Karen Marie Moning - Dreamfever (Fever Book #04)

I'm a fan of this series and was eager to start this book since the cliffhanger ending in the previous one. The ending where Dublin is under attack and Mac is being raped by three Unseelie Princes and the Lord Master who is believed to have killed Mac's sister Alina. When I finished book 3 I was a bit stunned by the ending and there was some speculation that maybe the destruction of Dublin and Mac's rape were some kind of dream since the next book was titled Dreamfever. Anyone who has read this book can confirm it's not a dream.

MacKayla Lane lies naked on the cold stone floor of a church, at the mercy of the erotic Fae master she once swore to kill. Far from home, unable to control her sexual hungers, MacKayla is now fully under the Lord Master's spell. In the New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning's stunning new novel, the walls between human and Fae worlds have come crashing down. And as Mac fights for survival on Dublin's battle-scarred streets, she will embark on the darkest-and most erotically charged-adventure of her life.

He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister's murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac's every thought-and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V'lane vie for her body and soul, as she rallies the sidhe-seers to fight an impossible battle, and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac's greatest enemy delivers a final challenge...

It's an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth-about herself, and about the world she thought she knew.

This book picks up right where book 3 left off. Mac is being raped and losing everything that makes her Mac. With each forced orgasm by the sex Fae princes, she loses a memory of her childhood, a memory of her sister, a dream she had for her future. She is turned Pri-ya, which means she becomes nothing but a sexual being, living, breathing and needing sex above all else. When the princes are done with her, they move her outside the church they found her in and that's where Dani, a young sidhe-seer Mac befriends, finds her and with her superspeed ability, is able to get Mac back to the sidhe-seer compound.

At the compound is where the sexy Barrons (of unknown origins) arrives, with eight other men who appear to be of the same unknown creation, and takes the pri-ya'd Mac away to try and save her. No one has ever come back from being turned pri-ya but we can't have the heroine of the book out for the count, can we? Thus begins a months-long battle for Mac's former self with Barrons leading the way. He repeatedly reminds her of things from her life: her sister Alina, her parents, the bookstore they worked in, her anger towards him. Oh and throw in some sexing during it all because she is pri-ya after all and Barrons apparently couldn't restrain her somehow but gave in to giving her some sex along with the information about her life. Three words for ya: "Say my name." I was hoping these two would hook up eventually but I didn't want it to occur that way. Then, with the exception of one argument (I think), the aftermath of what happened isn't really addressed. Why not, Ms. Moning?

One thing we do find out about the recovered Mac is that she is no longer vulnerable to the sex Fae's pull. V'lane (the friendly sex fae?) who has a soft spot for Mac always had to dull his powers when in her presence but he meets with her unguarded and she feels absolutely nothing. So, like with some illnesses where your body builds up an immunity to the strain, Mac apparently built up an immunity to the powers that had invaded her so ruthlessly in the beginning of the book. How will this aid in the search for the Sinsar Dubh?

There are parts of this book that I found confusing as all hell like the four stones and especially the mirrors. I started to get the idea of the stones when Christian was telling Mac about the history of the stones' creation but the whole idea of the mirrors being re-routed, I have no fecking clue. Don't even ask me about the Hall of Mirrors. Yet the rest of the story is so freaking awesome that I can over look these issues. Things Mac believed to be true are now under question. Did the Lord Master kill Alina? Is Barrons really one of the good guys? Why didn't her parents tell her and Alina the truth? We're also left with so many new questions like who are the other eight men in Barrons crew? What's up with Ryodan's little nightclub? Who was the fourth rapist? Who was the beast at the end? (pssst…….click here for some crackpot theories underway on goodreads.com – reader beware: spoilers ahoy!)

Dani especially stood out for me and I found that I really enjoyed it when the pov changed to hers. Another thing I enjoyed was the interaction between Mac and Dani. Dani looks up to Mac as an older sister and Mac begins to see their relationship echoing that of hers and Alina. They also work together to figure out solutions to the craziness going on around them rather than sitting around waiting on Barrons or V'lane to save the day.

I think one of the biggest draws of this series for me is the fact that there is a finite amount of books in it. Book #5, Shadowfever, is to be the grand finale of the Fever Series. Ms Moning definitely knows how to leave us hanging and wanting more and this series is one of the few that I always look out for come release day.

The following is from an email I sent Mistress just after completing the book. I believe it sums up my thoughts on the book and most especially the cliffhanger ending:

OMG! WTF! Just finished Dreamfever. Dammit should not have read this til last book was out. As Dani would say, Feckin A!!!!!!!

Final Grade:

ETA: Audio book details

I've listened to the entire series on audio and this book changes narrator from Joyce Bean (books 1-3) to Natalie Ross and Phil Gigante. It took some getting used to but I quickly adjusted and enjoyed the new narration. Mr. Gigante's deep bass comes across a bit monotone but at times is wonderful at enhancing certain phrases *cough*Say My Name*cough*. Mist wasn't a fan of the narration change and set the audio aside for the text version.

Around The Net:

Romance Rookie: A
Lurve A La Mode: 2.5 to 3 scoops out of 5
Review Stream: 10
Romantic Times: 4.5 out of 5 stars