Photo credits: Oscar Keys
Edited by Vaishali
Title: ‘Dark Harmony'
Author: Laura Thalassa Series: (The Bargainer #3) Genre: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal romance Publisher: Lavabrook Publishing Group Year of Publication: 2018 Version: Paperback ISBN: 9781793253439
WARNING: If you have not read the first two books in this series ('Rhapsodic' and 'A Strange Hymn') there may be huge spoilers!
Review
“I love you, Callie, down to every last feather and scale. I love your humour and your most coveted dreams. And I love how you love me-wholly, deeply, passionately. You’re not normal; you’ll never be normal. I’m so sorry to tell you that. You are so blindingly extraordinary that it physically hurts me sometimes, and I’ll never stop pushing you to believe this.”
In saving Callie from a calculated death, her soulmate Desmond Flynn has only endangered her to a fate worse than death, because now the man who has many faces has power over her, susceptible to his magic she is running from a man who has targeted her for dominion, always watching, always seeing even in the realm of dreams. Though drinking the condemning lilac wine has helped Callie in extending the reach of her seductively sinister power, it has damned her to the harshest the otherworld can offer: The Thief of souls.
“Do the dead ever really die?”
The dauntless Bargainer fears for his mate’s life. Facing life-like nightmares every time Callie’s head touches a pillow, Des is powerless to fight for Callie when both are up against a force that is considerably more formidable than they together - another man of darkness. Des’s darkness might not be enough especially when his magic has conscious desires of its own…and not even the darkness can be entrusted.
“What your mate missed is this: the truest pain comes with life, not death.”
‘Night’s falling here, and for once since I met Des, the darkness doesn’t feel welcoming.’
Orchestrating Callie’s moves since this matchless siren caught his attention, the anonymous Thief is waiting, and Callie knows that the wait won’t be long before she meets the trespasser of her dreams and the persecutor of the Otherworld, the man who wants to break everything. A man who governs her dreams, her mate who can’t wake her from them and a former king who wants to abolish them from her, Callie has to take charge of this unfeasible situation, right an intolerable wrong and avenge a far-reaching, deep-rooted assault on her heart…and the dominos are tumbling around her.
‘And yet I still don’t get to have this life. The easy, uncomplicated one. I might be living a fairytale, but fairytales aren’t just full of princes and fair maidens and moonlit weddings. They are full of monsters too. Monsters and violence and terror and death…
Tonight is the beginning of something…but I fear – I fear it is also the end.’
With their magic now aligned, their inextricable bond pulsing with new life and strength, Callie and Des are bound to each other by a soul bond, but also bound to the kingdom they rule because it’s falling into malevolent hands mightier than any king. The sleeping soldiers are awake, seized, with loyalties to only one, with one goal in mind: to slaughter and kill, defeat and annihilate wherever their master leads them…and to every kingdom.
“You are in my realm, enchantress. Here we play by my rules.”
No longer does our sweet siren carry the beads dancing around her wrist. No longer is she the mortal with limited power. No longer is her sceptical heart maimed by the deserted years without her appallingly impish fairy. Callie showcases her own brand of dark power, unleashing her reserves of inner strength and letting loose all that her siren’s dark dominance and despicably wicked nature has to give. Callie enforces power over the wretched men the world has to offer, bringing them to their feeble knees for the siren to ravage. Callie accepts her roots, freeing her unbridled desires to take on the rivals wishing to sever her and her mate apart.
“There are certain things in life that fade with time, he says, his gaze locked on mine. “What we have, Callie, isn’t one of those things.”
“You’ve done it, cherub. You’ve become someone to fear.
Callypso Lillis is a wonderfully pure protagonist with dark impulses, and an even darker dual nature. A favourite female lead, Callie always rises to the occasion, strong when she needs to be, and unguarded in the arms of the man who palliates her grief. She is strikingly delightful with a quirky, bright, yet dark sense of humour which never fails to pull laughs from me, wishing I had a friend much like her. Always lightening a situation with her wit, I love her character, I love her even more in a leading role, and she is the perfect (for lack of a better word) fit for Desmond Flynn.
“You don’t know who you are?” The Bargainer’s voice drops low. “You’re Callypso Lillis, plain and simple. You were her yesterday, you’ll be her tomorrow. It’s up to you to decide what being you actually means. No one else can do that for you. Not the man who gave you those wings, not the man who’s hunting you. Not your stepfather. Not even me.
Be whatever you choose to be, cherub, make it count.”
Desmond Flynn is a raunchy reprobate, ever the enigmatic fairy with a dry, sinful humour to counter Callie’s, but often indulging in the alikeness of Callie’s devilish behaviour. He’s severe and uncompromising, delighted by chaos and menace, but reserves his heart, his tenderness, his love for only Callie and the few he trusts. He is kind and generous behind his mask of invincible law-breaker. Charismatic and witty, handsomely alluring and impiously sexy, Desmond Flynn is a fine male lead, engaging and cryptic in his manoeuvrings. This series would not have been the same without Des… and he and Callie both make this series what it is, being that it is predominantly romance based.
“In my imaginings, we did this. I scrubbed the world’s filth off of you, until you were just you in my arms.”
“Cherub, you’re every wish of mine.”
The romance was what initially drew me into this series, alongside the two personalities the romance captured. 'Dark Harmony' however relies a bit too much on romance and sex, the author seeming to get carried away in what Des and Callie have (not that I mind because their idolised romance has always been at the forefront much to my appreciation) – but to the point where the plot was at times forsaken, and the characters would make odd and unrealistic choices in the midst of war, that which seemed out of place, seemingly unmindful of the urgencies that should have been at the spotlighted for them.
“The way fairies love…it’s the same way we live. It’s immortal, violent, irrational and unbendable.”
As invested as I am in the characters, the side characters could have used more examination. I felt that they were deficient in depth, potentially because we don’t know great deal about their backstory. Temper is an ideal example, we know she is Callie’s best friend, but their friendship seemed stationary, perhaps because their relationship had been established long ago, but I found myself wanting more from them. We are given suggestion and morsels of dialogue to taste but not enough to know of Temper’s past, what she is running from or her own troubles, which Callie has made much reference to. Perhaps this could be intentional, the author gearing up for a companion series for Malaki and Temper…
“What am I supposed to do?” I ask, my voice raw.
“Rule. Rule and save us."
Callie is exemplary. From the start Callie’s story was about surviving the men who took relentlessly from her, who kept taking until she grew bold enough to take back. It’s about her facing, defying and exacting righteousness, not only for her own sufferings, but for the many victims surviving similar fates. She has always been imperilled by the worst men can offer, taunting her, victimising her, abusing her for what she is and what she can offer them. She is bravely empowering, and as Des would say a “beautiful disaster” in all the right ways. She is symbolic of the unsubdued strength and the kind of unbeatable power that comes with believing in and having the mind of a survivor. She cuts down men who exploit and mistreat, who are violently assertive, and shows them just who has the upper hand.
“Your will is mine.”
Ending this tremendous series, ‘Dark Harmony’ finishes on a proud message of the favourably quenching and gratifying. It was exciting, and though the following events were anticipated and inevitable, nothing detracted from the impact those events had, or the unfolding of the story. It fed me in idyllic ways, it pulled me in with dreamy dialogue, it thrilled me with action and chaos, but most of all it tore constant laughs from me which always exalts a novel for me, because humour usually makes a book no matter the circumstance. Desmond and Callie are inspirational, and I couldn’t have asked for a sounder conclusion for them.
“Love you so much, Callie,” he breathes. “Would’ve waited an eternity of it meant finding you.
“I would’ve walked through hell to find you,” I whisper. “You did, cherub, you did.”
‘Dark Harmony’ was a darkly harmonious culmination to a much-loved series depicting a much-loved couple made from darkness and tragedy, destined to find each other and accomplish what the fates had installed for them and what once would have been insurmountable. It was amazing!
‘As I stare at him, I think about that old vow, the one that got me into trouble. “From flame to ashes, dawn to dusk, for the rest of our lives, be mine always, Desmond Flynn.”
He kisses my lips. “Until darkness dies. I gave this book 3.9 stars -
My Rating System:
★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read
__________________________________________________
RSS Feed
Other books in this series: ● 'Rhapsodic' by Laura Thalassa ● 'The Emperor of Evening Stars' by Laura Thalassa __________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Related posts:
● 'Rapsodic' by Laura Thalassa
● 'The Emperor of Evening Stars' by Laura Thalassa _________________________________________________ CategoriesAll Leave a comment and let's talk about 'Dark Harmony'
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
VaishaliBorn in the UK Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
2019 Reading Challenge
Vaishali • [Vicarious Living] has
read 15 books toward
her goal of
30 books.
hide
2020 Reading Challenge
Vaishali • [Vicarious Living] has
read 1 book toward
her goal of
20 books.
hide
2021 Reading Challenge
Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews] has
read 1 book toward
her goal of
10 books.
hide
2022 Reading Challenge
Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews] has
read 0 books toward
her goal of
5 books.
hide
2023 Reading Challenge
Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews] has
read 0 books toward
her goal of
5 books.
hide
DisclaimerAll images of book covers on this site belong to the authors and publishers of the books.
|