Review: Fever Series ~ by Karen Marie Moning

A five book review by Shellie for: Fever Series (in audio) ~ by Karen Marie Moning

Set in the rainy city of Dublin, Ireland, this paranormal romance/urban fantasy series has a complex mythology, intense sexual tension, two alien fairy factions, and loads of interesting drama and action. It’s a completely addictive series and highly recommended in its audio version for a five book escapist read.

About:  This series (with a promise of more books, using a different character set in the same urban world) portrays a powerful, alien, and dark Faery population which are divided into two factions - the dark and ugly “Unseelie” faction and the not so dark and beautiful “Seelie” faction.

It may be the end of the world as humans know it if the boundaries between the dark fairy realm is not sealed quickly since someone or some thing is allowing the darkest Fae faction – the “Unseelie”, to infiltrate the earth. Lucky for humans there may be a person who has the skills to save the world. She’s a special sidheseers (pronounced “she-seer”) who can, unlike normal humans, see and detect the Fae. The problem is she has no clue what, who, and how important she really is.

This person is Mackayla Lane (Mac for short), a twenty something southern bell, with soft curves, feistiness, and old fashioned mores. She has traveled to Dublin Ireland to find the murderer of her beloved sister, Alina. Arriving soon after her sister’s death, Mac finds that the police have dropped her sister's case and immediately senses something is amiss. She is frustratingly faced with a variety of locals who refuse to help, tell her to get on a plane and go back to Georgia, and to leave well enough alone. As she tries to make sense of what has occurred, she discovers that seeing monsters is a newly found ability and that most humans can not see these other world beings like she can - so she is horrified, confused, and even more determined to avenge her sister’s death.

In her efforts to escape one of these horrific “Unseelie” monsters she stumbles into a local bookstore where she is confronted by its owner, the exquisitely masculine, and mysterious Jericho Barrons. He is cold, yet treats her with intrigue, contempt, and disdain. However, being strong and stubborn Mac will not take any of his bad attitude without a comeback. It may be because he actually needs her for her special abilities. So their conflicted relationship begins.

Enter the high court “Seelie” Faery prince named V’lane. He apparently needs Mac for the same reason as Jericho. With him she has to deal with yet another attitude - as he is superior, mind numbingly handsome and possessing a sexual glamor that is completely addictive and which may cause death for unsuspecting humans.

As the two “males” compete for Mac’s skills, and perhaps attention, an amazing tension is created causing drama and heart pounding intrigue. As they hunt for magical relics and try and figure out what is wrong with their monster-infested world, they attempt to stop the death and mayhem. And Mac begins to realize that perhaps faction lines are not a distinct black and white or good and bad, but are actually every shade in between.

Thoughts:  I devoured and thoroughly enjoyed this series in its audio version. One big reason is that the author starts the reader out slowly, with its real-life setting, likeable and strong female lead character, and specifically – there is no swearing or kick-butt action in the first part of the first book (I have a problem with this when reading). The author waits until you know and like the characters before harsher language, violent action, and sex is used. But be aware - after the first book in the series there is quite a lot of all three.

I liked the characters – especially Mac. She is a strong and feisty character and I was also interested in the two potential romantic leads for her. Both are complex and mysterious “men” which helps to create this sexy adult paranormal romance series. It will pull readers in and keep them up reading into the early hours of the morning. I could not stop thinking about and finding time to listen until I had completed the entire series. Very rare for me.

Recommended for anyone who enjoys or would like to explore paranormal romance/urban fantasy. Since this series is complete it’s nice that the reader does not to have to wait months for the next book. A definite plus. I recommend that it’s read in order - to feel completely immersed in the story and understand the characters.  This entire series is a 4 star in my opinion and is a terrific escape into a familiar, sexy, and exciting paranormal world.

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Reading order:

1. Darkfever
2. Bloodfever 
3. Faefever
4. Dreamfever
5. Shadowfever

Below are the covers and data for the audio books in the series:

• Darkfever (book 1) ~ by Karen Marie Moning; Brilliance Audio; 8 hours, 57 minutes;  Oct 31, 2006; read by Joyce Bean.  
• Bloodfever (book 2) ~ by Karen Marie Moning; Brilliance Audio; 9 hours, 3 minutes; Oct 16, 2007; read by Joyce Bean.
• Faefever (book 3) ~ Karen Marie Moning; Brilliance Audio; 9 hours, 46 minutes; Sep 30, 2008; read by Joyce Bean.   

• Dreamfever (book 4) ~ Karen Marie Moning; Brilliance Audio; 12 hours, 12 minutes; Aug 18, 2009; read by Natalie Ross. 
• Shadowfever (book 5) ~ by Karen Marie Moning; Brilliance Audio; 19 hours, 52 minutes; Jan 18, 2011; read by Natalie Ross.

There are several new books from the series – Iced: A Dani O'Malley Novel, to be released October 30, 2012 (and mentioned above,) a graphic novel based around Mac and Jericho called Fever Moon; The Fear Dorcha, to be released July 10, 2012, as well as re-release of novella which combines elements from Karen Moning’s two popular series - the Highlander Series (8 books) and the Fever Series (5 books). It’s called Into the Dreaming. It was re-released in April of this year.

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Karen Marie Moning is a prolific writer. She graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor's degree in Society & Law. Her novels have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists and have won numerous awards, including the prestigious RITA Award.  For more information link to her website: http://www.karenmoning.com/kmm/

So guess what I was doing while packing up our house for our move from Arizona to California? Yep this was it, listening to a five book series. It certainly saved me from a boring packing job.

Thanks for reading!