Storm's Heart (Elder Races, #2... Storm's Heart (Elder Races, #2) by Thea Harrison

• Title: Storm's Heart (A Novel of the Elder Races)
• Classification: Adult Fiction
• Genre: Paranormal Romance
• Format: Paperback, 336 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (August 2, 2011)
• ISBN-10: 0425242668
• ISBN-13: 978-0425242667
• Author's Website: http://www.theaharrison.com/

In Dragon Bound, Thistle Periwinkle, aka Tricks, revealed she was the long lost heir to the Dark Fae throne. Over 200 years ago, Tricks, known then as Niniane Lorelle, fled for her life after seeing her mother and brothers assassinated by her uncle and his men. She fled to the Wyr Demesne where Dragos, the leader of the Wyrs, took her in and kept her safe. She was treated like family and became the PR (Public Relations) spokesperson for Cuelebre Enterprises, a wyr owned business, in 1960s. She is a high profile individual and loved by many. When her uncle was killed (by Drago's command), she decided it was time to stake her claim and come out of hiding. Now, only weeks after her "big" reveal, she has disappeared. The only clue as to what happened is some footage someone shot on their cell phone. From that bit of video, it appeared Niniane was attacked by other Dark Fae, one of whom was a relative. Tiago, one of Dragos' sentinels, was sent to try to find Niniane and keep her safe.

Thea Harrision takes her world building one step farther in 'Storm's Heart' by giving us a brief look into the political goings-on of the elder races. She gives us a glimpse of some of the alliances that exist and how they are formed among the elder races. We are introduced to the leader of the Nightkind, Carling as well as some of the key players of the Dark Fae world. While Niniane is smart and popular, she'll now have to learn how to delicately maneuver the political minefields which exist. Not an easy task when one or more individuals want you dead. With Tiago's and other of her wyr friends, she'll attempt to find out who is leading the attacks on her life and try to stay alive.

Amongst all the drama and chaos Niniane starts to fall for Tiago. A political no no as many of the elder races do not approve of interspecies mixing. She'll have to decide if being Queen is worth giving up on love or not. She'll come to the conclusion that she'll need to marry someone powerful in the Dark Fae community if she wishes to take her rightful place and stay alive. 

Niniane (Tricks) was quite a complicated heroine. She's smart and strong yet vulnerable. She still has issues from her uncle's betrayal which left her family dead. Compound that with the fact another relative recently attempted to kill her and you have one insecure person. While I kind of cringed at all the picking up and carrying of Niniane that Tiago did, I sort of felt that was the kind of caring she needed. She needed to be pampered and cradled by someone. Her life was so out of control she needed someone to ground her and, in a way, I felt that is what Tiago did. He tried to physically show her that she didn't have to do everything by herself. He'd take some of the burden.

Sadly, there was one line that turned me off in this book--Tiago tells Niniane, “I want to f@ck your mouth.” I'm sorry, but I just don't find that a particularly sexy declaration. I'd rather be doused by a bucket of ice cold water (which the statement had the equivalency of)  than have a guy (hubby included) say that to me. That statement knocked one rose off my rating. It's my rule of thumb not to knock off more than one rose when something in a book doesn't particularly appeal to me. I try to rate the book as a whole and not just focus on the one thing or things that bothered me. I sincerely hope we won't be seeing that said in any other romances, but then again I'm sure some people actually did like the line. I just don't happen to be one of them. On a more positive note, I really liked everything else and the book still gets a high rating from me.

If you disregard the above statement by Tiago, the heat between Tiago and Niniane is sizzling. I loved the complications which developed because of Niniane's political aspirations. Tiago is very much an Alpha male and at times his "dominance" made me want to whack him over the head, yet at other times it made him seem rather endearing. I kept going back and forth about my feelings about him, but by the end I really liked him.

So this book inspired another song to dance through my head. My chosen theme song for Tiago is 'Tonight (I'm loving you)'  by Enrique Iglesias. At one point in the book Tiago states (to himself, but not openly to Tricks) that they'll be lovers and that is when the song 'Tonight' started dancing through my head.  

On the Lisarenee Romance Rating Scale, this one gets a STEAM rating - too hot for a fan, but you still have a handle on things. You should use extreme caution when reading a book with this rating in public. People may inquire as to why you look flustered and flushed.  Overall, this one gets 3 1/2 out of 5 roses. Still love the world Thea Harrison created and will definitely continue reading the next book in the series.

Order of the series: