Cover Image: Veiled by Desire: A Laith Novel

Veiled by Desire: A Laith Novel

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Member Reviews

Veiled by Desire started out promising, but about halfway into the story I felt that it took way too long for things to get going on the main plot.

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I have never read anything by this author, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for more books from them. This was a detailed adventure, and it was exactly what I was looking for. Keep it up!

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This was my first book by this author, as I didn't realize it was book two in an interconnected series. However, I read the description of book one and luckily could still follow the story perfectly well. I loved Candace Robinson's writing style, it flowed and was pretty without becoming flowery. I'm always a sucker for unique fantasy worlds, especially ones that have the magical fairytale vibe that this story has. I really enjoyed the book and I'd like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with an arc!

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I wanted to read this book mostly because of the cover. But I didn't realise this is book 2. I saw a lots of good reviews so I will give a shot. I will come back with a review after I finished the series.

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I am glad I picked this book up. I would give it a 3.5 and I would definitely read more from Candace Robinson.

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Veiled by Desire is the second book,the trade should read the first. The book should have been longer,but I enjoyed the characters.

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Unfortunately I did not see that this was a 2nd book in the series. I was unable to read for that reason.

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This was ok. A little hard to get into at first but then got a little better. Not sure if I should have read the first book before this but since I didn't have it, I did my best with this. The characters were good if a little hard to like. I'm not sure I'll continue this series but we'll see.

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I so enjoyed the twist of the curse when a mermaid does not return to the ocean in time when she is human. This story kept me pretty interested but I also feel like it was a little rushed at the end. You get build up and back story and then they defeat the bad guy in like 4 pages.....tho the kind of happy ending for one and not the other kind of broke my heart. YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM HER!!

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๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป:
- 4stars - Characters:5/5 - Plot:3/5 - Favourite characters: Tavarra and Perin

Veiled by Desire was a quick and enjoyable read, full of beautiful relationships, monsters and curses.

The story is told from two point of views, Tavarraโ€™s, who is a sea dweller whose one desire is to live on land, but when she remains out of water she is cursed with turning into an uncontrollable monster. And then Rhonaโ€™s, who lives in a village where she is under control by a corrupt leader who takes away her powers and forces her on a mission where she meets Tavarra, and discovers they can benefit each other.

๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€:
I definitely found myself more invested in Tavarraโ€™s chapters, since she was the more complex character, who had faced a lot of struggles and heartbreak and came out strong because of it.

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ข ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ง ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต. ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ - ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฏ'๐˜ต ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ. ๐˜๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ.

I really adored all the characters and relationships, but Tavarra and Perin were my absolute favourite! Perin is a friend of Rhonaโ€™s, so when they cross paths with Tavarra, Perin and Tavarra go off on their own mission while Rhona and her secret childhood friend Quil go off on theirs. Since Tavarra has had bad experiences in the past with humans, she has trouble trusting Perin in the beginning, so they definitely have that hate to love relationship.

Rhona and Quilโ€™s relationship was so cute, and I loved that they had a second chance to be together after theyโ€™re separated for a couple years.โฃโฃโฃ

๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฑ. โ€œ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ.โ€

๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜:
I loved how the story was built, but I wish there was a little more depth with the plot and I had some problems with the timeline, as the characters were moving all over the place and a lot of the journey was kind of skipped through. I would have loved to see more of the time in-between when they were travelling.

Overall, it was a fast paced, entertaining read with wonderful characters and an ending that had me crying so hard.

Would recommend for anyone after a fantasy, full of love and friendships

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I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book really needed to be longer. Too much happened in such a short time space of time. I needed it to be a few chapters longer.

It was super fast paced. I felt as soon as i got through the beginning the book was ending.
The relationships felt super rushed and the build up was just not there. The characters were very well thought out and you really get a sense of who they are as a whole.
It was a good story despite how fast paced it was. The plot of this series is very original despite how overused the werewolves and mermaid tropes are.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to review this title.

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*Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy in exchange of an honest review.*

This books was so underwhelming. The plot, the world-building, the characters, are all over the place in a mess without any sort of sense.

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Thanks to Netgalley for giving me a copy to review!

A strong book that would have been stronger if it was like an extra 100 pages longer.

The plot was engrossing and I did keep turning the page to find out what happened next. However because it was a shorter book, it felt like the plot was rushing so fast it was bouncing from plot point to plot point. For instance there is a romance dynamic that is seen starting to form, and it just didn't make sense from my perspective why those two would end up together. Their relationship felt very rushed and like there wasn't a lot of build up to it besides the bare minimum.

The characters as individuals were also nice, and I felt like I have a pretty good idea of who they are and what their general personalities are. But I don't feel like the cast was used to their maximum benefit, because like I said above the book just need more page time to stretch things out a bit further.

Not all books are for all people, so it might just be me. Regardless I did enjoy it a lot, and I just had a few nit=picky complaints about it.

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This one is a hard one to rate. It's more a 3.5 to 3.75
This world was AMAZING. It felt so original and refreshing.
I liked the characters and their backstories.
The reason it's not a 4 star it because of the pacing and flow. It felt a little off.

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84 points, 4 ยผ stars

Quote:
Nezarra hesitated. โ€œWhat about the curse? It is believed that you canโ€™t be out of the water for too long.โ€
โ€œIโ€™ve only been out of the ocean for a day, not a year. And what does this curse say anyway?โ€
โ€œThe curse states for more than one day.โ€ Nezarra rubbed her bicep, biting her lip. โ€œI donโ€™t know more than that.โ€

Review:
I quite liked reading Veiled by Desire. I liked the story a lot. I recently read the first book in the series, Clouded by Envy, and I found this book much like the previous, only it was a bit better. I enjoyed reading this and I look forward to reading the follow-up book next year, too.

Like the previous book, Veiled by Desire has two main characters that it bounces between. At first they were unconnected, but you knew they would meet up eventually. These dual perspectives worked better this time and I found I was interested in both sides of the story equally. I still had a preference, but I wasn't annoyed when I had to switch.

The world is so interesting. This time, we're in Laith, a magical realm where the fantastic is possible. The main character each have something different about them. One is a rogue little mermaid, cursed. The other has some neato magic powers. Both were good characters and stood well on their own. The world they live in itself is weird and filled with pitfalls and horrors. And not altogether coherent, unfortunately, with lots of missing information. The concept is great, though!

If you're wondering if you need to read the first book, Clouded in Envy: No. This book takes place several generations after the first book. However, the third book is going to be a direct sequel to the events in this book.

I receivedย this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Candace Robinson, The Parliament House, and Netgalley for providing the opportunity to review this copy!

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I was hooked after a few pages and couldn't put it down till the end.
The plot is engrossing and entertaining, the cast of characters well written and interesting, the world building is great.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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I received this ARC today in exchange for an honest & fair review. It's due out in early November. AND OMGOSH snag it when you can! It's one of the most unique fantasy stories I've read in a long time. Like, I was seriously stuck in a book hangover and nothing I picked up lately was speaking my literary love language. This little gem hooked me right away!

First of all it has ALL THE THINGS! Mermaids cursed to turn into werewolves, Pan's flute, 4 leaf clovers, a battle against tyranny, a quest for an object of power, AND an adorable bat. Then it's rolled into an enthralling fantasy world that's beautifully built and populated with wonderful characters and landscapes. Human nature and all that's good and horrible about it are on full display as the two parallel stories bring the main characters together... to try to save one another.

It's a fairly short book and a fast-paced read. I blew through it in an evening... but I'm a zippy reader when I get into something! And this sucked me right in!

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I have to say that the first thing that caught my eye with this one was that amazing cover!! I have to say that its one of the darkest covers I have seen this year and I fell for it so much! Although this is a new story set in the same world I am very glad that I read book one first. We have a new set of characters and I spend a lot of the story wondering who was released to whom. It was a nice little mystery to add to the story. This emotional filled story is one that once you start you won't be able to stop. So make sure to have nothing to do until you finish it. I know I was making dinner, going on my run, and cleaning all while reading this book. I could not put it down at all.

This fantasy world is one that will grip you with world building, characters, and plot and it won't let you go until you have finished the last page!

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Veiled By Desire is the 2nd book in the Laith series by Candace Robinson. This book will be published in November 2019 by Parliament Press, but I got my hands on an early copy since I loved the first in the series so much. Jealous? You should be (sorry!) because it's fantastic and you really don't want to wait. Don't worry, I'm sure karma will get me back for those words.

Though connected by a few threads, this is a different story than the last. At first, I was puzzled in a good way. Robinson alternates chapters by telling the tale of two different sets of characters, neither seemingly related to the ones I treasured in Clouded By Envy. As the story unfolds, I found myself guessing who was related to whom between the books, but remember, this is a fantasy novel, so there are other ways of connections being made that won't be obvious at first... and then, we learn the fate of our beloved bats from yesteryear. The timeline is different, which means we have a different cast, and of course, nature has taken its course. Dynamite!

It's hard to choose which characters I loved the most in this installment. Tavarra is probably the most memorable and appealing - the mix of beauty and anger is phenomenal. Character creation is probably Robinson's biggest talent, at least to me. She's a fantastic writer, and her plots and settings are equally strong; however, I adore the creatures she creates and find myself rooting for them to succeed in meeting their goals. It's usually someone struggling to find their voice or escape a horror they're trapped within. While no different this time, there is a whole new level between the parallel stories and eventual collision... one that will grip you tightly and never let you relax.

Robinson crushed me. I must say, I only stopped reading the book to cook dinner and to cease gritting my teeth in frustration (the positive kind). She created such an imaginative and powerful story, my heart raced and my emotions fluttered through the entire mid-section as little secrets and truths kept popping up, and then boom... splat... pow. Think of those cartoon bubbles from our superheroes -- only not funny! Hard to take. Made me sad. Essential to the story, but wow... I needed a breather for maybe ten minutes just to catch myself from screaming.

I jumped back in to finish the last 15% and yikes... she clobbered me again! This time, I was slightly prepared but still shocked. Good writers know how to do that to you. I can't give this anything less than five stars, but trust me, they are five angry, emotional, hopeful, concerned, and powerful stars to match the strength of this story. The climax scenes are outstanding, and at the end, I'm left with so much on my mind... but most of all is how much I really don't think I can wait until sometime in 2020 for the third release in this series. Please let me have an early holiday present? See... I told you karma would come around to bite me soon.

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