Bea Reviews Tempest's Fury by Nicole Peeler

Publisher: Orbit
Series: Jane True #5
Format Read: paperback
Source: purchased
Challenges:  Finishing the Series;  What An Animal
Release Date: June 26, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe* | Barnes & Noble | 
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Blurb from goodreads:

Jane's not happy. She's been packed off to England to fight in a war when she'd much rather be snogging Anyan. Unfortunately, Jane's enemies have been busy stirring up some major trouble -- the kind that attracts a lot of attention. In other words, they're not making it easy for Jane to get any alone time with the barghest, or to indulge in her penchant for stinky cheese.

Praying she can pull of a Joan of Arc without the whole martyrdom thing, Jane must lead Alfar and halflings alike in a desperate battle to combat an ancient evil. Catapulted into the role of Most Unlikely Hero Ever, Jane also has to fight her own insecurities as well as the doubts of those who don't think she can live up to her new role as Champion.

Along the way, Jane learns that some heroes are born. Some are made. And some are bribed with promises of food and sex.

Bea's Thoughts:

This is another series that I started, loved, and then got distracted by other shiny books and wandered away from it for several years. I put it on my list for the Finishing the Series challenge this year and I'm so glad I did. I had forgotten how much I enjoy these books. Peeler's humor is snarky, raunchy, and sometimes juvenile, but I always laugh. The books also make me cry as Peeler has no trouble putting her characters through the wringer or even killing them. The covers are cartoony and the stories can be too but there's also a dark edge. Peeler has taken beings from mythology and folk tales and set them in the modern world. Some are nice, some are evil, many are somewhere in between. However grand the battles and politics may get (and there's lots of both), the stores retain that human edge; they're grounded in the mundane human world. 

 

"Tempest's Fury" is no exception. We get large-scale politics and the homey details of a romance. We get love, anger, hate, joy, and desperation. People and beings who are evil, ones who are doing what they think is right, and a few who are unquestionably good. The stakes have been raised in this story, with the fate of the world, naturally, hanging in the balance. Also, there are dragons. I love dragons. These dragons are not nice, not at all, but oh well, no one's perfect. Jane and her friends and allies are in Europe, trying to save the world but there are some who think that it's none of their business and others who think that the head bad guys have the right idea. There's treachery, loss, and heartbreak but also some delightful scenes and glimpses of love and romance and the possibility of hope. 

 

Jane has grown tremendously over five books. In many ways, she's still the shy, sweet, naive, slightly odd girl next door. But she's also found that she has powers, that's she only partly human, that she's desirable, and that she is physically, emotionally, and supernaturally stronger than she ever dreamed of. Her world has expanded and we've been along for the journey. She has morphed into a true hero, willing to do what has to be done regardless of her terror or the cost. Yet, she's humble, sweet, funny, and compassionate. I can't help but root for her or, when she's being stupid, yell at her. :D 

 

The ending is a cliff hanger and a major WTF? I was appalled and amazed and it seemed out of blue but when I thought about it, it really wasn't and I was kicking myself for not having seen it coming. There's only one book left in the series and it won't be long before I dive in to see what happens and if Jane and her friends get their happy ending. Note: you NEED to read this series in order so if you are interested, be sure to start with the first book, "Tempest Rising" and go in order.

Other posts about the Jane True books.