aja's book
concurrent’s review
My Rating: ★★★★½
Book Description:
In the world of Pure Ones, where sexual intercourse with anyone other than one’s Eternal Mate leads to a slow, painful death within thirty days, love comes with the warning label “fall at your own peril.”
Rain, the Healer of this immortal race, is the only exception to the rule. In order to harness and accumulate enough energy to heal severe wounds, she must take a Consort once every ten years and draw strength from his blood and body through sexual exchange. As the war with vampire hordes wears on, few Pure-males who are strong enough to serve as her Consort remain.
Valerius is one of the few. As the Protector of the race, he is by far the strongest candidate Rain could hope for. Despite their instant attraction ten years ago when they first met, Valerius has staunchly avoided applying to be the Healer’s Consort. The brutality and violence he suffered as a Roman sex slave in his human life ate away at his soul, leaving a raw, gaping wound of anguish and self-doubt, which two thousand years of stoic, solitary existence has not been able to heal.
As the decadal rite draws near, as threats from their nemesis intensify, and as Rain’s strength drains with every healing act, Valerius beats back his inner demons and gives himself to the Healer unconditionally. Rain chooses Valerius despite her fear that her desire and need for him would lead her to repeat the mistakes of the past with her first Consort. To avoid that tragedy, Rain stipulates from the beginning that Valerius cannot fall in love with her, for she cannot love him in return. Even though the consequence is death, this is the one promise Valerius cannot keep.
As Rain and Valerius battle their personal pain and fears, they must decide whether they let their histories and duties dictate their destiny or whether they risk all for a chance at everlasting love.
My Thoughts:
All I can say is, WOW. I think Ms. James did an outstanding job crafting a complex world of Pure Ones vs. vampires. The story had a similar tenor and tone to the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. The similarities are that in this story the Pure Ones (the Brotherhood in BDB) are waging a war against the vampires (the Lessers in BDB) who were once Pure Ones but lost their souls and are bent on dominating the race of Pure Ones.
This story Pure Healing chronicles the journey of Rain, the healer, and Valerius, the protector, as they uncover treachery that could destroy their society while discovering love in the process. The book was not at all what I expected. Frankly, I though it would be mostly an erotic romance but the story was detailed in a way that I didn’t expect…refreshingly so. The Pure Ones could only have sex with their eternal mate. If the had sex with someone other than their eternal mate they woul
d die a painful death within thirty days. I won’t go into the ins-and-outs of the story because you have to read it for yourself to enjoy it. But Rain and Valerius were such compelling characters. Val was truly a valiant but wounded warrior and he suffered a great deal in his human life. Rain healed him with her patience, her care, and her love (even though she did not recognize it as love at the time). The story was paced very well and I never felt a moment where it stuttered or became dull. The subordinate characters provided a vitality to the story that kept it interesting. You could clearly see where each of them will may a major role in the battle against good and evil in future books.
Bravo, Ms. James!
Reading Time: approximately 14 Hours(less)