Once Upon a Twilight!: Book Review: The Ballad of Aramei by J. A. Redmerski

The Ballad of Aramei
The Darkwoods trilogy #3
Author: J. A. Redmerski
Reading Level: YA
Genre: Paranormal
Released: November 18th 2012
Review Source: Author
Available: Author
Available: Amazon

Summary: (from goodreads) Everything about Adria Dawson’s life has changed in unimaginable ways: the shattering betrayal of her mother, the fight for her life and sanity…the loss of her humanity. But now Adria must face the ultimate challenge and risk not only her life, but the lives of everyone she loves at the wrathful hands of Isaac Mayfair’s father.

Determined to help unravel a mysterious message deeply rooted in an unhinged mind, Adria becomes obsessed with traveling into Aramei’s turbulent past to see the truth of how the relationships and betrayals between the Mayfair and Vargas bloodlines were formed.

Meanwhile, Adria and the Mayfairs are doing everything they can to smoke out and trap the Praverian traitor. A trip to Providence uncovers not only an old family line who are enemies of the Praverians, but also raises questions about the Praverian’s true agenda.

But the traitor will be caught. People will die. And Adria’s destiny to be the cause of a war will come to pass. But what could a kind and simple girl like Adria Dawson ever do that could be considered an act of war? The landscape of the werewolf world will be forever changed in the climactic conclusion to The Darkwoods Trilogy.

In this epic conclusion to the Darkwoods Trilogy, Adria finds herself stronger than ever. She is basically in the roll of the "female Alpha" of Isaac's pack and is often referred to as his "wife" though she doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. Adria's sister, Alex, comes back to the story and becomes a main player in Issac's pack as she escapes Viktor Vargas's pack of mongrel, rogue werewolves. Adria is personally assigned by Trajan (Isaac's father and Sovereign ruler of the Werewolves around the world), to be the caretaker for his wife, Aramei. Adria feels herself drawn to Aramei in strange new ways and wants to help her but Aramei is still fairly lifeless and isn't speaking to her directly like she did one time in the cave, long ago. It isn't until Aramei speaks to Adria's mind that she wants to be free of "him" once and for all that Adria finally makes the life altering decision of what she must do to save Aramei.

In the meantime, Isaac, Adria and the rest of the Mayfair family, must find a way to deal with a Dark Praverian who is living amongst them undetected. They find out after a very condemning meeting with a witch, that they will need to set a trap to catch this Dark Praverian and then call this particular witch to capture it's soul before mother nature can free it from their trap.

As the events of the story unfold, Isaac finds himself doing everything he can to save the woman that he loves from the clutches of his evil father. He also knows that the time is coming to once and for all overthrow Trajan and take up his rightful place as the new Sovereign and set right all the wrongs that have been done under his father's 700+ year rule.

I absolutely loved this installment of the Praverian Chronicles: The Darkwoods Trilogy. This was my first werewolf series and I wasn't completely in love with the first installment, The Mayfair Moon, but the more I have read the more I have become a lover of all things that Jessica Redmerski writes. She is a brilliant story teller. I am constantly breathless, flipping the pages furiously, wanting to know what will happen next to the characters I come to love so much. If you are a lover of supernatural stories, werewolves and above all, a great romance, I strongly suggest this book to you. Pick it up the entire trilogy today if you haven't already started reading it and look for future works from Jessica Redmerski.