Storm’s Heart by Thea Harrison

Title: Storm’s Heart (A Novel of The Elder Races, 2)
Author: Thea Harrison
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Piatkus (7th June 2012)
Blurb:

He’s a Wyr warrior, a god of storms. She’s the heir to the Dark Fae throne. But desire will bring both to their knees in this all-new novel of the Elder Races.

During the rule of her murderous Dark Fae uncle, Thistle ‘Tricks’ Periwinkle found sanctuary among the Wyr in New York. Her ethereal beauty and sparkling personality won the hearts of the public, but after her uncle’s death, there are those who don’t want to see her ascend to the throne.

Able to wield the thunder and lightning, Wyr sentinel Tiago Black Eagle has rule the skies for centuries. His massive build and thunderous power make him one of the Wyr’s nest weapons. He’s the one sent to protect Tricks when she’s almost assassinated in Chicago. And before long, both Tiago and Tricks fall prey to the stormy hunger than engulfs them – a passion that will shake the very foundation of all the worlds . . .

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

Storm’s Heart is the second book in the Novel of the Elder Races series, although it is not a direct sequel to Dragon Bound. Both Tricks and Tiago appear in Dragon Bound but only as secondary characters who both work for Dragos. Storm’s Heart sees them both stepping into the role of major characters, though in many ways Tricks is the protagonist of the novel. Like Dragon Bound, Storm’s Heart is very definitely a book – and a series – which is aimed at an adult audience.

The culmination of events in Dragon Bound as well as the political fallout have a huge hand in creating the events in Storm’s Heart. So whilst this novel may not be a direct sequel as it does not follow the same characters, I would highly recommend that you read the events in Dragon Bound before you read this so that you have some background information. Harrison does do a good job in trying to help new readers not become lost if they start here, but there are still a few little things you may miss if you do.

From her appearance in Dragon Bound I thought Tricks had the potential to be a really interesting character – and I was right. As the only survivor of her uncle’s bloody ascent to the throne Tricks fled and found sanctuary with Dragos is New York, after the events of Dragon Bound and her uncle’s death she has no choice but to return and claim her throne. One of the things that I really admired about Tricks in this book was her determination – she was going to do her duty no matter what, even though she lived longer with the Wyr than she did with the Dark Fae and could have easily stayed missing. Tiago on the other hand seems to be a typical Alpha male who has a temper and revels in action/fighting. On the surface they seem very chalk and cheese, but they really work as a couple. One of the things that did bug me was the fact that a big deal was made about how tiny Tricks is, how small, how delicate, whilst in contrast Tiago was big and strong however Harrison did a good job at showing that Tricks isn’t weak.

The plot of the book was really interesting – and to be honest, I wish it has been thicker and that Harrison had explored things more thoroughly and we’d been allowed to see further into Trick’s future. Harrison did a really good job with the murder mystery aspect of the plot. Everyone seemed to have a motive to want to assassinate Tricks and keep her from becoming Queen – the eventual revelation was tense, and almost at the end of the book so there was a lot of time to keep guessing in.

If you are a fan of paranormal romances and like your alpha male leads then you should definitely check this book and the series out. The world of The Elder Races is a really interesting one, and I look forward to exploring it further in the next book in the series Serpent’s Kiss.