Author: K.J. Jackson
Genre: Fantasy, romance
Published on: April 25, 2013 by AWD Publishing
A quiet, unremarkable peace.
That was the state of life Charlotte was living in before Skye came into their mountain town, and exploded everything. Her life. Triaten's life.
And Charlotte and Triaten go down a path that never should have been breached. A path that tears their friendships apart.
As Aiden continues to train Skye against the threats of the flame moon, Triaten and Charlotte must find a way to come back from their worst mistake.
To prove that explosions aren't always bad. And that fate, and destiny, are maybe worth paying attention to.
This is the second installment of the Flame Moon trilogy. It picks up right after the first book. A war has begun, heralded by the flame moon that Skye, Aiden, Triaten, and Charlotte saw. In the lore of the Panthenites (their magical race), a flame moon is a sign of an imbalance between good and evil. It almost always precedes a significant war, either in the magical or the human worlds. Also, everyone now knows that Skye can wind back time. This gift is powerful enough that it can bring back dead people...most of them, at least. Aiden killed several Malefics (the opposites of the Panthenites) before Skye rewound time. A few of them didn't make it back alive.
For most of the beginning of this book, Skye and Aiden are absent, traveling the Orient. They are visiting old Panthenite masters so Skye can train with them. This isn’t shown, so the main characters are now Triaten (Aiden’s best friend) and Shiv (Skye’s younger sister). The latter has just arrived at the mountain, looking for Skye. Triaten, as a mind reader, is able to find out what Shiv wants with Skye. Shiv agrees to wait after Triaten tells her Skye won’t be back for a few weeks.
Shiv was mentioned in Flame Moon, but she didn’t make an appearance. Triaten and Aiden went to her to learn about Skye. Only, they soon realized that Shiv harbors resent toward her sister. So Triaten is really interested to learn why Shiv wants to see Skye now. Triaten doesn’t have much time to do so, because his mind-reading power stops working soon after. This is normal; Triaten loses the ability to read people once he gets to know them.
Shiv is soon revealed to be a more pleasant person than they all had thought. She is hardworking and caring, but with a tough outer shell. Shiv has had plenty of abuse and neglect in her life, so she’s always wary of forming deep emotional bonds. Spending all her time at the ranch means Shiv sees a lot of Triaten. As time passes, they both become closer to each other. This could be problematic on one side. The Panthenite's elders don't allow their kind to mate with humans. Triaten isn’t able to keep his distance from Shiv, despite promising it to Skye. He's developed feelings for Shiv even though he was in love with Charlotte.
The first strike of the coming war happens soon after. It seems the Malefics are banding together. This leaves the Panthenites puzzled. In their hundreds of years, the Malefics have never joined forces in such large numbers, not even after flame moons. Skye's earlier combat training shows, though. She has such an impressive fight scene. The fierceness with which Skye fights impresses Aiden and Triaten. It was one of the most thrilling fight scenes I've read. They all return to the mountain, after which Shiv prepares to leave. Skye tries to hold her back, but an attacker is waiting. The unexpected ambush will change Skye and Shiv forever.
The repercussions of this attack leave Triple Infinity ending in a cliffhanger. By this point, I was riveted with the book. It’s awesome, and I liked the characters. Shiv is a great addition. She carried this book just as well as Skye carried Flame Moon. I found Shiv’s story compelling, and she wasn’t hard to like. She’s more than just the third part of a love triangle. Shiv has suffered a lot, yet she still hasn’t given up on everything. Although the characters and the story were excellent, this book still suffers from some of the flaws the first book had. A few editing errors are still here, though I found they didn’t slow me down. They’re nothing that should have you wanting to skip Triple Infinity, and no plot holes either. If you enjoyed the first book, you’ll definitely enjoy this one. The cliffhanger had me pick up the third entry right away.
My rating: ★★★★ 1/2
4.5 stars - A fantastic page-turner!
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