Review and Giveaway: Willing Sacrifice

Willing Sacrifice (The Sentinel Wars - Book 8) by Shannon K. Butcher 

Publication Date: 03/04/2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Signet
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 384
ISBN-10: 0451241118
ISBN-13: 978-0451241115

(Received for an honest review from Signet)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound

Shannon K. Butcher on the WEB: website, twitter, facebook, goodreads

Books in the series: 

Burning Alive (2009), Finding the Lost (2009), Running Scared (2010), Living Nightmare (2010), Blood Hunt (2011), Dying Wish (2012), Falling Blind (2013), Willing Sacrifice (2014)

Coverart: Click the Image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from, Willing Sacrifice, courtesy of the author's website.

Synopsis:

They are the Sentinels. Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity against their eternal foes: the Synestryn. Now a warrior weighs the price he will pay for love....

Theronai warrior Torr has never forgotten Grace, the human who stole his heart and nearly gave her life to save his. So when he is summoned to the aid of Brenya, the powerful woman who healed Grace, he is devastated to find that Grace’s cure has left her mind devoid of any memory of Torr or their love.

However, despite not knowing who he is, Grace is inexplicably drawn to the dark warrior. As they team up to stop the invasion that threatens the people Grace now considers family, her memories slowly start resurfacing. But sometimes the past is best forgotten—a lesson that Torr may learn too late....

Thoughts:

Shannon K. Butcher's eighth book in The Sentinal Wars series, focuses primarily on the story of Torr and Grace and their second chance at love. It is a novel that does not go into a lot of detail on previous story arcs but takes a direction of it's own. Butcher's complex world building is once again amazing and the sense of honor and duty she gives her characters is commendable. Readers of the series have waited for this particular story to come out after seeing the tragic ending these two characters had in a previous book. They will be well satisfied with how the relationship evolves. Another good book from Shannon K. Butcher.

What I liked:

Shannon K. Butcher is one of those authors that I can read over and over. The books in The Sentinel Wars series have all been full of unbelievable world building which is so important in this kind of series. Butcher had to create a world that was different from out own, but one readers would be able to realize and visualize. It is a complex world where three races battle in a war to protect mankind. I loved all of the specific relationships that Butcher builds and camaraderie of the warriors, their sense of duty and their idea of what brotherhood means. The previous books have all been about the greater good but Willing Sacrifice takes a different track.

This story focuses solely on Torr and Grace. None of the other characters that readers have come to know and love appear in great detail in this book. The main story arc almost seems to be forgotten, though Torr and Grace are still fighting the same foes and the same battles. It's as if the author added this book as a completely separate entity to the series. Instead of focusing on the overall goals and the greater good that readers are familiar with it focuses on the one, on the individual experience as a man and a warrior. I thought it was a beautiful love story full of sacrifice and trust. It may seem out of place in the series to some, but I liked that individualistic approach that we see in this book. The world is still going on around Torr and Grace, but their story is their own and somehow set apart from it. I loved that idea.

Grace has no idea who Torr is now. Though the shared a love for the ages in the past, the cure given to Grace to save her life, has left her memories dormant and unreachable, yet she is drawn to Torr like a moth to the flame. Somehow her heart remembers and as they fight side by side, her internal instinct to protect Torr is as strong as his to protect her. Her memories start to slowing trickle back and some of them are not good memories, but she perseveres and comes out the other side, changed but not beyond hope. I thought the love story between these two was so poignant. Here they are in the middle of a battle to protect one of the most powerful women in their world. Everything around them is in chaos but they are still willing to sacrifice themselves for each other. Butcher does a fantastic job with this story.

What I didn't like:

I missed all the characters from the rest of the books. I wondered off and on what might be happening to them on the home world and what battles they might be fighting. It wasn't something I had to know, but a little information here and there might have been nice.

Bottom Line:

Though this book was completely different from the previous books in the series, I liked the fact that it centered completely around one couple and their individual experience within the whole. I liked it, it was something different for a change, but I did miss the other characters and stories.

Willing Sacrifice is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

Since launching her career in 2007, Shannon K. Butcher has penned more than eighteen titles. Willing Sacrifice is the eighth in the paranormal romance series the Sentinel Wars, following Burning Alive, Finding the Lost, Running Scared, Living Nightmare, Blood Hunt, Bound by Vengeance, Dying Wish, and Falling Blind.  She is also the author of the action-romance series the Edge, including the novels Living on the Edge, Razor's Edge and Edge of Sanity, and a handful of romantic-suspense novels and works of short fiction. Being a former engineer and current nerd, she frequently uses charts, graphs, and tables to aid her in the mechanics of story design and to keep track of all those pesky characters and magical powers. An avid beader and glass artist, she spends her free time making jewelry she often gives away in contests on her website.

Giveaway Details:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Willing Sacrifice by Shannon K. Butcher.

~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ US addresses only.
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, March 21st.

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