Broken Dove (Fantasyland, #4) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jan 26, 2016 Daffodil rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance, romance, fantasy

In all fairness, before I review this book I should admit I'm a fan of Kristen Ashley. 23 of the 53 books I've already read/reread this year are by her. ... Well. ... So, maybe I'm a bit more than a fan. ... Okay, okay. I admit it, I might be a fanatic. The first 12 books I read in January were by KA. Those books were like chips, I couldn't stop with just 1, or apparently even just 11. LOL. Anyway, I'm telling you this so you understand where I'm coming from with my review -- I'm totally in love In all fairness, before I review this book I should admit I'm a fan of Kristen Ashley. 23 of the 53 books I've already read/reread this year are by her. ... Well. ... So, maybe I'm a bit more than a fan. ... Okay, okay. I admit it, I might be a fanatic. The first 12 books I read in January were by KA. Those books were like chips, I couldn't stop with just 1, or apparently even just 11. LOL. Anyway, I'm telling you this so you understand where I'm coming from with my review -- I'm totally in love with her writing and will put up with stuff from her that would (& has) totally drive me crazy from another author. So I guess you could go one step further and say I'm an addict.

The Fantasyland series is set in a parallel universe. Many people have duplicates: Same face and same name, different world. Some twins are similar in personality, some are poles apart. Due to some witchy machinations, certain twins have been switching places, finding adventure and falling in love in the parallel world. Each book has been leading up to a battle between good and evil in Fantasyland (FL in future references) and events come to a head in Broken Dove.

FL's Apollo Ulfr, still grieving for his dead wife, pays to have her twin brought to FL. And despite acknowledging the warning that she is a different person, he's still initially disappointed in Ilsa. Like many of KA's alpha heroes, he acts like a jerk and voices his displeasure, hurting Ilsa in the process. Again, like many of KA's heroes, he eventually manages to win forgiveness for his words.

Ilsa, despite being broken by her emotionally distant parents and physically abusive husband, has the strength to leave Pol (Apollo of Earth -- a very bad man) and manages to stay one step ahead of his pursuit for quite a while. Suddenly finding herself in FL with Pol's twin and just as suddenly being made the target of his disappointment, she still finds beauty and joy in her new surroundings.

Maddie (Ilsa's new name in FL so as not to be confused with FL's Ilsa by those who knew her) and Apollo begin to forge a new relationship, finding and appreciating the personality differences in their SO's twin. Maddie's struggle to find her own self-worth and Apollo's mistakes in handling her issues are heartbreaking as they learn more about each other, but in the end Apollo helps Maddie see her own value and the bond they build together is strong.

I loved that all three previous couples, as well as a few other favorite characters, made appearances.
KA's epilogue is fantastic as always, wrapping up little things and giving insight into the characters lives down the road a bit.

KA seems to be a love or hate author for most people. I of course love her books. Other people have issues with sentence construction, which can sometimes seem almost stream-of-consciousness in style. I don't usually end up lost, so this doesn't phase me. Some people don't like the long descriptive passages KA devotes to clothing and decorating schemes. I personally enjoy the passages in which KA does this. As noted above, the heroes can have great moments of jerkiness (is that a word?). But no matter how mad I get at them, KA somehow redeems them in my eyes and I find myself rooting for him to win the girl in the end. I've given this some thought and I think the thing that really draws me to KA's books is time and time again she has made me believe deep down inside where I need to believe it, no matter how broken a person is, no matter how emotionally scarred or damaged, there's always hope for love.

Now I really need to wrap up this review, another KA book was just released Monday and it's calling my name. Loudly! ...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Karyogini rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-on-2014

I wished this to be the last book. It is not but one thing I can tell you guys is that the main showdown happens here. Thank goodness! After reading the 1st 3 books I cannot stand the overall cliffhanger.

This story is about Apollo and Ilsa/Maddie. :) I enjoyed it a lot but there were parts specially near the climax where the too detailed story telling was testing my patience. Argh!

I don't know if I'll still read the last book Noc and humm Franka? ...more

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Apr 16, 2021 Michelle the Romance Witch rated it it was amazing

Shelves: digital-versions-of-print

Wow... What a mix of pain and pleasure, trauma, and passion, loss and love. Loved the epic ending and looking forward to the next story to fully close out the series.

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