Nadine Mutas

Oh, Barrons, let me count the ways in which I adore you... wait, I can't.

Okay, I found Barrons fascinating in Darkfever, but having finished Bloodfever, I am now a squeeing Barrons fangirl. There, I admitted it. I haven't been this excited about a fictional character since Hawke from Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling series. I literally sat up straighter, grinned and squealed in delightful anticipation every time Barrons appeared on the page.

And he didn't disappoint.

Boy, did I LOVE the banter between Mac and Barrons in this book. It made me grin, and snicker, and laugh, and wiggle in my seat, and I just love, love, love the dynamic their ... um, relationship is taking. I rooted for Mac all the way and I gotta give her props for giving as good as she gets and standing up to a man like Barrons.

And just as a reminder what kind of man Barrons is (and because I damn straight adore these quotes):

Barrons has something the rest of us don't have. I don't know what it is, but I feel it all the time, especially when we're standing close. Beneath the expensive clothes, unplaceable accent, and cultured veneer, there's something that never crawled all the way out of the swamp. It didn't want to. It likes it there.

Barrons didn't fit in any more than I did. If I was a minnow and they were sharks, he was one of those yet undiscovered fish that lurk in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean where sunlight and man never go.

I don't get off on danger. I get off on a man with strong moral fiber. The closest Barrons ever gets to fiber is walking down the cereal aisle at the grocery store.

Being nearly naked around Barrons felt a lot like going to a shark convention lightly basted in blood.

Nuns? They'd take one look at Barrons and decide the devil himself had come knockng. He not only looked dangerous, he emanated something that made even me feel like crossing myself sometimes, and I'm not religious.

Okay, okay, I'll stop with the Barrons quotes now. Just... one more.

Being touched by Jericho Barrons with kindness makes you feel like you must be the most special person in the world. It’s like walking up to the biggest, most savage lion in the jungle, lying down, placing your head it its mouth and, rather than taking your life, it licks you and purrs.

The chemistry and sexual tension between Mac and Barrons in this book was off the charts (and damn, that KISS? I need a cold shower here, ASAP, or maybe a walk-in freezer, because - holy fuck - that mix of aggression and passion? Whew. *fans self*), and I LOVED (can you already tell how the five star rating came to pass?) Barrons little bouts of jealousy here and there. Oh, he tries. He tries so hard to hide it and would probably rather chew up his own tongue than to admit he feels that way, but it's there. Mac might not see it yet, but that's okay. I'd rather have her a bit clueless than falling head over heels for him too soon.

And on that note: Contrary to many other readers, I don't have a problem with Mac. I don't find her annoying or TSTL, in fact, I can understand where she's coming from most of the time, and even when she does something not quite so wise, I can follow her reasoning as to why she acted that way. She'd lived a very, very sheltered life before being thrown into a world of danger and darkness she is still struggling to come to terms with, and she's constantly being pushed around by forces beyond her control and people she can't trust. I'd have a hard time adapting to that, too. At this point in the story timeline, it's only been a few weeks since she was yanked out of her old life, and I can totally understand that she still grapples with all the changes and how much she's had to learn. It's only natural that she'll sway between wanting to take on the responsibility as a player in this new world on the one side, and fervently wishing to be back in her old, sheltered, carefree life on the other.

And because I really can't stop, I just have to include some more quotes:

“I couldn‘t tell the difference between the two of you anymore!" he roared.
I smashed my fist into his face. Lies roll off us. It‘s the truths we work hardest to silence.
"Then you weren‘t looking hard enough! I‘m the one with boobs!"
"I know you‘re the one with boobs! They‘re in my fucking face every fucking time I turn around!”

“I heard there are no male sidhe-seers.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“Around.”
“And which one of those are you in doubt about, Ms. Lane?”
“Which one of what?”
“Whether I see the Fae, or whether I’m a man. I believe I’ve laid your mind to rest on the former; shall I relieve it on the latter?” He reached for his belt.
“Oh, please.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re a leftie, Barrons.”
“Touche, Ms. Lane,” he murmured.”

I didn’t say, You are such a stuffy asshole. And he didn’t say, If you ever burn one of my quarter-of-a-million dollar rugs again I’ll take it out of your hide, and I didn’t say, Oh, honey, wouldn’t you like to? And he didn’t say Grow up, Ms. Lane, I don’t take little girls to my bed, and I didn’t say I wouldn’t go there if it was the only safe place from the Lord Master in all of Dublin.
"You might reconsider that one day." His voice was low, fierce, on the verge of guttural.
I gasped. "What?"

In short: This book was deliciously awesome.