WICKED FANTASY

Author: Nina Bangs ISBN: 0425209954 5/2007 PARANORMAL Publisher: BERKLEY

Goddesses kick butt when you tick them off—Conall O'Rourke learned this the hard way after killing an Irish deity's favorite in battle. His punishment? He's cursed to protect Kavanagh descendants down to the last arrogant jerk. Now there's only one left, and Conall thirsts to claim his freedom after centuries of servitude. But who knew the remaining Kavanagh would be so beautiful, so sensual, and such a... Vampire? Gerry Kavanagh has dedicated herself to tracking down bad guys of the nonhuman variety. Unfortunately, she finds more than the wereweasel she's after at the Castle of Dark Dreams. The most despised member of the O'Rourkes expects to shadow her every step so he can "serve and protect" her. Nope. Never going to happen. Too bad he takes hot way beyond sizzling...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Nina Bangs is always great fun to read. Her stories are off-the-wall, her characters could be any number of paranormal beings, and her sexy love scenes are top-of-the-chart. WICKED FANTASY, the highly awaited final book in the Castle of Dark Dreams trilogy, is no exception. I laughed my way through most of the book and was very happy to get reacquainted with some old friends along the way.

Conall is my absolute favorite of all of the brothers. He is gorgeous and brawny, with the attitude of a lifetime and a chip on his shoulder a mile wide. The man is all grumpy snarls and frowns, and I couldn't help but fall in love with him at the inception of this wonderful trilogy.

Conall is cursed by an angry goddess to be an immortal warrior for hundreds of years. The catch? He has to protect the descendants of a man that he killed centuries ago—a man that was the goddess's lover. Once all of the Kavanagh's are dead, Conall gets to be a real man again. So, here he is, with the end of his life as a guardian angel in sight. There is just one more Kavanagh left and after that he is a free man. Freedom will feel so good for this warrior! The only problem with Conall's plan is that Gerry is not just an ordinary human who will expire in fifty or so years. She is a vampire... which means only bad things for Conall. He is beside himself when he hears the news. At this point, he feels like he will be serving the dang Kavanagh's FOREVER!

Gerry... Aaahhh, Gerry. Definitely a better woman than I am because I could never keep my hands off of all of the gorgeous maleness that is Conall. She certainly puts up a fight, but who in their right mind could deny themselves all the lusciousness of a warrior—and not just any warrior—but an Immortal one that is charged with your protection? Doesn't it just make you sigh wistfully? Yeah, me too.

My only little quibble with the storyline is Fo. I loved the demon zapping little cell phone in the previous book, but I felt like it might have been a tinge over the top to have her giving birth to a baby. The time that was spent on that whole portion of the book I thought a bit of a waste, not to mention, just plain silly.

But, there is SO MUCH to recommend this book that I definitely wouldn't let that keep you from running out and buying it. Nina Bangs is at the top of her game with WICKED FANTASY. You will love the drama, the humor, the paranormal beings and the sexy relationship between Conall and Gerry. I was very sad to see this trilogy come to an end, but happy to get to know all of these characters. They will live a long and happy life on my keeper shelves.

Kristal Gorman