Incendiary by Carole Cummings (Wolf's-Own #4)

Genres: Adult, High Fantasy, Romance
Publication Date: June 17th 2012
POV: Alternating- Third-person, Past tense
Smut-O-Meter: 5 out of 10
My Rating: 4 out of 5

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Fen Jacin-rei finds himself again on the run after discovering the reality of what he is and why the gods won t let him go. His one source of support, Kamen Malick, is suddenly unavailable, and now hounded and chased by ghosts who want to drive him into insanity and keep him there, Fen will have to face life all alone.

Or maybe not. Old enemies and new allies seek to control Fen, now known as Kamen s Untouchable. It s going to take everything Fen s got to figure out who he can trust and who he should fear. It might take more than what Fen s got to discern who is even real.

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I really enjoyed this series, although I still never fully understood what was going on. The world building was too sloppy and the story too vast for me to grasp. There was endless mythology that was not given proper introduction. I think this series would benefit from some massive editing. The writing and grammar is fine, but it needs some serious restructuring. Although I absolutely adore the characters, especially Fen. 

Fen totally won me over from the first chapter of Ghost, but he just kept getting better and better. I started out in awe of him and his abilities. His composure, the dedication he put into everything he did. But as we got to know him more and more I saw his pain, his guilt, his strength and loyalty. Goodness, how could anyone not fall in love with him, who has every reason to fall apart, but who held on to every inch, fought with every breath?

Malick grew on me and I loved him almost as much as Fen by the end, although it took awhile. I never disliked him though. I mostly love his interactions with Fen. He is the only one giving Fen what he has always deserved. The loyalty, love, and dedication that he had always shown to others but had never received himself. Until Malick. I have to love Malick for that. He loves without reservation and no one has ever deserved it more than Fen.

I just wish that this series had focused more on the romance, since I couldn't get into the story that much. I wanted more of Fen and Malick, but unfortunately their relationship kept getting drawn out. I understand it would be difficult for Fen to make any lasting decisions in the state of mind he had been in. But in the end, although they are together, Fen still didn't really seem to know what he felt for Malick, and that was a bit disappointing to me. But Malick was absolutely lost in Fen since book 1. I love the love that Malick had for Fen. That is the kind of love I always look for in my books. My heart clenches and my stomach flutters just thinking about it. But it wasn't as satisfying as it would have been if it had been fully returned. But I will remember Fen forever.

“Yeah, you're fucked up, baby." He smiled a little and kissed Fen again. "'S part of what I love about you.”

Weregild by Carole Cummings (Wolf's-Own #2)

Genres: Adult, High Fantasy, Romance
Publication Date: March 26th 2012
POV: Alternating- Third-person, Past tense
Smut-O-Meter: 5 out of 10
My Rating: 4 out of 5

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The amorality of gods makes it hard to tell bad from good and right from wrong. Fen Jacin-rei doesn't care. All Fen cares about is saving his family, and he'll sacrifice anything that gets in his way. Including his own soul. No longer willing to wait for the machinations of the gods' minions, Fen accepts the trade Kamen Malick offers. Together they set out to rescue Fen's family and kill the man who betrayed them. But Fen is an Untouchable, one whose mind hosts the spirits of long-dead magicians, and with Voices of the Ancestors screaming in his head, Fen finds it harder and harder to stave off madness. Malick has his own reasons to hand over everything Fen wants and equally compelling reasons to withhold everything Fen needs. In over his head with his timing as bad as ever, Malick must devise a way to do his god's bidding without breaking his god's laws-and keep Fen sane and on Malick's side in the bargain.

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I enjoyed this one a bit more than book 1, but its still too confusing to get 5-stars from me. The story developed a bit more and the more I understand the more invested I get. More happened in this one than in the first.

"Chaste. Intimate. Meaningful, somehow, but Malick couldn't guess at the meaning inside it all. Didn't' want to."

I also enjoyed the addition of Fen's siblings as characters. Morin turned out to be way cooler than I would have imagine possible. Joori and Yori were cute. But then again, so were Joori and Madi. ;)

I am still totally in awe of Fen. Gosh, he is amazing. By far the main thing that brings me back to this series, despite not knowing what the hell is going on half the time. He is so broken but strong at the same time, and the best big brother in the world. Ok, maybe he is a little too distant, but the things he goes through for them! They all know he loves them.

"Malick reached up and gently fingered strands of matted chestnut out of Fen's eyes. Almost enspelled."

I liked the ending to this one. It actually felt like it had a beginning, middle and end, until book 1. A climax and resolution. They accomplished a clear goal. I was also really glad that Fen decided to accept his relationship with Malick. He still seems a little uncertain about what he wants, but at least now he can admit that he doesn't want to be alone.

I also enjoyed Malick a little more in this one. I had no complaints about him in book one, but in this one I really appreciated how he treated Fen. He understands him better now and knows what he needs. I really look forward to where their relationship will go from here.

"[Malick] didn't move when Fen leaned in again, slowly closed his eyes, slid his hand up to cup Malick's cheek and replaced his fingertips with his lips again--light and sweet and warm, and so...private. Profound, maybe." 

Ghost by Carole Cummings (Wolf's-Own #1)

Genres: Adult, High Fantasy, Romance
Publication Date: February 16th 2012
POV: Alternating- Third-person, Past tense
Smut-O-Meter: 5 out of 10
My Rating: 4 out of 5

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Dwelling in the land of Ada and defending magic users called the Jin, Fen Jacin-rei is a trained assassin and an Untouchable, one whose mind hosts the Voices of the Ancestors, spirits of long-dead magicians. His fate should be one of madness and solitude, yet Fen Jacin-rei desperately clings to his sanity and ferociously protects the family he loves. But how does Fen do it? Kamen Malick has every intention of finding out.

When Malick and his own small band of assassins ambush Fen in an alley, Malick offers Fen one choice: join us or die. Determined to decode the intrigue that surrounds Fen—and to have the Untouchable for himself—Malick sets to unravelling Fen’s past while Fen delves into the mysteries surrounding Malick.

As Fen’s secrets slowly unfold, Malick is drawn into a crusade that isn’t his, one surprisingly similar to his own quest for vengeance. Yet irony is a bitter reward when Malick discovers the one he wants is already hopelessly entangled with the one he hunts.

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I picked up this book because I was in the mood to try something new. M/M romance was something I hadn't tried yet and this one was recommended to me. But I ended up enjoying it for mostly different reasons. Fantasy has always been one of my favourite genres so it was pretty easy for me to get into this. I love stories that introduce new worlds to me, and especially worlds with their own mythology and forms of magic.

I enjoyed the idea and the story, but it wasn't as good as it could have been. There are so many things that I still don't understand about what was going on. Who some of the characters were, what their involvement is, what the magic means, who is supposed to have it, and several other things. I just let it slide for the most part because I assume that it will make more and more sense as I continue to read. Some things I didn't understand at the beginning of this book made sense by the end, and I still have three more books to grasp the rest. But I would have been able to enjoy this more if it had been introduced to us more smoothly. The characters never paused in their narration to explain things to us. Its the complete opposite to info dumping.

 

I also didn't enjoy the alternating POVs. The POV alternated between the two leads and the villain, and those all make sense, but also three supporting characters which were unnecessary, and their input didn't really add anything to the story. It wasn't just a little bit either. There may have been a bit more of Malick than the others, but the three supporting characters were featured nearly as much. The flashback chapters, however, were more useful and necessary, and I felt like I learned a lot from those. But I was still annoyed that they were so frequent and so long. The information that we got from them could have been given to us in brief flashbacks rather than 20 page segments.

But I was still very interested in the story. Even if I am not entirely sure what it is that Malick and Fen are fighting for, besides saving Fen's mother, I felt invested in their success and I am excited to read the next book. The most important factor in any book for me is the characters, and I really loved Malick and Fen. Most of the book was from Malick's POV so we really got to see Fen through his eyes and it was really amazing and sometimes heartbreakingly beautiful. The way Malick would just stare at him as if he was a paragon in everything he did. And knowing what Fen had been through and how unworthy he felt made it all very sad at the same time. Malick was a more complex character than you may at first think, and I long for him to help Fen and be what he needs, but Fen is the one that really won my heart.

The romantic elements of this story really just skimmed the surface and introduced the possibility, so I ended up enjoying this for the characters and the world more than anything else, which are what I have always looked for most in a book. It was easy to enjoy, although maybe not easy to understand. But I look forward to reading the rest of the series and learning more not only about the story and world, but the characters and what they are capable of and what they will be able to do for each other and their world.

“Have it your way, then. Pretend that your deepest, most secret wish isn't that someone would love you like you know Malick can, if you let him.”