Sins of the Flesh, Book 3, The Otherkin Series by Eve Silver

Publisher:  HQN/Harlequin Enterprises
Pages:  384

(Release Date:  October 1, 2010)

From the Cover:

Torn between lust and loyalty…

The blood of the Underworld lord of evil runs through soul reaper Malthus Krayl’s veins.  Raised to fight for survival and to kill for victory, he can destroy anyone who poses a threat.  As he searches for the one responsible for his brother’s murder, he refuses to succumb to any distraction… until his sworn enemy crosses his path and tempts him beyond all reason.

Calliope Kane, a Daughter of Aset, has a personal hatred for soul reapers.  Their savage attack against her family still haunts her.  But only Malthus can help her find the traitors of her kind, and only she can help him hunt the source of betrayal amongst the reapers.  As they unite, the danger grows closer…and the passion between them ignites…

*****May Contain Spoilers*****

Malthus Krayl is the third son born of the God of Chaos, Lord of Evil, Sutekh or Seth, and he has a mission.  To find those who took his brother, murdered him, and butchered his body; and when he does, they'll pay.  Unlike his brothers, he's lost faith that Lokan can be restored, but he can be avenged. Mal needs a break, both physically and literally.  The night he hits the clubs, hoping for relaxation and maybe a little fun, is the night when the woman with the bewitching eyes, body as beautiful as sin, and damn kissable lips dances into this life, and away, before he can ever get her name, leaving him filled with unquenchable desires and not any fun.

Calliope Kane, a blooded Daughter of Aset for more than 150 years, hates soul reapers. The day of her parents deaths feels fresh and raw, as if it were yesterday when the soul reapers came, ripped out their hearts, and ate them. If she closes her eyes, she can still see the bloody remains.  Calliope too needs a break, both physically and literally, she needs either blood or sex, preferably sex.  When she dances her way to the dark stranger with eyes she could drown in, she's drawn, but not by otherworldliness, she's drawn to the instant pull of desire that tightens her body taut with need.  When she recognizes he's more than mortal, she runs, fast and far.

When Malthus finds a trail that leads him in the direction of Lokan's killers, he runs right into a tasty treat in tight fitting spandex that leaves nothing to the imagination, but she's after the same thing he is, Pyotr Kuznetsov.  Mal wants to rip out his dark soul, take it to Seth, find out what happened to Lokan. Calliope wants to make sure Mal doesn't find out.  But, everything changes when Calliope taste the reaper's blood, absorbing his prowess and strength, as well as sealing her fate.

Sins of the Flesh by Eve Silver in the final installment and continuation of the Otherkin Series, but I've heard rumors that there maybe possibility more, and I certainly hope so.  Dagan, Alastor, and Malthus, half-gods, half humans, have been magnetic brothers to get to know, but I still haven't spent time with Lokan, either before or after... and I believe he has one hell of a story to tell. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed to hope for more! As we enter Malthus's story, he's probably the darkest of the brothers, sexy and charismatic, once a pirate and a plunderer. He's loved and lost, and has no desire to do that again. He's lost the hope his brothers still have that Lokan can be revived, he's been too long in the Underworld, another soul lost to the darkness. Calliope Kane is a Daughter of Aset, Seth's biggest enemy, and she'd like to keep Lokan where he is and with the brothers never knowing who or what has been involved in his death, a great war could be brewing with Lokan's death as the catalyst.  She's afraid of what they will find out if they confront Pyotr Kuznetsov. She puts herself between Malthus and what he desires most (or what she thinks he desires most).  When Mal discovers an ancient artifact in Pyotr's house, he needs to confront Calliope, to find out how deeply the Daughters of Aset are involved in the murder of Lokan, if at all. Calliope seals her fate with the Matriarchs and the Guard when she consumes Mal's blood, but she really has little choice if she doesn't want to lose her prize. She realizes that the stranger from the club and Mal are one in the same, though she's calm and cool on the outside, fire glows beneath the surface. What happens when Malthus and Calliope unite can only be described as igniting combustion. But, all is not as it seems, either in the Guard or in the Lord of Chaos's domain, the Underworld. When Calliope goes on a wild ride with Mal to the Underworld, neither may be the same, and only Calliope can give what the brothers need the most, Aset's direct bloodline, a blooded member of her Guard. What they learn next is unbelievable even to the brothers who thought they'd heard and seen it all.

Sins of the Flesh is an excellent paranormal romance with strong dark urban fantasy elements. I love the mythology involved, the character development, and the underlying story that no one except Seth knows entirely; he's been conniving and scheming for centuries. He can take any form he wants, fool his sons who know him better than any of the living or the dead. He is the master of chaos, even his sons who have grudgingly come to know and sort of love him, are taken in by the truly masterful evilness of his actions, of his plans. You see, Lokan is..... well, it would be really unfair to tell, you'll have to buy the books, but it truly does tie the story together. I would still love to see Lokan's story told, what really happened, did he love as his brothers have come to? Also how the brothers reunited with their mates, can they find of way for life together, what will happen to Seth and what new role will his sons play? I highly recommend this series to lovers of paranormal romance (those boys sure know how to handle their ladies!), lovers of dark urban fantasy, and lovers of a story based in mythology.... it isn't entirely different from the stories surrounding ancient Egypt, and it's wonderfully told. If you enjoy mythology, this is a series for you too. Sins of the Flesh is a fresh telling of the gods Aset, Osiris, and Seth; with turns and twists and wickedness at the heart of the story. Eve Silver provides the reader with a wild ride through the dark, more than heated romance, and an evil beyond what those of the Underworld have seen.  I've immensely enjoyed reading the Otherkin Series, and highly recommend it.

Take a peek at the trailer for the Otherkin Series...



I received this book from Net Galley and Harlequin Enterprises for review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Sins of the Soul, Book Two, The Otherkin Series by Eve Silver

Publisher:  HQN, Harlequin Enterprises
Pages:  368

(Release Date:  9/01/10)

From the Cover:

Sworn to duty. Bound by desire.

 

Alastor Krayl’s world shattered when he learned that his father was the Underworld god of chaos and evil.  All that saved him from self-destruction were his newfound brothers and the bond they shared as soul reapers.  So when one of his brothers is murdered, vengeance becomes Alastor’s obsession. And the enigmatic Naphré Kurata, a witness—or is she the killer?—has the answers he seeks.

A reluctant Underworld enforcer, Naphré trusts no one, especially not a seductive soul reaper who makes her burn with lust. Torn between duty and desire, she fights to keep her secrets safe from Alastor, even as she longs to surrender.

“Sleek, dark and utterly seductive! Eve Silver’s talent always shines.”—New York Times bestselling author Lara Adrian

Alastor Krayl didn't know who he really was, until he was ripped from the family who raised him, Mother, Father, and sisters... all a lie.  Sutekh, Seth, the Lord of Chaos, one of  the Gods of the Underworld fathered four sons, Dagan, Alastor, Malthus, and Lokan.  This is Alastor's story, second son of the God of Chaos.


As with all Seth's sons, Alastor has no real patience for the father he never knew, although, after centuries of residing in his company, he has developed a grudging tolerance.  For too many years, he was kept at Seth's side, and when he returned to his human family, they were all gone, even the nieces and nephews he would have doted upon, all lost of the passage of time.  Now, there's no one but the brothers he has come to know, love, trust.  When Lokan is impossibly murdered, all the brothers come together to find the fiend responsible.  What they find is that Lokan led a different life, one none knew of.


When Dagan and Alastor find information of Lokan's last location, they go to investigate.....  Alastor would like nothing better than to bring Lokan's murderer to his own brand of justice.


Naphré Kurata is an underworld enforcer, a deal made with a demon to save her father's life.  Little does she know, her father was dying anyway and she's left without him and in service to a demon.  She's come to be quite good at her job, as distasteful as it is, and before she takes a life even if it's demanded of her, it has to be morally right.  

When Alastor sees Naphré, he knows she either had a hand in Lokan's death or a witness to the deed.  The only way he'll know is to use some detective skills, only in doing so, he finds that she has links to the Daughters of Aset as well as finding that someone else is watching her, and that someone may be the one responsible for Lokan's gruesome death.  Soon, he discovers she's a killer with a conscious, but, maybe she can led him to the murderer responsible... if he can keep her alive long enough.


Naphré has seen all kinds in her line of work, but the son of Seth, soul reaper, is certainly not what she's expecting.  So far, he's been kind, helpful, and damn dangerous.... to her heart.  She refuses to lose herself to another underworld being, even if he's trying to help. 



Sins of the Soul by Eve Silver is the second book in Otherkin Series, and an excellent addition to the unfolding tale.  While Naphré is warying of every living thing, she's also drawn to the one creature who could send her permanently into the Underworld, her soul already belongs to a demon, but what she doesn't know is that another Goddess has prior claim, sold by those closest to her.  When Alastor finds Naphré's name among those souls to be collect in Seth's book, he can't let it happen, he won't let Seth feast upon her soul.  But there are things in the Underworld that not even the son of the God of Chaos knows or can protect her from, and when he attempts to find the murderer of Lokan, Naphré's name keeps coming back to him.  He's forced to bring her to the Underworld, but he doesn't want to lose her, she's his only link to Lokan.  But, he soon discovers that he needs her for another reason, and if he's going to keep them both alive, he'll have to show the love he holds in his heart for the enemy, a Daughter of Aset, Naphré.

Sins of the Soul continues the story started in "Sins of the Heart" where we discovered Dagan's story and Lokan's murder unfolded.  Alastor and Dagan are Seth's two oldest sons, and share the same human mother, though Dagan was never allowed to know humanity, and Alastor is ripped from his humanity at Seth's will.  But Seth's sons share even more, their attraction to the Daughters of Aset, and that fondness is one that could get them killed.  Alastor is plunged into mystery and intrigue through his association with, his need to protect, his budding friendship and love for Naphré, Underworld enforcer for some unknown, and unlikely, demon.  When he finds out the demon isn't really a demon, and that there's a prior claim upon Naphré's soul, he has no choice but to bring she into the Underworld, because if he takes her, maybe he can save her, staking his own claim to her soul as he finds that he no longer cares for anything else.  Naphré is not one to trust easily, the one person she thought she had a grudging trust for, her mentor, attempted to take her life, and now a soul reaper wants to help her, she's heard it all.  But, she's drawn to the reaper, and soon, if she wants to stay alive, she may have no other to choice than to trust what she has always thought of as the enemy.  I recommend this book to all lovers of Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Mythology, and Magic, it's excellent and a very quick read.  I can't wait to try the next in the series.

I received this ebook from Harlequin Enterprises and Net Galley for review.  All opinions expressed are my own.