Visions of Skyfire by Regan Hastings
Paranormal Romance
October 4, 2011
Paperback
Signet

Reviewed by May

A coven of witches did a real bad thing, unleashed evil in their quest for more power and they paid the price. Now, hundreds of years later their re-incarnated souls are back and must make things right. As each has their powers return (awakening), their eternal (aka destined mate) that has been watching over them and waiting for all these years joins them and helps to do their part to un-do the bad that they unleashed all those years ago.

I was intrigued by this premise, and I really appreciated that I could read this book having never read the author before and not be lost. The author met a nice balance of not info-dumping but providing enough to keep things moving right along. In this world the government hunts witches, and they’re hunted down to be killed or imprisoned. Trying to survive while doing her part to save the world isn’t going to be easy, but at least our heroine Teresa had a lifetime of preparations from her Grandmother. She is prepared for her awakening and expects her eternal to show up as well. Out in the desert playing with her lightning powers is where her mate (Rune) meets her and whisks her away from government agents there to kill her. They have to make it – after all it’s up to each witch and her Eternal to find her piece of the artifact and restore it to the coven’s home before 30 days are up.

"I expect you to be my mate as I will be yours. To join our energies, to channel our magic into finding the Artifact and returning it to Haven. I expect you to do what we must."

With all of this set up quickly, I expected an action packed ride of a book. Instead, we are given very vague bad guys and threats, never told entirely what their motives for evil are. Their goal seems to be to unleash more evil and get the awakening witches to turn evil too – but they’re not especially good at it.

So, how is our heroine and her Eternal to help save the world? By having a lot of sex and doing a mating ritual that bonds them for eternity. For most of their days together, Teresa and Rune mate, bond, and live in a cave that reminds Teresa of Aladdin. No genies though – just lots of sex and bonding without love. No, neither of these two who are mating and bonding together for eternity want love.

She looked down at his chest and saw another streak of red beginning to blossom on his skin, in answer to the new flash of tattoo on her body. She touched his as he had touched hers, claiming him, accepting him – accepting that they were truly meant to be together.

For now.

The destined mates, two halves of a whole, one joined soul magic just didn’t work for me when neither of these two wanted forever, love, or to be bonded to the other. Rune doesn’t trust Teresa (she’s betrayed him a lot, after all) and Teresa doesn’t want commitment but doesn’t feel like she has a choice either because this mating thing will help right wrongs and save world. Who made up these rules and why does this couple having loads of sex help save the world?

My problems with this book are numerous, but at the base I find it wholly unsatisfying as a romance and underdeveloped as an urban fantasy novel. There is not much happening, and they automatically start having sex because it strengthens them and her grandma did prepare her that she’d be having sex with this stranger so it must be ok. The romance or relationship building isn’t there, the action and twist filled plot isn’t there – the book just doesn’t deliver. Beyond the plot itself, I had a lot of issues with the world it’s written in.

The rules of this world seem to bend or be re-written as it suits the writer’s needs. For example, Rune can use his power to ‘zap’ himself (and other people + belongings) away. He doesn’t say how far, or if it exhausts him, he just can. So why when some villagers are circling and calling out the witch, why doesn’t he do this instead of killing any who fight with him? I am not sure! He fights a few people, kills a few, then zaps them back to the love cave. If I were rushing to figure out where my artifact was and get it home before the time is up, I’d not be sitting around a love cave getting my sexy time on. Also, where did these rules come from about thirty days, and the Eternal having never met the witch in her current form prior to awakening, and how they can remember where the pieces are hidden? It just didn’t make any kind of sense to me.

The heroine was a really flaky witch in her first life as well as throughout history and her various reincarnations apparently. She also goes into an eternal mating ritual with the thought “for now, for the next 30 days and then we’ll see” – um what?! Eternal bonding and you’re thinking about a month. I did not at all get her, or her man. Why does she have such conviction in herself that she’s good this time around? How can he trust or believe her at all?

Bottom line, I won’t be trying this series again. It just didn’t work for me.

Grade: D

Recent Reviews:
Paranormal Haven – 3/5
All Things Urban Fantasy – 3/5
My Bookish Ways – 3.5/5
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