Review: Rogue’s Pawn by Jeffe Kennedy

Rogue’s Pawn (Covenant of Thorns #1)

By Jeffe Kennedy
Editions: audiobook, ebook
Published July 16th 2012 by Carina Press
Genre: Adult PNR / Fantasy
Source: review copy

This is no fairy tale…

Haunted by nightmares of a black dog, sick to death of my mind-numbing career and heart-numbing fiancé, I impulsively walked out of my life—and fell into Faerie. Terrified, fascinated, I discover I possess a power I can’t control: my wishes come true. After an all-too-real attack by the animal from my dreams, I wake to find myself the captive of the seductive and ruthless fae lord Rogue. In return for my rescue, he demands an extravagant price—my firstborn child, which he intends to sire himself…

With no hope of escaping this world, I must learn to harness my magic and build a new life despite the perils—including my own inexplicable and debilitating desire for Rogue. I swear I will never submit to his demands, no matter what erotic torment he subjects me to…
~ Goodreads Blurb

The truth of the matter is, I went into this read half knowing I’d love it, I’m not going to lie. I’ve read 3 other titles by this same author, and I know I really enjoy her writing and her characters and relationship dynamics. So I expected to really enjoy this, but just how much I did enjoy it I couldn’t have expected.

The world of this novel is just super fun and fresh. I loved how the reality and the Elsewhere world worked together, how Jennifer was of both worlds and yet not quite belonging to either. Perhaps this would qualify as an urban fantasy world that crosses over into a fantasy one, I suck at picking out these things, but this I can tell you, the world building in this novel was totally fun, whimsical and magic and I just loved it to bits. Since I tend to not like fairies and fantasy worlds, this ought to tell you just how fun it really is 😀

But my favorite part of this read has to be the characters, I always fall for them if I do fall. Jennifer was just awesome, I loved her entirely. Her free and rebel spirit, her strength, her human emotions and needs entwined so beautifully with strength and determination. She was an awesome character, and coupled with the seductive, mysterious and playful Rogue – not to mention sort of dangerous, always but always plus as far as I’m concerned – she just shone, you know? Rogue was yummylicious to the n-th degree, hot stuff alert all the way.
What I totally loved here was Jeffe Kennedy built the kind of relationship dynamics that really make sense to me, we’re talking intense, tumultuous, confusing yet addictive, the sort of chemistry that makes me swoon. Her other titles that I’ve read showed the power-play sort of relationships, but more clearly into the BDSM specter – which I of course thoroughly enjoy as I’ve already mentioned -, while here she kept the power-play tension but on a more subtle way. It’s rather hard for me to explain this properly, I think, but the type of relationship that Jennifer and Rogue have is the most believable, real and fascinating kind of relationship I can picture or read about. It’s not the obvious chains that bind, but a more subtle sort of connection and interaction that’s intense and powerful and…well, freaking magic. So while I had a great time reading her other three works, Sapphire, Feeding the Vampire and Petals and Thorns, it feels to me like this right is her best work yet for my reading pleasure.

The awesomeness doesn’t just stop at the romance though, we’re also talking about an interesting story about change, self-search and belonging, filled with fun and tense moments, and I just loved reading it. The writing is really good, the characters come through so vividly, the world vibrates with life and magic, emotion and action come together beautifully. The end result is a thoroughly entertaining read, touching and swoon-worthy as well as active and intriguing, and I for one give it all the thumbs up I could possibly give it.

Overall, I say read this if you enjoy adult paranormal romance, fantastic settings and awesome, awesome characters. Loved, loved, loved it.

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About the Author:

Jeffe Kennedy took the crooked road to writing, stopping off at neurobiology, religious studies and environmental consulting before her creative writing began appearing in places like Redbook, Puerto del Sol, Wyoming Wildlife, Under the Sun and Aeon. An erotic novella, Petals and Thorns, came out under her pen name of Jennifer Paris in 2010, heralding yet another branch of her path, into erotica and romantic fantasy fiction. Since then, an erotic short, Feeding the Vampire, and another erotic novella, Sapphire, have hit the shelves.

Her contemporary fantasy novel, Rogue’s Pawn, book one in A Covenant of Thorns, will be published in July, 2012. Jeffe lives in Santa Fe, with two Maine coon cats, a border collie, plentiful free-range lizards and frequently serves as a guinea pig for an acupuncturist-in-training. Find her on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Author.Jeffe.Kennedy) and Twitter (@jeffekennedy) or visit her at her website http://jeffekennedy.com/.

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