Thursday, March 5, 2015

Review: White Knight

White Knight (Cornerstone Trilogy - Book 3) by Kelly Meade

Publication Date: 01/20/2015
Publisher: Penguin
Imprint: InterMix
Genre: Paranormal Romance
File Size: 1182 KB (appox. 277 pages)
ASIN: B00I8RB100

(Received for an honest review from InterMix)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, itunes, Kobo

Kelly Meade on the WEB: website, blog, twitter, facebook, goodreads

Books in the series

Cornerstone  Run Trilogy

1. Black Rook
2. Gray Bishop
3. White Knight

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




Excerpt from, White Knight, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature

Synopsis:

Kelly Meade, author of Grey Bishop and Black Rook, continues her Cornerstone Run saga...

Checkmate…


Despite a month of peace from hybrid attacks, the constant threat of violence has the loup garou on edge. Knight McQueen’s home feels like a military compound and his people have become battle-weary soldiers. And Knight’s tenuous grip on his own self-control has been further damaged by the disappearance of the only woman whose touch brings him peace.

Held prisoner by her hybrid half-sisters and forced to care for an unknown child, Shay Butler’s quarterly is approaching but a silver-laced collar prevents her from shifting. As her time draws closer, her sanity begins to slip.

The opportunity to rescue Shay arrives when Magus enemy Archimedes Atwood requests a parley to discuss ways to end the conflict between their people and stop the rogue hybrids. Alpha Bishop McQueen agrees, bringing his brothers together to form a plan that will bring Shay home to Knight, stop the final two hybrids—and finally bring Archimedes to justice once and for all...


Thoughts:

White Knight is the final book in Kelly Meade's Cornerstone Run Trilogy featuring werewolves and a couple of hybrid werewolf/vampire sisters who are out for blood. Readers who have followed the series have been waiting for Knight McQueen's story with baited breath. This brother and his empathetic abilities has taken the heart of many readers and this installment in the series focuses on Knight and his soon to be mate, Shay. The romance is both touching and sexy and the Meade ties up every arc and thread in the series with a nice big bow. A great addition to the series!

This series is one that has quite of bit of darkness to it. It reminds me more of an Urban Fantasy title than a Paranormal Romance for that reason. It has that dark, gritty kind of energy that is so prevalent in Urban Fantasy, yet there is always a powerful love story at the heart of each novel, including the final book, White Knight. 

Knight's soon to be mate, Shay was taken prisoner by the hybrids at the end of book two and readers have been waiting to see what happens for quite a while now. Her relationship with Knight has already been established so readers aren't necessarily getting a happy-ever-after story, but more of continuation of a love story. This book is more about how the couple learns to trust each other, through their struggles, than it is about finding love. They already have it. They just have to learn to trust it.

Knight didn't quite live up to my expectations as a hero. I knew he struggled with his abilities as an empath, but I thought he had more control than he exhibited in this book. In the previous books he had always been this sort of enigma, a mystery that wasn't easy to solve, but in this one, he lost that a little bit and it was hard for me to rationalize both parts of his character. I knew he would be different than the average alpha hero because he was always the one who didn't quite fit the mold, but I wanted more here. I still liked him, I just wanted more.

Shay, however, more than made up for Knight. She was a kick-butt, heroine. Not only did she survive her captivity and keep her sanity, but she seemed to thrive afterwards. She came into her own in the run and was able to be a part of things and even offer suggestions and help to Rook. I loved her tenacity and my heart broke for her and Knight during several parts of this book. It wouldn't be a Cornerstone Run book without some tragedy and dire circumstances and Meade did not disappoint.  

Bottom Line:

Meade tied everything up nicely here, doing a fantastic job of making every arc and thread make sense. I wanted to know what happened to so many people and things before the end and Meade gave me a very satisfying finish to a great series! Knight may not have been everything I wanted but he was still a good character. Shay was amazing and it was great to check with old characters and find new ones. A great overall finish!

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





About the Author:


Raised on a steady diet of Star Wars, Freddy Krueger and "Fear Street" novels, Kelly Meade developed a love for all things paranormal at a very young age. The stealthy adolescent theft of a tattered paperback from her grandmother's collection of Harlequins sparked an interest in romance that has continued to this day. Writing as Kelly Meding, Meade is the author of the Dreg City urban fantasy and the MetaWars books. She is also the author of the first book of the Cornerstone Trilogy, Black Rook, and the conclusion, White Knight.


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