Dark Awakening

Written by Kendra Leigh Castle

Narrated by Pete Bradbury

Acclaimed for her richly imagined paranormal romances, Kendra Leigh Castle begins her Dark Dynasties series with this sizzling tale. Shapeshifting vampire Tynan MacGillivray has been ordered to find a human seer who can give his clan the upper hand in a devastating war. So he tracks down Lily Quinn, and together they discover a new world of danger, sensuality, and powers that cannot be controlled. "Castle's world-building is superb."-RT Book Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781461848035

Kendra Leigh Castle

Kendra Leigh Castle was born and raised in the far and frozen reaches of Northern New York, where there was plenty of time to cultivate her love of reading thanks to the six- month-long winters. Her continuing love of heroes who sprout fangs, fur, and/or wings, however, is something no one in her family has yet been able to explain. She also has a home on the web at www.kendraleighcastle.com, and loves to hear from her readers. Please stop by and say hello!

Reviews for Dark Awakening

[lauren2013_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dark Awakening
3 Stars

Tynan MacGillivray, a feline shapeshifter vampire, is tasked by his Queen to locate a Seer who can save her race from annihilation. Ty’s search leads him to Lily Quinn, a human woman with a mysterious past and immense powers, who awakens in Ty a fierce need to love, protect and belong. Yet other forces are at work against them and they will need to overcome many obstacles in order to be together ...

Interesting world building and a promising plot, but the chemistry between the leads is lacking and, therefore, results in a rather tepid romance.

The concept of various vampire dynasties each originating with a god/goddess from a different mythology is very intriguing and the idea of a caste system amongst the vampires lends a darker tone to the story. Nevertheless, the details and explanations are few and far between, which means that the atmosphere is less immersive than it could have been.

The story revolving around Ty’s search for a Seer to save the race of vampires to which he is sworn and Lily’s coming to terms with her true identity and her awesome powers is well written and exciting. Unfortunately, Ty is more of a beta than an alpha and his unquestioning loyalty to his Queen despite her obvious manipulation and prejudice against his kind puts a pall on his hero status.

The romance is the weakest element. There is no real spark to Ty and Lily’s relationship and their sex scenes are not only mechanical but unoriginal - one can read similar yet more sensual scenes in other vampire tales of this kind. The characterization is also flimsy and what little development there is comes toward the end, at which point, it is too late for the reader to truly empathize and identify with either of Ty or Lily’s past histories.

Although the secondary characters are appealing whether it be the tormented Jaden, the nefarious Damien (who doesn’t love a bad boy in need of redemption) or the enigmatic Vlad, it is not yet clear whether they have grabbed my attention enough to continue with the series. Perhaps when I’m in the mood.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Dark and entertaining world with a strong female character and some twists and turns that kept me guessing.Opening Sentence: The ballroom was bathed in the soft glow of candlelight, and tiny flames danced, reflected in the eyes of those gathered for the ceremony.The Review:Dark Awakening was such a refreshing change in the paranormal romance world for me. It was written is such a way that the main female character, Lily, was not a flake, she was quite tough and level-headed. When strange things were happening to her she didn’t freak out. She was just relieved that she now had answers to all the strange occurrences in her life.I absolutely enjoyed the way this novel was written. The tone was dark with some humor but the story just flowed from one chapter to the next. This was a novel I just didn’t want to put down; I wanted to find out what would happen next. There were also some twists and turns that I thought I could see coming but the outcomes were completely unexpected.Dark Awakening is the first novel in the Dark Dynasties series. Vampires have been divided up into different dynasties depending on who the original creator of that line is and who their sire is. Depending on what line you are from, is how you are treated in the vampire world. The main male character, Ty, is a Cait Sith and is seen as the lowest of the low, scum and is practically a slave in some respects. He works for the Ptolemy hoping that it will give his line a better name and respect.The Ptolemy are the “highbloods” or so they think of the vampire society. Unfortunately, they are being massacred by an unseen force. Ty has been tasked with finding a Seer who will be able to figure out who the killer is and how they are killing off so many of this great and powerful bloodline. When Ty meets Lily, he believes that she is the Seer he is looking for. He eventually (of course!) has to kidnap her to show her the world of the vampires and to prove that she could be the savior of an entire race of vampires.I absolutely adored this novel and the characters in it and the worldbuilding. Ty is kind of a Debbie Downer but in a cute puppy dog (or kitten!) kind of way. He truly believes what he has been taught is his place in the world. He isn’t happy about it and he tries to do what he can to better himself and his clan but in a way he accepts how terrible he is treated. He often laments his woe to Lily, who tries to cheer him up and of course Lily’s modern day thinking has her wondering why these vampires’ dynasties can treat each other so terribly. Lily is a strong female character. When she finally gives in to the fact that she will never live a normal life again, she decides to live for the moment with Ty and to give in to her destiny.Dark Awakening had a few twists and turns for me, when I thought it might go the predictable route, there was a twist that kept me guessing until the next twist. This book felt like a refresher for the vampire/paranormal romance genre. The worldbuilding was great too. I enjoyed the dynasty world and background that is revealed as this novel goes along.Overall, Dark Awakening was a dark and entertaining first book in a series. The book kept me guessing (even though I ruined the end for myself – don’t look at the end!) and was fairly fast paced. I can’t wait to read the second book in this series, Midnight Reckoning.Notable Scene:Stupid though she knew it was, Lily felt her eyes sting suddenly with unshed tears. She was a fool. But wasn’t it better to allow herself this little slice of heaven with the only man who’d ever made her feel this way, as short as their connection was destined to be, than to never have it at all and always wonder how it might have been?She truly didn’t know.All she knew was that she was now in serious danger of losing not only her life, but also her heart, and to a man she wasn’t at all certain had a heart he would or could give in return.“Lily. Beautiful Lily,” Ty purred, nuzzling her hair as he wound himself around her and settled down to sleep. “My Lily.”Yes, Lily thought, giving over to the simple wonder of being held by a man who had just made love to her, who had worshipped her body in a way she’d never before experienced. She was in deep, deep trouble.And this time, she had no one to blame for it but herself.FTC Advisory: I purchased my own copy of Dark Awakening. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[alaskanbookie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have found a new author to add to my favorites list! I loved all the different vampire dynasties in this story. Each different dynasty had their own special abilities or power. Most of them set up as monarchies and each believing they are better than the next. As with most monarchies, they had a class system that they were stuck in. If you weren’t highblood, then you were lowblood and the best any lowblood could hope for was servant status for the highblood.Lily Quinn is believed to be a seer and the Ptolemy dynasty want her. Tynan can shift into cat form, so the Ptolemy consider him a lowblood and they send him to go and bring her back to them so they can use her physic gift to see who has been killing their people. When Tynan finds Lily, she is more than he expects and now he isn’t sure he wants to bring her in.As the story goes, it just keeps building and building. There is such a mystery around Lily that other vampire clans start to take notice, now Lily and Tynan are running for their lives. This was a great story and was like a whole box of Godiva Chocolates. It had a variety of different of different well rounded characters. It also had great character and world building. I really enjoyed the whole thing and cannot wait to read the next in the series.The Narration ReviewThis audiobook was narrated by Pete Bradbury and I loved his voice! He had a really good story telling voice and a host of different voices and accents for all the characters. He definitely added to the enjoyment of this story. He was a pleasure to listen to!

[has_bookpusher · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Full review to be posted soon:

After a promising start, and an interesting setting and world-building, the book kind of went all meh on me as the pace dragged on for so long. Also the hero and heroine had several too stupid too live moments which I found really frustrating. I also found Lily's character pretty inconsistent and the romance just didn't work for me although it improved at the end of the book. I think it had an interesting premise with vampiric/dynastic lines and the hierarchy of supernatural races, however I don't think the book never lived up to that promise and sadly its a below average PNR for me.

[tarenn_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

DARK AWAKENING by Kendra Leigh Castle is an interesting paranormal romance . It is #1 Dark Dynasties series. It is written with depth, details and the characters are intriguing,enduring,and will capture your heart. It has forbiden love,acdeptance, distrust, loss, supernatural,vampires,seer,shape shifters,magic,romance,hot sex,deceit,murder,treachery,mystery,destiny,and adventure.Tynan MacGillivray,a shapeshifter vampire,an outcast and a ferocious hunter. Lily Quinn,a Seer,has a sixth sense and holds the key to ancient serets and destruction. Ty is ordered by his Queen to find the Seer, Lily because an all out war was started between the immortals. Love blooms between Ty and Lily, as desires takes root. Together they find their destiny,find a undeniable passion, and must stop evil forces. This is a fast paced,action packed paranormal adventure that will have you turning pages. Love blooms, blood flows between friends and passion ignites in this exciting paranormal romance. Received for review from Net Galley and the publisher. Details can be found at Grand Central Publishing and My Book Addiction and More.

[lavinient · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dark Awakening has a pretty unique vampire concept. Unique enough to make this paranormal romance fresh and entertaining. The vampires have their own caste system and struggles. The lowbloods are vampires that are generally also animal shifters. They are seen as animals and servants by the highbloods.Ty is one of these lowbloods. He can shift into a cat, and serves the queen of the highblood group called The Ptolemy. He is on a mission to find a seer. He finds Lily, and convinces her to go with him to help The Ptolemy discover who is behind the killings of their members. And since this is a romance, they have an instant passion for each other.Ty accepts his lowblood status. He sees being a servant and being treated with contempt by the other vampires as better than making a living on his own. That was the most frustrating part of the book for me, Ty letting others treat him like crap. He is one stubborn character. Otherwise I liked him and his interactions with Lily very much.So, a wonderful start to a new series - fresh take on vampires and great characters.

[kr15tina · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What I LovedBrooding Bad BoysKendra creates the greatest male characters. I have loved every male character she has created in each of her books and I love Tynan MacGillivray just as much. He is the perfect recipe calling for bad childhood memories, rough adult years, barely suppressed rage, loyal to the core and you can't forget bad communication skills. For all those solid cold walls there is a man just wanting to be loved, oh I can't forget to mention he purrs (he is a cat shifting vampire, the lowest caste).Lily Quinn I really like her character. She isn't physically strong or able to fight, but she stands tall and doesn't let herself get pushed around. She has also built walls around her heart because of her shitty parenting situation.Never A Dull MomentThe sexual tension between Lily and Tynan is a push pull I want you, but I can't have you. They are continually being attacked and avoiding other groups that would like to use to destroy her abilities.VampiresThis vampire structure is very awesome, she takes bits of pieces from different vampire lore. The gods created their own dynasty line of immortals, each line has a different specialty. Each line creates a different mark and some bloodlines are even be mixed. Tynan is of the Cait Sith line, but he is in servitude to the Ptolemy queen. What I Didn't LikeThere isn't anything in this book I didn't like. Only that it had to come to an end and I now have to wait for more. Recommendation Anyone who loves vampires and the paranormal romance genre. You should mark you calendars for the release date of this book