The Lost Saint

The non-stop sequel to The Dark Divine delivers an even hotter romance and more thrilling action than Bree Despain's first novel. Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi. She gave her soul to the wolf to save him and lost her beloved mother. When Grace receives a haunting phone call from Jude, she knows what she must do. She must become a Hound of Heaven. Desperate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot - a newcomer to town who promises her that he can help her be a hero. But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel begins to crumble. Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace becomes prideful in her new abilities - not realizing that an old enemy has returned and deadly trap is about to be sprung. Readers, ravenous for more Grace and Daniel, will be itching to sink their teeth into The Lost Saint.
from amazon.com

Beth says 3.5 Stars...

This falls squarely under the category of fun books that are great for the holiday. The plot of the book was relatively well done, but there were still some flaws that detracted from the novel. A good deal more of the lore was explained, but most of it happened in a history lesson format, which always feels rather sloppy to me. The ending plot twist caught me only partially by surprise, and I figured out most of the supposed shockers throughout the novel. Although I read it rather quickly, it wasn't terribly engrossing and I could put it down rather easily. Nothing was really particularly exceptional, although nothing was awful either.

Throughout the book I was constantly annoyed with Grace. Her mood swings and irrational behavior drove me up a wall because she could have solved all of her problems so simply. Also, the chemistry between Grace and Daniel didn't particularly sizzle or smolder. There was definitely some there, but it just didn't reach the level that it really needed to. I really wanted the rest of the characters to gain more depth, but alas, that didn't happen. Instead of fleshing the other characters out, Despain introduced new ones that remained flat as well.

This really is just a book for a break. It doesn't have a particularly complex plot or characters, but still remains fun. If you liked the first one you should enjoy this one as well, but it's honestly nothing spectacular. This series is for those who simply can't get enough paranormal romance, but if you're reaching your quota go ahead and skip it.
Book from Publisher

The Dark Divine

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away.
As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel's dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

from amazon.com

Beth says 4 Stars...

I really enjoyed this book. I guess the problem that I had with it is that it feels like just another paranormal romance, but a very good one. The novel was well written, particularly in the tone of the book. It was very dark and rather mysterious. The pacing was well done, with some subtle (and less than subtle) hints worked in throughout the book so it didn't feel as though the reveal come out of nowhere with this massive amount of information suddenly dumped on your head. The plot was a nice twist on what was expected, and I didn't quite figure out the ending. However, I felt like I had read the basic plot before, and I have. It's the whole "dark and mysterious boy that girl knows she should stay away from, but can't" thing that seems to be making up about 70% of the YA market these days. There's nothing wrong with it in theory, but it's getting to be all that's out there. I probably wouldn't have minded 3 years ago, but now it all feels the same.



The characters were okay, but they didn't jump of the page. Grace was rather meh as a heroine. She got to be a bit irritating when she was angsting in the middle of the book, but that could be my low angst tolerance rearing it's head yet again. The rest of the characters weren't that interesting, but weren't really uninteresting either. The characterization fell into the realm of mediocrity. Daniel very well filled the role of the dark and mysterious bad boy, but that was it. He had a little depth, but most of that came at the end so I wasn't able to really connect with him.

Overall this book was good. The message is lovely, but it suffers from being one of a multitude. It gets lost in the mass of paranormal romances. If you're a fan of the genre go ahead and grab it because it's a good read and is very good in the particular genre.

Waiting on Wednesday

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away.

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel's dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

from breedespain.com

This book sounds fascinating. I love the creep factor that I get from the summary. It looks like there will be a good deal of mystery, which is always a plus. Then there's the cover. It's beyond amazing and beautiful; it just draws me in. Kudos to whoever designed it. I've also been hearing really good things about the story (it has a quote from Lesley Livingston; come on!). I'm always up for a creepy paranormal romance. December will be a while, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.