ARC Review: Endless Skye (Skye Druids #4)

Endless Skye (Skye Druids #4)

Donna Grant

Blurb:

Passion comes with a price…

For Willa Ryan, family is everything. So, when her brother asks her to locate a book of unparalleled power, she doesn’t hesitate. Except she does more than find it. She attempts to steal it, and in the process, ends up running for her life—straight into the arms of a man waiting to rescue her. Jasper is unlike anyone she’s ever met, and she’s helpless to resist the undeniable passion between them. But desire always comes at a cost.

Jasper McCabe is a master of disguise and deception, and he uses both ruthlessly. Yet nothing can prepare him when he comes face-to-face with the breathtaking women he’s supposed to use for his ruse. Every instinct screams for him to run as far from Willa as he can. But there’s no escape from the captivating Druid and the feelings she awakens. With his darkest enemies closing in, Jasper is forced to choose with his heart, or lose the woman who is his one chance at salvation.

Themes:  Paranormal, Magick, Druids

Rating: 4 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

This series continues to get more and more complicated as the plot twists and turns through each of the books in the series.  Donna Grant has a unique way of intertwining series, characters, and plots to make one epic and fantastic experience. I have followed Donna through the entire Dark World series for year now and am a huge fan and the deeper the arcs get the more interested I find myself.  With this latest installment in the Skye Druids series, Donna takes us into the story of two people on opposite sides of the war that suddenly find themselves drawn together and having to come together to find the real enemies out to bring down those out to end all Druids and their allies. Willa Ryan is running for her life after taking a stupid risk, but one she’d hoped would pay off in the fight against the enemy, and now she is not sure she will survive long enough to make it to Skye and the safety of the Druids and her brother.  She arrives on the island, but she is barely conscious and is discovered by Jasper McCabe, but he is much more than an innocent bystander.  Jasper is on the island on a mission, one that puts Willa right in his sights and he will use his considerable skills of deception and seduction in order to find his way into the Skye Druid’s inner circle through Willa.  But Jasper soon comes to understand that he is on the wrong side and that the connection he feels for Willa is very real and he is risking everything fighting a battle not his own.  Working with Willa and the Skye Druids might be the only way to redeem himself, but the enemy is determined to make sure that he doesn’t live long enough to make a difference, and Willa has to risk it all to save the man she is coming to understand that she is falling for.  Can these two enemies turned lovers find a way through the darkness or will they lose their one chance at a love greater than they ever imagined?

I was thrilled that we would get to meet Willa, Scott’s sister, and she would bet getting her own HEA, but I was very surprised that she would be faced with the challenges she was.  She was a strong character, but once she was hurt she allowed the anger and betrayal to hide the hurt.  It was obvious that she feel hard for Jasper and that he almost broke her when he betrayed her, but I wish she had been more willing to listen and forgive as it was obvious he’s had a difficult and lonely life while she was always loved and cared for.  But it was great to see her finally learn to stand up for herself, with the help of some of the other Skye Druid ladies, and demand her place on the team.  Jasper was an enigma for sure, but it was also obvious that he’s had a lot of time in his life that he was alone, especially once you learn the truth of his original and his youth.   While it is true that he lied to Willa and the others from the beginning, he didn’t do it maliciously or without a logically reason –in his mind—so I think he deserved more grace than he was offered by most of the team.  I loved to see how he turned up and proved himself, fighting hard to show that he was a good, man, but we should always be given some benefit of the doubt and not have to almost kill ourselves to prove our goodness to others.  There was obviously chemistry and a connection between Willa and Jasper from the beginning and I enjoyed seeing that become love, even if it did seem very fast.

The overreaching plot within this story became super complicated as the couple of plot lines we were dealing with before seemed to have multiplied as the story concluded, instead of any one of them wrapping up.  I understand that keeping plots open to extend the series is a good thing, but I would have loved something to have a conclusion.  To be honest it is becoming harder and harder to write the reviews on this series because it’s nearly impossible to do so without giving something away.  That said I loved the story and am looking forward to reading the next in the series, though I continue to hope we get back to the older format where the romance and the emotional growth of the couple gets more page time.  Whatever comes next for the series, which I get the impression might be Carlyle’s story, I can tell you I am dying to see what happens will all of these individual plot lines and the overall weave of everything together.  Donna’s dexterity with a complex narrative is comparative to a master weaver with a beautiful tapestry and I cannot wait for the final masterpiece.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.