"takes the reader on one wild and thrilling ride"
A month into becoming the all-powerful Pythia -- well, sort
of anyway since she has yet to be confirmed -- Cassie Palmer
is still trying to come to terms with her new elite
status as the chief Clairvoyant of the magical world.
Untrained, unprepared -- and unwanted, by the mage-ruled
Silver Circle and a few other magical folk -- she's kind of
learning of her new powers and capabilities mostly by
trial, error, and lots of luck. She's also fighting for
her life because of the recent issue of a huge bounty for
her capture -- or death, every magical person out there is
after her. With her ally and protector, the very powerful
war mage, Pritkin, by her side, Cassie brings new meaning
to the phrase "living life on the edge." A never-ending
series of events and disasters continuously throws her out
of one frying pan into the next. Cassie more than has her
plate full with the Silver Circle after her, the
destruction of MAGIC headquarters, a vengeful god wanting
to make his comeback to the mortal world, and so much
political intrigue and deception that it's almost
impossible to determine who to trust. It doesn't help that Mircea, the very old, very
sexy Master Vampire Senator -- and oh yeah, husband
in the eyes of the vampire world, is constantly trying to
keep Cassie safe and out of harm's way. Of course, staying
out of harm's way isn't exactly Cassie's style and this
never fails to leave Mircea on the verge of near-heart
attack. That is, if vampires could have heart attacks.
After learning that their initial attraction was the cause
of a spell cast centuries ago, Cassie has become unsure of
her and Mircea's true feelings for each other. And who is
the mysterious dark-haired beauty whose pictures fill a
photo album that Cassie found in Mircea's room? An ex-
girlfriend? A powerful vampire Senator mistress? So many
unanswered questions between the two of them, yet Cassie
scarcely has the time to sort it all out with everything
else that is going on in her life. Curse the Dawn is the fourth book in the Cassie
Palmer series and takes the reader on one wild and
thrilling ride. It's filled with time travel and pretty
much every kind of magic and magical creature you could
imagine -- vamps, mages, shifters, demons, and gods I'm
only glad it's Cassie's life and not mine, because I'm
fairly certain I wouldn't have made it past book one.
There is also plenty of humorous dialogue and events
throughout the book to help balance out all of the drama
and near-death experiences of the main characters. It's
nice to see Cassie's character growing as a person, too.
She's come a long way in beginning to accept her role as
the Pythia, but still has a long way to go in not only
learning the politics of it all, but also learning to
master and trust her powers. Word to the wise though: don't even attempt to start
reading this series at book 4. There is too much back
story and back plot that you would miss and, quite
honestly, I think most of it just wouldn't make sense.
Heck, I have read all the previous books and still
had a hard time remembering all the events that have
occurred up until now. That being said, I would most definitely recommend this
series and this book to anyone who likes a fast-paced,
entertaining romp through a magic-filled world with one
smart and very entertaining heroine.
Reviewed by Mippy Carlson
Posted April 18, 2009
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A Cassie Palmer Novel
**A PNR STAFF RECOMMENDED READ** Cassandra Palmer may be the all-powerful Pythia now, but that doesn’t mean people have stopped trying to kill her. Most of the supernatural power players don’t want the independent minded Cassie as chief clairvoyant—and they’ll stop at nothing to see her six feet under. The Vampire Senate does support Cassie in her position, but their protection comes with a price: an alliance with the sexy master vampire Mircea, who has claimed Cassie as his own. But even the vampires will have trouble keeping Cassie alive now that the self-styled god Apollo, the source of the Pythia’s power, has it in for her in a big way. To save her life—and the world—Cassie’s going to have to face down her creator once and for all.
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