East of Ecstasy (Hearts of the Anemoi #4) by Laura Kaye-Review and Blog Tour

East of Ecstasy
Hearts of the Anemoi #4
by Laura Kaye
Genre: paranormal, romance
Release Date: April 22, 2014

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 22, 2014

Annalise Fallston made peace with postponing her big-city dreams to care for her ill father, but lately she’s been filled with a restlessness not even her beloved painting dispels. Worse, the colors don’t speak to her as they always have, and all her efforts produce dark, foreboding images of a dangerous man and a terrifying future.

Devlin Eston, black-souled son of the evil Anemoi Eurus, is the only one who can thwart his father’s plan to overthrow the Supreme God of Wind and Storms. But first, Dev must master the unstable powers he’s been given. Distrusted and shunned by his own divine family, he never expected to find kindness and passion in the arms of a mortal.

But Devlin’s love puts Annalise in the path of a catastrophic storm, and in the final Armageddon showdown between the Anemoi and Eurus, sacrifices will be made, hearts broken, and lives changed forever…or lost.

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REVIEW:   EAST OF ECSTASY is the fourth instalment in Laura Kaye’s adult, contemporary, paranormal erotic Heart of the Anemoi romance series. Based loosely on Greek and Roman Mythology, the Anemoi are the gods of the directional winds-North (Boreas), East (Eurus), South (Chrysander) and West (Zephyros) and connected to the seasons. This is Devlin Eston –son of Eurus- and Annalise Fallston-an artist whose paintings divine the future.

The focus of the storyline is the continued hunt for Devlin’s father Eurus-God of the East wind; the man whose anger and rage against his own absent and negligent father has been directed at his brothers and sons. As Eurus takes his vengeance out on his brothers, his son Devlin will bare the scars and the stigma of a man whose pain and hatred knows no boundaries. With the increasing storms battering the East Coast, Devlin will find himself drawn to a woman who ‘paints’ the future and the future looks pretty grim.

Devlin is the son of Eurus and has been caught in the maelstrom of his father’s revenge; a war between family that extends to the heavens and to Earth. With one brother already lost to the afterlife and another held captive, Devlin wars with his honor as it pertains to his extended family and his father. As the son of the most hated God of the Winds, Devlin will reap the pain and sorrow of a family who will continue to suffer losses at the hands of one of their own. It is only with the help of Annalise-a human with powers only a god should posses-that Devlin will earn his place amongst the Gods of the Winds.

The relationship between Annalise and Devlin is one of mutual distrust-strangers who meet under mysterious circumstances-but who are drawn to one another like moths to a flame. With her ability to ‘paint the future’ Annalise’s true powers and heritage will manifest themselves into a purpose known only to the gods. The sexual energy between our couple is fueled by the knowledge that Devlin believes himself unworthy of love-a man whose heritage has marked him for death-but a man who has never felt a kind touch; heard a kind word; or experienced love with another being.

The world building continues with the inclusion of the Wind Gods and their mates from each of the previous storylines. The reader is pulled into an emotional storyline of loss and revenge; betrayal and pain; forgiveness and letting go. It is said that when someone dies there is always someone waiting to be born and in this the Gods of the Winds will experience death and rebirth but not before many tears are shed and hearts are shattered.

EAST OF ECSTASY is a storyline with action, suspense and romance. It is a story about family and betrayal; about a man who is unable to let go of the past and in doing so destroys everything in his wake; and a story about saying goodbye to those that we love. Laura Kaye pulls the reader into an intense and imaginative storyline that will captivate lovers of both romance and mythology. If you have ever wondered why some storms are more intense than others think first about Hearts of the Anemoi and family feuds built from the power of the Gods.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

EAST OF ECSTASY (Hearts of the Anemoi#4)

By Laura Kaye

You guys! I can’t believe release day for East of Ecstasy is finally here! This is the final book in my Hearts of the Anemoi series, which includes: North of Need, West of Want, and South of Surrender. The Anemoi were wind gods the Greek associated with controlling the wind, weather, and seasons. In East of Ecstasy, hero Devlin Eston is the heir to the East Wind which has long been associated with unluckiness, misfortune, and, thanks to Devlin’s father, even evil. Devlin himself has been the victim of father’s evil, and thereby finds himself an outcast among his own divine family. In this scene, heroine Annalise Fallston—who gets visions that she’s forced to paint in order to quiet them in her mind—sees Devlin for the first time. Here’s what she says:

Forcing the chaos in her mind away, Anna dipped her brush into the gray and stepped to the canvas. Motion captured her attention from the corner of her eye.

The Dark Man, the subject of her recent paintings, stood in the doorway and leaned against the jamb.

Anna jumped and her pulse raced, but this time, anger flooded in instead of fear. “I will deal with you on my own damn terms,” she said, taking a perverse amount of pleasure from putting a figment of her imagination in its place. Because that’s all he was.

He didn’t move or speak. Not that he could, since, you know. Figment.Of.Imagination.

Anna rolled her eyes, done with being scared and so pissed to have to do this again that she was nearly out of her mind. “I’m doing your damn painting already. So just leave me alone.” She cut her gaze back to the expanse of white, but the desire to see if his image would still be there if she looked again drove her to distraction.

Finally, she gave in and…he was still there.

Completely still.Blatantly scowling.Totally unfathomable.

Was this a vision? Another image she’d have to paint?

Her heart tripped into a sprint, and she couldn’t look away from him. Like the compulsion that forced her to paint these images, Anna couldn’t help but return his stare and memorize his masculine features. The sharp angles of his face, the harsh set of his mouth, the dark shadows around his even darker eyes.Black eyes. Blades of black hair hung low over his forehead and just touched the hooded shirt he wore under his short, scuffed leather jacket. He’d crossed his arms over his chest, and the position caused his biceps to bunch up under the worn leather. In fact, everything about him appeared worn—the coat, the threadbare jeans, the scuffed boots. None of it struck her as the kind of shabby chic you could buy in some upscale store for a small fortune, either. The whole effect was rough. Dangerous.Deprived.

Deprived? What a strange way of describing him. But as Anna’s gaze swept over him again, the thought stuck. For his height, he seemed thin, with his lean hips, clad in old black jeans, a trim waist, and pronounced cheekbones. Her fingers twitched around the nearly forgotten paintbrush. What would it feel like to cup that harsh face in her hand?

Anna gasped and tore her gaze away. She had to blink to pull herself out of the haze of thoughts. Frustration surged through her and tensed the muscles of her shoulders and neck. She didn’t want to be working on another of these paintings as it was, so the last thing she needed was to lose a bunch of time daydreaming. Or would it be daynightmaring?

As she stared at the blank canvas, the image of the shackled man behind the prison bars filled her mind’s eye.

Definitely the latter.

Curiosity pulled her eyes to the left again. The doorway was empty.

~~

So, did you have a favorite line from the excerpt? Thanks for reading!

Laura

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Catch up on the whole series with the Hearts of the Anemoi ebook box set featuring the first three books: North of Need, West of Want, South of Surrender!

*** .99 cents ebook bundle for a limited time ***

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About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

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