New Release Review ~ Possessed by a Dark Warrior ~ Felicity Heaton

Possessed by a Dark Warrior by Felicity Heaton
Eternal Mates #9
Release Date: April 9, 2016
Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 4.5 Bookworms
Challenges: #2016NewRelease
Goodreads ~ Amazon

Synopsis
A powerful warrior and commancer of the dark elf legions, Bleu is a loyal and devoted male, and one who has never failed in anything--except one thing. Love. When an elusive female dragon shifter surfaces in Hell again, giving him a mission to hurl himself into, he gladly returns to his hunt for her and the deadly blade she stole from his prince seven centuries ago, but as he closes in on his prey, fate reveals she is far more than his enemy.

Having escaped from the black market arena and her life as a slave, Taryn sets her sights back on the task she began seven hundred years ago when her brother stole a precious sword, but in the three centuries she's been captive, everything has changed. Corrupted by a craving for power, her brother has become dangerously obsessed with finding the blade and using it to claim the ultimate treasure--the position of King of Hell.

Faced with having to end her beloved twin brother to stop him from bringing all of Hell to its knees before him, will Taryn be strong enough to use the very blade he seeks against him? And when Bleu finally catches his elusive prey, will he listen to his head as it demands he complete his mission or his heart as it demands he claim his eternal mate?

Finally, finally we got Bleu's story. It's been a long time coming and it's a story I was eagerly anticipating. One I must say was worth the wait.

Possessed by a Dark Warrior is the 9th in the series, and I've reviewed the previous 8, I'm finding it difficult to create new ways to express my appreciation of elements I feel Heaton excels in. She never disappoints me in:

• characterization
• setting
• choreography of action scenes

I was thrilled to get to spend time with some of my favorite characters from previous installments - even if only briefly. I liked how Vail's plot line was further developed as well as the advancement of what I see as the over-arching plot line. The camaraderie between Bleu, Loren, and Vail (yes, Vail) further developed the characters of these males. They are strong warriors but are first and foremost loyal friends. The romance, while maybe not quite as exciting as I was hoping for, was satisfying nonetheless. And the battle was pretty epic. The pacing of Bleu's story was a bit smoother - it kept me eagerly flipping through the pages.

As anxious as I'd been for Bleu's story, I had no idea what direction Heaton would go. It was the ultimate irony that the thing Bleu most long for - love and his mate - had been in his life for a long while. The circumstances of his acquaintance with Taryn were unfortunate. Had those circumstances not arisen, they'd both been spared much pain. However, they might not have crossed paths either, so...

I admired Taryn's strength - both physical and mental. She'd survived so much and knew she still had a major undertaking ahead of her. That she took it upon herself to save all of Hell was admirable - especially since it meant facing off with her twin.

The romance between Bleu and Taryn, despite the fact they were mates - felt almost slow-burning as they both had thick walls surrounding their hearts. And maybe it's cliche - each of them afraid to love and lose - but it felt genuine in their case. I do think they would have a bit more to overcome with regards to the apparent PTSD Taryn suffers but I liked where they ended up and appreciated being along on the journey.