Monday, March 2, 2015

Review: Claimed by the Elven King (series) by Cristina Rayne



Series: Claimed by the Elven King
Purchase link: Amazon (4 part bundle)

My rating for the series: 4 of 5 stars

My rating for each book: see above

Heat rating:  Flame  Flame  Flame  Flame

Part 1
This is Part One of a four-part serialized Fantasy Erotic Romance with a novelette length of about 11,000 words. It is not meant to be read as a standalone entry and contains strong sexual content. Not intended for readers under 18.

For Emily Ford, being awakened in the dead of night by what seems to be the very shadows in her bedroom come to life is the least of her worries as she is spirited away to become the new wife of an elven king for the purpose of bearing his heirs. Entranced despite herself by his ethereal beauty, Emily surrenders willingly to his seduction and is introduced to a new world of sexual pleasures she had not thought possible outside of a dream.
But can a human ever really win the heart of an elf or have a place within the elven court, especially when the biggest obstacle to both is her new husband's barren and resentful queen who makes no qualms about wanting Emily gone and, if the whispers within the court are to be believed, is prepared to do the unspeakable to make it happen?

Part 2
This is Part Two of a four-part serialized Fantasy Erotic Romance with a novelette length of about 41 print pages or 10,100 words. It contains strong sexual content and is not intended for readers under 18.

After awakening to find herself alone again and with only vague memories of making love with Sethian, Emily soon finds that the day will bring more than one surprise in the form of a chance meeting as well as a sudden visit from the elven king within the royal baths.

Part 3
This is Part Three of a four-part serialized Fantasy Erotic Romance with a novelette length of about 59 print pages or 14,600 words. It contains strong sexual content and is not intended for readers under 18.

Tied up in knots about finally seeing Sethian for the first time in a month, Emily fears her nerves alone will give away the secret she desperately wishes to keep from the elven king. However, there are important things Sethian has yet to tell his new human wife as well, things she may wish he had kept to himself…

Part 4
This is Part Four, the short novel length final entry of a four-part serialized Fantasy Erotic Romance with a length of about 143 print pages or 35,700 words. It contains strong sexual content and is not intended for readers under 18.

When word gets out that the king’s new wife is pregnant, Emily learns that dealing with the queen’s resentment is the least of her worries when she finds that her pregnancy may not be as welcomed by the court as she was led to believe and is thrown headfirst into the deadly world of elven politics and anti-human sentiments.

*** Note: this is a review for the whole series *** THERE ARE NO SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

As you can see, this is a 4 part serial. Serials have become very "in" lately, with a lot of authors writing in serials and publishing more frequently. I don't want to turn this into a treatise on how I feel about serials, but believe me when I say I have opinions! If you are interested in them, it can be the topic of another blog post. Let me know.

When I first picked up part 1, I didn't realise it was a serial. I thought: "oh elves, me like!" and went from there. Needless to say, I was surprised when I finished the first part in minutes and was like "WTH just happened?" but by then, I was hooked, which I guess is the whole point of the serial right?

Anyway, I reluctantly downloaded the rest of the series and fortunately, for me, the complete series was already out, so I didn't have to wait. I think if I had to wait, it would have been double the frustration between  finding out it was a serial and the fact that I had to wait between instalments.

As a story, I really enjoyed this. I also really enjoyed the world that Cristina Rayne built for these elves. The story was well written and the characters were likable. However, I felt that I was always left hanging and wanting more. That's probably the point of the serial, but at the same time, I think because of how short each instalment is and the fact that she was trying to get to the point of the action of that particular part of the serial, the world building could have had more depth, which I think the short word count did not allow for.

I was always wanting to know more. More about Sethian, more about the world, more about the magic, more about everything. I did learn plenty about Emily, particularly because the whole series was focused on her, but even then there were probably things that I would have liked to learn more about.

There were many parts, particularly in the last part of the serial where I actually went back and reread quite a few times because I felt like I needed to know more about it. Perhaps I missed something while reading it the first time? Perhaps I'm not picking up on some of the nuances of the writing? Perhaps if I read it for a third time, I'll learn more this time? Nope. That was not to be.

You're probably surprised that I gave this series 4 stars but the fact is, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it all but I just wanted MORE! I didn't think that wanting more warranted me rating it any lower because generally, it was all good. It just left me with a weird book hangover that was not like any other book hangover I've ever experience.


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