Great Price for $26.38

What the Night Knows Review

Karen Marie Moning may be better known for her Fever series, but her rich and occasionally rather purple, prose has been catering to romance readers' long before Mac and Barrons came into the spotlight. She was responsible for a good seven and half books of pure Highlander deliciousness, a series that ended with a bang, or should I say, multiple bangs.. Well a heck of a lot of banging, as featured in the last novel of the lot, Spell of the Highlander.

Now I generally suck at synopses, (what do you know, I got that word well spelled in the first try), so forgive me for merely relaying the gist. And what is it comprised of? Brainiac heroine, Jessica St. James, assistant to a university professor and virgin de rigueur, whose life is forever altered after reluctantly accepting a mysterious crate in said professor's name. And what does the crate contain, pray tell? Nothing but a man-sized looking glass with whole lotta ensorcelled Highlander inside. Why the hell do I only get junk mail and fast food coupons?

Needless to say, things get dangerous real quickly, as the baddie of the book, the powerful sorcerer responsible for Cian MacKeltar's sordid entrapment in the mirror wants him desperately back. His immortality is at stake if he doesn't get his hands back on his most prized possession and he's got a little over twenty days to do so. Of course he's willing to kill everyone and everything in sight to do so, including poor unfortunate Jessi.

Well, unfortunate might not be the best descriptor after all, not when Jessi decides to aid Cian in his struggle to get free from his enemy. The greedy arse mofo has kept him imprisoned within the glass for over 1000 years. Yes, Jessi's life is in jeopardy, but Cian agrees to protect her in return, and boy is he one formidable protector. He's sexy, he's huge (oh yeah... aren't they all), he's from the ninth century and his speech is peppered with the doonas and cannas any Highlander worth his salt is supposed to use. His ways may be slightly (or very) archaic, he might occasionally treat Jessi in a me-tarzan-you-jane way (and this is actually a line in the book) but who cares. Cian Mackeltar stays true to the tradition of the blindingly sensual MacKeltar men Moning already introduced us to in Kiss of the Highlander and The Dark Highlander, Books 4 and 5 respectively. True fans will be delighted to know Drustan and Dageus and their oh so lucky wives actually make an appearance in this installment.

Spell of the Highlander contains a heaping dose of all those things Karen Marie Moning enthusiast appreciate about her, an undercurrent of humor, and a larger than life alpha hero that scorches the pages with his kilted self, a slightly whiny but ultimately compelling heroine and an intricate, well thought out plot. The stakes are high in this last installment, and the battle between good and evil achieves apocalyptic proportions. And I just have to add, no one does sexual tension like this author, or at least very few excel the way she does. This may not be my favorite book in the series, as that title belongs to Kiss of the Highlander, but it's a solid four out of five read for me. Why did it loose a point? Perhaps because it just didn't affect me emotionally the same way as the aforementioned book, or Immortal Highlander (Adam Black's book) did. Nevertheless, there's still a rich, thick decadent serving of romance and action in this one. Yes, Jessi and Cian's inability to keep their hands off each other and their constant humping like energizer bunnies on any surface they could find was just a tad over the top, but hey, give me Cian and I might just turn into a Jessi myself. Like with any of Moning's Highlander books, it's made to enjoy, not to analyze. And it's quite a light, enjoyable page turner in fact.

What the Night Knows Overview

Powerful. Sensual. Seductive. He is all that is shamelessly erotic in a man. In her sexiest Highlander novel yet, New York Times bestselling author Karen Moning stirs up a sizzling brew of ancient mystery and modern passion as she brings together a devilishly handsome Celtic warrior trapped in time . . . and the woman who’s about to pay the ultimate price for freeing him. Age-old secrets haunt them. Deadly danger and irresistible desire shadow their every move. It’s a relationship for the ages. And all that separates them is a mere thirteen hundred years. . . .

Jessi St. James has got to get a life. Too many hours studying ancient artifacts has given the hardworking archaeology student a bad case of sex on the brain. So she figures she must be dreaming when she spies a gorgeous half-naked man staring out at her from inside the silvery glass of an ancient mirror. But when a split-second decision saves her from a terrifying attempt on her life, Jessi suddenly finds herself confronting six and a half feet of smoldering, insatiable alpha male.

Heir to the arcane magic of his Druid ancestors, eleven centuries ago Cian MacKeltar was trapped inside the Dark Glass, one of four coveted Unseelie Hallows, objects of unspeakable power. When the Dark Glass is stolen, an ancient enemy will stop at nothing to reclaim it, destroying everything in his path–including the one woman who may just hold the key to breaking the ninth-century Highlander’s dark spell. For Jessi, the muscle-bound sex god in the mirror is not only tantalizingly real, he’s offering his protection–from exactly what, Jessi doesn’t know. And all he wants in exchange is the exquisite pleasure of sharing her bed.

Yet even as Cian’s insatiable hunger begins to work its dark magic on Jessi, his ancient enemy is about to obtain the final and most dangerous of the Unseelie Hallows–and the ninth-century Highlander must stop him from getting it. Nothing less than the very fabric of the universe and two passionately entwined lives are at stake–as Cian and Jessi fight to claim the kind of love that comes along but once in an ice age. . . .

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

Customer Reviews

BEST SERIES EVER! - J. Cazares -
This book is a great read. It is the 7th and last in the Highlander Series (although I hope KMM comes back to it again in the future!) It is linked to her Fever series (dreamfever, faefever etc) I couldnt put it down. Each one is just as good as the last, my favorite was the Dark Highlander (dageus McKeltar is just...*sigh*) I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good 'strong' love story:) But beware... dont start this one until youve read the others, and preferably in order to get the full effects of the series! Enjoy!

A Great Set-Up For the Fever Series - Lindsay Smith - GOLETA, CA, US
Another dark highlander has arrived in the 20th Century, but this time he is not taking `no' for an answer. Cian MacKeltar is the ancestor of the two MacKeltar brothers from the previous two highlander books (Drustan and Daegus), and he is a lot more to handle. Cian is a dark sorcerer, as well as a Druid with skills more advanced than Daegus himself.

The highlanders are becoming increasingly powerful, and dark, but as always a woman is found who can help tame him. Jessica St. Clare is an excellent student, studying archaeology at a university. One day she is asked to accept an artifact for her professor, and lock it up in his office since the delivery is rather late in the night.

She opens up the crate to discover a silver mirror that gives off a strange vibe. Jessica thinks she is insane when she believes that she sees an extremely dark, handsome and sexy man in the mirror, but quickly shakes the thought away. That is, until the next day when she is locking up her professor's office once again, and a man attempts to kill her. Her only hope is to trust this man in the mirror, who appears to protect her, if only she will say the spell that will release him. Little does she know, that though releasing him will also release a rollercoaster of emotions and adventure as she and him have to work together to keep each other alive.

This is because Cian MacKeltar has been trapped in the mirror for 2000 years by another dark sorcerer. What kept him sane, was his sole desire to destroy the man who sealed him away, finally getting revenge. When he meets Jessica he is instantly reminded of his dark past full of sins, and the 2000 years of pent up sexual energy he has inside of him.

What was strange to me on this Highlander novel, was I just didn't like Cian. He did not seduce me as the other highlander's did, in fact I felt more repelled. Maybe he was too dangerous for my liking, or maybe he just didn't seem real enough. However, I really liked Jessica. She was very real and likeable, and one of the strongest heroines yet in the series. Jessica was most resistant to the seduction of Cian, but she at least knew that it was inevitable that she would fall into his arms.

Even though Cian wasn't my favorite, he was still interesting, and the plot development in the book furthered the development of the overall plot of this series, as well as setting up and foreshadowing the dark fever series. I also love that the other MacKeltar brothers come back and help out in this one, especially since I am a hardcore Daegus fan, and even the mere mention of him excites me.

The growth I have seen in Monning over the course of this series is tremendous. This series is no longer just straight romance with a bit of time travel, but an intricate plot has been interwoven. Monning is brilliant in the sense that I never saw it coming. I highly recommend the last four books of the Highlander series (Kiss of the Highlander, The Immortal Highlander, The Dark Highlander, and this one) to anyone who has read the Dark Fever series and needs something to whet their appetite in anticipation for the final book.

Service Review - D. M. Wolfe - Nashville, TN
The book was received promptly & in excellent condition. I will buy from here again!

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 03, 2010 19:24:05

Books Science Fiction & Fantasy

Friday, September 3, 2010