Jessica Andersen – Magic Unchained

The seventh book in the Nightkeepers series, published April 3, 2012.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: strong, I love it



Dark forces stand poised to crush mankind beneath a rule of terror: our only hope rests with a group living in secret among us: modern magic wielders called the Nightkeepers.

Cara Liu is determined to unite the winikin under her leadership. But her rule is far from secure as the traditionalists and younger warriors vie for control. And when Nightkeeper Sven enters the scene, Cara has trouble separating her duty to her people from her desire for her longtime love.
Sven knows the attraction between them could badly compromise her ability to lead the winikin, and jeopardize her people’s tenuous alliance with the Nightkeepers. Nevertheless, she and Sven give in to temptation and begin a secret affair – distracting them from a danger within their own ranks planning a vicious betrayal…


Cara is now the leader of the Winikin, and that is not an easy job. She brought them in, the ones that ran away from the massacre, the ones that lost their families. They don’t really want to work as servants for the Nightkeepers, and certainly not be used as cannon fodder. But Dez, the new King, also has new ideas, and he needs them to fight alongside the Nightkeepers. Still, there are a lot of disgruntled winikin, and Cara has a hard time leading them. Especially since she has a long history with Sven, who was sort of a foster brother for her, all her life. She had a big crush on him as a teenager, but the one thing that Sven has always been good at, was running away. Now he can blame it on his heritage as a Coyote, the need to roam the world, the lack of commitment in his life. The attraction goes both ways, but Cara deserves someone who will have her back, be there for her, take care of her, and he knows he can never be that guy. He just is incapable of staying in one place for a long time. His coyote familiar Max also likes Cara, and he uses him to guard her in secret.

Which is a very good thing, as Cara is abducted by her second in command, whom she has turned down repeatedly as a potential lover, and now wants to make her a sacrifice to the gods, to get his own magic. Cara is saved in the nick of time by Sven, and together they share an important vision and some sex magic to get free again. It has to be a one time thing, or Cara will lose the trust of the other winikin. Her own father doesn’t want her to be with Sven, it is against the writs, a Nightkeeper and a winikin! But there is a connection between them, and it is more than the winikin-master bond.

The guilty winikin have to be punished, but Cara does not want them to be killed, that will only aggravate the other dissident winikin. She wants Rabbit to mind bend them, and send them back to their previous lives.

When Dez sends Sven and Cara after an important artefact necessary for the upcoming equinox and ceremony, they work well together, and enjoy some private time on the water. But when they have to work some magic, things go totally wrong, and no one understands what is happening. Sven tries to make a commitment to Cara, but it soon chafes on him, and he just wants to roam again. Cara has lost her heart to the man Sven has become, and she is truly heartbroken, again. How will they solve this?


Even with book seven, this series is still going strong and keeps surprising me with its twists.

I really loved the story of Cara and Sven, and of course had an inkling about their past before. But it was nice to have some more background story, and have the bond between them come to life. I really enjoyed the twists in this. I think I really dislike Carlos now, he is so stony and rigid and cold, without any love for his daughter or the boy he raised.
There is also a big setup for the next book, which will be about Rabbit, and I cannot wait to dive into it! And with this review written, nothing is stopping me. Bad things keep happening to him and his lady love, and with the totally unexpected appearance in the end of the book, I have no idea what is going to happen next.

Cara is a hardass, but also a very caring woman, and that is aside from her being half winikin. She has had to deal with a cold and distant father, and Sven who was never around when she needed him most. So she has learned to depend on herself alone, and make a life for herself. Until the Nightkeepers needed her again, and she had to come back. And now she is trying to do her best, and promises herself freedom if they survive the coming months.
Sven has changed a lot too, from being a beach bum to a warrior, and even more when he bonded with his coyote. He has honoured Carlos’ wishes to stay away from Cara all those years, but now he finds out it has never been about Cara, just him being a Nightkeeper, and she not. The attraction between them may be the will of the Gods, but the both have free will, and they decide to live in the moment for those perhaps last three months. And after, they will see what happens.

I liked the fact that Anna is really trying to help the Nightkeepers again, but she has to heal some more on the inside. Not much news on the previous couples, which I regret. They were hardly mentioned, with the exception of Brand and Patience who were fighting with the winikin while the others were holding the ceremony.

But now it is down to three months before December 21, 2012 … and I really want to know the ending to this saga. It has been an awesome journey so far, and even though the date has passed, this series keeps me glued to the pages.

9 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian