ROGUE (Talisman 6) by Tam DeRudder Jackson-Review & Giveaway Tour
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 28, 2022.
Baz Cormac never intended to be a rogue, but fate had other ideas.
Being forced to pledge loyalty to the evil Morrigan is its own kind of hell. So when Baz discovers the lie she’s used to keep him and his band of rogues under her power, he concocts a plan to force the goddess’s hand, which drops him in the center of a cosmic tug-o-war. No matter which way he leans, someone is going to lose-and it looks like that someone may be Baz.
A talisman fights her fate…and her fatal attraction.
Delaney Ferrell has spent her life trying to live down her uncle’s choice to turn rogue. As a warrior-talisman hybrid, she’s done her best to serve the warrior community as a protector. But a cryptic letter sends her to an abandoned home where she encounters a lone rogue with fighting skills no rogue should possess. Instead of killing her, he kidnaps her and takes her to his lair. He presents a terrible danger to the community, one she must neutralize.
So why does he have to be so damn charming?
Discovering Delaney is his fated mate throws all of Baz’s plans into chaos. And when the goddesses come calling, Baz has to choose between a rogue’s freedom and a talisman’s love.
Will they have a chance at love, or will they be torn apart?
•••••••
REVIEW: ROGUE is the sixth instalment in Tam DeRudder Jackson’s contemporary, adult TALISMAN erotic, paranormal, Celtic mythological romance series. This is thirty-one year old, warrior turned rogue Kieran ‘Baz’ Cormac, and Warrior-Talisman Delaney Ferrell’s story line. ROGUE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous storylines is revealed where necessary.
SOME BACKGROUND: Centuries earlier, the Morrigan cursed the male descendants of the Sheridan family- if they haven’t found their mates by their twenty-eighth birthday, the warrior may turn to the dark side, essentially going rogue, fighting against the people he once friended and loved. The curse had the potential to be broken with the mating of a warrior and his fated mate, a mate who would be his protector and his guardian. 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 third person perspective ROGUE focuses on Kieran ‘Baz’ Cormac, a warrior who chose to turn Rogue on his twenty-eighth birthday, a choice he made in the face of having not found his fated mate but a chance encounter with Delaney Ferrell, an unattached Talisman, forces Baz Cormac to face the possibility that turning rogue may have been a little too hasty. Baz Cormac is the leader of a group of former warriors turned rogue, a group that is about to go to war with our story line hero. To prove he is ready and willing to change allegiances, the Morrigan sets into motion a battle between Baz and Delaney, and the rogues Baz once trained, and the zombie warriors resurrected to fight the war. What ensues is the building romance and fated relationship between Delaney and Baz, and the fall-out as Baz and Delaney must prove they are worthy of their own happily ever after.
Baz Cormac and his fellow rogues ‘acquire’ unmated warriors to build an army for the Celtic goddess Morgan but Baz never expected to come face to face with Delaney Ferrell, a woman he thought never existed but a woman he knows to be his fated mate. Delaney Ferrell finds herself forced to choose between her mate, and her friends, a mate who may not be accepted because of sins from the past.
The relationship between Delaney and Baz is fated by the gods and goddesses. Baz gave into the dark side too early and too easily, Delaney never expected to fall for a man whose reputation is tarnished and black. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense.
There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters many of whom we have met in previous story lines. We are introduced to Baz’s fellow rogues Jamie and Rory, as well as Baz’s Druid Partland aka Party.
ROGUE is a story of power and control, secrets and lies, fate and love, forgiveness and family. The premise is detailed, encouraging and entertaining; the romance is seductive and provocative; the characters are energetic, determined and charismatic.
Reading order and Previous Reviews
Talisman
Warrior
Prophetess
Bard
Druid
Copy supplied by Netgalley
Reviewed by Sandy
“Save your breath, Rogue. You’re going to need it.”
Delaney stepped to her left at the exact second Baz landed where he would have had the advantage of prodding the small of her back with the tip of his sword again. The man needs to work on his opening move, maybe vary it some, she thought with a smirk when she spun around to face him. As she pirouetted, she swung her claymore in a half arc, catching the tip of his on the upswing and knocking him off-balance. He staggered back a step then steadied himself. A feral gleam came into his golden-green eyes, turning them molten, and Delaney’s heart stuttered a beat in her chest.
“You’re definitely intelligent.” He thrust and she parried. “Still not too sure about smart.” He executed his own spin in the center of the floor where the three parts of the trinity met directly beneath the hub of the wheel of life in the ceiling. The execution of the move coupled with where he landed it intensified his roguish aura, making him appear larger than he already was.
“Impressive.” She feinted then thrust, nicking the back of his hand, drawing first blood. “But my brother has you by a couple inches and probably twenty pounds. I’m not afraid of you.”
His riposte had her backing up fast. When her ass encountered the edge of the bar, she ducked, tucked, and rolled to her left, coming back to her feet toward the middle of the room again. One raised brow was his only response before he feinted to his right and lunged. A series of thrusts and parries left both of them panting, but instead of wearing him out as she’d intended, he seemed to be enjoying himself.
“This is better than training with my boys,” he said, his tone conversational.
Narrowing her eyes, she waited on the balls of her feet.
“You’re giving me a workout like they do, but you’re much more fun to look at.”
Gritting her teeth, she lunged and thrust at the same second he stepped aside. As she flew past him, struggling to maintain her balance, he smacked the flat of his sword on her ass, and she sprawled flat on her belly on the floor. She had no time to fume at the indignity of his antics. Instead, she scrambled to her feet and faced her opponent with a two-handed grip on her claymore.
“This. Is. Not. A. Game,” she stated through clenched teeth.
Baz laughed.
She couldn’t believe he laughed. Judging from the way he tried to cover his outburst with a cough, he was as surprised at his laughter as she. The rich sound of amusement echoed through her, simultaneously arousing and irritating her.
Mimicking her stance, he faced her. “If you think about it, it’s all a game. You’re trying to wear me out so you can force me to give up the code to the door. I’m trying to wear you out so you won’t skewer me in my sleep.” He sheared the blade of his weapon along the blade of hers, a metallic whir ringing through the room. “Neither of us has any intention of killing the other.”
“What?” She blinked. “You don’t intend to kill me?”
“If I’d wanted to kill you, you’d be bleeding out on the driveway next door.”
Delaney started sidestepping, drawing Baz to follow her in a circle. “I might have been down then, but I was far from out, Rogue.”
Tam DeRudder Jackson is the author of the paranormal romance Talisman Series and the contemporary romance Balefire Series. Her favorite “room” in her house is her back patio where she dreams up stories of romance and risk. When she’s not writing her latest paranormal or contemporary romance, you can usually find her driving around with the top down in her convertible or carving turns on the slopes of the local ski hill. The mom of two grown sons, Tam likes to travel, attend rock concerts, watch football and soccer, and visit old car shows with her husband. She lives in the mountains of northwest Wyoming where she spends most of her free time trying to read all the books. Her TBR piles are threatening to take over her office, and she’s fine with that.
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