Thursday, September 26, 2013
Series: Nightwalkers (book 2)
Arthur: Jacquelyn Frank
Narrated by: Xe Sands
Genre: Paranormal Romance
When Celie and I decided to feature Jacquelyn Frank's Nighwalkers series as our featured series of the month, we spent some time thinking back on our favorite books in the series. Since we read them ages ago, and because I also have a copy of the audiobook, I decided to load it back onto my Ipod and give it another try to see if my reaction would still be the same. Well let me tell you, I still love Gideon and it was even better the second time around!
Gideon is book 2 in Jacquelyn Frank's Nightwalkers series and features the story of Gideon, the oldest demon in existence and Magdelegna, the king's youngest sister. Gideon and Magdelegna are no strangers to one another and have interacted often until Gideon, under the call of the moon has a chance encounter with Magdelegna while out of control of his desires and takes advantage of her...though not in the sense that I would have liked for him to take advantage of me (hee hee). Outraged at himself for losing control, he lashes out at her and deeply wounds her pride. Cue Legna being short and curt with Gideon and thus begins the cycle of angry responses between the two which really only fuels the flames of desire they harbor for one another. After years of avoiding and/or being coldly pleasant to one another when they must interact, the two discover they are imprinted mates, destined for one another and the first demon imprinted couple to exist in centuries.
Gideon is my favorite book in the series because Gideon is not your typical paranormal hero that's uber alpha male who goes all me man, you woman....you do as I say! Instead he is more of an intellectual and sensual being that recognizes his limitations early on and finds ways to communicate his feelings with Legna in a way that helps her make peace with their union. Gideon being the demon medic and also placing strict control over his emotions, suddenly finds himself in situations that are unfamiliar to him, as well as opens him up to a new range of emotions he has never before allowed himself to acknowledge.
Legna who is a mind demon with the power to sense and control emotions is the perfect match for Gideon. She is able to recognize his unease with his feelings and desires towards her, and together they are able to work through the intricacies of their relationship. Intricacies that include her being the baby of her family and her brother Noah's best in-house ally because of her unique abilities to calm and soothe those around her. Couple those things with Gideon also being the oldest known demon to their race and you have unhappy siblings involved in their union.
Along with Gideon and Legna's love story, Jacquelyn Frank also advances the storyline quite a bit with the introduction of other Nightwalker races, as well as unveils the new overall threat to all Nightwalkers. While at times, Frank can provide a bit too much dialogue and things progress quite slowly in the beginning, she essentially comes through towards the middle when things heat up and we get quite a glimpse of the disparities to come in future books!
Since it's clear that I loved the storyline, let me add a few comments about the narration of the book. Xe Sands does a phenomenal job of portraying the characters in the book. She, unlike many other female narrators, has a deep voice pitch that works perfectly for the male characters because it doesn't sound forced. Her portrayal of Bella has been one of my favorites because she delivers Bella's spunky attitude with just enough pitch and variation to make her stand out to listeners. Since this was such a delight to listen to, I'm giving it 4 notes and 4 flames because when Gideon got heated, oh boy did he get heated!
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