Master of Swords (Mageverse, Book 7)

Lark McGuin is the great grand daughter of Tristan of the Round Table. She has been inducted into the Maje and to fight against the black magic that threatens to take over. After a particularly vicious vampire attack, Lark is left feeling fear and not terribly good about her abilities as a warrior. She is then paired off with Gawain and the sparks fly between them. She has never felt the instant attraction she does for him with anyone else. But, Gawain is known for his love `em and leave `em behavior. When the battle over the darkness is done, what will happen between them? Will Lark loose her heart to the knight who has deftly stolen it or will they find a happy ending together? This is a page turning effort by one of my favorite authors. Lark and Gawain will capture the readers attention from the get go. Their attraction burns hot and readers will be totally caught up in the story. Plenty of action keeps this read from being slow and we are treated to a very intriguing preview of the next hero in this series. Run don't walk and pick up this title. You won't be sorry.

Lark is actually the great granddaughter of Tristen, and when her grandfather is dying of altimisers, she digs up an old toiken her grandfather had shown her to call Tristen to her. Amazingly enough, Tristen shows up and helps her grandfather out by placing him in a retirement home/hospital for family members of his people. After doing just a great favor to Lark, he ask one in return, for her to become a maja. Lark leaves her life to do so. There is overlapping in this story from the previous one. The battle that was fought against the vampires when they attacted the mage world when they felt the dark grail treatened. Lark, just so happened to be in that battle and was not fairing so well. She was about to be sucked dry by a vampire when the battle ended when the dark grail was distroyed. Considering how the new recruits needed extra help, Arthur comes up with the plan to pair up old with new. A spell cast by Morgana pairs up Lark with Gawain. Gawain, a known womanizer, gets more than he is bargaining for with Lark. Great story. A new bad guy comes out to play in this one, plus Gawain's magical sword is so awesome.

If you are a fan of the erotic romance supernatural sub genre then this is for you. Lark is worried about her grandfather and magically summons her great grandfather Tristan to help. He recruits her as a Maje (powerful witch) in the war against evil vampires. The less experienced maje and magus (male vampire warriors) are getting killed so they are partnered with more experienced counterparts. Lark winds up with Gawain who has quite a love em and leave em reputation. Nice character development, very good plot with suitably villainous villains, but not stupid ones; and a number of good erotic scenes including a couple of light bondage--very well written and fun. There is some humor as when Gawain first seen Lark "Someone's recruited a Playboy Bunny"; "Hi my name is Bambi, I'm barely legal and love kittens and puppies...". But he is instantly attracted. The book stands alone but I recommend reading this series in sequence as they are all good reads and the whole thing makes more sense that way.

In 510 Avalon in the mageverse, Gawain of the Round Table sees six hellhounds have trapped a dragon. He intercedes and saves the dragon's life, who uses a spell so they can communicate. Kel and Gawain become friends. One year later, Kel finds he likes being in human form where he seduces the magae, but his hanging with Gawain and company upsets the other dragons. Kel's Uncle Dragon Lord Tegid fearing him casts a spell that reduces his nephew to a silver sword with his only escape being the death of his best friend Gawain. In the present, after an attack left four tyro defenders dead, King Arthur announces a new pairing. A relative newcomer will be paired with a veteran. Gawain becomes Lark's mentor. At his home, Gawain and Lark make love and he takes a bite as vampires do when they are with magae. Afterward Morgana assigns Gawain and Lark to investigate a murder. They find strong magic, but finally with Kel's help they arrive to find the sorcerer dead. They track that kill to a more powerful sorcerer Richard Edge, son of Avalon parents; but he was rejected by the community as unworthy. Now Richard has a powerful ally and owns the last of the three Black Grails. Though this delightful Camelot tale can stand alone, the tale has threads left from previous Mageverse novels like MASTER OF WOLVES and the novella "Galahad" from BITE. The strong support cast especially Kel and the Camelot crowd adds depth to the mageverse and enhances either by combat or friendship the terrific relationship between the lead couple that changes over time. A fabulous final twist involving the hero and his father add to a terrific romantic fantasy that spins the Arthurian legend into a different unique direction. Harriet Klausner

Wow! Viva Angela Knight! She has an amazing imagination, an inventive style, and let's face it, heat, heat, heat. Captive Dreams with Diane Whiteside is probably my favorite of hers, but I also read (and reread) her vampire stories for Red Sage. Since I enjoyed those books so much, I wasn't too sure about the Knights of the Round Table going vampire and their ladies becoming Maja, but I am a convert to the Mageverse. Lance and Grace initially won me over, but Lark and Gawain have surpassed them as my new favorite couple. There is real chemistry between the two characters, and it doesn't feel forced or artificial. Also, I was afraid that going mainstream was going to lower the spice level from hot to mild, but this one is Thai chili hot! An earlier reviewer commented that Ms. Knight wasn't writing for Ellora's Cave; no, indeed, she's writing for Berkeley Sensation, and I for one am glad that Sensation kept Ms. Knight's writing intact with the hot, hungry heroes and wicked love scenes that keep me buying.