Immortal Surrender by Claire Ashgrove (The Curse of the Templars #2)
Paranormal Romance
Released: September 25, 2012
Tor Romance

Reviewed by Helyce

Farran de Clare is a loyal member of the Knights Templar and for centuries he has fought to rid the earth of Azazel and his minions even as the darkness threatens to take him under. When the archangel Gabriel tasks Farran with the job of protecting Dr. Noelle Keane as she travels to return a sacred relic overseas, he agrees. What he didn’t count on was finding out that Noelle was his seraph-his predestined mate.

As Farran’s seraph, Noelle has the power to rid Farran of the darkness that continues to fill him each and every time he kills one of Azazel’s dark nights. Farran is skating close to the edge; bonding with Noelle will release the darkness and fill him with light while connecting him to Noelle and giving her his immortality. Farran is willing to share the oath with Noelle, but there it stops. He does not wish to be saddled with a woman. Once the vows are spoken, his duty will be met and he can resume is Templar duties while Noelle returns to her life.

But Noelle refuses to speak the vows. She thinks Farran is nuts and even after he brings her to the Temple and she meets the other knights and Anne, also a seraph, she still refuses. It’ll take her seeing one of Azazel’s demons up close and personal before she even begins to understand not only that Farran speaks the truth, but what her true role really is. The path to this understanding is wrought with obstacles though, as Farran’s past continues to haunt him even after some 900 years.

I was really excited to receive this ARC as I truly enjoyed book one, Immortal Hope. The mix of historical elements brought forward into modern times along with the story itself was so intriguing; I couldn’t wait to see what my beloved Knights Templar would face next. Sadly, this one didn’t grab me in the same way book one did.

I found the first third of this book to be a bit slow going as Farran meets Noelle and is tasked with getting her to Spain to return the precious Sudarium of Oviedo. Unfortunately, on the way to the airport, one of Azazel’ minions runs them off the road. Noelle is injured and they are forced to take shelter and then return to the Temple. At some point, Farran realizes that Noelle is his seraph. He’s not exactly happy about that and he does not hide that fact from Noelle, every chance he gets. When he explains who he is and what she is, Noelle thinks Farran is crazy-totally off his nut; but she stays with him. She’s not buying the whole “seraph” thing, but as nuts as Farran seems, there is something about him that calls to her.

I had a hard time with this. Here we have what appears to be an extremely bright heroine. She has a lot of self confidence issues, and she does not have a lot of experience with men (read: she’s a virgin). So I had some difficulty with the way she’d have these internal monologues about how she thought Farran was crazy, yet she stuck around-basically letting her curiosity get the best of her. Farran was clear and up front from the get go, but he was truly mean to Noelle-his words to her hurtful and spoken with no remorse or care for her feelings.

Once they get to the Temple, things do pick up a bit and I found myself more involved in the story. But here we start to move into some of the secondary characters and their story lines. While this laid some groundwork for future books and hinted at a conflict that might occur down the road we are left totally hanging with many unanswered questions.

The final conflict with Azazel is a bit rushed in my opinion. In fact, I had to back up and re-read parts of it again to make sure I understood what happened. It is the catalyst to Farran and Noelle finally realizing just how much they love each other and after all the back and forth between them throughout the book, I was pleased to finally get to this point.

Oddly, I really enjoyed Farran. He was exactly as he was in book one, so I was not put off by his rude personality and lack of compassion toward Noelle. When we learn his back story I understood where he was coming from, though I was frustrated that he held onto his hurt from something that happened centuries before. The romance between Farran and Noelle moves along at a snail’s pace which is appropriate, considering the obstacles they both place between them. When they finally get to the point where they come together, it is bittersweet as something happens to push them apart again and again.

While I found the premise of this story to be very intriguing as a whole, this story line fell a bit flat for me. Though the story arc moves forward just a tad, I don’t feel like I got any new information. And sadly, the fight between good and evil herein seems to have evil in the lead a bit. I was disappointed not to get more information on Anne’s sister who we know is also a seraph. The archangel Gabriel was sorely missing once he’d placed Noelle in Farran’s path. The ending is very abrupt and left me wanting.

Rating: C-

Recent Reviews:
Book Lovers Inc – 4/5
Book Chick City – 4.5/5
Goodreads

Author’s Website l Series Listing

Amazon l B&N