In a time and place where women are bred to be lambs, Arose has the soul of a tigress.It is 1693 on the isle of Jamaica, twenty-one-year-old Arose Du Mouchelle is the mixed-race heir to a sprawling sugar plantation. From an old gypsy, she receives a matriarchal heirloom: the Gem of the Red Spirit. She spends years in exile, learning its secrets and mysteries, the most important of which is the … which is the ability to enter the Astral Plane. In exchange for her powers, Arose must act as the sentry between this dimension and her world, forcing back the creatures held captive there.
Morel, a voodoo Priestess, covets the Gem. Taking hostage Arose’s family and the port town, she attempts to force Arose to give up the powerful amulet. Morel’s plan is to rule over the evil creatures imprisoned in the Astral Plane, unleashing them upon the rest of humanity.
While evading Morel’s henchmen, Arose collides with Captain St. James a notorious pirate, whom she has already met in a vision. Leary of him at first, he gains her trust after he aids in her escape. She is knocked unconscious and wakes to find she has been had—both he and the opal are gone. However, even if she recovers the opal, she’ll have a bigger decision to make: keep the opal and doom her family, or give it to Morel and let the world fall into a demonic wasteland.
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An Opportunity for Some Fun, Imaginative Escapism
Interested in escaping for an afternoon or a couple of evenings? Do you like fantasies with magic, both good and evil? Want a bit of romance for some added spice in your story? If so, Nights Arose is perfect for you.
The novel is an inventive telling of a battle between good and evil – good in the form of our heroine, Nessarose (Arose) Du Mouchelle; evil in the guise of Morel, a Voodoo sorceress. Over the pages of the book, Arose comes to understand her magical powers and how they are magnified by a mysterious opalescent stone called the Gem of the Red Spirit. Morel is intent on stealing the stone and using it to open the gates to the netherworld. That, Arose realizes, will spell the end of humanity. With the stakes set, the battle wages on in ever increasing drama and fury. The encounters with Morel’s brother and chief henchman were particularly intense, ranging from sexual assaults to attacks from the man transformed to beast. All of the violence, however, was handled well – intense without being graphic.
The author also weaves a romantic thread into the drama, with the physical aspects of Arose’s coming of age often downplayed in favor of visions or daydreams. I found the approach refreshing. Unfortunately, in places, these threads were not well coordinated, with life-and-death scenes interrupted by an amorous encounter. Both the drama and the romance became somewhat diluted as a result.
There were some inconsistencies in the story, ranging from low-level details to broader characterizations. An example of the former is the description of Arose’s hair color as both “ashen” and blonde, the former description not explained by age as it was used when she was young. Or, as another example, a character named Louis was occasionally called Louise. None of these are major, obviously, but they can unintentionally distract. At a broader level, Arose’s character seemed inconsistent. Within the span of five pages, she accused the same man of trying to kill her and of being her soulmate, saying they had a “special connection.” She was also extremely forward-thinking for the time (the 1600s), freeing all the slaves on her family’s sugar plantation. But she wouldn’t consider marrying below her station, stating that a free servant was someone to be used sexually and discarded. That sentiment is almost undoubtedly a nod to the prevailing attitude at the time, but in a story that is not particularly era-appropriate in speech and action, being consistent here made our heroine seem a bit petty. In the end, I never felt I knew Arose.
Overall, another edit to clean up some of these inconsistencies and to take care of the small, mechanical issues such as incomplete sentences or multiple points of view in the same paragraph would have improved the readability of this otherwise imaginative story.
A wonderful mix of historical fiction, magical fantasy, and romance. Once I got into the book, it was a great read. Arose is exactly what you want in a female protagonist: strong, fierce, and well beyond her time: a woman holding her own during the rein of men.
The only reason I didn’t give this book a 5-star review is personal preference. The book started out really slow and is overly descriptive (for me). Although the description is beautiful and well written, I lost myself several times throughout with a wondering mind. It took me several days to get through the first chapter, but once I did, I was able to hang with the story.
My favorite part was the romance. 🙂
I really enjoyed this fantasy romance swashbuckling female heroine tale and her exploits in the 17th Century island of Jamaica. Set against a seemingly accurate historical backdrop, this story is told in beautiful imagistic language with strong appeals to the senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, and muscle memory—for example, “She gazed out on the white-capped sea. At the shoreline waves crashed into the golden beach. They tumbled into themselves with an unforgiving wrath, and withdrew, deserting white foam on the soggy sand.” Astral planes, magic, sorcerers, dragons, the constant fight between good and evil add up to a riveting story of how one woman with special powers must fight to keep herself and her family safe from those who would use her gifts for their own evil ends. I must admit, I was often confused between the real time events, the past and the future, but the story kept my interest so I read it in one sitting. That’s saying a lot!
Nights Arose is based in the 1600’s, yet the story is timeless. Arose is faced with an impossible choice of choosing her own happiness or the lives of her family. As she delves into her past to discover the keys to her present, she discovers there is only one path for her to choose and his name is all she knows. This story shifts from past to present and is easy to follow even though a lot of action takes place.