A review by jynx66
Dying Wish by Shannon K. Butcher
5.0
Rating: 5/5*
Romance Rating: 4/5 <3
Iain is a Theronai warrior with no soul.
Jackie is a woman who just wants her old life back.
Match made in heaven?
Of course!
Iain is a warrior who lost his soul long ago. He's managed to convince everyone that he is fine and in no danger of becoming a monster. He is living by his own honor code to keep himself in check, all the while trying to help his brothers who are closest to losing themselves. On the surface, he is cold and heartless. Deep within, he is ravaged by pain, rage, and the urge to kill.
Jackie has wanted nothing more than to get her old life back, before she was taken by the Synestryn. However, walking the halls of Dabyr has become it's own kind of hell--for every time she steps foot outside her room, she is groped and touched by the other warriors in hopes that she will be a match for them and be the one to save their souls. Jackie has the ability to pair with any warrior, but she doesn't want the life of magic. She wants what she used to have, and what she will never have again.
From the beginning, I had wanted to read this book. From the moment Iain was introduced in the series, I wanted a happily-ever-after for him. He deserved it. And lo-and-behold, he got it in the form of Jackie.
This story opens up with Jackie on her way to see Joseph, the leader of the Theronai, in hopes that he will allow her to leave and being her life over again. She runs into Torr, grief-stricken over Grace, and is cornered and almost man-handled by him until Iain intervenes. After speaking with Joseph, she makes a deal with him. She'll pick a warrior to bond with, after which he must let her leave Dabyr. He agrees, but it doesn't go the way he expected it too. To everyone's shock, Jackie picks Iain. After some word play, Joseph must let her go because of his promise to her. While out on the town, Jackie and Iain get attacked by the Synestryn...and all hell breaks loose.
Iain was great character. Add the unique situation of not having a soul, but a monster than wants nothing more than kill, and wants Jackie for himself, and you have a new twist on the same story. It was great to see Iain recognize the differences Jackie brought out in him through their bond, and to see how easily she accepted all of him, despite his attempts to push her away in hopes that she would save one of his bothers. He was a strong character, but showed weakness when it came to Jackie and how he started "feeling" about her, and his inability to deny her what she wanted.
In the beginning, it was easy to understand why Jackie felt the way she did, and why she reacted to the warriors and their world as she did also. She had been captured and tortured and tried her best to protect the children she was held captive with until she was rescued. She had 2 years of horrifying memories to last a lifetime. But by the middle of the book, he usual excuses were getting a tad old. Not enough to take away from the book or to make me annoyed with her, but enough to make me roll my eyes when she said it. I really did like how she grew into her own after that. Things took a turn she didn't like, and she became this strong, loving woman who wanted nothing more than to save a man who had yet to do anything wrong against the injustice of the Theronai ways. She felt so strongly that she even gave in to Iain's wishes, but in the end, ended up saving them both in a way that, I have to admit, I didn't see coming.
And or course the thing we love most about it...The love? Oh is was just as I liked it. Hot. Steamy. and sooooo worthwhile! When they finally got together, it was like fireworks going off on the Fourth of July. Everything in the world was right again, and I knew it was only a matter of time before things REALLY got interesting.
The side stories that went hand in hand with Iain and Jackie's happily-ever-after were well placed, and helped move the story along. At some times I felt myself not caring about them as much, because Jackie and Iain were at such a crucial part that I wanted to go back to it, but I felt that the other stories were enough to keep me interested into the overall progress of the series. By the book's end, I found myself really wishing I already had to next book to read--so I could find out who would be saved next, and to see what happened to the side characters, most specifically Cain and Torr. Those boys are breaking my heart!
Jackie and Iain's story was a fresh twist on the Theronai "warrior-must-find-woman-who-can-save-his-soul" storyline. The last book was of one of the Sanguiner, and now, we get a warrior with no soul. It just shows that Butcher still has fresh ideas for this series, and continues to show us both in the main story and in the side stories that decorate the path.
I can't wait for the next installment.
Romance Rating: 4/5 <3
Iain is a Theronai warrior with no soul.
Jackie is a woman who just wants her old life back.
Match made in heaven?
Of course!
Iain is a warrior who lost his soul long ago. He's managed to convince everyone that he is fine and in no danger of becoming a monster. He is living by his own honor code to keep himself in check, all the while trying to help his brothers who are closest to losing themselves. On the surface, he is cold and heartless. Deep within, he is ravaged by pain, rage, and the urge to kill.
Jackie has wanted nothing more than to get her old life back, before she was taken by the Synestryn. However, walking the halls of Dabyr has become it's own kind of hell--for every time she steps foot outside her room, she is groped and touched by the other warriors in hopes that she will be a match for them and be the one to save their souls. Jackie has the ability to pair with any warrior, but she doesn't want the life of magic. She wants what she used to have, and what she will never have again.
From the beginning, I had wanted to read this book. From the moment Iain was introduced in the series, I wanted a happily-ever-after for him. He deserved it. And lo-and-behold, he got it in the form of Jackie.
This story opens up with Jackie on her way to see Joseph, the leader of the Theronai, in hopes that he will allow her to leave and being her life over again. She runs into Torr, grief-stricken over Grace, and is cornered and almost man-handled by him until Iain intervenes. After speaking with Joseph, she makes a deal with him. She'll pick a warrior to bond with, after which he must let her leave Dabyr. He agrees, but it doesn't go the way he expected it too. To everyone's shock, Jackie picks Iain. After some word play, Joseph must let her go because of his promise to her. While out on the town, Jackie and Iain get attacked by the Synestryn...and all hell breaks loose.
Iain was great character. Add the unique situation of not having a soul, but a monster than wants nothing more than kill, and wants Jackie for himself, and you have a new twist on the same story. It was great to see Iain recognize the differences Jackie brought out in him through their bond, and to see how easily she accepted all of him, despite his attempts to push her away in hopes that she would save one of his bothers. He was a strong character, but showed weakness when it came to Jackie and how he started "feeling" about her, and his inability to deny her what she wanted.
In the beginning, it was easy to understand why Jackie felt the way she did, and why she reacted to the warriors and their world as she did also. She had been captured and tortured and tried her best to protect the children she was held captive with until she was rescued. She had 2 years of horrifying memories to last a lifetime. But by the middle of the book, he usual excuses were getting a tad old. Not enough to take away from the book or to make me annoyed with her, but enough to make me roll my eyes when she said it. I really did like how she grew into her own after that. Things took a turn she didn't like, and she became this strong, loving woman who wanted nothing more than to save a man who had yet to do anything wrong against the injustice of the Theronai ways. She felt so strongly that she even gave in to Iain's wishes, but in the end, ended up saving them both in a way that, I have to admit, I didn't see coming.
And or course the thing we love most about it...The love? Oh is was just as I liked it. Hot. Steamy. and sooooo worthwhile! When they finally got together, it was like fireworks going off on the Fourth of July. Everything in the world was right again, and I knew it was only a matter of time before things REALLY got interesting.
The side stories that went hand in hand with Iain and Jackie's happily-ever-after were well placed, and helped move the story along. At some times I felt myself not caring about them as much, because Jackie and Iain were at such a crucial part that I wanted to go back to it, but I felt that the other stories were enough to keep me interested into the overall progress of the series. By the book's end, I found myself really wishing I already had to next book to read--so I could find out who would be saved next, and to see what happened to the side characters, most specifically Cain and Torr. Those boys are breaking my heart!
Jackie and Iain's story was a fresh twist on the Theronai "warrior-must-find-woman-who-can-save-his-soul" storyline. The last book was of one of the Sanguiner, and now, we get a warrior with no soul. It just shows that Butcher still has fresh ideas for this series, and continues to show us both in the main story and in the side stories that decorate the path.
I can't wait for the next installment.