Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan

Hello everybody!

I hope you're all having a fab weekend. Liz and Mark kindly invited me to join the review team at MyFavouriteBooks, so here I am, adding a touch of romance to Teen Action, Fantasy Flair and Sci-Fi Battles. This is my first post and I'm just getting used to blogger, so please bare with me should the post turns upside down or everything is written in pink with hearts floating above the text. Also, despite my ferocious reading, spelling and grammar are not my strong point, so please read forgivingly.


And without further ado, on to my first review:


Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan

In case you’re not familiar with this series, let me give you a little background. The Drake women are seven sisters who all have psychic powers. One sister, for example, can heal, another has a magical voice and a third can control the weather, wind in particular. Each sister has her own story, check out Christine’s website http://www.christinefeehan.com/drake_sisters/index.php or the UK publisher Piatkus http://www.piatkus.co.uk/Search?Search=christine+feehan . As the youngest of the seven sisters it falls to Elle to continue the legacy. This means she has all the powers and she will have the seven daughters who will inherit the magic (talk about pressure).

Here is the blurb:

From afar, Sheriff Jackson Deveau has always loved Elle Drake, the youngest telepath of seven magically gifted sisters. After a long time away she's finally returning home to the small coastal village of Sea Haven. But someone has been following Elle, someone who doesn't want her to make it back. And when Elle fails to arrive, her disappearance strikes fear in the hearts of everyone who loves her. Now it's left to Jackson to uncover the mystery of Elle's vanishing, and rescue her from an unseen danger. But Sea Haven is no longer safe for anyone, and it'll take the powers of all the Drake sisters and their men to survive the coming storm.

What this dramatic sounding blurb doesn’t say is that Elle has been kidnapped by a man thought to be involved in human trafficking. Elle worked undercover, trying to find proof, but Stavros, who also has psychic gifts, tricked her into believing he is harmless. Which, believe me, he is not. I will not spoil the story and give away the tricks up his sleeve but, trust me, he is not somebody you want to meet in a dark alley.

The first 100 pages are not an easy read. Christine Feehan doesn’t hold back any of the pain and trauma Elle has to endure at the hands of her kidnapper and shows clearly the fragility of Elle’s mental state. It is only after Jackson finally manages to ascertain Elle’s location and helps her escape, that you can take a breath and relax (a little bit).

Elle’s and Jackson’s relationship is at the heart of this beautifully written story. Both have experienced heartbreak and trauma, and you follow these two damaged souls as they struggle to find their way together. I have to say, for me, their chemistry and connection jumped off the pages (one of the most important important aspects of a romance novel). That doesn’t mean that the book is all heart-ache and kisses. On the contrary, evil Stavros doesn’t give up and pursues Elle with his psychic powers, putting her whole family at risk. Magnificent magical battle ensues. The way Christine Feehan plots the final confrontation is pure genius and not something you could have ever imagined (well, at least I wouldn’t have thought of it).

I have read and re-read every single book ever written by Christine Feehan and I have to say that “Hidden Currents” is one of my favourites. The way Jackson and Elle grow as a couple, the heartbreaking as well as funny moments along the way really kept me glued to my seat and reading. If you’re looking for a book that has you biting your nails with anxiety, crying with the character’s pain, laughing out loud at the banter between Jackson and Elle and on the edge of your seat, skim-reading to find out what’s going to happen next, well, I’d say this is the book for you. I know for sure that, despite having read it twice already, on the next rainy day I'll be curled up in my chair and re-reading "Hidden Currents".

(For any younger readers who are reading this review, “Hidden Currents” is an adult romance novel and includes bad language and sex.)

Hidden Currents is published by Piatkus and out now.

Small Favour, Jim Butcher

No one's tried to kill Harry Dresden for almost an entire year, and his life finally seems to be calming down. For once, the future looks fairly bright. But the past casts one hell of a long shadow.

An old bargain has placed Harry in debt to Mab, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, the Queen of Air and Darkness-and she's calling in her marker. It's a small favor he can't refuse...one that will trap Harry Dresden between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally, and one that will strain his skills-and loyalties-to their very limits.

It figures. Everything was going too well to last...

---

More than his magic, Harry is defined by his ability to get himself into deep trouble without any effort and his stubborn loyalty to his friends and personal ‘code’, even if he wouldn’t necessarily describe it as that himself.

Harry and the usual cast of the Dresden Files are so well established that Jim has the luxury of catapulting us into the thick of things within the first dozen pages, and from then on, solidly hooked, you have no choice but to hold on tight for the rest of the ride.

And what a ride! White knuckles all the way as Harry goes up against a full contingent of fallen angels, while trying to keep his friends alive, friendships intact, and trying to escape the machinations of the Sidhe courts. I really enjoyed the tangible impression of how Harry has grown and matured since Storm Front (the first in the series); he’s not quite embittered by his experiences, but you do start getting a sense of the toll the war has taken on him personally; as a result, he's that much more believable. Not some super-hero above us all, just another Joe trying to do his best.

If you’re a Dresden fan (who isn't?), you probably won’t need much in the way of encouragement to get your hands on this. If you’re not, well, you’d be better served starting from Storm Front and working your way up to the current instalment; newcomers to the series won’t get many of the references or the depth of the characters shared history. It would certainly be worth the investment.

But then, I wouldn’t expect people to jump into a series at the tenth book in the first place.


I found myself reading this book anywhere I could, like an alcoholic trying to sneak a drink in rehab.

Ace!