Review: Night Veil - Yasmine Galenorn

Eons ago, vampires tried to turn the dark Fae in order to harness their magic, only to create a demonic enemy more powerful than they could have imagined.  Led by Myst, Queen of the Indigo Court the Vampiric Fae have been quietly amassing their strength for centuries.  Now they are determined to enslave the world, and only one witch stands in their way . . .

Cicely Waters grew up believing she was simply one of the magic-born - a witch who can control the wind - but when she returned home to New Forest, Washington, she discovered she was also one of the shifting Fae.  Now she must perfect her gift.  For Myst has captured Grieve, the Fae Prince who holds Cicely's heart.  To save both her beloved Grieve and her friend Kaylin - whose demon is waking - Cicely must journey to the depths of the Indigo Court.

But even as Cicely gathers strength, old alliances are breaking faith.  And new allies, like the hedonistic vampire Lannon Altos, promise to take Cicely down a far darker path than she's ever traveled before.

Indigo Court Series:
Night Myst
Night Veil
Night Seeker (2012)

Visit Yasmine Galenorn's website for more information

Review:
Night Veil picks up the story just a few days after the ending of Night Myst and is another great installment in Yasmine Galenorn's Indigo Court series.  This is a series that I would suggest reading in order & this review will probably include slight spoilers for the first book so if you haven't read it yet then I wouldn't recommend reading any further.

Cicely and her friends are preparing for war against the Vampiric Fae and Cicely is determined to rescue her soul mate Grieve from Myst's clutches.  The dangers are great and Cicely knows that the vampires and fae who claim to be her allies have their own agendas and are happy to use her to get what they want.  What she is having trouble figuring out is how to stop being caught in the middle and becoming collateral damage along the way.  With friends becoming enemies and enemies behaving like friends it is impossible for her to know who can be trusted.  Can she find a way to rescue Grieve or has he been lost to her forever?

Night Veil is a fast paced story and there were plenty of twists and turns that shocked me along the way.  I think the story was a little less dark than the first one (there were less scenes with Lannon taking advantage of Cicely for example) but that isn't necessarily a bad thing and there is still a lot of action.  Cicely is growing into her new abilities, she is still protective of those she cares about and she takes a lot of responsibility on her shoulders to try and keep everyone safe.  We learn more about her past life with Grieve and see why their connection is so strong and we also find out more about why Myst is so keen to destroy Cicely and her friends.  There are some shocking betrayals along with a few surprising alliances forming and I'll be really interested to see how this plays out in the next book.

It was good to get to know the side characters better - I love Cicely's cousin Rhiannon and am pleased to see her harnessing her powers, I'm curious about how the changes in Kaylin will affect him in the future and I'm looking forward to finding out more about Luna.  I still don't feel like I know Grieve well enough to have fallen for him but it was good to discover more about his past and I'm hoping he'll have a larger role to play as the series continues.

If you enjoyed Night Myst you'll like Night Veil even more, some loose ends are tied up and although the story doesn't end on a major cliffhanger it sets things up well for the next book - Night Seeker.  I'd definitely recommend the series to urban fantasy fans and am looking forward to getting my hands on the next installment.

Source: Received from Turnaround in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Review: Night Myst - Yasmine Galenorn

Eons ago, vampires tried to turn the dark Fae in order to harness their magic, only to create a demonic enemy more powerful than they could have imagined.  Having quietly amassed their strength for centuries, the Vampiric Fae are determined to enslave the world.  Now Myst, Queen of the Indigo Court, is rising again - and a long-prophesied war is about to begin . . .

Cicely Waters, a witch who can control the wind, has returned home to New Forest, Washington, after learning that her family is in danger.  The Indigo Court holds the city in fear.  People are vanishing, and strange deaths plague the town.  And when she is swept into an unexpected and passionate reunion with Grieve, the Fae prince who taught her how to harness the wind, Cicely finds herself with a fierce and territorial lover.

But Grieve has become enslaved by Myst's court, and now, caught between two evils, the lovers must survive the machinations of the Vampiric Fae queen, even as Cicely untangles the hidden secrets to her own heritage.

Indigo Court Series:
Night Myst
Night Veil
Night Seeker (2012)

Visit Yasmine Galenorn's website for more information

Review:
It has been years since Cicely last returned to her family's home, she was brought up by her junkie mother and they were always on the road, running from dealers they owed money to and looking for her mother's next fix.  But as soon as she finds out that her aunt and cousin are in danger Cicely knows it is time to go back and help protect them.  She could never have imagined the danger she will have to face though, she always thought the vampires were bad but that was before she found out about the Indigo Court - the court of the Vampiric Fae.

This is the first book I've read by Yasmine Galenorn but it definitely won't be the last!  Night Myst is a dark and gritty urban fantasy that leaves you never quite sure how the characters will survive to the end and it makes for gripping reading.  As can often be the case with the first book of a series there were times when I was a little confused about the rules of the world and the different abilities the characters had but once the story got going and I'd figured out who everyone was I didn't want to put it down.

Cicely has spent years protecting both herself and her mother and living a nomadic lifestyle so she is street smart and knows how to look after herself.  There are a few times when she walks into danger without thinking things through though so she is by no means a perfect heroine.  She is willing to admit her mistakes though and she is prepared to ask for and accept help from her friends which is something I admired.  I was really interested in her abilities and I loved the way her wind elemental, Ulean, looks out for her and warns her about coming dangers.  It does feel at times that she is completely out of her depth, the vampires in this story are pure evil but even saying that they are nowhere near as bad as the vampiric fae.  Cicely is forced into working with her enemies because they are the lesser of two evils but it doesn't take her long to realise she has made a bargain with the devil.  I'm hoping that we get to see her stand up for herself more as the series progresses and she learns to have better control over her magical powers.

The story moves along at a fast pace with Cicely and her friends facing danger at every turn.  We are introduced to a great selection of characters and I'm looking forward to getting to know all of them better.  I'm not sure why but I have a really bad feeling about her cousin's boyfriend Leo, I'll just have to wait and see if that feeling is justified.  While I liked Grieve and could see why Cicely is attracted to him I didn't get to know him well enough to fall for him yet.  He is definitely sexy, I liked the connection between them and am going to enjoy discovering more about their history in the next book.

Night Myst ends on quite a cliffhanger and I'm just glad that I've already got my copy of the next book, Night Veil, so I can find out what happens next.  There is plenty of scope for where Yasmine Galenorn can take the series so I'm looking forward to discovering which directions she chooses.  This is a strong start to a new series that I'm sure will only get better with each book, I'd highly recommend it if you like your urban fantasy dark and at times disturbing.  I'm definitely going to have to check out the authors Otherworld series too.

Source: Received from Turnaround in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
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