A standalone paranormal romance from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young, writing as S. Young.
This post was supposed to go up this morning, but apparently I forgot to hit publish on the post when I put it together the other day. Better late than never right?
Review
This is the second book in the True Immortality series by S. Young. This is a slow burn paranormal romance. Our characters, Fionn and Rose, are drawn to each other the first time they see each other, but they brush it off as lust. Fionn has lived for centuries and is driven by a quest for vengeance, while Rose is a nomad. She has always felt that she was looking for something that was missing in her life. When Fionn mysteriously shows up, Roses is trust into the world of the paranormal that she never knew existed but she has always secretly been apart of. Rose may be the key to Fionn finally achieving his revenge against the Queen of the Fae, however the more time they spend together the more he realizes he may not be able to sacrifice her for his vengeance. The bigger question is will he be able to give up his quest for revenge in order to keep her? You have to read the book to find out.
It is no secret that I'm a huge fan of Samantha's books. I am so happy she's decided to return to the paranormal romance genre. I loved this. The characters were well developed. As always, Sam writes great banter between her characters and she always creates excellent side characters that you'd want on your team in a dire situation. The story has a good pace and the plot developed nicely, giving Fionn's backstory as he and Rose get to know each other. We really get to know why he's so angry and why he feels vengeance is his only option. I really like that she's using all different sorts of paranormal creatures in this series. I also appreciated that this book tied back to the first one. This is 100% a standalone, but it does make mention to things that happened in the first book. It isn't necessary, but I recommend reading
War of Hearts not because you need to, but because it's a good book. I'm really looking forward to the next book.
Excerpt
A thudding, prolonged bass, followed by electronic pop filled the club. The ethereal voice of Ruelle echoed around the room. Rose knew the song. It was called “Live Like Legends.”
She looked out into the crowd of dancers to see they were writhing together, their movements becoming more sexual as the music built to a crescendo. Wondering at the strange feeling that had descended over her, Rose searched the dancers for something—she didn’t know what. Perhaps for something that was out of place in the sixteenth-century building turned nightclub.
“Hej, ti, naša pića!” A customer snapped his fingers in her face.
It successfully yanked her from her study of the dancers. “Don’t snap your fingers at me.” She didn’t care if he couldn’t understand her. Her tone was of the universal language of, “I don’t take shit from anyone.”
He sneered but thankfully shut up.
She’d just finished serving the rude guy when the music hit its peak, the bass and drums deep and booming, strings—most likely violins—frenzied, beautiful, and the electronic pop sound Ruelle was known for building to a climax in the same style of an epic movie trailer. Awareness scored her spine, turning the damp, warm skin of her nape cool. It felt like strong fingers clasping her neck.
The feeling was so ridiculously powerful, for a moment Rose thought there was someone touching her. She spun away from the cash register, nostrils flaring as she took in the space around her, finding not even her colleagues near. Both Petra and Josip were on the other side of the circle.
And that’s when she felt it.
Like all the air had evacuated the room.
Chest tight, Rose gasped as her gaze shifted over the parting crowds. Her feet moved without her command, stumbling toward the bar counter—as though someone had tied a rope around her, lassoing her. Holding her captive.
Then she saw him.
Head and shoulders above everyone else, she saw a hulking figure, hair of indiscriminate color illuminated every few seconds by the dancing beams of light. The crowd parted for him as he glided through the sea of bodies. For such a big man, he moved gracefully, light as air, impossibly so … almost otherworldly.
Longish hair framed his bold face, the ends tickling his angular jawline. His nose was a sharp blade to match the sharp angles of his cheekbones. Thick stubble covered the lower half of his face, surrounding a mouth pressed tight with concentration as his head swung from left to right, as though he were searching for something or someone.
Rose swallowed hard, her mouth dry. The man was mammoth. He had to be over six and a half feet tall. If his height wasn’t enough to draw attention, the way he dressed was. The club was hot, yet he swept through the rabble wearing a dark three-piece suit and a long, black wool overcoat.
He paused, his heavy brows drawing together. His body language reminded her of an animal catching a scent, alert, rigid—a hunter beneath that civilized attire. Then his head snapped in her direction and their eyes locked.
An invisible weight slammed into Rose’s chest, and she wheezed. Thankfully, the loss of breath lasted seconds, and she sucked in a huge gulp of air. “Fuck,” she whispered, shaking as the stranger continued to stare at her.
The lasers of light bounced off his face, highlighting eyes so green they couldn’t be human.
It’s the lasers, Rose told herself. No one’s eyes are that color unless they’re wearing contacts.
Nothing, however, explained the intensity of feeling that held her still beneath the man’s regard.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
S. Young is the pen name for Samantha Young, a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author from Stirlingshire, Scotland. She’s been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Author and Best Romance for her international bestseller On Dublin Street. On Dublin Street was Samantha’s first adult contemporary romance series and has sold in twenty-eight languages in thirty countries. True Immortality is Samantha’s first adult paranormal series written under the name S. Young.
Visit Samantha Young online at
Bitten by Destiny by S. Young
