Awakened by Moni Boyce
On August 1, 2019 by Jaye
Awakened by Moni Boyce
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Blurb
Secret lineage, a ruthless vampire, and forbidden love.
Willow Stevens dreams of stardom are eclipsed by the real nightmares of a sinister man haunting her dreams. Unbeknownst to her, Eli Walker, her hot but snobbish co-worker, may know the reason nightmares plague her, but their history shows he is more prone to reject her, than help her.
Then Willow passes out at work only to wake in Eli’s apartment. There she has her chance to learn more about her heritage. But, knowing why the vampire king stalks her doesn’t make the nightmares disappear. If anything, they become more real as she now faces off against a slew of creatures she’d always believed were myth.
That Eli is one of those creatures is just her luck. Secret witch guild or not, his natural ways are casting spells her heart can’t escape. As a Protector his only focus should be her safety. Anything else is forbidden. He plans to stay on task, but some women break a man, or tempt him to break the rules.
Can Eli keep Willow alive and safe from the vampires long enough for her to grow her own powers or will both cast aside rules for a reckless passion that will only lead to danger?
AWAKENED is the first installment in The Oracle Chronicles series. This interracial, paranormal romance is a great mix of magic and adventure.
**This book is part of a series and ends in a cliffhanger.**
Buy Links
Amazon | iBooks | Google Play
Review
I hosted a spot on the blitz tour a few weeks ago for Awakened, and the book sparked my interest. Let’s be real, this one has a lot of the things that call out to me, right? There’s murder – or at least, there are some murder-adjacent activities taking place. (Does it count if they’re vampires?) There are all kinds of supernatural and paranormal happenings, and the people come from a variety of backgrounds. (I have to wonder about books where everyone looks the same. Don’t they worry about lethal gene factors?)
Anyway. That’s a tangent.
Awakened didn’t disappoint, not at all. I read this one on the train back from RWA Nationals and there were more twists and turns than I could possibly have imagined. Willow’s background delves deep into not only ancient history, but into the less savory parts of American history too. Willow herself, while falling into the trope of the “chosen one with the magical girl powers,” doesn’t just suddenly have these abilities and know how to use them. No, she struggles with them and has to truly work to know what to do.
At the same time, there’s a healthy dose of realism. While Willow is definitely new to this supernatural world, she’s not some concussed bunny rabbit who can only hang around and hope to be rescued. She’s resourceful, she’s cunning, she’s smart, and she’s not some prize. She pays attention to what’s going on around her, she asks questions, and she comes up with a solution to help the people fighting on her behalf. Willow is no damsel in distress.
In short, I love her.
So does Eli. Since it’s Forbidden, capital intentional, for someone in Eli’s position to be in a relationship with someone he’s protecting, he tries to minimize the chances they’ll actually be together by acting like an utter dick toward her. And honestly, in any other book, I’d probably throw it across the room and cheerfully consign Eli to the flames of Hell or the elevator lines at Nationals, either one is fine.
The thing is, Boyce did a fantastic job of presenting Eli’s point of view and showing his feelings for her. She showed the strain Eli was under, his need to follow the dictates of the Protector traditions and his desperation to keep Willow safe. I honestly empathized with Eli. I’m still not sure why Willow decided she was attracted to him, but I couldn’t hate him the way Boyce presented him.
The side characters are all ably and sympathetically shown. One of them kind of creeped me out a little, but I don’t want to give away their identity. I want that to be a surprise for you. I know I freaked the heck out when I found out.
If I had to pick one thing that gave me a truly hard time, it was the scene at the end. Boyce did tell us not to read it if we planned to continue the series – and I do. But I was also planning to review the book, so I felt duty bound to read it.
It was a sex scene, and I get that she added it in to give some kind of closure to the book for people who didn’t plan to continue with the series. It just didn’t match with the tone of the rest of the book at all, and it felt awkward and uncomfortable as a result.
So, don’t read past the point where the author says to stop reading, and you should be fine. Just sit back, and enjoy the ride. You won’t regret Awakened.
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