Sing Me to Sleep (The Lost Shards #3) by Anna Argent – Dual Review
Description:
Stygian Attis, raised by a cruel grandfather who hated him for the circumstances of his birth, was taught to suppress his feelings and desires, but when a beautiful thief sneaks into his room, something stirs inside him.
He wants her. His shards—the magical fragments of ancient souls he carries—want her, too. They whisper that she has the power to change his life forever, if only he can keep her from slipping out of his grasp.
Echo Charmaine is on the run from the man who killed her entire family. If he catches her, he’ll kill her for the power she now carries. But before she can move on to the next town, the voices in her head demand that she drop off a tattered, magical bit of paper. When she gets caught delivering the mystical mail, she inadvertently stumbles into something far bigger than she ever could have imagined, tying her destiny to that of a big, intoxicating man who has the power to make her yearn for things she knows are impossible for a woman on the run.
Now, drawn together by passion and the shards they share, their fates are inextricably entwined. If they can’t find a way to rid themselves of the evil that haunts them before the next new moon, neither of them will make it out alive…
BARB’s Review: Sing Me to Sleep by Anna Argent is the 3rd book in her The Lost Shards series. Refresher: What is Riven and Vires? Riven is a secret group that protects those that carry magical shards, and the evil Vires, are the ones who will kill to inherit those shards for themselves. What are Shards? Shards are souls with magical powers that move on to siblings of the dying person; but if they are killed, the person who murdered them will inherit the powers of the victim. The shards can be dark or light, and the person who inherits them needs to balance the good and bad. Not so with the Vires, as they want the powers and will use them for evil purposes.
Stygian Attis, our hero, is a member of Riven and has learned over the years to control whatever evil shards he has. One night he is suddenly woken by someone in his house, and manages to capture the intruder.
Echo Charmaine, our heroine, has been on the run for many years, after the death of her mother and sisters. She is constantly running from an evil member of the Vires, who desperately wants to kill her to gain her shards. Echo also deals with those voices that tell her things to do, and it is that which brings her to Stygian’s place to leave a magical paper, which will turn out to be a prophecy. When she is captured by Stygian, she tries numerous times to escape, as she trusts no one. Stygian will take her to the Riven headquarters, where Eden will acknowledge that she is good, not a member of Vires. But Echo lives in fear, and despite the Riven people explaining that they will help keep her safe, her distrust forces her to want to run away; this despite the dynamic attraction between her and Stygian
In a short time, the prophecy is discovered to have a way to remove the evil shard in Stygian, and also in Echo. There is a way to trap the evil witch who is pushing them to do bad things. It will take Stygian and Echo to work together to find clues from before her mother was killed that will reveal what they need to retrieve to save themselves.
What follows is a tense, exciting, non-stop action thriller that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Echo will be in for a shock when she is approached and threatened by someone in her past. The relationship between Stygian and Echo became very hot, and we rooted hard for them to find a way to stay together. Not only were Stygian and Echo a great couple, but I cannot wait to see what Argent has in store for us from the many wonderful secondary characters we have met along the way. I do not want to tell too much more, as it would be spoilers, and possibly ruin it for you.
Sing Me to Sleep was a wonderful addition to this fantastic series, and once again written so well by Anna Argent. Sing Me to Sleep had a bit of everything that kept you reading throughout; suspense, excitement, danger, intense action, and romance. I suggest you start with the first book in this series, in order to learn about the two factions, as well as about the shards; in order to understand everything.
SANDY’S Review:
SING ME TO SLEEP is the third instalment in Anna Argent’s contemporary, adult THE LOST SHARDS paranormal romance series focusing on a group of people imbued with magic powers. This is twenty-nine year old Stygian Attis, and Echo Charmaine’s story line. SING ME TO SLEEP can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information fro he previous story lines is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and history.
SOME BACKGROUND: The world as we know it is filled with magic, and throughout history people have been blessed or cursed with magical abilities. The ongoing war between good and evil pits the Riven against the Vires in their search for anyone with magical shards-slivers of magic passed down from parent to child, or in many cases, upon the death of someone with magic. By killing someone with magic, the perpetrator ‘inherits’ the shards of his/her victims; upon the death of a loved one, the shard is passed to the nearest kin.
Told from several third person perspectives including Stygian and Echo SING ME TO SLEEP follows Echo Charmaine as the ‘voice’ in her head sends her to the Riven compound, a compound where she must deliver the ‘prophecy’ to Stygian Attis. Trying to stay one step ahead of the creature she calls ‘rat-man’ Echo finds herself a virtual prisoner of the Riven and the man with whom she will fall in love. As Stygian wages war with the voices in his own head, the ‘slivers’ of evil begin to take control, control that places Echo and Stygian in a precarious position as they begin their journey to see the prophecy fulfilled. What ensues is the building relationship between Stygian and Echo, and the fall-out as the past threatens to destroy Stygian’s tenuous hold on his life and that of the woman he loves including the voices that are aware of how close our hero is to losing it all.
Echo Charmaine has the ability to control people with song but our heroine has lost everyone she loves when the ‘rat-man’ took everything and more. Now eight years later, trying to stay one step ahead of the evil that continues to threaten her life, Echo finds temporary solace with a man whose past is tied directly with her own.
Meanwhile Riven leader Garrick Andor, and Holt Bardrick find themselves on the hunt for their former Riven leader Starry Mandrake, a woman who has taken too many souls, and is no longer the woman they once trusted and loved.
Once again, there is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including the Riven leader Garrick Andor, IT expert Marvel Manning, empath and healer Eliana, historian and librarian Harold Lionel, fifteen year old Eden, a young woman with the ability to ‘read’ the shards, and her protector, fifty something Argo. The requisite evil has many faces as the Riven continue to battle the Vires, as the Vires hunt for those with the dangerous shards.
SING ME TO SLEEP is a captivating and unique look at the paranormal. The premise is engaging and fascinating; the characters are colorful but struggling; the romance is intoxicating but suffers with issues of trust and possible manipulation.
Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Shards of Blood And Shadow
A Brush With Fate
Copies supplied for review
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A BRUSH WITH FATE-ONLY $1.99
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