Title: Embrace Me at Dawn
Author: Shayla Black
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Release Date: May 29th, 2012
No man will ever define her again.
Anka MacTavish lost everything when Mathias D’Arc captured her, shattered her bond with her mate, and broke both her body and spirit. Determined to heal her bleeding soul, she joins the Doomsday Brethren’s fight to vanquish the evil wizard and seize her revenge. But becoming a magical warrior will require close contact with her former mate, the love who’s never left her heart, Lucan. And she’ll have to explain why she left him and fled to the arms of another lover…
No woman can ever take her place.
Lucan’s world crumbled when Anka escaped Mathias and sought protection from his long-time rival, Shock. Now she has returned, and Lucan must train her to confront a new and terrible danger that threatens magickind. With every punch, blow, and parry, Lucan discovers that Anka isn’t the demure wife he once knew, and his growing desire for this woman is a need he can’t control. He vows to do whatever it takes to reclaim her heart and make her his once more. But when the Doomsday Brethren are forced to make an unlikely alliance, it will test Anka’s resolve like never before. To survive, she and Lucan must rely on one another, face their deepest fears…and expose the dark secrets that threaten to destroy everything, including their love.
Summary from Goodreads.com
My Review: Here we are, back with the Doomsday Brethren again and I could not be more thrilled! Lucan and Anka’s story has been the one I have been waiting for since they were so cruelly separated in the first book. It had been a while since I read the last book, but my transition back into this world was very smooth. I fell right back in step with these wizards and remembered how much I truly cherish these books.
We enter back into this world with Anka asking to join the Brethren in their fight against Mathias. She is still living with Shock, but is not happy with him. She yearns to be reunited with Lucan but fears she does not deserve him. I have to admit that the self-loathing did bug me a little for the first part of the book. I know that Anka went through hell and back when she was captured by Mathias, but wow she really had a nice pity party going. She does work through the issues eventually though and by the end of the book she won me over. Lucan on the other hand is just as big of a mess as she is. The pain they went through when the mating bond was broken is supposed to be sheer agony and they both suffer greatly. He has not been the same since she did not come back to him and my heart broke for him. These two so clearly belong together yet neither knows quite how to fix their relationship. Then there is also the added issue of Shock, who claims to love Anka as well. He has tried his best to help Anka through her pain, but he is not enough. While I am not a big fan of love triangles, I did understand Anka’s turmoil when it came to choosing between the two of them. There are some very interesting revelations about Lucan and Anka’s past and secrets that some of the characters have been harboring. I cannot say too much without being spoilery, but I really enjoyed all the twists and turns Shayla gave us throughout this book.
As for the action, it was amazing as always. The climax of the book had me on the edge of me seat dying to see what was going to happen. It was a dynamite ending for this book and while not everything is wrapped up completely, we still have some major story lines completed.
Mathias is a seriously sick guy, but Morgana is starting to give him a run for his money. Shayla has created perfect villains that are easy to hate and even though we do not get their point of views, I still feel like I know them so well. Even though knowing a villain might not seem like a good thing, it really does help keep these books well rounded.
Overall, this has become my favorite book in the Doomsday Brethren series. I loved seeing Lucan and Anka reconcile and all the secrets that seeped out during the duration of the novel. I highly recommend checking this series out if you have not already done so. Now that Lucan and Anka have had their story I am not sure which wizard I am more excited to see come next, Shock or Bram. I have not heard any news for the next book so I will just have to pray Shayla will continue on in this world.
A Bookworms Haven 