Night’s Honor by Thea Harrison – Dual Review

Night’s Honor
Elder Races series – Book #7
by Thea Harrison
Release Date: September 2, 2014

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Description:
On the run from her former employer, Tess knows that she’s vulnerable on her own amongst the Elder Races. That’s why she decides to audition to become the human attendant of a powerful Vampyre of the Nightkind demesne. But while her position affords her the safety she seeks, her protector turns out to be more than she bargained for.

The right-hand man of the Nightkind King, Xavier del Torro is both terrifying and alluring. While his true nature frightens Tess, she can’t ignore the appeal of his innate sense of integrity and self-restraint. Thrown into Xavier’s world, Tess must quickly learn to navigate the dangers—both to her life and to her heart. But the biggest threat comes from her own past….

 

Barb’s Review:

Night’s Honor by Thea Harrison is the 7^th full length novel of her Elder Races series.   I am a big fan of this series, and this book took me by surprise. Thea goes out of her normal range, with a hero we never thought would get his own story. We do not get to see any of Dragos and his team. Night’s Honor belongs to Xavier del Torro, who is a Vampyre, and the Nightkind King Julian’s right hand. When we met Xavier in Serpent’s Kiss, he and Julian were not our favorites, as they gave our heroes Rune and Carling a hard time.

We meet our heroine, Tess at the start. She is on the run, and decides to audition to become an attendant for a powerful vampire. In disgust, she leaves the audition, as no one paid attention to her. Except one…… Xavier, one of the most feared and powerful of the Vampyres.

There is something about Tess that makes Xavier hire her for a one year trial. He senses her fear of him, but honors his deal to give her chance to learn. Tess meets many of the people working for Xavier, as she is trained how to fight and handle weapons. Each day she is pushed to the max by those training her, but she seems somewhat happy & safe living in this mansion. Xavier personally trains her how to dance the Waltz, and slowly she becomes more comfortable with him. One of the prerequisite for her to get past the one year trial is to be able to offer blood to him, something she cannot bring herself to do.

Xavier finds himself becoming obsessed with Tess, and knows she is running from something. When she reads something in the paper, she decides to run again. Only this time, Xavier stops her and gets the truth out of her. Tess is running from a very powerful Dijinn, and not even Xavier can stop him.   What follows from that point on is an exciting adventure that will put Tess and Xavier very much in danger, as well as Julian. Lives are at stake, with some twists and betrayals. It is a thrilling finish to the end.

Even with the exciting storyline, it is the romance between Tess and Xavier that made this book so good. To watch someone like Xavier find himself falling in love, and Tess overcoming her fear of vampyres to fall in love with Xavier. I loved Tess, as she was despite her fears, a tough, outspoken & savvy heroine. Thea you have given us a fabulous story, with a hero we never thought we could fall for. Bravo! Night’s Honor is a great addition to the Elder Races series, and trust me when I say you will love Xavier and Tess.



Sandy’s Review:

Because of the dual review perspective, some of the information may overlap

NIGHT’S HONOR is the seventh full length instalment in Thea Harrison’s romantic Elder Races paranormal series. This is vampire Xavier del Torro and human female Tess Graham’ storyline. At the New Year’s Eve Vampyre’s Ball Tess offers herself up as a human attendant not knowing that her life is about to change when one of the most powerful and frightening Vampyre agrees to take her on.

The focus of the storyline is Tess’s training to become one of Xavier’s attendants but Tess has several issues that must be addressed. First and foremost Tess is hiding the real reason she has placed herself in the care of the sexy supernatural vampyre-she is on the run and knows there isn’t much time; the fact that she is reluctant to share her blood makes Xavier more hesitant about her position within his house. While Tess slowly integrates herself into the household, Xavier’s attraction to the feisty female is growing stronger. But there is trouble brewing within the Nightkind demesne and Xavier is about to risk everything to keep his human family safe.

The relationship between Tess and Xavier is slow to build as Tess has a difficult time training for any possible attack. While Xavier tends to Nightkind business, Tess finds herself on the outside looking in. It is only when Xavier returns that he realizes that Tess is much more than a human attendant-he is falling for the female who stirs something deep within his soul.

There are several secondary characters who all play a role within Xavier’s house. We are introduced to some of the key players in the Nightkind demesne which ensures a different direction in the Elder Races arc. As NIGHT’S HONOR primarily focuses on Tess and Xavier, there is very little interaction or mention of the previous storyline characters.

With NIGHT’S HONOR Thea Harrison returns to her paranormal roots. Tess and Xavier’s story is provocative, intense and sensual, and the change in story arc direction pulls the reader into a whole new level of imagination and storytelling.

Copy supplied by the Publisher.

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New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Thea Harrison resides in Colorado.  She wrote her first book, a romance, when she was nineteen, and had sixteen romances published under the name Amanda Carpenter.  She took a break from writing to collect a couple of graduate degrees and a grown child.

Thea writes in a variety of genres, including the award-winning paranormal Elder Races series and the Game of Shadows novels, and is currently at work on various new projects in sci-fi fantasy, paranormal and contemporary romance.

She adores animals and currently resides with two small dogs that have very large personalities.

From Thea:

When I was four, I taught myself to read. That was around the time I tried to ride my tricycle to work. I wasn’t sure where work was, but I knew it had to be interesting if people went there every day. Now I combine my love of books with work, and I don’t have to ride my tricycle to get there.

I hope you enjoy exploring the worlds I’ve created. The Elder Races series is set in an alternative universe where magical and mythological creatures live openly alongside humankind. The stories are full of sexy alpha heroes and the strong-minded heroines that tame them.

Also, I have a two book series called the Game of Shadows novels. This duology is more urban fantasy with dark romantic elements.

You can find a full list of current books here. I also have other worlds and writing projects underway, and I always post on my blog whenever I have news of new projects. To keep up to date on upcoming new releases, check out my Coming Soon page, and all the available, original Amanda Carpenter romances are being re-released as Retro Romances. Be sure to stop by my Fans page, where readers have very generously agreed to share their art, and my  Extras page where I’m developing a cache of tidbits for interested readers.

It’s a pleasure to visit with you. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you drop in again soon.

 

Thea’s publisher is offering a paper copy of NIGHT’S HONOR to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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