My Urban Fantasies: Review: Forbidden by Jacquelyn Frank

Title: Forbidden

Author: Jacquelyn Frank

Series: The World Of Nightwalkers, #1

•Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewer
•Publisher: Ballantine Books
•Publication Date: October 30, 2012

Opening Line: "Ow. Ow. Ow. And did I mention ow?"

The unexpected happens in an instant. On her way to work, secretary Docia Waverley hurtles into a crashing crossroads, and she quickly begins to suspect that things will never be the same. Then, when a tall, blond, muscular stranger intervenes on her behalf, telling her it is his duty to protect her at all cost, what is just a feeling turns to proof positive. That is, as long as Docia’s savior doesn’t turn out to be a crazed kidnapper.

When Ram finds Docia, he has no doubt that she is his queen. But as this golden warrior sweeps in to protect her, he feels something more than body heat every time they touch. He is overwhelmed by a searing connection that goes deep into the twin souls inside him. A desire rises in him that is forbidden—this woman is his queen, the mate of his king, his leader, his best friend. And yet Docia is so vulnerable and attractive that she awakens a hunger in Ram that is undeniable, a carnal craving he cannot yield to . . . not without risking the very survival of the Bodywalkers.

I was a Jacquelyn Frank virgin before this book. I've never read any of her books and barley recognized her name when I saw it on LibraryThing Early Reviewer. To be completely honest the hot piece of man candy on the cover is what grabbed my attention. Unfortunately that's all he grabbed. *sigh* Where do they find these guys? I'm thinking I need 2 or 3 of my very own. After I read this book the only thing I could think is that I've been living under a rock for 6 years. Frank is an amazing writer. I have no idea how she missed my radar, but she's definitely on it now.

Forbidden is supposed to be a paranormal romance. To me, it reads more like an urban fantasy. If you're expecting a hot romance with a side story of who's trying to kill Docia, expect to be disappointed. I'm not saying there is no romance in the book, because there is, it's just not the main story. Relax about the Docia bit, that was not a spoiler. You find that out on page 9. I refuse to believe that anything before page 10 can be considered a spoiler.

As I said before, I've never read The Nightwalkers. Other than having no idea who the characters were in the prologue, it did not seem to be a problem. The Bodywalkers are a new species, or according to the prologue a new nation, and with that comes a new set of characters. If you're into Egyptian history you're going to love the Bodywalkers. There few heavy hitters mentioned: Menes, Hatshepsut, Ramses II and Cleopatra.

How the Bodywalkers came to be is such an original concept. I do not know how Jacquelyn Frank came up with it, but it's brilliant. The Bodywalkers are as old as Ancient Egypt. Instead of bringing the mortal world and their earthly possessions with them; the mummification process actually prevented the Ancient Egyptians from entering the afterlife. Mummification instead tethered the Ancient Egyptians to the mortal world and a between place called the Ether. The Ether is essentially where the Ancient Egyptians' souls stay until they can blend with a human, becoming Bodywalkers.

When a human is on the brink of death, specifically near a Nexuses point, they are sometimes temporarily pulled into the Ether. The human is then given a chance to share their mortality with a Bodywalker. If the human says no their soul moves on to the afterlife. If they say yes it's a second chance at life for the host human, also known as the original, and the Bodywalker, also called a carbon. There are perks for accepting the Blending. The shared human body is now stronger, heals faster and their life span is significantly longer. When the human body dies the human spirit moves to the afterlife and the Bodywalker is returned to the Ether for 100 years.

Docia is my favorite character. She's spunky and a little weird, but in a good way. Unfortunately as the blending process continues you get less of Docia. She's basically sharing her body with another person and that person also has to make an appearance. Asikri, Leo and Vincent deserve an honorable mention. They have this whole wise-ass bad boy thing going on, it's really hot.

I would have given this book more stars but there were a few spots that were slow and the mummification history was a little repetitive. Would I read the next book in the series? Absolutely.

Favorite Quotes

"Oh, my God, I can't remember his number! My brain is broken!"

"Or, like most humans, you've become overly dependent on your contacts list," he said dryly, coming around so that he was behind her.

"Fine," he growled at her. "Did you hear it? How many times she said it? 'I'm fine.' Everything's fine. If you knew a single damn thing about Docia, you'd know how she turns phrases, and she most certainly wouldn't repeat it eight times in a single conversation. Docia is one of those quirky people who like to say the same thing in different ways instead of sounding like a repetitious parrot."

"Leo, help me out here," he said through his teeth.

"Right as rain," Leo said softly, his rich voice starting low and slowly growing in power. "Super-duper. A-okay. Five by five. Happy as a pig in shit. All in one piece. Okie-dokie. Running on all four cylinders. Peachy-keen. It's all good. Marvelous. Splendiferious. Super-frigging-califragilisticexspialidocious! Do you. Get the picture?"

"Dress formally...," Docia echoed. "Well, I'm sorry to break it to ya, but when Tweedle Hot and Tweedle Hotter kidnapped me, they didn't exactly let me pack a bag."

"Stop looking at my ass and get me out of this contraption!" she exclaimed.

"Shh," he shushed her, his chuckle telling her she'd been right about his contemplations. "You mean you don't want to stay and give Selena a chance to show you how evil Ram and the rest of us are?"

"Mister, I don't give anyone who ties me up like this a chance to do anything to me!"

"Well, now, honey, I gotta say... that's a crying shame."