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Review of Madison's Song by Christine Amsden
Confession time: This was a last minute read for me. A very last minute read. Like, I didn't know I already have the copy until Sage Adderley sent me a friendly reminder. But still all's well that ends well. I read Madison's Song last night and closed it 3 hours later with a somewhat satisfied sigh. Why is there a "somewhat" in that sentence, you ask? Let me explain.
Title: Madison’s Song
Author: Christine Amsden
Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance
Source: Copy Given by Publisher and Tour Organizer
SYNOPSIS:
Her voice is enchanting; his soul is black…
Madison Carter has been terrified of Scott Lee since the night he saved her from an evil sorcerer – then melted into a man-eating monster before her eyes. The werewolf is a slave to the moon, but Madison’s nightmares are not.
Despite her fears, when Madison’s brother, Clinton, is bitten by a werewolf, she knows there is only one man who can help. A man who frightens her all the more because even in her nightmares, he also thrills her.
Together for the first time since that terrible night, Scott and Madison drive to Clinton’s home only to discover that he’s vanished. Frantic now, Madison must overcome her fears and uncover hidden strengths if she hopes to save him. And she’s not the only one fighting inner demons. Scott’s are literal, and they have him convinced that he will never deserve the woman he loves.
*Stand-alone companion to the Cassie Scot series
PURCHASE LINKS:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1HLNLjd
CHARACTER BACKGROUND:
Madison Carter is a woman who knows pain; physical, mental, and emotional. All her life she's been lead to believe that what she has is a curse, not a gift. She lost people who are important to her, lied to in order to gain something, and oh, deeply cut--literally! Fear has been her constant companion since the night the man of her dreams saved her life and threatened to take it. But no matter how many people hurt her, she couldn't help but care for them anyway. Her loyalty simply knows no bounds.
Scott Lee believes with every fiber of his being that he's a bad man. One who is completely undeserving of a woman like Madison. He's been through a lot; killed a number of people, but never having the time or opportunity to dwell on the pain caused by it. As the alpha, the life of his pack is a heavy burden. But, it's a responsibility he can never let go off. Though, there's someone more important he can never afford to lose.
REVIEW:
From the very first page of the Prologue, I was already hooked. I mean, a book starting with a woman being held down on the floor by a witch (or warlock. I don't really know) and being slapped around is one you just have to see through the end. If only to see if it would live up to such a strong start. Did Madison's Song maintain its action-packed, adrenaline-pumping pace? Why, yes it did. The story was very interesting. Apparently though, there's another series that have already introduced this "world". Initially, I felt completely lost by this fact and got a tad upset, but I got over it when I decided that I would read the books preceding this one.
Christine Amsden writes in a way that appeals to me very much. She's very detailed, not afraid to hurt her characters, and loves to throw in twists and turns at every corner. The characters are also very intriguing. Scott and Madison complement each other perfectly. They bring out the best in each other; strength, faith, and love. Scott is every bit the alpha male I expected him to be, but magic? Really? Cool. Now, Madison...I don't think I've read another paranormal romance story with a lead having the same type of power. The book's title should have had me prepared, but I was still very much shocked by the things that happened. The support characters though...hmm, I think I really want to get to know them more.
SUMMARY:
Madison's Song is a thrilling book filled with mystery and pain. It's fast-paced and perfect for readers of paranormal romance, because it has almost every kind of supernatural creature we know of. I look forward to reading other creations of Christine Amsden.
RATING:
EXCERPT:
“Silence,” David commanded.
Her throat continued to work, but no sound emerged. She felt like a fish being gutted, choking and spluttering as David returned to the work of cutting into the soft, sensitive flesh of her belly. Yet even as tears refilled her eyes and fear devoured her heart, some part of her recognized that her guts remained intact. Whatever David was doing to her with the dagger involved tracing shallow patterns across the surface of her skin.
Fight the pain. Take deep breaths. Ground and center. She was not in the empty living room of a house she had not quite moved into yet, she was at church, singing in the choir. Above her, Jesus hung from a cross, a crown of thorns atop his head, a soft glow surrounding him. She usually found the magic within that glow. She reached for it...
“Stop that!” David slapped her hard across the face.
Once again her eyes flew open. She saw the dagger dripping with blood – her blood. Had her feeble grab for magic actually made a difference? David seemed to have noticed something, but what?
“You're just making this harder on yourself,” David said.
“What do you want?” Madison tried to ask. Her mouth moved, her lips forming the question, but no sound emerged.
She didn't think he would answer; he couldn't even have heard the question, but to her surprise he only hesitated a moment before saying, “Your soul.”
He lowered the dagger.
Her soul? What did that mean? What could a man do with someone's soul? She now knew what he wanted, at least in part, but she'd been right – knowing didn't make a difference. If anything, it made things worse. She couldn't calm down now. She couldn't focus. She needed to breathe, to block out all distractions, in order to find her quiet place. How was she supposed to block out the razor-sharp sting of a blade slicing across her abdomen? How could she focus with her very soul in danger?
Forget magic. Time to pray. Prayer was something she understood.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name...
David slapped her across the cheek, leaving behind a fiery trail.
Madison prayed harder.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee...
She braced herself for the strike of his hand against her cheek once more, but it didn't come. For a heart-stopping moment, she thought her prayer hadn't worked this time. Then an ear-splitting CRASH shook the room. It felt like an explosion. Surely the roof would come crashing down at any moment. Madison instinctively covered her head with her hands and curled into a ball.
She didn't have time to take in what had happened – either the crash or the fact that her invisible bonds had evaporated as if they'd never existed. The house still trembled and dust filled the air when a great, primal roar made every hair on Madison's body stand on end.
Slowly, she lifted her head. David stood in profile to her, his face white with terror, his gaze fixed on the splintered front door, which now hung precariously off its hinges. The sun had all but set, casting the unlit room in deep twilight, but she could just make out who had blasted his way through that door.
Scott Lee.
Her heart gave a painful little twang at the sight of the man she'd spent the past few weeks daydreaming about incessantly. Now here he was like an avenging angel out of one of her fantasies, frightening her enemy and offering her hope. In that moment, she could honestly say she had never seen a more beautiful man. He wasn't particularly tall, but he was powerful, the clearly defined muscles of his bare upper arms rippling with strength.
Rumor had it he was a werewolf, and perhaps he was. Something lent him superhuman strength. The evidence was there in the splintered remains of the front door and then, the next second, in the ferocity of his attack.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Christine Amsden has been writing science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.
At the age of 16, Chri1stine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a condition that affects the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams. (You can learn morehere.)
In addition to writing, Christine teaches workshops on writing at Savvy Authors. She also does some freelance editing work.
Christine currently lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, Austin, who has been her biggest fan and the key to her success. They have two beautiful children, Drake and Celeste.
AUTHOR LINKS:
Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/christineamsden
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristineAmsden
TOUR ORGANIZED BY:
Book images provided by Sage's Blog Tours
Have you read Madison's Song? We'd love to hear your thoughts! Share it in the comment section below.
Thanks so much for the wonderful review!
ReplyDeleteOfficially, I'm marketing this as stand-alone. Unofficially, I do recommend reading the Cassie Scot series first. You'll learn a lot more about the world and the surrounding characters. I'm so glad you enjoyed this and hope you like the others as well! :)