Gena Showalter is an author of paranormal romance, contemporary romance and young adult books. She is very popular for her various series. Here, I review one of her earliest series : The Atlantis series, available from Harlequin.
Atlantis Series Book 1- Heart Of The Dragon
Darius is the definitive Alpha male. A dragon shape-shifter, he guards one of the portals to Atlantis, a secret city under the sea where vampires, dragons, sirens, nymphs, demons, and some other beings live. A human army once entered Atlantis through one of the portals, killing many of these beings. Now, Darius is to ensure that never happens again by killing every single human who steps through the portal, regardless if the human is guilty or innocent, man or woman.
Grace stumbles through the portal while looking for her brother in Brazil and finds herself before a large, imposing (but sexy as hell, of course) man wielding a sword.
For the first time in what feels like forever, Darius can see in color again, which throws him. He raises the sword, but can’t bring it down to cut through the beautiful woman’s flesh and bone. Unsure what to do, he takes the woman to his room, determined to keep her there until he figures out what to do with this woman who causes him to see in color again, and actually feel emotions.
But Grace is not the type of woman to stay put and do as she’s told…
I loved this book, and the rest of the series as well. Gena Showalter has created a beautiful, mystical land, full of intriguing races and a rich history. The characters were well-developed. The heroes: Strong, brave, sexy, brutal yet … sweet to their chosen mates.
The heroines were bold, daring, courageous women you could root for.
Atlantis Book 2: Jewel Of Atlantis
Grayson James is sent into Atlantis to obtain the Jewel Of Dunamis, a jewel that can see the future, and could be absolutely invaluable , or deadly, depending on whose hands it is in. Gray has orders to keep it out of the wrong hands–or destroy it.
What Gray doesn’t know is that the Jewel of Dunamis is the beautiful woman he’s saved from the demons. Nicknamed Jewel, she can tell the future, read his thoughts, and has been kept prisoner by one race after another for her entire life. No family, no one to protect her… All Jewel has is the man she’s watched grow from child to man. Gray.
Gray, a mere human, has infuriated the queen of demons by stealing the Jewel of Dunamis right out from under her. And every race in Atlantis wants the Jewel Of Dunamis for themselves. Where can they run, when the whole city is hunting them?
Could.Not.Put.It.Down.
Atlantis Book 3: The Nymph King
So I read the first two in the series and absolutely loved them. The plots, the characters… All were excellent. I picked this one up, knowing it would be good because Hell-ooooo, it was written by Gena Showalter, but I had my doubts it would be as good as the others, because the hero is a nymph. Not just a nymph, but the Nymph King. I just knew this ultra-potent “Just smell me once and you’ll be stripping down and doing every freaky thing you could possibly imagine” nymph would break through the heroine’s barriers (Sorry. I realize how that sounds, and no pun intended) in no time and the plot would be weaker for it.
I was wrong. I admit it.
This actually turned out to be my FAVORITE of all three. All the heroes in this series were awesome, but there was just something extra about Valerian (LOL! Wouldn’t you know it. I fell for the nymph, of all creatures. How ironic). So used to being lusted after, it absolutely throws him for a loop when Shaye, the woman he instantly realizes is his mate, not only tells him no, she tells him Hell, no!
Nymphs need sex for strength, to survive ( like we haven’t heard that line before ~LOL!~) and Valerian knows his nymphs will be going to war with the dragons soon because they have overtaken one of the the dragons’ castles. Yet, he doesn’t push Shaye, wanting her t come to him on her own time, out of her own desire.
Shaye doesn’t want to love anyone. She’s seen her mother go through men like kleenex, has seen the damage that loving a person can do. She keeps everyone at arm’s length, purposely throwing around attitude to turn people away from her. If she doesn’t let them in, they can’t hurt her. But despite her best efforts, Valerian just keeps working his way in…
Atlantis Book 4: The Vampire’s Bride
So Gena Showalter decided to take two of each creature in Atlantis and put them on an island. There they are divided into two teams to compete in a competition to discover which race in Atlantis is the strongest. The losing team must vote out one member after each competition, and that member is beheaded.
I kid you not. It’s “Survivor” meets Atlantis.
Crazy, you say? Sure. But you’re forgetting the obvious: Gena Showalter can NOT write a bad book. It’s simply not in her genetic makeup. (I will not be envious, I will not be envious, I will NOT be envious… OK, better now).
This book rocked. Although there are a couple of side stories in this one featuring other couples finding their mates, Layel (the vampire king) and Delilah (Amazon) are the main characters. Layel lost his human mate and unborn child 200 years ago in the most cruel, vicious way possible, at the hands of the dragons. He has vowed to completely destroy the entire race to avenge her death. He will not touch another woman or do anything to “betray” his beloved, Susan.
Until he meets the beautiful, blue-haired Amazon, Delilah, in battle, and they are mysteriously swept away (along with some others–two of each race) to an island outside of Atlantis to compete before Poseidon, Area, Hestia, etc., who have grown bored and wish to amuse themselves with this little game.
Delilah is an Amazon, a race of women trained from childhood for battle, a race that believe themselves the ultimate warrior, and will bow down to no one. The Amazons live together in a tribe, only taking men as sex slaves during the breeding season. But Delilah wants more. She wants love… and finds it the instant she meets Layel, the untouchable vampire who still grieves for his lost wife.
This book was really good. Not only do Layel and Delilah have a lot of emotional stuff going on, but they are in this competition where the losers die. And not only are they trying to protect themselves, but each other as well.
This was a very gripping, fast-paced read, and excellently written.
I’m ready for more in this series. I want to revisit Atlantis again and again!
