Jennifer’s review of Winterblaze by Kristen Callihan

TITLE: Winterblaze
AUTHOR: Kristen Callihan
PUBLICATION DATE: 02/26/13
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS: Once blissfully in love….Poppy Lane is keeping secrets. Her powerful gift has earned her membership in the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals, but she must keep both her ability and her alliance with the Society from her husband, Winston. Yet when Winston is brutally attacked by a werewolf, Poppy’s secrets are revealed, leaving Winston’s trust in her as broken as his body. Now Poppy will do anything to win back his affections….

Their relationship is now put to the ultimate test… Winston Lane soon regains his physical strength but his face and heart still bears the scars of the vicious attack. Drawn into the darkest depths of London, Winston must fight an evil demon that wants to take away the last hope of reconciliation with his wife. As a former police inspector, Winston has intelligence and logic on his side. But it will take the strength of Poppy’s love for him to defect the forces that threaten to tear them apart.

REVIEW:
I have been waiting a long time to finally learn Poppy and Winston’s story and Kristen Callihan doesn’t disappoint in her latest installment in the Darkest London series. This is a heart-wrenching tale of a couple that has to battle a demon from the depths of hell to protect their true love. Poppy has always been an interesting character to me as the oldest Ellis sister and we finally learn her supernatural ability that she has gone to great lengths to keep hidden. Poppy was also protecting other deep dark secrets in this novel that would threaten to destroy her relationship with her husband and her family if they became known. I was quite irritated with Winston’s character in the beginning because he had separated from Poppy when he learned one of these secrets and instead of standing by her, decided it was best that they go their separate ways. This secret destroyed his image of Poppy and considering he was holding secrets of his own, made me angry with his character. Poppy was such a strong character in my eyes with all the responsibilities that she had to deal with and had wanted to make the best of the situation even if it meant not living with her husband anymore.

During the course of the novel, they were able to make amends and join forces to hunt a deadly demon, Isley, who threatened Winston’s life and his future with Poppy. He was intent on taking Winston’s soul unless Winston was able to discover the identity of a Moira Darling and the object that she had stolen from this deadly demon. The journey to find Moira Darling brought Poppy and Win closer together but also unearthed secrets that neither had wanted to come to light. I enjoyed learning about Poppy and Winston’s relationship and courtship which appeared via flashbacks during the course of this novel. Kristen is an amazingly talented author and each novel seems to be better than its predecessor in this dazzling paranormal Victorian world. I can’t wait to read her next novel, Shadowdance, which continues the adventures of Jack Talent and the beautiful yet elusive Mary Chase.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.