Review + Excerpt: The Return (#1, Titans) by Jennifer L. Armentrout - Vilma Iris | Lifestyle Blogger

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Review + Excerpt: The Return (#1, Titans) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

My Thoughts

A delicious blend of humor, angst and sexiness.

4stars

Synopsis

Feb-16

The Fates are cackling their bony asses off…

It’s been a year since Seth made the deal with the gods that pledged his life to them. And so far, the jobs they’ve given him have been violent and bloody–which is kind of all right with him. But now Apollo has something else in mind for Seth. He’s got to play protector while keeping his hands and fingers off, and for someone who really has a problem with restraint, this new assignment might be the most challenging yet.

Josie has no idea what this crazy hot guy’s deal might be, but it’s a good bet that his arrival means the new life she started after leaving home is about to be thrown into an Olympian-sized blender turned up to puree. Either Josie is going insane or a nightmare straight out of ancient myth is gunning for her.

But it might be the unlikely attraction simmering between her and the golden-eyed, secret-keeping Seth that may prove to be the most dangerous thing of all.

Because history has once again been flipped to repeat.

Excerpt

Turned out, I made it to class on time and was able to focus during the lecture, so I figured I was prepared for the exam on Friday. When Jesse Colbert, another psych major who took a bunch of classes with me, lingered in the seat beside me while I gathered up my stuff, I tried not to act like a total goober.

He was a tall guy, around my age, with hair as dark as polished obsidian. Good looking. Nice. Great cheekbones. Really cute and always had an easy smile on his face. Awesome hands. I had a thing for male hands for some reason and his hands—rough, masculine, long-fingered. I liked them.

Pulling my thoughts away from my weird semi-fetish, I forced what I hoped wasn’t a creepy smile. “Hey.”

Grabbing his books, he sent a slight grin in my direction. “We still on for tomorrow night?”

Standing, I shoved the massive text into my bag. “Yep. It’s a date…” My brain winced, backpedaling away from that comment. “I mean, not a date date. Like going out and stuff. Dinner. Whatever.” Feeling my cheeks burn, I focused on the corner of his shoulder. “Study date, but without any real dating stuff.”

Oh my God, I needed to shut up, because this was why I never got a date date. Oh Lord, now my face was really burning, because I was standing in front of Jesse thinking about why I was still a virgin. I wish my brain had an off switch.

He watched me through the whole ridiculous ramble, and when I finally clamped my mouth shut, he chuckled. “Yeah, I know, Josie. See you tomorrow at six?”

“Yeah. Six. In the evening, right?” Shoot me in the head. Please? “Of course. Perfect.”

He hesitated, and then with his grin lifting up the corners of his lips, he wheeled around. Sighing, I mentally listed the ways I was the Queen of All Dorks as I headed out the door. I made a pit stop in the restroom, mostly so I could put off calling my grandparents for a few more minutes. I wasn’t ready to hear what I already knew, and I hated that, because it made me a coward. But I washed my hands twice, worked a tiny brush through my wind- tousled hair, reapplied my lip-gloss, and then moseyed out into the hall. Classes had already started up and I headed to the closest stairwell, letting the door swing shut behind me. Thoughts once again focused on my mom and calling Granny. I needed to get this over with. I tugged my bag around and reached in for my phone.

I have no idea how what happened next went down.

Only a few steps from the second-floor landing, a cold blast of air whipped up from the floor below, shooting right through me, strong enough to startle me. I reached out to grip the railing as my bag slipped off my shoulder, hit the step by my foot, and then bounced its way down to the landing.

What in the world?

For several seconds, I stared at my bag and then I looked over my shoulder. I had no clue what I expected to see standing there— maybe Casper the pervy ghost or something? A little wigged out, I turned around and almost fell backward out of shock.

A guy stood in front of me. Well, he wasn’t standing. He was bending down to pick up my bag. But how in the world did he get there? I hadn’t heard anyone walk up the stairs, and there was no way anyone could get up them that fast in the first place…unless he’d sprouted wings and flown up the stairs, but I didn’t think that was likely.

I could only see half of him, and even from that, I could tell he was tall. I wasn’t a small girl, coming in close to five foot nine, but this guy would make me feel…dainty standing next to him.

A deep-brown henley stretched taut over broad shoulders and extremely well-defined upper arms. Blond hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck by a brown leather band. Shorter strands had slipped free, obscuring his face as long fingers wrapped around the strap of my bag.

Oh my, my—he had beautiful hands.

His skin was golden, all the way up to where the sleeves were pushed up his forearms. I’d never seen a complexion like that. It wasn’t tanned, but something…something else. My breath floated up my throat, and then stopped as he straightened.

Holy Hottie-McHotters!

My Review

Seth is back and I mean back. I’m talking all that swagger and arrogance and charm. That edge, that danger, that golden bad boy glow that makes him alluring even when he’s being everything less than who a proper hero should be. But that’s what we’ve always loved about Seth. He was irreverence personified with these unexpected moments of heart and sacrifice. And sacrifice he did—we know from the Covenant series that he laid it all on the line for Alex and Aiden, and now, he was bound to the mercy of Apollo. His life, his future, his afterlife, were not his own.

So when Apollo sends him away to protect someone important, he goes, with a heavy roll of the eyes, but with the understanding he must do as Apollo says. To Seth, it was a penance he deserved to pay. Of course, when he first meets Josie, it’s a wonderfully antagonistic dynamic, mixed in with curiosity and desire. I giggled, I swooned, I smiled as I relished in everything that was unabashedly Seth.

“He could go from sullen and serious, to teasing and downright annoying, to mischievous and playful, to seductive and dangerously deceptive in a manner of minutes. I’d never known anyone in my life like him and I doubted many people, mortal or not so mortal, could claim to know how his head worked.”

Seth had secrets to reveal to Josie, however, and he was to be the one to deliver the news that would turn her life upside down.

“…. my life as I know it is virtually over.”

Josie and Seth embark on a journey filled with emotional turmoil and action, of course. Josie starts to see Seth, see beyond him being the Apollyon, see beyond his careless, ornery demeanor. Josie begins to care for him, while Seth starts to soften towards her as his protectiveness intensifies. Seth ultimately seeks redemption (despite him not believe he can achieve it), and we see him become more vulnerable with Josie. Nevertheless, Seth must start facing those he left behind, a past that still represents an open wound, if he is to keep Josie safe.

“When I’m with you, I don’t feel like a monster. I forget… I forget all the things I’ve done that make me not deserve this.”

It was a fast-paced read suffused with humor, sexiness and suspense. It was a delicious battle of wills, a barely restrained game of who would relent to the emotions that built inside them both. The Covenant series is still my favorite of Jennifer’s PNR books, and seeing that world expand… seeing Seth take center stage as the reluctant hero, was so much fun. I loved seeing some familiar characters and it felt good to be enveloped in that world once more. Fans of the series will relish in the experience and new readers will surely be drawn to Seth’s allure and to the dangerous world where mythology comes alive, with big-time attitude. 🙂

addseriestogoodreads

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5 Comments:


  1. Alina Syed said:

    I want to read this as soon as possible!

    Reply

  2. Giaochau N. said:

    I cannot wait to read The Return!! Right after I reread the Sentinel again.

    Reply

  3. cafemamanc7 said:

    I love Jennifer, and this looks awesome. Thanks for the chance!

    Reply

  4. Maria Isabel said:

    Waiting for my copy!!!!Can’t wait!!!

    Reply

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