Word Spelunking

READ THE ORIGINAL AND COMPLETE REVIEW AT WORD SPELUNKINGMegan Duncan continues to impress and enthrall me with her consistently awesome books! INDULGE, the second volume in the Warm Delicacy series, is a captivating and satisfying sequel to Savor. MY BRIEF SUMMARYINDULGE picks up right where Savor ended, with Claire and Arrick fleeing the Palace and heading to Naos and Claire’s real, vampire parents. Still feeling the sting of recent betrayals from those she loved, Claire is hesitant to allow herself to feel any excitement or longing for her real parents, but all that changes the moment she is in their loving arms. Once in Naos, and living in the Chateau with her parents, Claire quickly finds the home and family she always felt was missing. But this new found happiness is threatened by a new and dangerous evil approaching. Claire must learn to embrace and control her abilities without succumbing to the darkness herself, and she must face her feelings for two worthy men. STORYAs with Savor, Duncan offers readers another refreshing and exciting vampire story with INDULGE. But, what I love so much about this series, and about this book especially, is that it’s not simply all paranormal vampire elements. Yes, the paranormal aspects are great and thrilling and well executed, yet, at its core, this series is very much a coming of age story. A story about a young woman finding herself, finding her place, her purpose, and dealing with all the joy, pain, and heartache that a journey like that entails…a young woman, who simply happens to be a vampire. Duncan has done an excellent job of balancing the paranormal with the emotional and the action with the romance, creating a wonderfully layered story.INDULGE will take hold of you from page one and refuse to let go until the last page, and even then the ending will leave you reluctant to leave its world and desperate to know what happens next…curse you Megan Duncan for your awesome “You can’t seriously stop there!” endings ;) As soon as I starting reading chapter one, I was instantly and effortlessly drawn back onto Claire’s world and story. And honestly, until I started reading INDULGE, I didn’t realize how much I actually missed these characters and being a part of their story for a while. Duncan’s vivid imagery of Naos and the Chateau is lovely. Duncan does a great job of being descriptive without boring readers with too much detail. And there’s a real beautiful, ethereal, and almost haunting quality to the way Duncan writes about the goddess Nyx. I really love the way Nyx is characterized and personified in this book.There’s not a great deal of action in the first half of the book, but that’s okay because it’s not needed nor is it missed or longed for. The first half of the book is very character and emotion driven. This is the part of the book where we get to explore Claire’s very emotional journey as she gets to know her parents, begins to understand and embrace her power and place, and deals with her romantic feelings for both Arrick and Dmitry. I for one really enjoyed this exploration and experiencing this journey with Claire.The last half of the book however, offers quite a bit of exciting, heart pounding action. Duncan’s battle and fight scenes are well executed and electric. I could see every fight sequence play out in my head (and totally loved it whenever Claire got the chance to be all badass).All the intensity leads up to a helluva showdown between our heroine and the bad guy! And like I said above, the ending won’t disappoint, but it will leave you wanting(needing) more. CHARACTERSWe get to know Claire and Arrick a bit better in INDULGE and we are introduced to a few great new characters.Claire continues to be a strong, spunky, likable, and relatable character. All her emotions- pain, confusion, anger, heartache, desire -are very palpable. She grows a lot in this book, both as a vampire and as a young woman. She’s such a capable and determined character, who must deal with a lot of heavy stuff and does so with confidence and grace, yet she also acts her age- she thinks about clothes, she acts and speaks hastily, she can even be a bit haughty and rude. But as the book progresses we get to see her really mature and evolve into someone who is still strong, capable and determined, but who’s also thoughtful, selfless, and wise. Claire is a character that is easy to connect with and impossible not to root for.Arrick *sighs*…I really love Arrick. He’s such an attractive blend of strong and sensitive. He’s protective of Claire, yet he doesn’t try to keep her from taking care of herself. He’s not domineering or overbearing. I love his ability to be playful around Claire. He’s such an intriguing character as well; I’m definitely interested to know more about him and his past. Arrick is definitely a swoon-worthy character…*swoons just thinking about him*…see, I told ya!Claire’s vampire parents, Cathair and Ione, are awesome! I wasn’t expecting to love them as much as I do, but it’s kind of hard not to. Then there’s Bennett, another character who took me by complete surprise and who I ended up absolutely adoring. Bennett really gives Claire what she needs after having to leave Robin behind- a much needed friend. And of course, we get a wonderfully evil and intriguing antagonist. ROMANCEIn INDULGE Claire finds herself in quite the pickle- she’s attracted to and has feelings for two incredibly hot, swoon-worthy guys, both of whom care deeply for her…definitely not a situation this reviewer would want to find herself in *sarcasm hand raised super high* ;)But seriously, Claire’s romantic confliction is really well written and captivating. And even though I proudly fly my Team Arrick banner, I must admit that Claire’s feelings for both guys are so nicely explored and developed that I wouldn’t hate it (at least not much) if she ended up with Dmitry.I did really love all the Claire/Arrick interaction in this book though *squees a bit*. The spark between them is super-hot!MY FINAL THOUGHTS: I loved this installment in the Warm Delicacy Series even more than the first, which is really saying something! INDULGE is a captivating, edgy read that you won’t want (or be able) to put down. A MUST read book in a MUST read series.