~ REVIEW AND EXCERPT BLITZ! ~ Order of the Sicari Series ~ By Monica Burns
Ancient Rome Collides with Present-Day and Only Love Can Save
an Empire’s Collapse and Ensure Another’s
Downfall!
Assassin's
Honor
(Order of the Sicari #1)
Only love can save a telekinetic assassin's
honor in a world where Ancient Rome never fell. Passion abounds in this
award-winning series.
The Roman Empire never collapsed for Ares DeLuca and other Sicari.
Ares comes from an ancient bloodline of telekinetic assassins who have lived in
the shadows for two millennia. The Sicari are honor bound to kill only in the
name of justice, but Ares broke the Order’s code and used his sword for
revenge. Love cost him dearly once before, and he’s not willing to pay the
price again. At least not until hot, sweet, delectable Emma enters his world.
Not only does she have the ability to save an ancient empire’s collapse, she
holds the key to a valuable Sicari relic and quite likely the key to his
heart.
Archeologist Emma Zale sees the past when she touches ancient
relics. It’s how she uncovered evidence of an ancient order of assassins—the
Sicari. When a sinfully dark stranger shows up on her Chicago doorstep, he
drags her into a world where ancient Rome still rules, and telekinesis and
empaths are the norm. But someone wants her dead, and her only hope of survival
is an assassin who’s every bit as dangerous to her body as he is to her
heart.
Ancient Rome Collides with Present-Day Chicago and Only Love Can
Save an Empire’s Collapse and Ensure Another’s Downfall
This award-winning series (reissued for the first time) starts off
with a bang with an exciting combination of romance, suspense, sexy paranormal
assassin heroes, and extraordinary world-building.
~ My Review ~
4 out of 5 Stars
For me, this book was definitely one
that instantly grabs you and sucks you in.
I have to admit I'm a bit of a sucker for mysteries that involve ancient
secret societies, searching for lost relics -- all the good stuff. You add a touch of magical abilities, and
some GREAT, hot romance, and I am a HAPPY girl.
This book made me a happy, happy girl.
Another plus for this book? The
perfect combination of damsel in distress, and damsel doesn't need you. In fact, YOU need damsel, or you're in big
trouble. The female lead of this story
is brilliant, educated, tough, and not afraid to go wherever she needs to go,
or do whatever she needs to do, to find the answers she needs. Yes, she's an archeologist, and it somewhat
comes with the territory, but when you reach a certain level of danger -- like
lots of people around you dying, and a good chance you're next -- that's when
most archeologists probably decide to move on.
Not Emma. It only pushed her more, because now she had vengeance in her
heart and some killers to bring to justice.
And then there's Ares...now THERE'S a
guy to give you some drive to keep placing your life in danger. I'd help that man find any secrets he
wanted. Granted, in the beginning, their
meeting wasn't the best, and I probably would've wanted to kill him (as she
did), because he didn't go about his introduction in the best way, which he did
realize later. In fact, this is probably
one of the very few parts of the book that still stands out to me as a part of
the book that bugged me a bit -- but only a bit, mostly because of hindsight,
and how it ended up working out. But in
the moment (and I won’t give it away with spoilers), it was...awkward to put it
best. Their interaction felt a little
wrong considering she had no idea who he was, other than the fact that it
appeared he was extremely dangerous. The
scene made me uncomfortable at the time, but as I said, hindsight makes it a
little better, once you know more about him.
Ares is a very sexy dude with very
literally the weight of the world on his shoulders, and had no idea how much
Emma would change everything, and in how many ways she would change it. I liked how they got to know each other
(after the above mentioned scene), and the fact that it was complicated. Yes, my inner-monologue did a ton of
"why don't you just say....?!" or "why don't you just do
this?" It's so simple! But these
two are taught not to trust, and both are in very big, and at the beginning,
very different, danger. Trust and
relationship stuff SHOULD be complicated, even though they desperately want to
give into their extreme attraction to each other -- you know, human and
all. Some may be annoyed by the back and
forth, but to me it makes very realistic sense.
This book was so much awesome to me,
because it wasn't just romance. It wasn't just your average historical
mystery. It was a ton of
hold-your-breath danger, what the heck is gonna happen next, who can we trust,
and OMG! Is it 3am already?! Yeah...that
kind of book.
And did I mention the hot romance? We all know as readers that authors can
sometimes make sex scenes feel like it's an author writing a sex scene; it can
feel a little awkward, and just one weird word used to describe a body part can
throw off the whole feeling of the scene.
This never happens in this book.
Some of the best written scenes I've read -- not distracting to the
story either, like the author was throwing sex scenes in to get the readers’
attention. And vice-versa with the story
itself. The story undoubtedly could've
held its own with no sex scenes at all.
It was a great balance.
As we know it's a series, and one
common concern about the end of a book in a series is cliffhangers, I'll put
your mind (sort of) at ease. There's
only a very minor cliffhanger, in the fact that the story for this book was
wrapped up, but there was a set up that leaves us looking forward to what
happens in the next book. In my opinion,
the end of the book did fall a little flat, and could've had a little more
excitement, but there was an end that set up the next book without killing you
like the end of a Walking Dead episode, or the last season of Game of
Thrones.
I'm really, really looking forward to
what happens next with all of these characters and their search for ancient
history, the extreme danger they'll no doubt be in, and more super sexiness
that I know we'll be seeing too!
Available for purchase at
Assassin's
Heart
(Order of the Sicari #2)
Can the truth of the soul Conquer the pain of its ancient
past.
Unlike other Sicari, Lysander Condellaire has telepathic and
telekinetic powers. Not until the night a Praetorian tortured him and left him
for dead did he understand why. Now, the half-angelic, half-demonic face he sees
in the mirror is a reminder of the monster he must keep hidden or face
expulsion from the order of assassins known as the Sicari. But his dreams of
ancient Rome hint at a destiny difficult to accept, especially when it involves
the woman he loves, but can never have.
A gifted healer in the Order, Phaedra DeLuca witnessed her
mother’s murder when she was a little girl. The haunting memory makes her
loathe everything Praetorian. When she travels to Rome in search of an ancient
artifact, she must work alongside a man who once cruelly rejected her love and
healing touch. But her dreams of ancient Rome tell of an irreversible and
possibly dangerous future. For the distant past and present are about to
collide–with the one man she is destined to love.
~ My Review ~
5 out of 5 Stars
Once again, this series does not disappoint. I love when a series has several different
things happening at the same time, keeping you on your toes, but not burying or
confusing you. This author accomplishes
that perfectly. There are so many
exciting things happening concurrently, but they blend together perfectly.
As we learn more about some of our favorite members of
the order (or members that become favorites as we read this book), we find so
many super cool twists that show many of them are much more connected than we
realized. And by connected, I mean by
past events going back thousands of years, to events that have happened in
recent years. When Lysander is one of
the first to figure out many of these connections, he’s immediately devastated,
as he thinks it changes everything he ever thought it was, and although he’s
falling for Phaedra, he truly believes these truths will make her hate him, so
he decides to end things first.
The problem is that Phaedra is not your average
woman. She’s a kickass heroine in a
thousand different ways. Although hurt
at first, she’s not buying what Lysander’s selling. She knows something’s up. And when they’re both sent to Rome on a
mission, with Lysander assigned to lead, the phrase “nobody puts Baby in a
corner” comes to mind over and over, just as “no one puts Phaedra in a corner”. I LOVE Phaedra. Whether it’s the woman who raised her (and
also leads the order), or Lysander that constantly tries to keep her out of
harm’s way, she goes ahead with her own thing – and she’s pretty much always
right.
I won’t give it away too much, but one of the critical
parts of the story brings us back and forth from a story in ancient Rome to
current day. I absolutely loved the
depth this added to the story. What happened in the times of ancient Rome were
not only revealing for critical information to their mission in current day
Rome, but it also brings some shocking revelations that Phaedra is one of the
first to start figuring out.
Once again, the writing in this book was perfect. The fight scenes kept you on the edge of your
seat, and you never had to re-read it to figure out what was going on, no
matter how action packed it was. There
were definitely some super HOT scenes, and they were very smoothly written, not
awkward or moments where you want to say “please stop over using that word” (we’ve
all read at least one of those).
Everything she wrote felt real, flowed smoothly, wasn’t drawn out, but
wasn’t too short either.
This book kept my attention the entire time, and I most
definitely enjoyed it. I can’t wait to
see what happens next with the mysteries they’ve discovered in Rome!
Available for purchase at
Inferno's Kiss
(Order of the Sicari #3)
The Sicari brotherhood is back and this time they're taking no prisoners
when it comes to protecting the Order as warriors and lovers are torn between
duty and desire.
Dante Condellaire, heir apparent to the Sicari Lords, knows that
being a true leader means sacrifice. For Dante it was relinquishing all erotic
pleasures. But he never expected his willpower to be tested so fiercely by
Cleopatra Vorenus, expert assassin of the Order, and daughter of the man he is
positioned to succeed.
Cleo prefers working alone—until she meets Dante who shares her
goal: to destroy a Praetorian stronghold where Sicari women are imprisoned for
devious purposes. Bringing the mission off without a hitch pumps up more than
their resolve. It sets off a sexual spark too combustible to
ignore.
As their attraction flares like an inferno, the stakes are raised.
So are the risks. Before the mission is over, Dante and Cleo will be plunged
into a dangerous conspiracy where a traitor threatens the very foundation of
the Order, as well as the fiery bond between Dante and Cleo—warriors and lovers
now torn between duty and desire.
“WOW! A kick-ass self-confident heroine and an alpha male with a
side order of vulnerability practically guarantee a mind blowing reading
experience." — Fresh Fiction
“I loved that Cleo is the experienced lover while Dante is the
virgin. Hallelujah and pass the cornbread. The sexual tension in here had me on
edge, waiting to see if Dante would succumb or abstain.” — Smexy
Books
~ My
Review ~
3 out of 5
Stars
I have to admit, this review was REALLY hard for me to write. This book is the third book in a series that
has thus far been an even combination of mystery, romance, love of family –
created or blood related – and the intensifying battle between the Sicari and
the Praetorians. However, this book felt
like it took a sharp turn away from the developing story between the battle
between the Sicari and Praetorians, and the treasure they both searched for
that could potentially declare a winner once and for all. Instead, the book largely focused on not one,
but this time two, romances. It was very
heavy on the sex scenes and/or sexual tension between the two couples.
The reason this was hard for me to rate, was because if you like
SUPER steamy romances, this may be a book that you really enjoy. Once again, the author does a good job in the
way she writes them, doesn’t make them awkward, and makes them very
natural. However, this is the third book
in a series that had some major build up going on in the previous two books to
what was going to happen between the Sicari and Praetorians, and what would
come of this secret that dates back to ancient Rome, and what it could change
for all of them. Although this subject
is certainly addressed, it felt like it was rushed to a close, and we never
really got much in the way of answers. I
don’t want to give any spoilers, but it came to a slightly abrupt, and to me
felt like not-so-satisfying end.
In rating this, I rated it based on continuity of the story, and
that I felt the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I was hoping. BUT, if you’ve
been following this story more for the romances, then this story may end up
being your favorite one, since you will definitely get your fill! This is certainly a book that you will have
to read on your own to find what YOU feel the rating should be, since it was
well written, just to me, not the same direction as the other books.
Available for purchase at
The Order of the Sicari Series
About the
Author
Monica Burns is a bestselling author of spicy historical and
paranormal romance. She penned her first romance at the age of nine when she
selected the pseudonym she uses today. Her historical book awards include the 2011
RT BookReviews Reviewers Choice Award and the 2012 Gayle Wilson Heart of
Excellence Award for Pleasure Me.
She is also the recipient of the prestigious paranormal romance
award, the 2011 PRISM Best of the Best award for Assassin’s Heart. From the
days when she hid her stories from her sisters to her first completed
full-length manuscript, she always believed in her dream despite rejections and
setbacks. A workaholic wife and mother, Monica is a survivor who believes every
hero and heroine deserves a HEA (Happily Ever After), especially if she’s
writing the story.
You can find Monica at
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