I am a reader. The thought of going without my books is inconceivable. For the most part, I have my favorites, books that are a comfort no matter what my life throws at me. When I was little, the books were something I needed. I travelled with a copy of “Little Women”. Jo and Beth, Meg and Amy were very real to me. I read that book until it literally fell apart – but it did not matter since they became a part of my brain. I know that they came from another persons brain. I know how much they meant to me. But it wasn’t just them. It was Anne of Green Gables and Pippi Longstocking and Cutter and Leetah. It was Amelia Bedelia and Bedknobs and Broomsticks and a magical doorway to Narnia that kept my imagination in thrall. It was the thought of Tesseracts and the pagentry of fantasy novels and the words of a bard. Its the words of Elizabeth Dickinson and the words of Keats. And, slowly, it became what was the fabric of my life. The threads I can remember, as well as the ones that I didn’t incorporate into my world view.
As an adult, I read everything and found myself finding more companions. Around other things that happened in the real world, there too were the characters of Anne Rice, Nora Roberts and Guy Gavriel Kay. And something amazing came from the books. It was friends who were only a few pages away. They were never too busy. It was the knowledge that, just by reading a book đ, I could recapture where I was when I read it the first time as well as some of the minutia I had missed the first time around because I wanted to know what happened. Knowing what happened meant I could pay more attention to the characters that were secondary. And, there were times in my adult life when I had to read those treasured pages one word at a time. It was harder that way.
All of this was a little bit away from my main point. I said I was a reader and I am. It means that I escape into those other worlds and learn the rules… Whether it is based on mythology or vampires, society or shapeshifters it gave me an escape and a place to hope and dream about, while my body betrayed me. I also, somewhere along the way, developed a rule that if I started a book, I finished it. And, then, I found myself feeling a drive to finish a series, even if it wasn’t up to my standards. But, I started this blog to highlight one of my favorite authors and the two heroines of her novels. Karen Chance reminded me why she held a place among my favorites with Dragon’s Claw. It’s the latest release of the Dorina Basarab plot line which is a companion to the Cassandra Palmer series. I realized that I had missed Dory and Marlowe. And, reading it, I felt that excitement that comes from a new adventure and some old friends. I cannot wait for the next story.
I have long been a Sherrilyn Kenyon fan and continue to be one. Although the newest series did not live up to my expectations, I am a fan of her worlds. I love the complex mythology and am constantly amazed by how varied her world has become. It is a vast network of various mythologies and yet somehow they all seamlessly interact. This is truly an amazing feat given that Egyptian and Greek and Sumerian Pantheons were never meant to mix. This book promised explanations of Falcyn’s origins and perhaps even his orneriness. This book did indeed explain Falcyon and his surliness.
I love the Dark Hunter world as well as the Were Hunter and Lords of Avalon worlds. I loved this book, as it returns to the stories that are as typical as a book by Sherrilyn Kenyon can be in that they are all atypical. This book was a little bit difficult for me as there are so very many story lines and interrelationships to try and keep straight. Even using the website as a cheat sheet, when the Lords of Avalon, dragon, were hunters and dark hunter worlds intersect things can become complicated and this book added in the Apollites as well. Put a cameo in by Simi and you have all the parts of Kenyon’s world in one place.  It seems that this book may be a two for one in that Blaise makes a romantic connection as well.
So, my review of this book is overwhelmingly positive. My only complaint is that I have trouble keeping everything straight and that is a failing on my part but given that we book 28 and the length of some of those novels, I’m going to give myself a break. And admit I used Sherrilyn Kenyon.com as a cheat sheet when I got a little confused, but I figure that is why the character directory is there.
There is nothing in the universe the cursed dragon, Falcyn, hates more than humanity . . . except Greek humans. In a war he wanted no part of, they systematically destroyed everything heâd ever cared for. Now he waits for the day when evolution will finally rid him of the human vermin. Medea was born the granddaughter of the Greek god Apollo, and among the first of his people that he cursed to die. But she will not let anyone rule her life. Not even her notorious grandfather. And when Apollo sends a new plague to destroy what remains of her people, she refuses to stand by and watch him take everything she loves from her again. This time, she knows of a secret weapon that can stop the ancient god and his army of demons. Once and for all. However, said device is in the hands of a dragon who wants nothing to do with politics, the gods, humanity, demons or Apollites. And especially not her. He is the immovable object. She is the unstoppable force . . . When Apollo makes a strategic move that backfires, he forces Falcyn back into play. Now Medea either has the weapon she needs to save her people, or sheâs unleashed total Armageddon. If she canât find some way to control the dragon before itâs too late, Falcyn will be an even worse plague on the world than the one Apollo has set loose. But how can anyone control a demonic dragon whose sole birthright is world annihilation?
I have long been a fan of Karen Chanceâs body of work. I am a loyal fan and have remained undaunted in the face of all the machinations of the publisher and publishing machine. Karen Chance has long kept the faith with her readers. She often offers free stories that add to her published works to create a more complex, multifaceted and fulfilling world in which all her novels take place. Readers who only read the novels from the publishing house lose a lot of the details and the joy of seeing the characters in multiple lights. All that being said, Karen Chanceâs Cassandra Palmer novel Ride the Storm has been one of the most anticipated novels in my memory. This is not the fault of Karen Chance and that cannot be said firmly enough. The publishing house has been moving dates on this novel for over a year with little to no explanation.
The previous book, Reap the Wind was judged too long by the publisher when submitted by the author. This led to a quick rewrite and the split of the book almost in half. This also left an unfulfilled feeling at the end of Reap the Wind. Many plotlines were left hanging, which left some readers unhappy and the continuous manipulation by the publishers with moving dates and little communication lost even more of the fan base. Ride the Storm is the second half of the previous book with a little bit of newer information which furthers the plot of the Cassandra Palmer novels.
I was recently asked by a friend to explain the Cassie Palmer novels and I drew a bit of a blankâhow do you explain such a complicated and multifaceted storyline as the one Karen Chance has created? I told her she just needs to read it and we will talk about it once she has. To say that all of the Cassie Palmer novels are fast paced is kind of like saying a quadruple shot espresso is a little bit energizing. These books move along at a frenetic pace and always have plot twists that are unexpected to say the least. It is impossible to have predicted where the main characters end up at the beginning of this book, let alone at the end of the book.
So much happens in this book to move the plot along that after reading it 3 times, I am still finding new details to enjoy. This is not a book to start when you have a deadline coming up or really anything planned. Depending on your reading speed and availability, you should plan to be unavailable until you can finish the book. This is not one you are going to want to put down as there are no really good stopping places. My recommendation is to start it on a Friday so you can have the weekend to take a break from reality and a trip into the Cassandra Palmer universe.
This book brings resolution to a lot of the ongoing plot lines that readers have been gnashing their teeth to know. We find out why MIrcea is so interested in Pythias. We get to see Pritkin rescued. We get to see Cassie find her feet and establish her own space independent of all the forces tearing at her. We learn more about Cassieâs parents. Dorina and Cassie finally meet. We go careening through the story and learn so much along the way that itâs hard to even begin to summarize it so I am not going to even try.  Despite this, there is a seeming resolution to the love triangle between Cassie, Mircea and Pritkin but it is open ended enough that I see it more as an affirmation of the fact that Cassie has complicated emotions and feelings for both men.
This book is a solid addition to the Cassandra Palmer world and yet leaves a lot of storylines open for more exploration. It is my sincere hope that Karen Chance continues to publish Cassandra Palmer books for a very long time. In order for that to happen, fans have to not only buy this book, but review it. Talk about it with friends and build it up so that the publishers contract with Karen Chance for more Cassie Palmer books.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received an ARC ebook in return for this review.
Ride the Storm
Cassandra Palmer
Karen Chance
Paranormal
Berkeley
August 1, 2017
606
The New York Times bestselling author of Reap the Wind returns to the âfascinating worldâ* of Cassie Palmer. Ever since being stuck with the job of pythia, the chief seer of the supernatural world, Cassie Palmer has been playing catch up. Catch up to the lifetime's worth of training she missed being raised by a psychotic vampire instead of at the fabled pythian court. Catch up to the powerful, and sometimes seductive, forces trying to mold her to their will. It's been a trial by fire that has left her more than a little burned. But now she realizes that all that was the just the warm up for the real race. Ancient forces that once terrorized the world are trying to return, and Cassie is the only one who can stop them...
âItâs the knitters. Theyâve declared war. And the crocheters are geared up for the siege.â Pause. âWhat now?â âThe knitters. You know. The K.I.N.K.s and C.O.C.K.s.â Jean barked out a laugh and set off into a howling giggle fit. âUhngâŚhuh?â was the only thing I had to offer. Ryder coughed, and then laughed, a deep, warm sound that made me want to press myself closer to him so I could wallow in the joy there. Even Shoe and Hatter chuckled. Roy, just shook his head. âYouâre all children.â Bathin wasnât laughing, but he intently took in our reactions. He almost looked pleased. Which, okay, I hadnât known him for even a day yet, but I would have expected him to be sort of into pain and suffering, not a bunch of people laughing over a couple acronyms. âDelaney,â Bertie scolded. âThis is serious.â âRight. Yes. Serious. Okay. So the knitters, thatâs the K.I.N.K.s?â Bertie nodded. âThe K.I.N.K.s have threatened the C.O.C.Ks?â âWouldaâ thought theyâd be into that,â Hatter delivered deadpan. âDid they forget their safeword?â Shoe asked. Jeanâs howl turned into a hissy wheeze. Both men grinned at her reaction. She waved at them, trying to make them stop. Bertie arched her eyebrows. âPerhaps we should head to the engagement before the members get out of hand and things take a turn for the worseNope. Sheâd started this. And Hatter wasnât going to miss a chance to make Jean choke on her tongue. âIf youâre hard up, Shoe and I can whip those C.O.C.Ks into shape. Shoeâs got lots of practice. He can whip C.O.C.K. with one hand tied behind his back. I hear he likes it that way.â Shoe nodded, his serious expression unyielding. âHatter has a lot of experience with K.I.N.K. Heâs a master at dominating those kinds of situations.â Jean wrapped her good arm across her ribs and whispered. âHurts. Stop. Oh, gods.â
Keep your gods close and your monsters closer... Police Chief Delaney Reed thinks she knows all of Ordinary, Oregonâs secrets. Gods on vacation, lovelorn ghosts, friendly neighborhood monsters? Check. But some secrets run deeper than even she knows. To take down an ancient vampire hell-bent on revenge, she will have to make the hardest decision of her life: give up the book of dark magic that can destroy them all, or surrender her mortal soul. As she weighs her options, Delaney discovers she can no longer tell the difference between allies keeping secrets and enemies telling the truth. Questioning loyalties and running out of time, Delaney must choose sides before a kidnapping turns into murder, before rival crochet and knit gangs start a war, and before the full moon rises to signal the beginning of Ordinaryâs end.
âGrief is a terrible houseguest,â he said. âIt shows up when we least expect it and leaves long after itâs overstayed its welcome.â His eyes darkened, and he stared into his empty beer glass. –Devon Monk, Death and Relaxation
Death and Relaxation
Ordinary Magic
Devon Mark
Paranormal Romance
OddHouse Press
(June 18, 2016)
324 pages
Monsters, gods, and mayhem... Police Chief Delaney Reed can handle the Valkyries, werewolves, gill-men and other paranormal creatures who call the small beach town of Ordinary, Oregon their home. Itâs the vacationing gods who keep her up at night. With the famous rhubarb festival right around the corner, small-town tensions, tempers, and godly tantrums are at an all-time high. The last thing Delaney needs is her ex-boyfriend reappearing just when she's finally caught the attention of Ryder Bailey, the one man she should never love. No, scratch that. The actual last thing she needs is a dead body washing ashore, especially since the dead body is a god. Catching a murderer, wrestling a god power, and re-scheduling the apocalypse? Just another day on the job in Ordinary. Falling in love with her childhood friend while trying to keep the secrets of her town secret? Thatâs gonna take some work
@bestbooklover
Once he is healed enough to actually take control of the sex he is still not willing to let Cassie in at all. Cassie trusts him to not kill her but he doesnât and he doesnât want to get any more vulnerable to Cassie and so he limits it to oral sex and her orgasm.
Yeah good point. While Rosierâs prohibition was still in effect, that applies to demon sex, so he was held back more by his own figurative demons I think. It also highlights that Cassie and Pritkin never really make a conscious decision (about being intimate) that they commit to. Without external pressure, neither of them would initiate it.
@windsurfingthroughhell said:
Idk, I just have weird and particular ideas about consent and autonomy. I donât like people making choices for Cassie, especially as regards her body, but this particular instance of it bothers me less than say, that Mircass scene in TtD, because Pritkin didnât compromise her ability to consent, Rosier did, and he also apologised for it later
As @bestbooklover mentions, Cassie consented to the process at the start. What Iâm curious about is why weâre all focusing on Cassie, when she was a deliberate, initiative-taking active party in the whole ordeal. It was Pritkin who was unconscious, who had his body intimately handled without his awareness or prior consent. He didnât ask Cassie for sexual help, even though he could have; he would have never touched her in any of the scenes if not for Cassieâs demands/actions to ensure that he does.
And even when he does yield to her, he is clearly very conflicted. He is torn and upset, more so than Cassie ever was about any of her sexual encounters. It is him, not Cassie, who is broken and guilt-ridden and angry and catatonically traumatized in the shower, itâs not Cassie who needs comfort, itâs Pritkin. And Cassie has just forced him to relive his worst nightmare and do things he hates and shuns on his own volition.
I did make a satire post about this around April to illustrate double standards and biases, but since nobody addressed Pritkinâs consent, it proves that this topic might be worth a more serious post. Iâm not sure whether itâs actually the books or the fandom that focuses so much on Cassieâs more minor experiences and ignores far more traumatic events for other characters, but consent should be a non-gendered topic, just like physical violence (the trivialization of which Cassie also does in the books).
Yay! Â I love it when we all start talking!
@freespeechfandom has some valid points.  As we move through the books, there are some issues regarding Pritkinâs consent.  However, if we waited for Pritkin to agree to be healed through his incubus side by Cassie-he would have died first.  Pritkin definitely has a hero complex and has consistently maintained that Cassie would be better off letting him go.  I agree that consent is a two sided issue and would love to see a well adjusted Pritkin so we could discuss his consent without his suicidal starving of his incubus and his outright denial of his feelings for Cassie.
As for why I keep talking about Cassie-in my opinion the whole series is about Cassie. Â So I am cassie-centric in my thoughts and posts.
I think Cassie supports Pritkin in the shower.  I think she tries as hard as she can to be his friend.  Now admittedly Cassie jumped into the deep end of friend and love interactions from the time she first comes to the Senate against her will.  Cassie has never had a friend or a lover or even a real bodyguard other than Billie Joe and a hell raising, card cheating ghost from the 1800â˛s isnt exactly the best template for friendship.
I will be the first to admit that within the books there are boundary issues all around and there is more than enough for everyone!
Iâm doing my review for both chapters (a) because Iâm lazy and behind on my posts and (b) because I usually read these two chapters together anyway and I have trouble separating them in my mind.
Chapter 26 is is kind of a strange chapter, because you have such a contrast between what is happening and why it is happening. Â Cassie and Pritkin have sex, and itâs very intimate, but the reason for it is because itâs the only way to save Pritkinâs life. Â The contrast heightens the tension exponentially. Â The whole chapter feels on edge – will this actually save Pritkin? Â Will he go too far and kill Cassie by accident? Â Will Caleb interfere?
And to make an already awful situation even more difficult, Rosier shows up and puts a compulsion on Cassie.  Itâs kind of squicky, and he doesnât help anything by saying âLet Daddy helpâ, but I appreciate that he wants to save his son.  It gets the job done, and thatâs honestly the focus of both Cassie and Rosier at this point.
Okay, I admit – I am shipper trash enough to squee over Cassie and Pritkin having a sexual encounter. Â But Chapter 27 moves us from the hot-but-dangerous sex to the emotional fallout. Â And, oh man. Â There is some serious fallout.
This is the chapter of emotional intimacy, and KC does not pull her punches. Â Iâm talking, of course, about the one and only shower hug scene.
*deep breath*
I donât think there has been another scene with the emotional weight of this one. Â KC has written dozens of other scenes that make me feel all the feelings, but this is the one that catches my attention before any of the others. Â
Cassie and Pritkin are kind of literally and emotionally naked with each other, and KC shows us this with almost no dialogue. Â In a few short paragraphs, we clearly see how much they care about each other and depend on each other, and not just in the saving-each-other way. Â The depth of their trust in each other is so obvious here. Â Both of them tend to repress a lot, but they donât tend to hide from each other. Â Itâs a gorgeous scene, and one that I love to reread often.
The whole thing about Caleb being there has always been vaguely squicky to me but a lot of Casskin sex scenes do have this discomforting edge to them? This dubcon element thatâs not really either characterâs fault, but which makes me uneasy when reading them, no matter how sexy the scene might be – itâs so tragic really, that they never get to be with each other just for the sake of being with each other. Well, so far.Â
A side note though – Pritkin is aware that Cassie isnât in a position to give informed consent and he tries really hard to avoid doing anything that might feel like a violation to her later (it doesnât but I think Cassie is more okay with having her body used by other people than I would be). Iâm not sure whether he could safely have waited for the influence to wear off, but the key thing for me is that he apologises later. Cassie may not feel that he did anything wrong, and he was forced into a situation where he had to make that choice, but I think, and I suspect Pritkin also thinks, that itâs still a choice he didnât have the right to make. Idk, I just have weird and particular ideas about consent and autonomy. I donât like people making choices for Cassie, especially as regards her body, but this particular instance of it bothers me less than say, that Mircass scene in TtD, because Pritkin didnât compromise her ability to consent, Rosier did, and he also apologised for it later – he acknowledged that it wasnât a good situation, even if it wasnât his fault. (of course Pritkin isnât always perfect when it comes to consent – his 18th century self had some Issues in that regard that I wanted to talk about in EtN but then I missed those chapters, so Iâll probably bring it up in RtW when it becomes relevant).Â
I also appreciate that they get to have some serious fall out from this uncomfortable (albeit sexy) scene? They get to talk about their feelings, reaffirm an emotional connection, and they comfort each other. Itâs wonderful.Â
Anyway, I 100% agree about The Shower Hug. Itâs emotional destruction on an epic scale. And you know what? I never picked up on the symbolism of them being naked (or mostly naked, in Cassieâs case). Pritkinâs at his most vulnerable physically and emotionally. Damn it!Â
OK, So standard disclaimers apply…and you all know all of them đ So, yes this is a really uncomfortable scene. You have got Pritkin unconscious and dying, war mages wanting to try magic and Cassie losing her everloving shit. For the first time ever the war mages actually listen to Cassie and let Caleb drive a dying Pritkin and wounded Cassie away. Rossier being there to help out yeah it’s squicky but given the state Pritkin is in and the state Cassie is in I’m glad Rossier stepped in. Yes it adds complications because Cassie’s consent is iffy, but in my opinion Cassie give’s consent when she starts the whole ball of wax arolling, so later consent is not really needed. She wanted to save Pritkin and by g-d she was saving his ass come hell or high water! Caleb’s freak out is annoying as hell but we need Caleb to know about Pritkin later so it works for me. I’m a little disappointed in Pritkin here. (cue screaming from others on Tumblr) Once he is healed enough to actually take control of the sex he is still not willing to let Cassie in at all. Cassie trusts him to not kill her but he doesn’t and he doesn’t want to get any more vulnerable to Cassie and so he limits it to oral sex and her orgasm. I love the fact that Karen Chance doesn’t allow Pritkin to withdraw and distance. I love the fact that after the life and death sex or die Cassie is able to be Pritkins’s emotional support in the shower. That’s more important than the sex in some ways. cassie is not letting Pritkin distance himself from her and withdraw or take the fault for this…Cassie is not going to let him make this a reason to withdraw further or add it to his noble reasons to withdraw from the field. I think this whole thing shows Cassie growing into her power. making the war mages do what she wants, making Caleb listen, bossing Rossier and Pritkin around and still declaring her independence from Mircea (don’t forget that all of this started with the rebellion and pizza)…as an aside to that given that Pritkin just told Cassie in their comical conversation over pizza there will be no more sexual healing slip ups leads to the most sexual of their healing slip ups…can anyone say irony? I am tired and my brain is stalling so this will be my two cents for a while…Please feel free to argue with me, as all of our perspectives make the reread all the more fun
â Anne Hathaway as Calliope
   Emmy Rossum as Clio
   Kat Dennings as Eutrepe
   Willa Holland as Erato
   Alexandra Daddario as Melpomene
   Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Polyhymnia
   Anna Kendrick as Terpsichore
Crystal Reed as Thalia
Emily Browning as Urania
the daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin sister to Apollo, goddess of  the moon, the hunt, the wilderness, the wild animals, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls.
Mythology Posters .: Persephone, also called KorĂŠ or Cora, daughter of Zeus and Demeter, Hadesâs wife and the Queen of the Underworld, also associated with spring and vegetation.
Ride the Storm
Gods and Ends (Ordinary Magic) (Volume 3)
Death and Relaxation
