Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Ripple Effect by J.A. Saare




Title: The Ripple Effect
Author: J.A. Saare 
Series: Rhiannon's Law #3
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Number of Pages: 240
Publisher: Mundania Press
Source: Author








 There is always a price to pay...
Rhiannon Murphy visited the future, witnessed hell on earth and made choices to change things for the greater good. Unfortunately there are consequences for her actions, the penalties for her interference possibly more than she can bear. Determined to sever her debt with a fallen angel, she pushes everything aside, focusing on locating Marigold Vesta's resting place.
Until death comes knocking at her door. When Disco's maker arrives in New York, he resents Rhiannon on a level she can't begin to comprehend. Yet Marius isn't her most dangerous adversary, not by a long shot. Marius's sire -- a half-demon -- is determined to see the necromancer who stunned the vampire world on her knees. If she won't bend, he'll do everything in his power to make her break. No price is too high, meaning no one is safe -- including Disco and Paine. Dealt a blow from which she can never recover, Rhiannon turns to the only person who can help her: the fallen angel who is relying on Rhiannon to save her soul. Bartering with a creature from Heaven is probably just as dangerous as starting a war with a demon from Hell, but with nothing to lose it's no longer about life or death. It's about getting even.


This book consumed me and left me an emotional mess. At one point I was crying so hard I actually had to put my kindle down for a breather.  This is one of those series where I knew I was going to be hit with one whammy after another, but do you think that prepared me for what happened in the book? No, it did not. I still can not believe what happened at the end of the book!

The characters in this series are all good book friends now, and as much as I love them all I thought  that  Rhiannon was a hot mess of contradictions in this book. I felt so bad for her, but at the same time wanted to shake some sense into her.  All of her actions were about how she was wronged, and while I have to agree with her that she was wronged a lot by everyone, there was one point in the book that I began to feel bad for Disco. I just felt like Rhiannon should have cut him some slack earlier in the book. I did love it when she finally came to her senses, and boy the girl can kick some major butt!
 The vampires in this book are how I pictured them to be if they were real-some were good and some were just scary. Marius and his sire were a great addition to the cast of characters. It did drive me a bit nutso though that Rhiannon did not take them more seriously until it was almost too late, but then Rhiannon would not be Rhiannon if she didn't drive me a little nutso in every book. ;) 


The only fault I had with this book was that my memory is not what it once was, and I had trouble remember some of what happened in the first two books regarding the amulet and Marigold Vesta, (whom I loved a lot!) and it would have been nice if events could have rehashed just a bit more.There were also a couple of  minor editing errors, but as I had an ARC, I am guessing that they were caught before being released. 

All in all though, this series remains one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series because even though you know going in something awful is going to happen to tear you to pieces, you still can't stop reading it to find out what will happen next. I'm not quite sure I've 100% forgiven J.A. Saare for the ending of this book, but it should be interesting to see how everything works out in the next book, and darn her for making me like Disco again. :) 



Barrons Hero Hotness meter: Super High 
Curran Crush Meter: Super High 
Martini Sigh Meter: medium 
Rhiannon Kick Ass heroine meter: Super High (This is the character it was named after) 
Finn Sidekick Meter: High 
Double Cross Curse Meter: Super High