The war continues to rage in Otherworld with the D’Artigo sisters hearing more and more stressful news as the world hangs in the balance

But the D’Artigo sisters cannot focus on the tragedy and devastation in Otherworld. A Daemon cult is trafficking slaves and attempting to invoke a demigod of vice and corruption capable of unleashing utter devastation across the city. With vampire businesses targeted as well, the D’Artigo sisters have to act – they have no time to mourn; not for their father, not for the dead of Elqaneve and not for those who died in Menolly’s bar.

This book is pretty much a continuation of Autumn Whispers, the last book. So much so that they almost feel like one book especially since Autumn Whispers ended without any real ending

A lot of what I said in the last book pretty much applies to this as well – it feels like a distraction and a frustrating one at that. We have Shadowwing and his demon army trying to invade Earth. His allies are launching a huge invasion cross Otherworld. An alliance is forming to try and push them back and one of the major nations of the Otherworld has fallen. Many of the spirit seals have been lost and now need to be quickly reclaimed for fear of Shadowwing getting his hands on them, ripping over the portals and invading Earth.

And the sisters are focused on… something else entirely. There’s a possible daemon plot (daemons are different from demons), the raising of a demi-god and a kidnapping/trafficking/slavery ring as well as threats against vampire businesses and… this is all unrelated to Shadowwing and I have to ask why it is here and why are the sisters involved?

I’m not saying these events are important but they’re literally in the middle of world destroying invasion against both the Otherworld and Earth. So why is this on the sister’s to handle who already have way too much on their plate? We have Carter, the half-demon, half-titan why doesn’t he step up? Vampire businesses are being targeted, why can’t Roman take this over, since he’s the major vampire authority? Fae and other supernaturals are being kidnapped so can’t the Earthside far queens step forwards? The shapehifters?

Why aren’t the sisters trying to form their alliances against the invasion – or hunting down the spirit seals or calling on the dragonflights to honour their commitment and fly to battle. The sisters have enough on their plate without being the first responders to every single issue everywhere

This is an added problem of this book and the last book and not ending. Because we not just have this somewhat distracting side plot – but we also have it still not concluded at the end of this book. That demigod is going to be still around, some elements have been resolved but this whole side plot is turning into a metaplot all of its own.

On top of this I feel a little repetitive because a lot of my old criticisms about unnecessary recapping and description, sadly, still apply.

I also really aren’t a fan of new characters being introduced, especially their human cousin who conveniently turns out to be a spy/master thief with super convenient skills just as they need. It feels unduly convenient, far too quickly integrated and accepted and really really really we do not need more characters in this series, we really do not.

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Spannend bis zum Schluss, aber irgendwie fehlt dennoch der Pep. Ist irgendwie so zusammengestaucht und wirkt teilweise gehetzt, als würden ihr allmählich die Ideen ausgehen. Das Ende ist überraschend, aber eher, weil es abrupt ist und viel zu kurz. Dennoch ein gutes Buch, was sich in die Serie einfügt. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: With a war in the Otherworld, their father missing, and Menolly’s bar burnt down Earthside, life is anything but boring for the D’Artigo sisters. And it’s only going to get worse from here…

Opening Sentence: The sky was clear for once, though rain was forecast before morning.

The Review:

This series has always been on my to read list, but I just haven’t been able to get around to reading it. So I obviously felt very uneasy with hopping right in with book 15. On top of that, I’ve had a very hard time getting into Galenorn’s Indigo Court series, so I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to feel about this one. Luckily, most of the time, I didn’t feel super lost. I was a little overwhelmed by the number of characters when the book first started, but I eventually began to get everyone straightened out. In addition, I enjoyed this book much more than I’ve liked any of the Indigo Court novels, so I have a very positive feeling about how I’m going to feel about this series as it goes on.

The D’Artigo sisters are worn out and stressed to put it mildly. Between the war in Otherworld and problems that keep popping up Earthside, they have no time to take it easy. Menolly’s bar was set aflame, killing those caught inside. Before she has the chance to truly deal with that loss, she’s in a serious car accident, and the Fae at fault disappears, leaving Menolly to wonder if the crash was intentional. Then, another bar burns down. The sisters suspect they know who is behind everything. The problem is finding him. Will they be able to do so before it’s too late?

As I said before, despite this being book 15 in the series, it was fairly easy for a newcomer to follow. I mainly found myself confused about the war in Otherworld and would sometimes have to reread sections in order to follow what was going on. Thankfully, most of the plot of this particular book centered on Earthside, and it wasn’t entirely necessary for me to understand everything else. While I enjoyed the book, I think those who are caught up on the series will enjoy this installment the most.

I think my favorite aspect of this book focused on the relationship between Menolly and her wife. While it wasn’t a big part of the book by any means, it still stood out to me. A lot of times in paranormal romance/urban fantasy, the relationships don’t always portray real life issues,but here, we get to see Menolly and Nerissa struggling with problems in their relationship that could affect any real life couple. I really enjoyed getting that dose of reality amongst all the urban fantasy aspects of the book.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. All I could think about while I was reading was that I wanted to read the 14 books that came before this one so that I could really get to know all of these characters. I’m looking forward to doing so!

Notable Scene:

Camille let out a soft murmur. “It’s…there’s something in here with us. I can feel it and I’m not even trying.”

“She’s right,” Bran said, startling me. His voice was smooth, yet guttural, and it echoed through the shell of a room.

“What do you sense?” I hoped we could be forearmed. I was tired of being taken by surprise. But if they could say a word, a movement caught my eye and I turned. Out from the walls, and I do mean out from the walls–stepping directly through the solid drywall as if it were mere illusion–came five figures. They were bipedal, female by the look of their breasts, and they were composed of living flame. Burning brightly, with tongues of flames crackling off them, they looked like some CGI animated creatures, orange and yellow and all shades comprising fire.

As we stood there, staring at them, they moved toward us. Then one raised her hand, and a ball of fire lit up the air as she sent the orb heading in our direction.

“Holy fuck!” Camille yelled as she dove to the right. Delilah dropped to the floor. I wasn’t sure what Bran and Shade were up to because, before I realized what I was doing, I raced forward toward the woman, and the next thing I knew, I had knocked her to the ground, trying to get hold of her. Her skin burned my fingers, and I realized she truly was living flame. And that was when it dawned on me that I was in serious trouble. I tried to scramble away, but she caught hold of my wrist, and as my skin began to ignite, I realized I was about to die the final death.

FTC Advisory: Berkley/Penguin provided me with a copy of Crimson Veil. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Galenorn continues to write a series worth following. We're back to vampire Menolly, and the stakes keep rising for the three sisters. War is upon them and there are greater losses to be faced.

I've followed this series from the first book and even when I turned my back to most series fiction, I have kept with the D'Artigo sisters. The continuously changing point of view with the different books means different perspectives on a continually unfolding story. I find each sister fascinating and their respective growing through the tales keep me coming back for more. ( )

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Devilish Diva - Shawnie:
*Copy gifted in exchange for an honest review

I have to be honest. I am not a fan of Menolly, no matter his hard I try I can't get into her character. Its gotten to the point where I have to force myself too read her point of view books because I need them in order to understand the bigger picture.

This new was a challenge because I have only read so far up to book eight, so I have no idea what's happening from book eight and on. This made it a bit hard to read Crimson Veil, I had a scowl on my face from page one, I was so damn confused.

All in all... I enjoyed the book, despite my lack of information. I still don't like Menially, but I do understand her as a person or rather vampire. All their lives have changed significantly and no matter how much they fight the good fight, it never seems like its enough. The girls are in. Eve against time to find the next Spirit Seal and Shadow Wing in close.

Crimson Veil starts off on a rather emotionally sad note and you can't help but be sucked into Menolly's thought process. She has a vulnerability about her, that she tries really hard to hide, but in that moment you see it. Its never easy to lose a friend and I admit that the beginning is what made me actually want to read the book, even though I wasn't anywhere near ready to read it.

It wouldn't be an Otherworld novel without straight to the point action, but with this book, it came in the form of something more subtler than an attack from something nasty. I enjoyed that more than anything, a break from fighting baddies is a break no matter if its still a mess. Things pick up though, and soon the girls are trying to figure it all out without getting killed in the process.

Removing my feelings from this. I give Crimson Veil 4 1/2 skulls. I plan too reread it once I am caught up with all the books before it. ( )