Honor At Stake by Declan Finn
Calibern Press
Category: New Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Vampire Romance
Hi, Aadi here. This week I’m reading Honor At Stake by Declan Finn. I convinced Mischa to read it too. The book has vampires (the bad kind, not the sparkly kind) and some interesting Catholic theology.
What I like about the book are the characters. There are vampires (the bad kind, not the sparkly kind) and Vatican ninjas. And a hunky main character who falls in love with his best friend. Kind of like Mischa and I.
College freshman, Amanda Colt knows few people and wants to know fewer still. She enjoys fencing and prefers facing a challenge every once in a while. She is beautiful, smart, and possibly the most interesting person on campus…and most people stop after the first adjective.
Then she finds Marco Catalano in her fencing class. He is tall, attractive, and very intense. With a mind like a computer and manners of a medieval knight, he scares most people. Except Amanda. They both have secrets, for they are both monsters.
As they draw closer, they must find the line between how much they can trust each other, and how much they can care for each other. Each carries a secret that can destroy the other. They must come to grips with their personal drama soon, because a darkness is rising. Bodies are turning up all over New York, and an army of vampires is closing in on all sides.
They have only one hope – each other.
It’s so much fun to read. Check it out.
Hey, it’s Mischa. Aadi talked me into reading this book. I thought it might be another one of those vampire romance novels she likes, with sappy characters and all. But, it wasn’t like that at all. This book is all about the action. And this book has a lot of it. I especially like the fight scenes. That Marco is a master at kicking bad guy butt. Amanda isn’t so bad herself. And there are Vatican ninjas…how cool is that?
Read it. You won’t be disappointed.
Excerpt:
Marco Catalano appeared to have one goal in mind. To cut Amanda Colt’s head off.
The student went after her with frequent attacks. She parried and attacked immediately, but his weapon was almost always there, waiting for her. It was practically magical.
However, Amanda’s major asset was speed. Marco was swift. She was quicker.
Her next attack was a thrust. He twisted his body to deflect it past him, and lunged forward. She pulled back in time, bringing her sword down on his, nearly sending it into the floor. One flip of his wrist used that momentum to arc the sword around towards him, then overhead, for her face. Her sword came up to meet his, but he pulled back until the sword slid off, then thrust for her collar.
Amanda’s blade came down, sweeping his away. She didn’t give him time to pull his sword back to first position. She lunged for his center mass. His sword stayed with hers as he retreated, gliding along its length, deflecting the thrust as it came at him. She withdrew, but his sword stayed with hers like glue. The tip went over, down and around her blade like a snake before he flicked his wrist in a flourishing disarm.
“That’s enough,” the instructor said.
He pulled back for a thrust that would skewer her, but she grabbed her own sword in mid-flight and used it to parry him. The swords crashed, came down, around, and back up, starting in first position.
“That’s enough, thank you,” the instructor bellowed this time. Marco pulled back, then gave a quick salute with the sword. She returned it, and they both withdrew to the same side of the gym, letting the next two fencers have time on the floor. Amanda took off her face mask, her long hair tumbling down
her back. “That was impressive.”
Have you read this book already? Tell us what you thought of it.