Review: Love Immortal by Felicity E. Heaton

Title: Love Immortal
Author: Felicity E. Heaton
Publisher: Alinar Publishing
Release Date: January 15, 2011
Pages: 401
My Copy: From AuthorFrom GoodReads:

When you’re searching for your purpose, the last thing you expect to discover is that you’re the latest reincarnation of a goddess on a three thousand year old mission to defeat the original werewolf, Lycaon, before he can gain revenge on Zeus and Olympus.

Rescued from the claws of werewolves by Julian, a handsome and mysterious immortal, Lauren is pulled into a dark and frightening new world full of monsters out to kill her and an organisation of people with phenomenal abilities who want to protect her—Ghost. But the most frightening thing of all is that soon Lauren will need to drink Julian’s blood in order to reawaken and regain her immortal powers.

Or she will die.

Julian isn’t about to let that happen. He’s never met anyone like Lauren and he’s determined not to lose her. She’s the perfect copy of Illia but is nothing like her or any of the incarnations. She is light to their darkness, and she breathes life back into him, but can he trust her with his heart and bring himself to believe that the feelings she shows him are real after everything he has been through?

Can Lauren succeed in defeating Lycaon when all of her predecessors have failed? Will she be able to crack the armour around Julian’s heart and seize her happily forever after with him?

Love Immortal is a beautifully written love story of epic proportions. Full of stunning descriptions, legendary battles and inspirational relationships. Felicity E. Heaton achieved a uniquely harmonious balance between love and war in this novel. There’s plenty of mushy content that will appeal to romance readers but there’s also tons of action to make this book a well-rounded read.

The writing style took my breath away. The characters jump right off of the pages, at times, I even felt like I was a part of their adventure. The emotional rollercoaster ride that they experience throughout this story is almost palpable, from the look in their eyes to their body language. I never doubted the depth of emotion that’s between Lauren and Julian. The ending was pretty clear in my mind from the very beginning but the progression was better than the culmination in some ways due to the writing.

Lauren is going to die on her 35th birthday. There’s no ifs, buts or maybes about that. It’s predetermined, her destiny. Her existence doesn’t end upon her death but I’d imagine knowing when you’re going to die isn’t easy to live with. When the event itself occurs, it’s described in vivid detail. The pain, the fear, the doubt… I’ve never read anything like it in a novel and I read A LOT. But the craziness doesn’t end there, Lauren is then reborn as a vampire and not in the *poof* sorta way as is typical of this genre. Readers get to discover her new powers and thirst right along with her through her POV. Her death and transformation are my favorite parts of this book. These chapters were incredibly unique and enthralling. I may not re-read the entire book, but those two elements are definitely worth a second visit.

There are werewolves and vampires galore in this tale, along with other otherworldly secondary characters. I usually prefer my weres to be the good guys but their role is fitting in this instance. Immortal Love puts a different twist on vamps that I quite enjoyed. Lauren and Julian are unique supernaturals. They are vampires but have a few differences that really set them apart from the rest. The mythology explored in this book was a welcome change from typical vamp literature. It wasn’t overly complicated but really made a difference in the overall story.

Even though I’ve been ranting and raving about the awesome descriptions in this novel, there’s also a negative side to them. I felt that the book was longer than it needed to be. The author is great at reiterating facts from earlier in the book to refresh your memory but at times I was reminded of the same fact 3 times within 2 pages. It got to be a little redundant and annoying. At times, I felt like the author’s attitude towards her audience was that of a patient mother explaining something trivial to a toddler over and over again. The repetition isn’t noticeable until the final quarter of the book but it took away from the overall experience and as a result, Immortal Love lost a star on my rating scale.

That being said, this novel is phenomenal. The chapters that cover Lauren’s death and rebirth are works of art. I challenge you to find anything similar in existing literature. Until reading this book, Felicity E. Heaton was unknown to me as an author. Immortal Love put her on my radar in flashing lights and I will most definitely be reading more of her books.

All of her predecessors had to have been insane not to love this man. -page 243

My Rating:

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Felicity E. Heaton’s Website Author’s Blog GoodReads

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This book counts towards my goals in Parajunkee’s View’s 2011 Vampire Challenge and Book Chick City’s Horror & Urban Fantasy Challenge.

       

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