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Friday, December 16, 2011

eARC Review and Giveaway: Indulge (Megan Duncan)

*Be sure to enter the giveaway below my review*

TITLE: Indulge                                     SERIES: Warm Delicacy #2
AUTHOR: Megan Duncan                  PUB DATE: 12/16/11
FORMAT: eARC                   
SOURCE: from author in exchange for my honest review



Claire's heart is torn between her first vampire love, Dmitry, and the Blood Mate, Arrick, that she is eternally bonded to with a powerfully deep and emotional connection. A vengeful vampire is haunting her steps, after Claire killed their mate. An ancient evil threatens to rip her world apart. With the danger of war looming on the darkening horizon, will Claire find the strength to fight back and protect those she loves? Even if it means embracing the darkness inside her? Is it worth it to become the evil she fears, in order to destroy it?

THREE WORDS: Gripping, Enticing, Addictive

MY REVIEW: Megan Duncan continues to impress and enthrall me with her consistently awesome books! INDULGE, the second volume in the Warm Delicacy series, is a captivating and satisfying sequel to Savor.

            MY BRIEF SUMMARY
INDULGE picks up right where Savor ended, with Claire and Arrick fleeing the Palace and heading to Naos and Claire’s real, vampire parents. Still feeling the sting of recent betrayals from those she loved, Claire is hesitant to allow herself to feel any excitement or longing for her real parents, but all that changes the moment she is in their loving arms. Once in Naos, and living in the Chateau with her parents, Claire quickly finds the home and family she always felt was missing. But this new found happiness is threatened by a new and dangerous evil approaching. Claire must learn to embrace and control her abilities without succumbing to the darkness herself, and she must face her feelings for two worthy men.

            STORY
As with Savor, Duncan offers readers another refreshing and exciting vampire story with INDULGE. But, what I love so much about this series, and about this book especially, is that it’s not simply all paranormal vampire elements. Yes, the paranormal aspects are great and thrilling and well executed, yet, at its core, this series is very much a coming of age story. A story about a young woman finding herself, finding her place, her purpose, and dealing with all the joy, pain, and heartache that a journey like that entails…a young woman, who simply happens to be a vampire. Duncan has done an excellent job of balancing the paranormal with the emotional and the action with the romance, creating a wonderfully layered story.

INDULGE will take hold of you from page one and refuse to let go until the last page, and even then the ending will leave you reluctant to leave its world and desperate to know what happens next…curse you Megan Duncan for your awesome “You can’t seriously stop there!” endings ;) As soon as I starting reading chapter one, I was instantly and effortlessly drawn back onto Claire’s world and story. And honestly, until I started reading INDULGE, I didn’t realize how much I actually missed these characters and being a part of their story for a while.  

Duncan’s vivid imagery of Naos and the Chateau is lovely. Duncan does a great job of being descriptive without boring readers with too much detail. And there’s a real beautiful, ethereal, and almost haunting quality to the way Duncan writes about the goddess Nyx. I really love the way Nyx is characterized and personified in this book.

There’s not a great deal of action in the first half of the book, but that’s okay because it’s not needed nor is it missed or longed for. The first half of the book is very character and emotion driven. This is the part of the book where we get to explore Claire’s very emotional journey as she gets to know her parents, begins to understand and embrace her power and place, and deals with her romantic feelings for both Arrick and Dmitry. I for one really enjoyed this exploration and experiencing this journey with Claire.

The last half of the book however, offers quite a bit of exciting, heart pounding action. Duncan’s battle and fight scenes are well executed and electric. I could see every fight sequence play out in my head (and totally loved it whenever Claire got the chance to be all badass).

All the intensity leads up to a helluva showdown between our heroine and the bad guy! And like I said above, the ending won’t disappoint, but it will leave you wanting(needing) more.

            CHARACTERS
We get to know Claire and Arrick a bit better in INDULGE and we are introduced to a few great new characters.

Claire continues to be a strong, spunky, likable, and relatable character. All her emotions- pain, confusion, anger, heartache, desire -are very palpable. She grows a lot in this book, both as a vampire and as a young woman. She’s such a capable and determined character, who must deal with a lot of heavy stuff and does so with confidence and grace, yet she also acts her age- she thinks about clothes, she acts and speaks hastily, she can even be a bit haughty and rude. But as the book progresses we get to see her really mature and evolve into someone who is still strong, capable and determined, but who’s also thoughtful, selfless, and wise.  Claire is a character that is easy to connect with and impossible not to root for.

Arrick *sighs*…I really love Arrick. He’s such an attractive blend of strong and sensitive. He’s protective of Claire, yet he doesn’t try to keep her from taking care of herself. He’s not domineering or overbearing. I love his ability to be playful around Claire. He’s such an intriguing character as well; I’m definitely interested to know more about him and his past. Arrick is definitely a swoon-worthy character…*swoons just thinking about him*…see, I told ya!

Claire’s vampire parents, Cathair and Ione, are awesome! I wasn’t expecting to love them as much as I do, but it’s kind of hard not to. Then there’s Bennett, another character who took me by complete surprise and who I ended up absolutely adoring. Bennett really gives Claire what she needs after having to leave Robin behind- a much needed friend. And of course, we get a wonderfully evil and intriguing antagonist.

            ROMANCE
In INDULGE Claire finds herself in quite the pickle- she’s attracted to and has feelings for two incredibly hot, swoon-worthy guys, both of whom care deeply for her…definitely not a situation this reviewer would want to find herself in *sarcasm hand raised super high* ;)

But seriously, Claire’s romantic confliction is really well written and captivating. And even though I proudly fly my Team Arrick banner, I must admit that Claire’s feelings for both guys are so nicely explored and developed that I wouldn’t hate it (at least not much) if she ended up with Dmitry.
I did really love all the Claire/Arrick interaction in this book though *squees a bit*. The spark between them is super-hot!

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: I loved this installment in the Warm Delicacy Series even more than the first, which is really saying something! INDULGE is a captivating, edgy read that you won’t want (or be able) to put down. A MUST read book in a MUST read series.

MY RATING
5/5 CUPCAKES
You can find Megan Duncan here:
You can purchase this book here:

To celebrate the release of INDULGE, Megan Duncan is giving all of you the chance to win either an ebook copy of INDULGE or some bookmark swag!
There will be 4 winners:
2 ebook winners
2 swag winners

This giveaway will run from 12/16 - 12/23 at 11:59pm
Open to everyone
To enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below

***During the month of December, Megan will also be giving away 5 signed copies of INDULGE on her blog HERE! So be sure to go enter***










a Rafflecopter giveaway

21 comments:

Proserpine said...

Hi!
I already have Savor, but I didn't have the time to read it yet.... :( and now I saw all these 5 stars about it and I want to read it like now! LOL So I would be glad to have the second book in this series to read right after Savor! Thanks for this giveaway!

Proserpine

proserpinecravedfor(at)hotmail(dot)com

Brenda Demko said...

Savor is at the top of the tbr pile. I just haven't had the time to read it yet. :( I keep hearing wonderful things about it though, so I am very eager to read it! Even more so now, after reading your review. It would be awesome to win Induldge because I could jump straight from one to the other without haveing to wait. That would be wonderful! :D

Unknown said...

If you haven't read Savor and/or Indulge yet: why do you want to read this series?

I haven't read it yet but I would love to read it! I just recently found out about the series and looks so good! I really want to read it when I can ^^

If you have read Savor and/or Indulge already: are you Team Arrick, Team Dmitry, Team Neither, Team Undecided?

I'm on Team undecided till I read the books then I will know!!!

red_tigergirl2 (AT) hotmail DOT com

Kelly said...

I haven't started the series yet! I want to read it because I love paranormal! Also, it has good reviews from those I follow! I love books that take me away from reality! Thanks for the giveaway!

Natalie @ Book Lovers Life said...

Thanks so much for the chance. I read the first and really want this aswell. Im team undecided. I think I need to see what happens in this to really choose.

Kelli said...

Thanks for this opportunity! The book looks and sounds quite amazing! I look forward to reading it either way. :)

evrythngzen said...

Thank you so much for the giveaway!!
GFC and email follower:
cody(at)wilger(dot)com

evrythngzen said...

I haven't read the books yet but I just got a kindle fire and added Savor to my list of soon to reads. I love Vampire stories and this one sounds really interesting.

In Julie's Opinion said...

I got a copy of Savor recently but I haven't had time to read it yet, so I'm not sure which team I'm on! Ever since the first time I saw Savor and read its description I've wanted to read this series! It sounds amazing!

Sayomay said...

awesome! XD

Avon Bernabe said...

Yay! Thanks for this giveaway! :)

Avon Bernabe said...

I haven't read the two but I would really really love to read it! I read good review and the synopsis is so good!

Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer said...

the series looks good, great review and fantastic giveaway!
kimbacaffeinated@gmail.com

Read Between the Lines said...

Awesome giveaway Thx

aurora M. said...

Haven't read yet but I have a girlfriend who is Team Dmitry, all the way! Thanks for the great giveaway.
veltara(at)yahoo(dot)com

Sam (Realm of Fiction) said...

I haven't read Savor yet, but am really intrigued to now that Indulge sounds so good. :)

Misty said...

I love this series so far! But I am definitely Team Arrick! I can't wait for the next book in the series. Great giveaway and review!

Misty

misty_mrosko23@hotmail.com

CYP @ A Bookalicious Story said...

I'd like to read it since you obviously loved it so much and it looks REALLY interesting. I love the cover too!:) Thanks for the giveaway!

Pam said...

I have not read this series yet but I love paranormal stories. It's pretty much my favorite genre. That and historical romances.

Anyway, thank you for the giveaway!

Pam

Tasnim said...

I haven;t read this book yet but i would love to! Thanks for the giveaway!

Tasnim

FireStarBooks said...

I haven't read this book but it has all the elements I love in a book in it! I mean come on who doesn't want to read this book! :D