Monday, March 11, 2013

Breaking the Nexus (Mythrian Realm #1) by Lindsay Avalon

Throughout history, myths and legends of extraordinary creatures have been told and retold. Fantastic tales of demons and banshees, gryphons and dragons, and of course, magic. Stories that every child grows to learn are nothing more than fantasy…or are they?

Beyond the world you see lies a hidden realm, the Mythrian Realm, inhabited by all of the creatures you’ve been told are mere fiction. Only one thing lies between humans and the truth: the Nexus. A magical barrier erected millennia ago to separate the two realms, it has stood the test of time. Until now.

For Mythrian Sha Phoenix, magic is nothing new. But when she stumbles upon a portal on the verge of collapse, her fate will forever change. Pulled through the portal into the Human Realm, she lands in the middle of Detective Connor Flynn’s brutal murder scene. Soon it is obvious someone is using blood magic to try to bring down the Nexus. Together, Connor and Sha must work to unravel the secrets before the barrier falls and the realms collide. 

The Nexus is breaking and all hell is about to unleash…literally.

Type: Paranormal Romance/ Novella
Heat: 3 out of 5
Rating: 4 out of 5

Connor lifted his head, chest heaving from exertion and a fire matching hers burning in his eyes. "Last chance, temptress." 
Her heart melted at his words. Sweet of him to give her one last opportunity to change her mind, though unnecessary. There was no turning back from this, from him. "Connor? I appreciate the gesture, but there are better uses for your mouth than trying to be chivalrous."

Breaking the Nexus was a fun, exciting read filled with action, lust, love, mystery and danger that I could have easily finished in one sitting if I'd had the time and real life had left me the heck alone. I wanted to barricade my freaking door and keep everyone out so I could just...read...a little...more and see what would happen next. I love when I find a book that pulls me in so completely.



Okay so action starts off right from the beginning with the Nexus, which basically divides a magical world from the non magical human world, being compromised and our heroine, Sha, being sucked through the portal and landing smack dab in the middle of a bloody crime scene that yummy Detective Connor will soon be investigating  Gah! Yeah, it was an excellent start- filled with suspicion and drama- and just a great way for them to meet. I loved it.

There were some really nice surprises along the way as the two felt each other out, had to learn to trust each other and deal with an overwhelming case of insta-lust while trying to figure out who was using blood magic to try and destroy the wall keeping all the magical beasties out of the human world. The action was fantastic and I really enjoyed the mixing of the two worlds and seeing the results. Makes a girl real damn glad all the creepy critters we read about are ofhso fictional and trapped in the pages of a book. Whew! Yeah it'll get your heart pounding just a wee bit.

I loved both of the main leads, Sha and Connor, and really loved his partner Ian as well. Their humor, their honor and determination. It was all amazing. They interact well and you can see the bonds forming between all of them which was really nice. Ooo and the steamy scenes between Sha and Connor? De.li.cious. I really enjoyed the balance Avalon created between the romance and action. They fit together nicely and never felt too heavy handed one way or the other.

One little warning if you only read traditional romances where everything single thing is wrapped up neat and tidy on the last page. The ending on this one? Oh it's a cliffhanger. But it's a really freaking excellent cliffhanger and I loved it! This is definitely a complete story but with how things were left book two is going to be crazy good. Avalon really sucked me into the world she created and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next for this group of characters and the new addition that was thrown into the mix at the last moment.


So what say yall? Have you read this one? 
What did you think? 

What's the favorite "meet" between a hero and heroine for you?
How do you feel about cliffhangers? Do they make you scream if frustration or in excitement for what's gonna come next?

**Using for the PNR challenge, new author challenge, why buy the cow challenge (ebook was free at time of purchase through amazon)

10 comments:

  1. I hate cliffhangers, but the book sounds good. Glad you enjoyed it.

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    1. Ahhh Aurian it was the most excellent of cliffhangers though :D They can drive me crazy sometimes but this one was perfect for setting up some excitement about the next book. I'm just counting away now until it gets releases.

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  2. I loved this book! I don't really read many fantasy romance because there's usually too many details for me to remember but I liked that this one had just enough to make it a fantasy but not too much to turn off regular romance fans.

    Adria

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    1. Woot! Yeah! Glad you liked it too :) It'll be interesting to see how she handles the next book in the series don't you think? I'm so curious about the other side of the Nexus.

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  3. Awww, this does sound good but I despise cliffhangers, they pretty much make me scream in frustration because I am so bad about keeping up with a series.

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    1. I'm pretty bad about finishing up with a series too. I have so many that I loved but by the time the next book comes out I'm so far behind in other series...

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  4. OH NO! NO,NO,NO,NO! No cliffhangers for me! I will gladly wait until all the books are out & the story has ended before I start a series with cliffhangers. I usually don't even read little teasers authors post or excerpts in the back of books if the book isn't out yet. It doesn't have to be an exciting, nail-biting cliffhanger, I won't read any book that doesn't have an ending unless I have the one that does have the final ending. I haven't read much fantasy but I might have to check this one out. It looks really good.

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    1. LOL yall are too funny on your cliffhanger stance. I guess since I read Urban Fantasy and it's used so often there it just really doesn't phase me all that much. Though I'm with ya. I do love it when the whole series is out and I can bounce from one to the next.

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  5. It's really hard these days with those dang serial books being so popular. You know the ones where the author releases about a chapter at a time & a lot of them charge a lot for a few pages. And a lot of authors don't even tell that it's an installment so you get to the end & have to wait til the next installment comes out. I have to really watch what I buy now to make sure I don't get one of those. And don't get me wrong, some authors do the serials the right way & I don't mind that at all. It's the ones that end up being $15 for 200 pages that irritate me.

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    1. Oy yeah I do not like those serials. That's not what this one is though at all. This is a complete story as it is so it's not like you're getting only part of the storyline like with the serial novels. Really hard to explain the difference it turns out. lol. Trying to think of a series I know you've read that would have something similar but the only thing I can think of is the BDB and Tohr with how his mate died in one of the books. That book was complete but his storyline was left on a cliffhanger and you know it's going to show up later on. Does that kinda make sense?

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