One woman haunted by dreams. One man broken by his past. One destiny to decide… bar. When he drags her into a hidden society of shapeshifters and appoints himself her protector, Ella does what she does best: plots a way to escape her fate.
But the world Daxen belongs to holds answers to the mysterious power that burns inside Ella, and ignoring the sparks he enflames proves harder each day. While Daxen claims he can’t love, his touch fires her senses. His kiss calls her to trust him. Surrender could be so sweet … if not for the secrets that could crush them both.
When enemies kidnap Ella’s sister, Daxen and Ella must decide who and what to trust—and a wrong choice on either side may kill the love neither expected to find and plunge them both into a nightmare they can’t escape.
Beautifully Burned is the second in a new adult paranormal romance series, and while the Dreamcaster Series is best enjoyed in sequence, each book may be read as a stand alone. Each full-length story radiates with razor sharp tension, humor, banter, action and adventure, fated mates with hard-earned love, quirky goodness, beauty and hope in the darkness, shapeshifters with a nightmare twist, and a fresh and exciting take on the paranormal genre. If you like strong heroines who won’t stop until they’ve saved their hot but tortured heroes, you’ll love these magical romances. Discover the Dreamcaster world today!
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Daxon and Ella pulled me in to their world and in to their lives, past and present. I was enthralled by the dynamics of the world that the Dreamcaster Series was taking place in. I was immediately captivated by the similarities and the differences between Dax and Ella. I was intrigued by the secondary characters including Lydon and Kalila. The bonds, deceit, fears, triggers, betrayal, connections to Wonderfully Wicked.
There were similarities to the first read of the series but it did not detract from the two characters building their story here. Ella had many moments when I was just not sure about her. She keep me wondering what was she thinking. How could she do that? Dax had a few moments of me wanting to slap him hard. The connection that he had with Kalila and the paranoia he had about Lydon.
This read fits right into the frame of things for the Dreamcaster Series.
This was an interesting new kind of supernatural. Ella, the heroine, is a dreamcaster. Daxen, the hero, is a V’alkara. These two different species (?) need each other, as they develop a symbiotic relationship. A dreamcaster has uncontrollable nightmares. Uncontrollable, that is, except by a V’alkara. A V’alkara can manipulate nightmares and therefore turn a nightmare into something less disturbing. In turn, the nightmare sustains the V’alkara. Without nightmares, the V’alkara will slowly go mad. And so too would a dreamcaster, caught in a never ending cycle of nightmares. So they need each other.
Ella has been warned that V’alkara are the bad guys, so she doesn’t want anything to do with them. She’s struggling to survive a relatively normal life while enduring horrific nightmares every night. Her only remaining family, after a house fire, is her sister who is in a mental institute.
Daxon is currently using Kalila and her nightmares to sustain him, but Kalila is already bonded to Lydon, and Lydon does NOT like sharing.
When Ella is targeted, Daxon is one of those who goes to help her.
I found this story quite fascinating. It’s such a unique concept. It’s not just about the dreams sustaining Daxon, but he can use facets of the dreams in real life, to fight their enemies, etc. It’s both disturbing (in a nightmare-come-true kind of way) and intriguing.
I didn’t read the first book in the series, but it didn’t seem to affect my enjoyment of the book. I found Daxon to be easily likeable, and all the characters were multi-dimensional. Within the first chapter we’re already introduced to the fact that Lydon is both capable of murdering in cold blood and loving to the point of desperation, and he’s just a secondary character (although he’s the hero of the first book in the series). Ella is the one we relate to, being more like a regular human, living a regular life but dealing with all the terrible things life throws at us.
The book is well written and easy to read. Definitely worth checking out.
Beautifully Burned is the second book in The Dreamcaster series, and we reunite with Dax. He still has his bond with Kalila, but is fed up of Black’s attempts to kill him, and get rid of the bond. Mel has a vision which sends him to Ella’s side, but he is confused as he doesn’t think she is a Dreamcaster at all. Of course, he doesn’t know about the adder stones gifted to her by her grandmother.
There is a slight twist to this one, as Izzy is one of her regular customers. He shows his ‘normal’ side when Kalila shows up, reminding the reader of just how dangerous he can be.
Dax and Ella have a hard path to tread, and it doesn’t look good for them to begin with. With more nightmares and situations to deal with, this book will have you gripped to the pages. It is a fresh and exciting take on the paranormal genre, and I am loving everything. I can’t wait to read more about Zaire, but then I also really want Izzy and Mel to get together!
This is a fantastic series so far, and this book is also of the highest quality – with no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt my reading flow. The pacing was smooth, and the action was enough to make you catch your breath. Absolutely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.
Ella’s a dreamcaster but she wears a stone which hides her abilities from others. When Dax walks into her bar, her body immediately responds to him. Is Dax the guy her gran warned her about? Can he be trusted? The Dreamcaster Series seems simple: vampires exist, but they don’t live on blood however, they feed on dreams. And then it gets a little complicated. They don’t just feed on regular human’s dreams, but on the special dreams of special humans named dreamcasters. They live through horrible nightmares each night, which makes them not only sleep bad, but also a danger to their surroundings since they have the ability to bring their nightmares to life.
A second novel of dreamcaster series. Be sure to read the first one as it is worthwhile. This is another beautifully written paranormal romance with characters with depth, some gripping action, steamy romance, and happy ending. Anyone who loves paranormal romance will find everything you enjoy. Initially didn’t think I’d like the characters in this book as much as the first book, but somehow I ended up liking them just as much. Really looking forward to the continuation of the series.