Stormheart #1

Roar by Cora Carmack

Publication date June 13, 2017

Summary from NetGalley:

In a land ruled and shaped by violent magical storms, power lies with those who control them.

Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world’s deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora’s been groomed to be the perfect queen. She’s intelligent and brave and honorable. But she’s yet to show any trace of the magic she’ll need to protect her people.

To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora’s mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He’ll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks—storm magic. And the people selling it? They’re not Stormlings. They’re storm hunters.

Legend says that her ancestors first gained their magic by facing a storm and stealing part of its essence. And when a handsome young storm hunter reveals he was born without magic, but possesses it now, Aurora realizes there’s a third option for her future besides ruin or marriage.
She might not have magic now, but she can steal it if she’s brave enough.

Challenge a tempest. Survive it. And you become its master.

Confession:

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

This book was amazing! The world that Cora Carmack has created is the most unique and fascinating one I’ve read this year.  I just loved the whole storm magic idea, both how they come into being and how the stormlings and storm hunters destroy them. I can’t say much more than that without giving away some important plot points, but the world building was what kept me turning the pages late into the night. The writing was also well done.  Even though they have their own words for the storms in this world, you could understand exactly what they were about.  

The characters are also quite amazing.  Aurora, also known as Roar, was a little bit weak and annoying at first. She was a very sheltered princess because of her mother wanting to protect her and protect her secret.  But when she breaks loose from her life she truly comes into her own.  She is not afraid of taking risks when they are needed, and she knows how to take care of herself.  Her attraction to Locke, the storm hunter she runs away with, is also well done.  She is attracted to him but she doesn’t let that interfere with her training or her thirst to really learn about her kingdom. Their romance does get pretty hot and steamy towards the end though.

Locke is also a strong character. He is charming and attractive and very protective of Roar, which gets him into trouble sometimes.  I really like how even though he isn’t the head of the band of storm hunters, he is their leader when they are fighting the storms.  He is sensitive to everyone’s moods and feelings and really works hard to keep the group together. 

The band of hunters is an interesting mix of misfits.  I especially liked Jinx, the Earth witch.  She has some fascinating powers including growing plants when they need to eat.  How cool is that?  I also liked, Duke, who is the oldest and the one that brought the band together and taught them how to hunt.  The rest of the group was were also fiercely loyal to each other and extremely brave when they were fighting the storms.

Prince Cassius was an interesting character.  He at times was devious and conniving, but I also think that he was trying to make things better.  His father and brother are the true villains in this part of the story.  I think there is more to Cassius than we know at this point. 

Although the romance plot line is pretty typical of this genre and the princess running away from a bad marriage is getting a little cliched at this point, the world that Cora Carmack has created overrides all of that.  This is a great read from beginning to end and I can’t wait to see what happens next. 

Great video to go with the book.