Thursday, July 17, 2014

*Gizmos Book Reviews* Black Rook (Cornerstone Run Trilogy #1) by Kelly Meade

**I received this book from NetGalley /Intermix in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.**

*Synopsis*

Brynn Atwood is a low-level Magus whose unpredictable precognitive powers have made her an outcast among her people—and an embarrassment to her highly-regarded father. After a frightening vision in which her father is murdered by a loup garou man, Brynn decides to prove herself by finding the killer, and stopping them at any cost.

Her target is Rook McQueen, the son of a small-town loup garou Alpha. Despite being the youngest of three, Rook is first in line to inherit the role of Alpha, a duty he isn't sure he's capable of fulfilling. When Brynn finally meets Rook, she doesn't expect the attraction that draws her to him—and him to her.

No longer believing him a murderer, Brynn and Rook strike an alliance to find her father's real killer. But when his older brother is targeted by an unknown enemy, Rook will have to choose between his growing feelings for Brynn and his duty as the future Alpha of his community.


*My Thoughts*

Kelly Meade (aka Kelly Meding author of the MetaWars, and Dreg City series), pens a new trilogy called Cornerstone Run. Set in the fictional town of Cornerstone, Pennsylvania, the new paranormal romance series revolves around the sons of the alpha of the Cornerstone run, Thomas McQueen. It is a series that features magical users, vampires, and of course, werewolves.

Black Rook starts off the trilogy by focusing on two main characters: Magus Brynn Atwood, and Loup Garou Rook McQueen. Meade introduces all the key players, including the women who are important to the brothers, as well as their nemeses who will drive this trilogy. Subsequent stories will follow older brother Bishop and Knight McQueen. Each of the brothers brings a unique prospective to the table, and I am eager to see how Meade reveals all her chess pieces.

Brynn Atwood is a precognitive Magus whose abilities have been called into question by her own father as well as being tossed away like garbage by the Congress of Magi for being weak. After experiencing a vision that shows her father Archimedes dead, and another man standing over him, Brynn travels to Cornerstone to confront the presumptive killer who turns out to be Rook McQueen. Brynn gets more than she bargained for, and ends up right in the middle of a devious scheme focusing all it's energy and efforts on killing off the Loup Garou. With Brynn's willing assistance, the McQueen's unmask secrets that change the way Brynn chooses her future. She also gets an education on what family really means, as well as a way to feel real love and not getting kicked aside because she is second born.

Rook McQueen is a recent college graduate, and a former lead singer who walked away from fame and fortune to protect his family and his secret. Being the presumptive replacement alpha to his father because he is the black wolf, comes with many challenges, and responsibilities. Being called a murderer by the mysterious smelling Brynn, and later finding out that there are forces ready and willing to wipe out his kind, puts the world into a whole different light. Falling deeply in love with Brynn, changes Rook's outlook on life, and gives him hopes of finding his true mate.

Black Rook is an enjoyable story that starts out with a bang, and ends with plenty of action, romance, betrayal, and bloodshed. Meade's take on the whole werewolf genre, starts with different colored wolfs who have different abilities. Rook, as the Black Wolf, is a force to be reckoned with. Bishop as the Gray Wolf is the oldest and has been groomed to take over as Alpha. Knight is the White Wolf and has the unique ability to calm other wolves and sooth their angry beasts with his empathy.

Meade is an author that I have followed since her Dreg City series was released and was eager to read this series as well. She has a knack for writing characters that are far from perfect, but they are nonetheless likable to the point where you actually do get upset when Meade tosses them into dangerous situations over, and over again. Meade has a tendency of brutalizing her characters, instead of letting them walk on water like they were indestructible. Black Rook isn't as violent, necessarily, as some of her Dreg series novels, but it does contain enough violence and bloodshed to let readers know that she is still capable of shock and awe.

If you are a Paranormal Romance reader, and want your fill of smexy, Meade slow burns the relationship between Brynn and Rook. Just when things are getting interesting, Meade finally tosses in a hot and heavy sex scene that will most likely keep readers happy and content.

Subsequent installments are Gray Bishop (Cornerstone Run Trilogy #2) releasing October 21st 2014 by Intermix, concluding with White Knight (Cornerstone Run Trilogy #3) releasing January 20th 2015 by InterMix.

I am happy to announce that Gizmos Reviews is one of the stops on the Black Rook blog tour which kicked off on July 1, and will full stop on July 31, 2014. My stop is on July 22, 2014, so please come back and see what we have to offer you! You can see the rest of the participants here: http://chaostitan.blogspot.com/

Author - Kelly Meade
Title - Black Rook (Cornerstone Run Trilogy # 1)
Publisher - Penguin/Intermix
Published: July 15, 2014
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format: E-Book 334 pages





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