Sharon Ashwood
Frostbound
The Dark Forgotten, Book #4

Review brought to you by OBS staff member Heidi

This is the fourth installment of The Dark Forgotten series by Sharon Ashwood, that follows all the supernaturals of the city of Fairview.  In this book, we learn more about the Alpha of the hellhounds, Lore, and meet some new vampires as well.

Lore has been Alpha ever since the previous Alpha, his dad, died trying to save their people.  In the time that Lore has been in charge, he has done great things for his pack; rescued them from the castle, acclimated them to life in the human world and found means for their survival.  But the one thing he hasn’t done is find a mate.  According to hellhound legend, the pack females will not be able to have young until the Alpha is properly mated, but Lore just hasn’t found that special hound that speaks to his soul.  And if he doesn’t find her soon, his role as Alpha could be in jeopardy.

Alessandro has left the country taking his family on a much needed vacation.  He has left Lore in charge of keeping the peace among the supernaturals until his return.  Which turns out to be quite the task since there is a big election in town, a vampire is running for office!  So now they have even more supernaturals in town checking it out and of course more anti-supernatural activists wanting to put a stop to such an abomination.

Then, a young human female is murdered in the building where Lore lives.  He goes to check out the scene and finds a young vampire, Talia, in the condo.  The two were cousins and roommates.  After talking with Talia, Lore isn’t sure if she is the murderer or not.  But he does know one thing, if he turns her over to the police, they will assume she’s guilty and kill her, case closed.  The police start to arrive and he has to make a quick decision—he takes her to his place until he can figure out if she’s innocent or guilty.

While keeping her prisoner, he discovers that he does think that Talia is innocent.  He also finds himself strangely attracted to her.  He eventually sets her free, but she ends up staying with him anyway, as it’s safest for her since her sire is none other than Belenos, the vampire king of the east.  Belenos had turned Talia against her will and she eventually escaped taking a big chunk of his cash in the process.  Now she’s a rogue vampire and Belenos wants payback against Talia and Queen Omara and he’s enlisted the help of Talia’s human family, the hunters, to get it.

Now it’s up to Lore and his group of friends to save Queen Omara from Belenos’s assassination plot, while keeping the vampire he loves safe as well.  And all of this while the city is rocked by the biggest winter storm in history, making getting around difficult at best.

This series just keeps getting better!!  I thought the third book, Unchained, was the best  of the series until I read this one!!  This book truly kept my interest, which is something that I struggled with while reading the first two installments, Ravenous and Scorched.

I loved Talia.  She’s a tough little vampire who beat all odds to get away from some very powerful people.  First her family of hunters and then King Belenos.  She’s feisty and can definitely take care of herself.  Not to mention she does it all while looking great.  I loved when she told Belenos she spent all his money on shoes!  Speaking of, whoever designed the cover of this book gave her a killer pair of heels along with a sexy little black dress.  It fits right in with the books description of sassy dresser, Talia.

It was also great getting to know Lore, as you never got to know much about him in the other books except that he can’t lie (where can I find a man with THAT problem?).  He’s a very take-charge kind of guy, but has a huge heart for his pack and the ones he loves.

These two make a very hot and sexy couple and the scenes with them together just left me waiting for more.  Not because they were lacking, but just because they were so steamy and exhilarating and I didn’t want the feeling to end.

The only part of the book I didn’t really like was when they were trying to save the queen and they had all the fighting going on underground.  It just got a wee bit boring for me, but that’s because fighting and stealth just really aren’t my thing.  After that was over and done with though, the book picked right back up for me.

Frostbound is a wonderful mix of mystery, action, and romance that any lover of the paranormal is sure to enjoy.

I can’t wait to see what else Ashwood has in store for us….I’m really hoping a Perry and Errata book is in the works (hint hint).  Or maybe a book for Joe….the possibilities are endless.