Fate Forgotten by J.L. Sheppard
Series: The Fated Immortals, 2
Paranormal Romance
Released: August 26, 2016
The Wild Rose Press

Reviewed by Sheena

Valerie Matlock’s life revolves around her coven. Young and naïve, she knows little about the immortal war brewing until the night her coven is attacked. In the blink of an eye, the family she loves is gone. Devastated, she lays eyes on the angry demon warrior, Jacob Rhodes. A Guardian, he means her no harm, but she fears him as deeply as she craves him. She has to stay away. She just doesn’t know if she can.

The pain of Jacob’s losses have hardened him. He lives for revenge and uses anger like a shield, keeping everyone at arm’s length. He can’t risk losing more. Tragedy strikes, again, and he’s left caring for his four-year-old niece, Annie. The bright girl deserves better than him. But he can’t give her up, not ever. When he sets his eyes on his fated mate, the powerful witch, Valerie, his life gets twice as complicated. Will she accept him, a demon she fears and his adopted child?

Fated Mates. Stubborn, high-handed male knows the skittish, lovely heroine is destined to be his, but for the usual bone headed reason, he doesn’t tell her, opting to reel her in his own way on his own time, mucking things up along the way; one absurd misunderstanding after the other.  He is of course devoted to the teeth and his faithful band of brothers are there to support him along the way but its only when he heeds the advice of his female friends (because, duh) is he able to finally get it in gear, reveal the fated connection to the heroine and GASP, she’s loved him all along.

Yep. I’m familiar with this trope.

And I like it. Its fun, easy reading and despite my mounting frustration that the H/h are wasting precious page time, misunderstanding one another because neither is honest about their feelings, I do enjoy the trappings of this kind of journey to HEA.  In Fate Forgotten, Jacob is a demon, a Guardian who fights an evil enemy determined to eradicate weaker immortals and human kind alike.  Jacob is a whole lot of big, bad and mad and has lived centuries in a seething purgatory, content with letting his anger consume him.  The world building is kind of, figure it out as you go along-ish, and though it can sort of stand alone…I did feel a little hobbled by lack of reference for some of the material.  For instance, Jacob, after rescuing his niece when her parents were murdered by the enemy, brings her to live with him at the home of the Demon Guardian King; where high-ranking Guardians an Angel and other elemental immortals reside. They were all kind of thrown at me and it sometimes felt as if their presence in some scenes was just checking off a box.  I had many questions as I was reading (a little distracting) particularly, how this immortal motley crew bunch all came to live under one roof in the first place.

In any case, back to Jacob’s brooding.  Demon Guardians are also empaths, able to absorb, detect and project their feelings and the feelings of others.  Now tasked with raising his niece, Annie, (the most adorable little four year old deamoness, ever) Jacob is instinctively reigning in his anger, not wanting to do a thing to hurt his young charge.  It is an evolution that is sweet to watch, especially since it was so sincere and we got to see a different side of Jacob.  This crucial change comes along at the most impeccable time, as little does he know, his fated mate, Val, is about to come into his life, a young witch who, like is niece, has also lost her family, her beloved coven sisters and needs the bonds of family that Jacob and  Annie represent.  All a little fractured, they are so perfect for one another, fitting like perfect puzzle pieces- if only they didn’t spend nearly seventy percent of the novel figuring it out. Comically, young Annie, is the catalyst to bring them together and it was all just so sweet!

It hit her, square in the chest.  She never felt anything like it.  So much emotion, she gasped, breathless.  Happiness. Fulfillment.  Contentment.  Belonging.  It radiated from him…

A rush of tears watered her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“She’s just surprised, Uncle Jake.  She’s not used to feeling other people’s emotions.  You do that a lot.”

Sweet, so sweet.

Fate Forgotten is a whole lot of sweet. So much so that I often forgot that there was supposed to be imminent danger afoot. Even when the characters reminded me from time to time that they do fiercely protect their loved ones and fight the enemy to the death during their hunts.  Sometimes these paranormal romances can be huge, bloody actin novels with a few blow jobs, kisses and a mating ceremony sprinkled in for lust points.  This novel was just the opposite, more so, a focused romance with funny quips, sweetness, friendship (and yummy sex) with fighting and death sprinkled in for ambiance.

And I was okay with that. I really don’t like when paranormal novels fall into the trap where it is all about battle, fight, rally, battle, plan and fight. Give me my romance already!

Val was an interesting heroine. Very skittish but would snap and strike with her powers in cute little bursts of anger and frustration.  You could never stay mad her because she was so kind and well meaning.  I enjoyed her thoughts and watching her come out of her shell (painstakingly slow) was rewarding (at long last!)  To my immense pleasure, there was plenty of posturing and possessive “MINE” declarations to indulge in. Again, what made this more unique is that even with all of his chest beating, Jacob was not an asshole, at all- well, except that one time…

“Whose shirt is that?”  He pointed a the shirt.

“Ummm…”

She glanced down at herself, readjusted the shirt, and mumbled, “I- I’m not s-sure.”

Fuck.

Contemplating weather to kill every male within a fifty mile radius, he fisted his palms and took a deliberate step in her direction.  he mirrored him, taking a step away.

“Have you had so many men?”

Even as mad as he was, as jealous, he regretted it instantly.  Watching her face pale, his stomach soured.

Yeah, that wasn’t one of his shining moments, but he recovered…eventually and soon he was but putty in Val’s oblivious hands.  In some instances I wanted him to just cave man the shit and put their avoidance dance to rest once and for all!

“Let me kiss you.”

“I thought you’d just take them from now on since I agreed to your deal.”

“I was bluffing, I can’t take anything from you.”

She rose on the balls of her feet and cupped his cheek, pulling him toward her, then planted her lips on his.”

He broke the kiss and stared into her eyes. Once again mesmerized by his red glowing gaze…she heard his heart pounding loudly and felt the strength of hers slamming against her ribs.

Kiss me! Why’d you stop? Her mind screamed. 

“I…need you so damned much.”

Then take me!

Nevertheless, there is an HEA, so regardless of their meandering, they get their asses in gear and on the same page eventually.

Issues I had while reading was the overall cadence.  It felt a little clunky at times, certain scenes not blending well into the next, characters coming in out of nowhere and vanishing just as fast, there was some uncertainty or rather character and plot inconsistency that niggled at the back of my mind, a little distracting when you are trying to get into and stay into the grove of the story.  It definitely grew on me.  The first five percent, I was completely lost (who are these people in these disjointed scenes?) Then around twenty percent I was invested and loving on Annie so hard.  By fifty percent I was ready to thrash Jacob and Val for being a pair of bumbling dummies, and by seventy percent onward, I was grinning and already looking forward to who would have the next novel (fellow Guardian Nathan, please!!! Adored him!).   So all in all it came together in an interestingly cute, haphazard way.   One thing that did stand out was Nathan. I do not know what is up the author’s sleeve for him, but, I liked him more than Jacob. I looked forward to anytime he was on the page and I missed him when he was gone.  I don’t know that it’s okay that I also wouldn’t have minded if he swooped in and made a pass for Val, lol I know, I know. But it’s not a knock on Jacob- he was sufficient for his role, it is a nod to how awesomely bright Nathan radiated throughout the book.  Such a strong, sexy and compelling guy. *sigh*

I recommend giving Fate Forgotten a read.  I do not think you will be disappointed, but I would recommend reading book one.  May help with context and appreciation for some characters that were hanging around- but if you are like me and dive in with book two, try not to worry too much about “wait, who was that??” and just take the story as it comes.  Annie, Jacob and Val’s definitely make it all worth it.

“Dos your uncle know you’re on the phone with me?”

“He doesn’t need to know everything, I’m a big girl.”

Such a beautiful spirit.  She outright laughed. “yes you are.” Telling herself once more that Jake and her interactions would be minimal at most, she agreed.  “If its okay with your uncle, I’d be thrilled to watch you while he’s at work.”

“Yay! I’m going to tell Uncle Jake right now!”

So stinkin cute!

Grade: C+

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