DRUID (The Talisman #5) by Tam DeRudder Jackson-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 20, 2020

A vengeful goddess demands a sacrifice…

Sloane MacIntosh isn’t an ordinary talisman. Gifted with the skill of the Sight, she knows her warrior’s fate. Powerless to stop him from flinging himself headlong into death, Sloane mourns a sacrifice demanded by the war goddess on her summer feast day. Having found-and lost-her warrior, her fated mate, in the same evening, she knows what it means when the goddess demands a sacrifice. Her talisman skills couldn’t stop the goddess bent on evening the score.

A druid wishes for a sword arm…

Davy Sutherland is a storyteller whose incredible skills immortalize warriors for all time. But he yearns for the life of danger and adventure those warriors live. He also yearns for the special bond the fates give to talismans and warriors, a love at first touch that burns hot and intense, burnishing the iron of lust into the steel of everlasting devotion. The first time he sees Sloane MacIntosh, he wishes more than anything the fates had made him a warrior-her warrior.

Love hangs in the balance.

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REVIEW: DRUID is the fifth full-length instalment in Tam DeRudder Jackson’s contemporary, adult TALISMAN paranormal, fantasy, Celtic mythology series. This is Seer and Talisman Sloane MacIntosh, and Scottish Druid Davy Sutherland’s story line. DRUID can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the series in order or book one TALISMAN for back ground and history.

SOME BACKGROUND: Centuries earlier, the Morrigan cursed the descendants of the Sheridan family, a curse that has the potential to be broken with the mating of a warrior and his fated mate. Desperate to prevent the breaking of the curse, Morgan and her sisters Macha and Maeve set into motion a series of battles that will pull the Sheridan family into a war where family and friendships will be tested. Morrigan is part of Celtic mythology representing the cycle of birth and death, but is also the patron of magic and revenge, prophecy and night.

Told from several third person perspectives including Sloane and Davy DRUID focuses on the preparations for the wedding between Sloane’s best friend Fallon Graham and her Warrior Seamus Lochlann (Bard #4). With Sloane’s arrival in Scotland comes the memories of what our heroine had lost. Having only known her Warrior Gavin for less than an hour, the goddess Macha targeted our couple pulling Gavin across the river of blood into an eternity of battles and war. Believing love and her own happily ever after had been destroyed Sloane struggled with all of the happiness surrounding the wedding preparations until meeting Druid Davy Sutherland, a man who stirred something deep within our story line heroine. Davy knew Sloane was the woman that called to his heart. With each encounter Davy’s ‘tattoo’ burned with a need to claim Sloane MacIntosh but Sloane battled her memories and the continuous omens that threatened to pull her under. As a Seer, Sloane saw the future but with the help of her best friend Fallon, a woman with the ability to change the story, Sloane is able to protect the man with whom she is falling in love, a man who becomes fodder in a game of vengeance against our story line heroine. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Sloane and Davy, and the potential fall-out as Davy find himself on the precipice of immortality, a choice he must make between love and enduring life.

DRUID is an infinitely detailed story line rich in Celtic mythology with tales of gods and goddesses, and the struggle to survive. There is a very large cast of secondary and supporting characters including Davy’s mentor Hamish; all of the previous story line couples, and their extended families, as well as Macha, Maeve, Morgan and the thunder god Taranis. As everyone prepares for the upcoming nuptials between Fallon and her fiancé Seamus Lochlann, something dark and ominous is on the horizon, taking aim at our story line couple. The premise is complex and intriguing; the romance is flirty and seductive; the characters are energetic and inspiring.

Reading order and Previous Reviews
Talisman
Warrior
Prophetess
Bard

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy