Hello everyone!
I mean, it's about time, isn't it?
I keep picking up books and reading through them and whatnot, but I also always circle back to the ones that stick to the top of my favourites list.
Sarah Westill and her books are certainly on there! I'm still very much eagerly awaiting the release of her newest book, beginning another series, but in the meantime I'm working through where it all began.
Mom and dad still have plenty of adventures to share, after all!
So for tonight, we're ditching the slowly-turning-colder Northern hemisphere, although of course in Sziveria it's even more brutal than here with us.
We're headed someplace warmer, and much more exotic.
Let's see where and why in Dreams Never Seen!
By this point, Bella and Markus are married, if you remember that he offered to contract with her at the end of the previous novella, after explaining that, as beast master, he's different from other men as a rule, and there won't ever be anyone else for him but her.
He also left her with a beautiful, luxurious, empty apartment while he returned to his homeland for the winter months, during which he wasn't able to return to her as the seas made crossing too treacherous.
Once he DOES ... he learns a couple of things.
One, his wife wants him just as much as he wants her.
Two, she hasn't decorated one inch of their apartment, despite the fact he was expecting to walk into it fully furnished by now.
Three, they can't even have a single moment because Leander, the assistant director of a museum, is waiting for Markus with a missing person's case.
Markus can't let that go, but he insists Bella tag along with him, quitting her job at the Investigative Division which, frankly put, has never appreciated her at all (or her talent, which they don't even consider she has, but she totally does). So she does, after a little bit of cajoling, and decides life with Markus will definitely make for a better adventure.
Off they head to Thanzia, on what's left of the African continent, where the buddy of the guy who hired them went missing, and where they're starting to make some astonishing discoveries out of the sand.
You see, Thanzia prides itself on rising from the desert sands AFTER the cataclysm that ruined the world and turned everything upside down (and set it back hundreds of years) happened. They simply are, there is no before.
But the missing guy? He was starting to uncover stuff that pointed in a vastly different direction.
As Markus and Bella dig deeper into the mystery, as well as the ancient sands out there, they find that, actually ... Thanzia had a vast, thriving civilisation and culture BEFORE everything went to hell in a handbasket.
They also figure out what the missing guy was going for, and what Markus knows he's seen elsewhere: lines marking structures and floors in straight patterns that can be found all over the world (read: road lines and parking lot lines in OUR day).
This proves without a shadow of a doubt that Thanzia DOES have a rich history, and that what they know has to be rewritten.
Unfortunately, they also prove that the guy who initially discovered this, the buddy? Yeah, he didn't make it. Someone took him out before he could share his discovery with the world, and neither Markus nor Bella will rest until they bring the culprit to justice.
And, as it usually is in these cases, it turns out the victim knew their assailant. It's one of the others working in the museum, desperate to cling to the idea of Thanzia being unique, rising without pre-recorded history and whatnot.
When you've got a massive wolf bound to you, though, any attempt at escape is kind of futile.
So with that solved, our couple return to their own homeland, a little more at peace with each other as well because - well, they found their moments in the warm desert air. And Bella is now fully bonded to Markus, something neither one of them (especially Markus!) expected, carrying his beast master mark on her back as proof. What that means for their future is something neither of them knows (we do, if we've read Guardians of Sziveria ...), but both agree that their marriage is a good thing.
Plus once back home, Markus drags Bella shopping to finally furnish that apartment - which she was sitting on because she didn't want to do it without him, her husband.
Which is where we leave them!
The many times I wanted to throttle Leander in this book for interrupting will remain uncounted.
I love how Markus is pulling Bella out of her shell. I love how she refuses to simply go along with what he sees as his role being her mate. I love them together, and the spice is SPICING.
Also ain't nobody who could say no to that tattoo!
The case-of-the-book way of this keeps things interesting, and the cases themselves serve as further delving into the world of Sziveria. I adore it, and can't wait to read more.
I love how Markus is pulling Bella out of her shell. I love how she refuses to simply go along with what he sees as his role being her mate. I love them together, and the spice is SPICING.
Also ain't nobody who could say no to that tattoo!
The case-of-the-book way of this keeps things interesting, and the cases themselves serve as further delving into the world of Sziveria. I adore it, and can't wait to read more.
10/10 recommend!
xx
*image not mine
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