REVIEW: Vengeance Borne by Amanda Bonilla

A creative beginning to an imaginative new Urban Fantasy series, VENGEANCE BORNE combines demon hunting with an empathic healer, who together banish evil with strength and compassion.

Vengeance Borne by Amanda Bonilla
Series: A Sentry of Evil Novel, Book 1
Category: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: September 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1491298381
Rated 4 out of 5 Stars
Review Courtesy of Romance Junkies.

One of my favorite types of paranormals are those that include empaths or healers, so imagine my delight when I realized that this Urban Fantasy novel contains both in one character. And not a female empathic healer, but a gorgeous Romany male who has gifts he’s trying to deny. That’s a welcome twist!

Having just broken up with her long-term boyfriend and demon-fighting partner, Jacquelyn is struggling with her place as Waerd of her territory in McCall, Idaho. Waerds are demon hunters who need a Bearer to watch their backs, aiding with their empathic and healing skills, which means that their relationship can sometimes entwine both body and soul.

Such was Jacquelyn’s relationship with Finn, a Bearer as well as her ex-boyfriend, so working with him now is difficult since they broke up. She needs to keep her emotional walls up so that he doesn’t tempt her back into a relationship. Finn has made Jacquelyn needy for that emotional relief he can give so easily, making her void of the self-preservation that she’ll need to keep their personal relationship at bay. She no longer wishes to be sucked dry of emotion and made to feel something that’s not true.

Being a wanderer by Romany heritage doesn’t help Micah Marinescu’s mother understand why he sells everything he owns to buy a motorhome and take off for an unknown future in Wyoming. His psychic gift has driven him to desperation after the drugs only give him a false sense of relief for brief periods. The “voices” Micah hears, plus the vivid dreams that are often predictions and the constant bombardment of emotions in a city full of anxiety leaves him with no ability to rest without drugs. He’s hopeful that escaping to wide open spaces will finally give him the peaceful existence he craves, instead of relying on drugs and his inebriated silence to control his so-called “gift”.

But fate intervenes when Micah ends up in a gas station in a small town in Idaho and finds the woman who was in trouble in his dreams of the night before. Micah has never met anyone like Jacquelyn and can’t shake the feeling that he needs to stay in this town to find out more.

From the very first page, Jacquelyn portrays the strength needed to be a demon hunter, but even though she likes to think that she’s tough, there’s a soft side to her that begs to be recognized. The death of her previous Bearer partner, Ryan, six years ago haunts her and plagues her with guilt. Now that she has broken off her personal involvement with Finn, a Bearer who is her ex-lover and current partner in demon hunting, Jacquelyn struggles with allowing Finn to do his job while keeping a good distance between them personally.

When Micah meets Jacquelyn, sparks fly and neither is prepared for what’s in store for them next. Micah, an unrealized Bearer, has come to town just in time, but will he be an asset or a hindrance? In a territory that should support just one Bearer, trouble is definitely on the horizon. When Furies, the worst of evil, are suspected to be the reason for recent killings, Micah may wish he’d left and taken his curiosity somewhere else.

The best part of VENGEANCE BORNE is its diverse characters. I felt immediately connected to Jacquelyn, even though she’s a badass who seems to be focused on killing, because her fate hasn’t ever been her choice and her sarcasm is often quite funny. She’s hard because she has to be but there’s a remnant of compassion left within her that keeps her balanced. Micah, on the other hand, is a complete surprise. He’s very in tune with his sensitive side, yet has a strength that hasn’t been tapped until now. He’s passive and reserved, always watching and learning from others’ emotions. His strength builds as the novel progresses and you can’t help but laugh at how his easygoing nature ruffles Jacquelyn’s aggressive one. The fact that he revels in agitating her by disobeying makes him even more entertaining.

I really like Micah. He’s such a different type of hero that I find him refreshing. I think his thoughts of Jacqueline sum it up perfectly and prove not only the talent of author Amanda Bonilla, but the essence of her characters…

Quoted from VENGEANCE BORNE by Amanda Bonilla, Micah’s thoughts… “This woman—this Waerd, hunter, or whatever the hell else they wanted to call her—was the frightened girl of his dreams, the tortured soul of his nightmares and the rock-solid companion of his reality.” How can you not love phrases like that, not to mention the man who said them?

Amanda Bonilla has become one of my favorite authors because she always surprises me with some unexpected twist in her novels and her words are always engaging. The paranormal elements that Ms. Bonilla creates are always believable, sometimes frighteningly so, yet her novels are never void of compassion. As a romance reader first and fiction reader second, this compassion is what keeps me enthralled in a style of book that may not always be my cup of tea when written by someone else. Amanda Bonilla writes the best creepers, those sick villains with paranormal abilities which make them all the more twisted. And those little twists and turns that keep me guessing, they get me hooked and running back for more. The other part that’s really fun about VENGEANCE BORNE is trying to guess who the villain is… I thought I knew, but there was enough doubt and reasonable mistrust directed at several suspects to make me second guess myself. That really kept me entertained.

Satisfy your Urban Fantasy appetite with VENGEANCE BORNE, A SENTRY OF EVIL NOVEL and book one in Amanda Bonilla’s newest series. You’ll be anxious for book two by the end, left wondering about the evil to come and what will happen to the relationships formed in book one. And, if you’ve never tried Urban Fantasy before, or have done so without success, try VENGEANCE BORNE for a new twist that may appeal to you.

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