Munro

Girls like me don't make it to the end of the story.🎶 And now she's back! From outer space! 🎶Our wonderful Queen Kresley is back from her mysterious personal hiatus and can I say that I am super psyched?! Her last release was The Arcana Chronicles 6: The Dark Calling (a YA series) in 2018, and before that the last Immortals After Dark book we got was Wicked Abyss in 2017. You can follow her newsletter for more info on her new releases, but we value our author friends' personal privacy so please don't ask her any personal questions on her form! I can tell you that the next book she plans to release is Book 7 in the Arcana Chronicles. We don't have a date for that yet, but you can follow my social media pages for more insider news on Kresley's books since I'm on her ARC Team (a dream come true for a reader like me!)Back to Munro. Last we left the IAD series, we heard at the end of MacRieve that he was being held captive by a group of warlocks called The Forgotten who "vassal" (i.e. enslave via sorcery) Lykae in a hidden realm called Quondam to prepare for the war against the Morior. So they should be allied with the Vertas but no, they're going about it completely the wrong way - kidnapping Lykae and forcing them to turn mortals into newlings, young Lykae who cannot control their beasts for more than a decade. The Forgotten, led by Jels the Conniver, can't vassal the Lykae until they release their beasts.They kidnapped Munro because an old and powerful Lykae like him should have a decent success rate at biting and turning mortals into newlings. The problem is that Munro is so old and powerful that he has too great of control over his beast, and won't release it no matter how they torture him. Oh, but they've also got the ability to time travel - but it requires sacrificing Nymphs at the altar of their very screwed up deity. They go back in time and find Kereny, Munro's mate, who is a carnie from 100 years ago. They injure her to the point of death so that he's forced to release his beast to bite and turn her. Only she doesn't turn. She dies.Munro manages to break free of enslavement, and threaten a vow from the Lore from Ormlo, Jels' son, to open a portal so he can go back in time and grab her again from the point of her death at 29 years old. But she's not just a carnie. She's a hunter of immortals in the Night War. She's been killing newlings who run rampant through her time, killing entire villages in their rage state. So it's basically her worst nightmare to be turned into a Lykae. And did I mention she's married?This book was a little different from the previous books. For one, there wasn't as much tension between the two protagonists. They were enemies in name only and had a disagreement over Kereny's mortality, but it wasn't nearly as tense as other books. I think Kresley (and us) really needed a warm sweet book after these past few really terrible years. She really turned down the dial on the toxic traits of the alpha male. We all new Munro was a good guy - I mean between emotionally carrying his brother for millennia and fostering orphaned young Lykae, he's prime DILF material. So I suppose it wasn't a complete surprise. He's just a thousand year old dog who needs to learn a new trick. After my reread of the series it was a bit jarring, because the tension rachets up with each book - and then doesn't taper off but bottoms out in this one. As I said - I think that was intentional.As someone who has read her entire catalog, it's been so amazing to see how her skill has increased over the years. I've read both the mature PNR and the YA she writes - and the intricate webs she weaves are some of the most impressive I've seen across anything I've read - especially in these genres. This is high fantasy quality plotting in genres that don't see that kind of thing often and I appreciate it so much more for that.I personally enjoy the high tension in her other books - but I also really appreciate the high quality writing of the personal growth of Munro in this book. Some of the biggest problems I have in the romance genre are toxic traits being lauded as appealing. Listen, we all have our kinks, but many of us have recently become aware of a very young age group reading erotic romance. I'm not one for censoring books, but just like anything else, it requires guidance. If the girls reading these are not being guided by the women more experienced in relationships, they may see real men behaving in the toxic ways they recognize from books and be attracted to it instead of recognizing the red flag. In this book, Munro is so concerned with making Kereny immortal and assuming that he knows best that he completely disregards her wishes. He doesn't try to see it from her perspective. But he learns from his mistake - he's not rewarded for it. This is teaching girls (and women) to recognize it as a toxic trait.Please don't misunderstand me - there is room for all kinks in books. Books are an amazing medium to express those in since many of those traits would be seriously concerning in real life. The debate I often see on social media is whether these books should even be written - but they are disregarding entirely the people who can read and discern. But the goal should be to teach people to read and discern, not to censor them from ever seeing anything that's unhealthy. Boy have I really gone off the deep end with this analysis, but I am going to try to do better on my platforms to talk about these things and teach.And that's what I appreciated most about this book - it truly is a teachable moment for Munro. This means that Kresley is keeping up with the times, and let's face it, that's a hard thing for most authors. So again, FRIGGIN YAY Kresley, I love her, I'm so excited she's back, and I cannot wait to see more from her.

Munro and Ren were always fated. But Munro missed his fated one through her first life. When the warlocks decided to try and force Munro into their service they went through time to find her and present her to him. When she died in his arms loathing Munro he does whatever it takes to break free of the warlock's hold and use their own magic to go back in time for her.Ren is a hunter of Lorians and she is deadly with her enchanted knife. Munro shows up on the day of her wedding to break her out of her time where she is dead before 30 and bring her to his. Thing is she kinda likes her time and killing Lorians and feels a deep commitment to her people. But Munro is willing to make any bargain to his fated mate into his time, even if it means fighting off a pack of young werewolves.Ren thought she knew what her life would be. But this new adventure with a man she doesn't want to be attracted to but ultimately is drawn to physically is growing on her. If only he would listen to her and not try to force her into becoming an immortal. She might truly fall for him then.I liked this story but didn't love it like I have some of the others. Ren was a good character and she brought some feistiness into story. Munro like many of the alphas has been too protective, too harsh and sometime way too stubborn. But a good woman can stand up to all of those things it seems. They have a cute courtship and Ren is able to figure out what real love is. I did enjoy the courtship at least.Overall an decent addition to the IAD series and Nix is a trixie one always. It will be interesting to see how much longer until we get to Fury's story because that is the next one I'm super excited for. Please note that if this was another series I'd probably only give the book 3 stars.

FINAL DECISION: Loved, loved, loved this book. Cole has the amazing ability to give each hero and heroine exactly the story they need. Fun, adventurous, and deeply emotionally satisfying. This book not only is a great story in itself but moves the IAD series forward in new ways.THE STORY: Munro MacRieve has been captured by warlocks who seek to make his wolf captive to them. Munro resists all efforts by the warlocks to make his wolf appear until they bring him his fated mate, Kereny "Ren" Codrina. When she dies, Munro seeks a way to change time to find his mate again. Ren then finds herself kidnapped by Munro on her wedding day. But this human woman has no intention of surrendering to the immortal and instead seeks to find her way home.OPINION: This was a wonderful book. Not my favorite in the series, but the exact book I needed today and the perfect book for Munro. After the break in the series for the last couple of years, I worried that Cole would not return to form. Instead, this book is on fire and the overarching story is still moving forward in amazing ways.Munro has been foretold to have a harridan for a mate. And Ren is just lovely in this book. She is strong and independent and is not taking any guff from Munro from the moment they meet. The story begins with what readers of the IAD series already know and yet what happens immediately after might be the most heartbreaking scene in the series. In fact, this book was an emotional rollercoaster: ones I wept at, ones I wanted to read through spread fingers in anxiety, ones that made me laugh, and ones that were heart satisfying that I felt so warm and comforted.Munro gains tremendous depth here. In comparison to Will, Munro seemed too nice, too perfect. This book so neatly sets out that Munro has his own scars from his past but also from his brother's story. Feeling responsible for Will for years has taken its toll on Munro even as he seems the "happy" and "carefree" twin. Everything about Munro's story with his mate push on Munro's pain and weaknesses -- which makes this book so good. I loved Munro as a character -- especially as he interacts with other male characters who have shared parts of his journey.I am so impressed with how Cole can write a story that is so of the world and yet feels fresh and new. In preparation for this book, I re-read the entire series and this book did not feel like any other in the series. That is why Cole is a master in this genre.Readers of the series might wonder how and why the story is returning to this story after Sweet Ruin and Wicked Abyss and the Dacians books which seem to blow the IAD story out into a bigger universe. And the question also was -- why give the preview of this story in MacRieve and then write a bunch of books in the middle. This book answers that question. Indeed, this book needs all of the prior books to make this story work. Nothing is wasted and it makes perfect sense that this book comes at this point in the overarching story. The revelations in this book also change and alter many of my expectations of where the stories of the characters are going. Good stuff!Now to wait for the next book in the series.WORTH MENTIONING: There are some good twists for fans of the series. To avoid spoilers, I won't mention which characters make appearances, but enough do to make any fan happy.CONNECTED BOOKS: MUNRO is the eighteenth book in the Immortals After Dark series. The romance here is self-contained but this series has an overarching storyline that cannot really be appreciated here. A reader should just start at the beginning or at least read MACRIEVE.STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

After waiting years for this book I haven't been able to finish it. I am so disappointed. Some of Kresley's IAD books I have found unputdownable but others feel disjointed to me. As if they were ghost written or written very half heartedly. This is definitely in the latter category. I found it so hard to get into, I was really pushing myself to keep going. I got to about half way and just lost interest. There was no flow, or excitement, or sense of relationship developing. The romance was really dull, there was just a lot of action and exposition for the sake of it. It also feels like she wrote a lot of this years ago and did a quick rehash to get out. Some of it felt really repetitive to me, as if we have had this story before. And parts of it read like the earliest books about the other brothers. It wasn't original I suppose, and often her books are, with really hot and sparky relationships between the main characters that just draw you in. But Munro to me was just the opposite. Unfortunately.

Another brilliant instalment in the immortals after dark series, after waiting a while for this book I had no idea what expect but Munro is exactly what I hoped it would be, a Kresley Cole book at its best.Munro has waited centuries to find his mate, and now danger and warlocks stand in his way, the story takes us on an adventure through the world of the lore, where we meet witches, priestesses, vampires, valkyries, demons and nymphs and even a sea god of some note.I Would highly recommend this for fans of fantasy, Romance and adventure.It had me laughing, crying and shouting through its pages. Her characters are diverse and interesting and make you want to know them more. This is an outstanding book in itself but also the next step in the greater series which continues to develop and intrigue.

It's been a while since I read the last book in this series, but it is worth the wait. I was so looking forward to Munro's story and it didn't disappoint.Munro travels back in time to retrieve his mate who had died previously. He is successful in retrieving her. The problem is that she is a huntress. She hunts "monsters" like him and doesn't wish to become immortal. She has some wicked knife throwing skills.There are some violent battles that they have to fight and escape with their lives. After battling those enemies, they return to the future and Kereme has to adjust. They still have some battles to win. After a lot of soul searching, she begins to contemplate becoming an immortal. As a fragile human she has little to no chances of surviving life in the Lore. After many disagreements, she starts to believe that she too has feelings for Munro. He would do anything for her. Romance blossoms and this time it's reciprocal. The presence of Lothaire and Nix brings back some good memories. The ending is rewarding.I have a feeling as to whose story is to come next. Whoever it is, I look forward to it. A very comprehensive and action packed read.

Just finished Munro by Kresley Cole. It was an incredible read.5 beautiful stars. 😍What an astoundingly beautiful book from start to finish. No room to pause for breath as the plot drags you into the story of Munro & Ren. It's about love, lost & longing leaving you enthralled until the very end.Munro - a Lykan, tortured (physically) by witches but his mind not broken, as an attempt to break him, they force him to watch the one fate has destined him to be with, to die. When a Lykan loses their fated one, the countdown begins as to when they will join them as life ceases to exist without them. But anger consumes him and demands Munro to fix what they have done; to take back what they have taken from him with no mercy. When he escapes their clutches, he uses time to reverse the past and kidnaps her from HER time - a century prior.-When she sees him for the first time... She begs not to become what he is, as she is a mortal hunter of the supernatural.When he sees her for the first time... He knows that fate has chosen her for a reason and his instinct to protect the one he will one day love takes him on a journey that does not guarantee a HEA, but that she is alive.Funny thing about fate, you can't avoid or ignore it, you just have to accept it.I now need the next one!

This book has been a long time coming but definitely worth the wait. So great to have news once more of the Lore, to finally meet Munro and his mate, and to once more become immersed in the world which Kresley Cole has created.If you are new to this author, may I recommend you start at the beginning and keep going. You will be in for such a treat. This is still the most exceptional fantasy universe created, in my opinion. She is simply the best. You will laugh (a lot), cry, keep reading because you just have to know what happens next, all the very best things you could want from a series. Go for it!