Title: The Serpent’s Fate (Vigilati, Book 3)
Author: J.K. Hogan
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
Can a traumatized veteran-turned-mercenary who is tormented by voices in his head be saved by the love of a wayward single mother with demons of her own? Afflicted by PTSD from serving in Afghanistan, and tormented by a childhood trauma, transient veteran Matthieu Rousseau struggles with the choices he’s made in his life. Estranged from his family, Matthieu drifts from one mercenary job to the next, until one thing stops him. Fate.
In hiding from her abusive ex-husband, musician Fate Callahan lives in New Orleans with her seven-year-old daughter. She remains in constant fear of being found, and her worst nightmare comes alive when a dark, dangerous stranger tells her he’s been hired to locate and kill her—but wants to save her instead.
Fate and Matthieu find themselves on the run together, fleeing from the hitmen and an unseen evil worse than anything else they’ll face. While just trying to stay alive, they become entangled in the battle between the Vigilati and the Lochrim; an archaic sect of witches and the evil creatures they are bred to fight. Unbeknownst to Fate and Matthieu, they are more deeply connected to the Vigilati than either of them could ever imagine.
They must join family and allies of the Vigilati to help save the human world, possibly saving each other along the way. Matthieu teaches Fate how to trust in love again, while she gives him back the one thing he never thought he deserved—family.
The Serpent’s Fate is a story that deals with a strong plot, and strong characters, and mixes them up in an intriguing, fascinating way. On the one hand, we’ve got Matthieu, who suffers from PTSD and the scars of an abusive childhood. His strength was in never giving up, never backing down. Fate, the other main character, is equally strong. She has a smilar strength as Matthieu, a way of never giving up, no matter what life throws at her.
The mythology in this book was pretty awesome. There’s the Vigilati vs. the Lochrim, and that battle has been raging for centuries. There are dark paranormal forces at work that manage to manipulate Matthieu and Fate, and turn their fears into realities. I never quite knew what to expect from the villain, and that made it intriguing.
The writing was great, and held up suspense and tension for most of the book. The romance was interesting too, although this is the kind of book that would’ve been interesting, with or without the romance. I’ve always said I have trouble reviewing books I really enjoyed, and the same goes for this one. There’s nothing more I can say except that, if you like paranormal romance, you should definitely give this book a try.
