A Breath of Winter by Hailey Edwards is the fourth book in the Araneae Nation series. This book will be released December 10, 2013 and is a Samhain Publishing ,LTD publication. I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher and Bewitching Book Blog Tours/Roxanne Rhoads in exchange for an honest review.
"There's no easy cure for a love of epidemic proportions"
Zuri and her brothers have been commissioned to transport a captured harbinger to Erania. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. The mission goes awry from the start. The prisoner nearly escapes, the border guards cause a scuffle, and to put the cherry on the cake, Zuri and her brothers are quarantined due to the plague.
Enter Henri, a healer and scientist. His plan was to study the harbinger. He wants to find a cure for the plague, but his experiment doesn't work out the way he planned.
While Zuri recuperates from an ankle injury, she and Henri forge a bond. Although Zuri isn't as trusting of Henri's men, she does trust Henri. She will have to trust someone when a conspiracy comes to light that could topple the Araneae Nation.
I must confess that I have not read the first three books in this series. I seem to make a habit of picking a book that is the latest in the series and hoping I will be able to follow along. That's a risk in any series, but especially in a fantasy series.
However, I picked up the thread right away was carried off into another time and place. While I would highly recommend reading the first three books in the series first, which I plan to do, if you see this one listed as a new release, by all means don't hesitate to pick this one up.
This book is, in my opinion, high fantasy. It could be labeled as paranormal romance, even Urban Fantasy, but for me I think that's a stretch.
I loved Zuri's spunk and bravery and loyalty. She has the ability to think and act with grace under pressure.
Henri is kind of an odd duck. Initially, his intentions were well meaning, but he actually put Zuri and her family at great risk. However, he more than makes up for his mistake and it looks as though fate brought Zuri to him for a reason.
There are many creatures and unusal persons in this book which challenges the reader to use their imaginations. The author does a great job of opening up my mind visually.
I highly recommend this book to fantasy lovers and romance readers.
Overall this one is an A.
On December 10th, join the Bewitching Book Blog Tours for the Book Blitz release of A BREATH OF WINTER. Stop by my blog at http://www.cluereview.blogspot.com for a chance to win a copy of A HINT OF FROST by Hailey Edwards.
