Sara’s Review: Return of the Ascendant by Raine Thomas

Return of the Ascendant
written by Raine Thomas
published by Iambe Books, LLC 2014

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iBooks, Book Depository, Goodreads

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange  for an honest review.

Did I enjoy this book: Return of the Ascendant is a fun read for sure! It has everything a paranormal romance should have: forbidden love, mind reading lovers, a villain you love you hate, secretly discovering you are the ruler of the galaxy, etc. . . . The characters are fun if not a little cliche, but I can’t hold it against them. Kyra is a wonderfully strong female lead, and I enjoyed cheering for her. I enjoyed the plot lines, especially the concept of aliens who come to Earth to learn “lessons” in order to be better people when they return home. I had a really good time reading this book, but there were a couple of things that kept bugging me as I went on.

When I first picked up the book, I thought, “Oohh The Ascendant, that sounds fun! I wonder what The Ascendant is!” I’m still wondering. What the fudge is the Ascendant?! I figured since it was in the title I was sure to get a good explanation, but I still have no clue. There was a brief mention of a myth or prophesy and a vague reference to “ruler of worlds,” but I want to know more!

Further, I was constantly baffled by Kyr’s complete lack of interest in finding out anything about the alien planet she’s supposed to rule. There’s plenty of time in the beginning of the book for the steamy Ty to explain all of the back story to Kyr, but he never did, and she never asked. I mean, I understand that she would rather make out with him than discuss galactic prophesies and politics, but geez! They can’t get it on all the time. What about the several hours of car trips? Did they sit in silence the whole time? It’s incredibly frustrating.

The only other thing that bothered me is that I couldn’t seem to come up with a good concept of pronunciation of the alien words. I would really enjoy seeing a pronunciation key somewhere in the book. I know the author made some attempts to let us know how to say the titles and words via muddled context clues, but a pronunciation key would be much simpler.

Would I recommend it: I would absolutely recommend this book to any lovers of Paranormal Romance. It was a fun, entertaining way to escape for a couple of hours! While I probably won’t read it again, I’ll definitely read the next book in the series . . . after all — I’m still waiting to find out what it means for Kyra to be the Ascendant!

About the book – from Goodreads: Expecting to enjoy another typical college night at a frat party with friends, Kyra Vaughn’s plans derail when she’s almost killed…twice. Her savior, a tall, sexy stranger who calls himself TaeDane, claims that he’s the personal bodyguard for the Ascendant of Alametria. She’s convinced he’s crazy.

Especially when he insists that she’s the Ascendant.

With dark enemies hunting her down, Kyra has no choice but to trust her supposed bodyguard. Ty vows to help her remember her past and return her safely to Alametria, but someone seems intent on interfering, challenging his abilities at every turn.

As Kyra’s memories emerge, she remembers that Ty is more to her than he’s let on…much more than he’s allowed to be. She’ll also discover that there are many things about her planet and herself that she’d rather forget. In the end, she’ll have to make a choice: cling to the life she knows, or risk it all to become the person she’s destined to be.