Heart Legacy by Robin D. Owens
Series: Celta’s Heartmates, #14
Sci-Fi Fantasy/Romance Supsense
November 3, 2015
Berkley
Reviewed by Tori
After the death of GrandLord Yew years ago, the Yews withdrew to their self-sustaining estate and disappeared from Celtan society. The current head of the household is believed to be eighteen-year-old Loridana. To find out, Draeg Blackthorn has been sent to the estate to spy, undercover as a stableman for the stridebeasts—beautiful creatures that hold a place in Lori’s heart no member of her family ever could.
Bullied by her family, Lori has decided to abandon her bloodline and live on her own with her true family—her animals. When Draeg discovers she’s rejecting her heritage, he’s appalled. He’s come to love the land as much as the woman, even spinning small fantasies of marrying Lori and becoming Lord and Lady of the manor. Draeg wants her to stay and fight her elders. For Lori, it’s an alternative that could render her absolutely powerless to pursue her own destiny, and drive her further away from her perfect dreams and the man she loves, Draeg. (Goodreads)
Heart Legacy is the fourteenth book in Robin D. Owens futuristic romance series and revisits a previously seen family-The Yews. Though each book in this series can be read as a stand alone, the arc and it’s relation to this couple has a history that reaches deeply within the series. Owen’s does a wonderful job of referencing the past and giving new readers and those readers who may need a refresher the basics of both protagonists and their backgrounds. I recommend reading Heartmate if you haven’t done so already to understand the antagonistic history between the Yews and the Hollies.
A little recap: In HeartMate, book #7, a young girl was sold into marriage at the tender age of 14 to the much older T’Yew and was abused by him, his daughter, and the residence itself. Lahsin escapes and the story ends with her marrying Tinne Holly. Owens picks back up with the elusive Yew family and an ongoing plotline that has been filtering through the last few books and makes it the mainstay of this installment. The Traditionalists are those who believe only the purebloods of Celta’s oldest families are worthy and have begun to stage attacks on those they consider lowbornes. They also want to eradicate families who are diluting the bloodlines. When prominent Celtran family are targeted and almost die, Draeg Betony-Blackthorn is summoned to go undercover find out if the Yews are back up to their old tricks.
The Yews are one of the original first families and have become isolationists after the death of T’Yew. No one has seen the current head of the family since she was born-Loridana. Lori is the grandchild of T’Yew and became the head of the family after her mother’s death. Kept completely isolated by her family, the staff, and the residence, she too is the victim of abuse and has been planning her escape from the family for years. Her greatest love is her animals. They do not judge, hurt, or demand anything from her beyond her love. About to come into her second flair, she knows she has a limited amount of time to put her plan in action because once her main gift is revealed, the family will never let her leave. Almost everything is in place when her new stridebeasts arrive and with them a handsome stable hand.
Lori is a bit different in terms of the average Owen heroines. One, she is one of the few I have met that doesn’t seem to care either way if she finds her heartmate. Refreshing in a way when a majority of these stories seem to focus on one person desperately wanting the link and the other running as fast as they can from it. At first I was bored by Lori. Quiet, complacent, and seemingly broken in spirit; she really didn’t strike a cord for me. it’s only as you spend more time with her do you begin to see her strength. You learn she must maintain the illusion of acceptance of her life and the will of her family in order to survive. She acquiesces to all their demands though beneath her placid demeaner you see the fire brewing. In her voice you hear the faint sounds of rebellion. She is very skilled at the art of deception; something not realized till towards the end.
Draeg is the typical young alpha male. Struggling to find himself within his adopted family, he stands poised on the cusp of adulthood as he shows signs of both maturity one minute and childlike emotion the next. A mercenary by trade, he spends his time looking for fights. He is both fascinated and confused by Lori. Like me at first, he didn’t understand why she isn’t fighting for her rightful place in her family. Why she doesn’t fight for the respect she deserves? Why she isn’t fighting for her birthright? Unlike me, Draeg has no idea what she has endured and in my opinion didn’t really try to understand the reasons until they slap him in the face.
The relationship between Lori and Draeg starts off antagonistic as Lori is unsure she can trust him and Draeg is unsure if she is innocent or the mastermind behind the attacks. Their bond develops slowly, beginning with their shared love of the animals though Lori has to be very careful her family nor the residence learn of her growing attraction for Draeg. There is a lot of buried pain in Lori and Draeg isn’t always careful with her feelings. As they grow closer and he realizes she is his heartmate, he begins to plan their life out without considering the ramifications of his lies to her or even what she really wants.
The mystery and romance of the story are decent, but I wasn’t blown away by either of them. The focus remains almost solely on the protagonists, Lori more so then Draeg, leaving us with little action or suspense. The focus also makes it hard to see any povs beyond the protagonists. Much is told but not seen. I had trouble accepting they were falling in love, perhaps because both spent so much time wrapped in a deception of their own making, it was hard to separate the real from the facade. I was also disappointed that Owen didn’t continue with her recent trend of racer love scenes. Though Owen always writes a decent love scenes, lately she seems to have expanded her imagination into the bedroom but in here she retreats back to her previous form.
Many old characters and meet new ones decorate the story. Faces from throughout the series pop in and out to lend advice or a helping hand. The non-human characters are always a treat in this series. Such dynamic personalities are revealed and add some humor to their scenes. It’s here three such characters are revealed. Baccat is Lori’s famcat. He extremely territorial and outspoken. He shares a special bond with Lori as he too was treated badly by his last family. He understands Lori and her need to be free better than most. Corax is Draeg’s fam and unusual as he is a crow. The residence is a complex entity whose long spiral into insanity is a product of fractured personalities that has inhabited it. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for it as the home struggles with letting its last baby, Lori, go.
The ending is a mixture of the intrigue and action I had been looking for throughout as the villains are routed and the residence finally becomes what it was meant to be. The romance resolves itself and we are left thinking that all will be well though I was also left feeling somewhat deflated. While I liked the story, I did feel some things weren’t addressed that should have been and everything seemed to resolve to quickly without much fanfare. Regardless, I always enjoy visiting Ms. Owens futuristic world and look forward to seeing her next hero & heroine.
Grade: C
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