Author: Rebecca Royce
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Heat Index: 3 out of 5
Release Date: Oct. 1
Word/Page Count: 64,169
Format: Purchased
Eighteen years earlier, Charma lost her destined soul mate. Convinced he must be dead, she kept her fears to herself so as not to destroy the morale of the Outsiders who already live with a shaky prophecy as their only guide.Dr. Jason Randall is a man used to getting what he wants. There has never been a problem he couldn't out think or a situation he wasn't capable of handling.
Now they are both hunted by not one but two demons as they lead the slowly forming group of Outsiders out of the darkness and back into the light. The two strong souls will have to decide if prophecy alone is enough reason to stay together through insane odds...or if love is their true fate.
Maniai's Review:
I really enjoy Rebecca Royce's writing because she is incredibly skillful in creating an accessible universe with a familiar theme: good vs. evil and her villains are truly villainous. They are truly evil and that is really exciting to read. The Outsiders universe holds a lot of potential for non-stop excitement.
The problem is that none of this excitement appears during the first part of the book. Itt isn't that the book starts slow, as much as it meanders, unfocussed for several chapters. The repetitive rehashing of the prophecy and the soulmates becomes distracting and cumbersome instead of informative. The beginning feels unpolished in terms of narrative and storytelling. It becomes more telling instead of showing.
That lack of focus carries through the first couple of chapters and the introduction of the protagonists. There is so much introspection that I felt the characters were a bunch of whiners. The repetition of the prophecy and soulmates was used ad nauseam in the introductory chapters after being used excessively in the prologue. This adds to the disconnect with the main characters. This lack of focus, as well as the various shifting POVs, made the exciting plot intangible amidst whiny filler.
The story suddenly finds a focus with the introduction of the villain's POV and by Charma attempting to rescue Jason. Although not perfect, from then on, the story gels into a very exciting, action filled romantic adventure with suddenly likeable protagonists. It went from a D read, to a solid B within a span of chapter. All of the different POVs suddenly had a purpose of progressing the story instead of just adding to the word count.
Unfortunately, what keeps this story from remaining a B is the dreaded, ‘And now we interrupt this chase for a very important sex scene'. I actually stopped and checked the book because I could not believe the characters stopped for a sex break and its not like it was this smoking hot sex scene, either. It was a very tame scene in terms of graphic content. I couldn't help but think, "Why is this here? What is the point of stopping the chase for a tame, useless sex scene?" That's one of the ‘Unforgivables' in my book and I won't let a writer get away with it, regardless of how interested I am in the universe.
Despite some serious flaws, Love Beyond Sanity is an entertaining story in a very accessible universe with characters that eventually become quite likeable. I will definitely look for the continuation of this series and pick up the first book, but I'm not going to rush out and get it. If you're a fan of mystical/prophecy stories, I recommend this book with the caveat that you will need to be patient for the lack of focus in the first quarter of the story and very forgiving of the sex break during a chase scene.If you are a fan of Royce, I feel this isn't quite up to par with her Westervelt series, but it is still a decent read.
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