias. Moreover, a human, Sydney Blair, was seen reporting about magickind's battle and Caden was sent to find out more about how she knew about these things and to stop her from continuing. The attraction that sprang up between them was a complication Caden didn't need, nor did he welcome the instinctive urge to take her as his mate. But when Sydney found herself in trouble, he couldn't deny the need to rescue and protect her.

As I was reading, I thought some elements of the story sounded familiar. And I realize what they reminded me of: Harry Potter. The arch enemy, evil wizard Matthias back from his exile (Voldemort coming back after being defeated ages ago), but the Council, a group of elderly wizards, wouldn't believe the rumors and even wanted Bram to squash them (Ministry of Magic [?] doing much the same thing in HP book 5, I believe). A rogue group of wizards banded together and called themselves the Doomsday Brethren to fight against this evil (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), a pitiful few against Matthias and his Anarki (Voldemort and his Death Eaters). The only thing not in Harry Potter is the matter of the wizards and witches needing sexual energy to recharge their magic.

It's best to clarify that I haven't read book 1, so I don't know if I'd have the same impressions if I'd started the series in sequence. That aside, Shayla Black made this series her own with her unique characters and the particular adult dilemma the characters faced in their fight against evil and their own internal struggles.

Sydney, for all that she's human, is fascinated by magic. When she stumbled into magickind, she takes to it like fish to water, despite the dangers the Brethren are facing just then. I like that she's smart and ethical, that despite being a reporter, she knows the danger to magickind if she reported certain news ahead of time, so she didn't and had no intention of doing so. However, her zeal to help the Brethren overcame her common sense at times and thus, she unwittingly put herself and others in danger.

Caden MacTavish is the typical guy who denies his feelings for Sydney to the death, in part because of his brother's experiences. That I can empathize with, though he comes across as a man who isn't willing to risk his heart. But then, what man or woman is? Only someone who hasn't loved before or one who has witnessed terrible tragedy in a person close to him.

However, there is one thing that made me want me to wallop Caden over the head with something hard. His irrational fear and denial of magic. I understand the childhood trauma he has witnessed, and this might have a bearing on his definitive stand against magic. However, when he instinctively called magic to save Sydney, he should've realized that magic can also be harnessed for good. Accidents do happen, but magic in the hands of an untrained wizard like him would do more harm than good. If nothing else, I think he would've wanted to learn to use and control his magic to protect Sydney. I think this part of his denial went on a bit too long.

Still, action and adventure abound in this story, making for an exciting read. In my opinion, it isn't necessary to read the first book in the series, as past important events were highlighted in the story without info dumping.

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