SuperHeroBooks - Heart Mate (Celta's HeartMates, Book 1)
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List Price: $6.99
Our Price: $3.13
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Manufacturer: Berkley
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780425212400
ISBN: 0425212408
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: 2006-08-01
Publisher: Berkley
Studio: Berkley
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Sweet escapism
Comment: Aw a sweet love story. A GreatLord the last of his family discovers his heartmate but has to win her as she is settled in her quiet life and resists being lifted to grand social heights. If he can't win her, he is doomed to a grey, worthless life without a love of his life.
The usual formula, but well written and a page turner. I couldn't put the damn book down. The characters are interesting and the author has fleshed out the main character's histories so we are involved in their loves, lives and passions. I like the use of Familiars and how they play a major part in the lives of the characters.
The world in which these people live is richly described and I was teleported there and could see what the author was writing about. Thrilling!
I look forwards to the rest of the series.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Both fun and emotional. This book offers some different ideas for the paranormal romance world.
Comment: The Celta's HeartMates Series:
Heart Mate
Heart Thief
Heart Duel
Heart Choice
Heart Quest
Heart Dance
Heart Fate (September 2008)
Humor is always a big plus for me in romance novels. With all of the tension involved in love stories, especially paranormals, a good laugh now and then makes the book much more enjoyable. Robin D. Owens struck humorous gold with her inclusion of intelligent animal characters in this series. Each greatly magical human character has a "familiar", or an animal who can communicate psychically with it's owner. In Heart Mate, Rand T'Ash is a powerful hero with a large domestic cat named "Zanth". Zanth is a riot. For T'Ash, Zanth is a fiercely loyal partner in battle, a caring best friend, a loving family member, and a nagging pain in the rear. Two hero characters could not be more closely bonded than T'Ash and Zanth. As Zanth likes to say, "Life is good."
On the planet Celta, people exist in society according to their birth and their magical abilities. Rand T'Ash is both an aristocrat and very powerful mage. At the age of six, his entire family was murdered. Having nowhere else to go, he joined the gangs in a violent part of Celta known as "Downwind". Once he reached maturity, he left the gangs and fought to regain his family name and title. Now he enjoys a life as a successful jewelry artist. Still, some see him as a "Downwind Scruff".
After years of waiting, T'Ash's scrying stones have finally predicted that he will meet his fated Heart Mate. Danith will be his wife and partner in all things. For the first time since age six, T'Ash will have a family. Even his Familiar, Zanth, seems to have a connection with her. He is certain she will be thrilled to meet him and join him for the rest of their lives. All she has to do is accept the Heart Gift he has for her and they will belong to one another forever. The gift he has made for her is a necklace filled with his own magic and emotion.
Danith Mallow has worked for years to earn her independence. After being raised by nuns in an orphanage, her freedom is precious. She has found a simple and easily managed friend whom she will marry. He will be no threat to her newly found liberty. When she enters her favorite jewelry shop, she is disturbed by the man behind the counter. She soon realizes that he is the talented jewelry creator himself, GreatLord T'Ash. As a simple peasant, Danith has had very little interaction with the GreatLords and Ladies of society. This one in particular makes her nervous. When he pushes her to look at a very large necklace, she knows she can't afford it. Still, she is drawn to it. When she touches it, powerful lust overwhelms her. Feeling betrayed, Danith believes this GreatLord planned to bespell and use her for sex. She runs and vows to forget him.
T'Ash is baffled. His Heart Mate has rejected him. He refuses to give up. He'll go through humbling lessons on how the court a lady, powerful and draining magic spells, give her flowers and a fortune in jewelry, anything it takes to win his mate. Danith can't seem to rid herself of this pest of an aristocrat. His fumbling attempts to buy her are annoying... so why is she feeling charmed by his efforts? He claims that they are destined Heart Mates. Danith is afraid that his magical powers and his high place in society will smother her newly found independence. She refuses to be ruled as she was at the orphanage. When T'Ash gives her the ultimate gift, the discovery of her own great magic, Danith finds herself drawn closer to him each day. The one thing he won't give her, his total honesty about his Downwind past, Danith's distrust builds. Of the many obstacles between them, pride is the biggest barrior they share.
Zanth thinks his "FamMan" and new "FamWoman" are being stupid. They make easy things difficult. He wants the bond between T'Ash and Danith to finally be sealed. "Life is good." It will be even better when they are all living together. His human companions need a push. Zanth is glad to do the pushing.
As much as I enjoyed this book, I have to give it a 4- star rating overall. Danith's reasons for refusing T'Ash as long as she did seemed weak to me. I can see where she would be overwhelmed, but once she learned that he was a good man her rejection got old. In the last chapter, she finally opened her eyes and realized that what she was giving up was something precious to be cherished. Once she made her choice to go after T'Ash, nothing was going to come between her and her man. I liked her new found courage. The book would have been a '5' if she had made that choice sooner.
I'm going to continue with the series. If you'd like to, here are the links:
Heart Thief (Celta's HeartMates, Book 2) (Berkley Sensation Showcase)
Heart Duel (Celta's HeartMates, Book 3) (Berkley Sensation)
Heart Choice (Celta's HeartMates, Book 4) (Berkley Sensation)
Heart Quest (Celta's HeartMates, Book 5)
Heart Dance (Celta's HeartMates, Book 6)
Coming September 2008: Heart Fate
If you like paranormal romance, these are some of my favorites:
A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1) Vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, you name it... This is the first book in an ongoing series that has me hooked.
Visions of Heat (Psy-Changelings, Book 2) Psychics and changelings cross barriors of war to be with their true love mates. This book is the second in the series. It's my favorite, but I recommend the whole series.
The Calling (Immortals, Book 1) First in an ongoing series about 5 immortal brothers who were born to defend mankind against evil. I've loved all of these books so far, except the second. It wasn't as good as the others, but it's still a good part of the series.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Comment: If you love sci-fi and romance, this is the series for you! I can't wait for the next book to come out.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Robin Owens Celtic Heartmate - Fantastic!
Comment: This is the first Robin Owens book I've read, based on the recommendation of another famous author: Terry Brooks. I can see now that I'm going to have to go back and read ALL Robin Owens' books! GREAT!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Double Delight, Magical Love in a Futuristic Setting!
Comment: The story takes place on the planet Celta, 400 years after colonization. The planet's name is derived from the Celtic background of the settlers who had fled persecution because of their Flair (psi ablilities).
Druida City
Rand T'Ash, 37, is head of, and sole survivor of the GreatHouse of Ash, one of the twelve First Families. At the tender age of six his entire family had been murdered by a rival family. He had escaped to the city's ghetto, Downwind, where he had met his familiar Zanth (a cat he is psychically connected to). Together they had survived and exacted revenge. He had gone on to regain his title and family home.
He had once touched the mind of his HeartMate (the woman who is the other half of his soul) during his last Passage (the change during which one's particular Flair becomes manifest), but only that once. Eighteen years had passed. Rand had turned his flair from revenge to the fashioning of remarkable jewelry. Yet he was still very much alone. This morning however his specially crafted divination dice had given him the prophecy he's yearned for, "Today you will meet your HeartMate".
T'Ash's thoughts turn to the HeartGift he had crafted during his Passage, imbued with the passion and sexual energy of a virile twenty year old male. It is then that he realizes who his HeartMate must be. He had been playing an exhilarating game by proxy with a female client he has not met. He had discovered her preferences and had been fashioning jewelry to tempt her. Now this had become more than a game. She would see the HeartGift and be instantly attracted to it. He would be bringing his mate home this very night.
When Danith Mallow arrives at her favorite shop, T'Ash's Phoenix, she is greeted by the intimidating owner rather than the usual proprietor. She feels threatened as the enthusiastic noble urges her to try on what appears to be a rather expensive necklace. His rough manner, acquired on the streets, is off putting and she refuses. Frustrated he insists. Danith is a commoner, an orphan, with little recognizable flair. She knows she can't afford such an item, but nevertheless is attracted. When she notices his pheromones radiating from the piece she misinterprets his motives and leaves him with scathing words.
Several other customers had entered the shop during the encounter, and after they leave a frustrated Rand discovers that his HeartGift has been stolen. He is not a man to give up, he contacts other nobles for courtship advice and decides to force anther passage in order to make a new HeartGift, one that will reflect the man he is now. He is certain of his HeartMate's taste and still believes she will not be able to refuse him. At the advice of his friends, he floods Danith's home with romantic offerings, driving her crazy.
Having lived a lonely and loveless life in an orphanage after her parent's death, Danith had wanted a simple relationship and a large family. She had met a man, who already possessed a large and warm family, and was considering his proposal. The two did not share a grand passion, but Danith is convinced she doesn't need that. Danith also just happens to be on Zanth's food scavenging route. She appears to have an affinity for animals, and kindly feeds the strays.
Finally Danith having enough of T'Ash's persistence, she confronts him, hence learning the cat's identity. Danith had been tested as a child an determined to have little Flair the which of course determines prestige on the planet. Rand is convinced that the test had been wrong and retests her. It is then that they discover her Flair as an animal healer, a rare gift which will be greatly valued by their people. Rand reports the results and arranges for her training.
Danith enjoys using her gifts, but the world of a noble is very foreign to her. She relishes her independence, and though she is coming to care for Rand, she cannot imagine living the life she would live as his consort. But when Rand's closest friend, the Holly heir, calls in a debt of honor, the pair and the cat find themselves back on the streets of Downwind. The crisis forces her passages on her in rapid succession. Only Rand can help her through this dangerous time. But just when she realizes exactly the kind of man he is and that she can't, nor wants to, live without him, he comes to the conclusion that he is not the right man for her. Because he loves her he will let her go. Now it is up to her to convince him that they belong together.
What I found particularly poignant is the class structure that has developed on Celta over four centuries. As so often occurs when a group flees persecution and establishes their own colony, they somehow manage to forget the very reasons they fled in the first place. The wide social gap between the noble families and those relagated to the violent streets of Downwind, is a reflection of the society they left behind. Those with great Flair now look down their noses at those who possess little or none. It is truly sad to see the desperation of the youth of Downwind, expressed in a soulless gang mentality, casualties of that faulty memory. If T'Ash is a hero, his heroism lies in the fact that he recognizes the disparity and forces his peers to recognize it and do something about it.
This story is magical, the foundation of which is founded in what we now call paganism, but the magic goes beyond mere spells, they have mastered more complex abilities like transporting from place to place in the blink of an eye, etc. The reverence for nature is expressed in the family names, ie. Ash, Holly, etc. The Celtic background of the people is even evident in their greetings. This aspect makes the tale doubly delicious as it will appeal to both lovers of fantasy and futuristic romance. Much room has been left for sequels which will no doubt involve cats as well as dynamic heroes and independent heroines.
I personally would like to see the Holly heir find his HeartMate, as he rather enjoyed T'Ash's romantic woes as only a rakish rogue can. I must say that it did my heart good to find a futuristic included in the Jove Magical Love romance line. We certainly can use more of them.
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch for PNR Reviews
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Editorial Reviews:
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WINNER 2002 RITA BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE by Romance Writers of America. Judged by other romance writers, this award the the most prestigious in the field and is comparable to the Edgar (mysteries) or the Nebula (sf/f).
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