eBook Heart Duel (Celta's HeartMates, Book 3) download

I was so looking forward to this book. Holm Holly has been a great character since the first book. Best friend to T'Ash and of the fighting Holly's. I thought him being paired with Healer Lark of the rival Hawthorne family would be enchanting. The writing of the book is solid and I love the Celta, magic, Druid/Wiccan science fiction world, but this book was just stilted.

The ending I didn't like. How easily a parent turns their back on their son made me shutter. Wow no resolution there. There were a lot of petty characters and action in this book.

The romance wasn't really a romance as I never felt Holm and Lark connect in this book. His flirting with Lark was better in the previous installments.

I will need to ponder if I will continue the series, as I adore the world but this set of characters and the ending left a bitter taste in my mouth.

This is an achy romance. It is star crosed lovers with feuding families done right. As the hero is a warrior and the heroine is a healer, we also have a wonderful oppisties attract romacne as well.

My favorite part of this love story is the heroe's growth into self as a man defined by who is is internally instead of the external trappings of his wealth and family. I love how he does the right thing.

The heroine is bitter and angry but comes to accept love and joy again after losing her first husband.

This is a healing book to read again and again. The magical world is carefully and wonderfully built and the talking fams add humor.

Love this one.

3.0 stars - I had a hard time getting through this one. I really enjoyed the 2nd in the series but I found the scenes in this one redundant for the first 40+% of the book. There was quite a few sex scenes that were repeated over & over - part of what felt like filler. Action scenes were few; the internal angst of both quickly became annoying (the woes of the privileged). The ending was surprising & refreshing.

Ever wonder what life would be like on a different planet?
Robin Owens give a very fin and exciting glimpse of what this would be like. She brings our most beloved animals with us. And a few that just make ya laugh.
I do suggest that you start at the beginning of the series, just to help with the explanation of her (different) unique items/object and things that she talks of.
HeartMate, Heart Thief, Heart Duel, Heart Choice,Heart Quest, Heart Dance, Heart Fate, Heart Change, Heart Journey, Heart Search, Heart Secret and Heart Fortune.
Hearts & Swords is a collection of stories, sprinkled throughout that timeline, but should be read at least after Heart Fate, I think.
Hope you enjoy as much as I do.

I first became aware of Robin D. Owens in a writers chat. It was just after she had gained recognition for her first book HEARTMATE. Word of mouth was so good, my curiosity was tweaked. So, naturally, I dashed off to order a copy and read it. Rarely is a first book so full of heart, so brilliantly conceived. Generally, if it is, it falls into the Harper Lee Syndrome of being so perfect the writer cannot achieve that level ever again. So when I was asked to review Robin’s second book, I frankly feared being let down. Instead, I was blown away. She did not achieve that same wonderful magick of HEARTMATE…she surpassed it! HEART THIEF was just that, a complex tale of an outcast, a thief and the Judge whom falls in love with him. The KittyFams were such a draw. I love cats, and Robin gives the KittyFams such life and personalities to her telepathic kitties, not cutesy, but oh so heartwarming. Having so enjoyed her first two works, I was eagerly, but once more cautiously looking forward to the next in the Hearts of Celta series.
HEART DUEL, just does not measure up to the first two, it shines with such amazing emotion.
This time we are treated to two KittyFams, Meserv and Phyll, tom brothers, gifts from T’ash to his friend, Holm Holly (prominent character in the first two books as the heir to House of Holly) and Lark Collinson, a healer from the Houses of Heather and Hawthrone. A wee touch of Romeo and Juliet is the undercurrent to HEART DUEL as the Houses of Holly and Hawthorne are ancient enemies. Lark heals the arrogant, but gorgeous Holm Holly, a man she grew up with, and watched from a far. He was the handsome, brash warrior, she quiet women with a Flair for healing. Both have undergone the three passages and neither saw their Heartmate that set their Flairs free, so both assumed there would not be one for them. Lark married a commoner, also a healer, but he died three years before the tale opens. So it is shocking to Holm to recognize as she heals his wound, that Lark is his Heartmate. Winning her will not be easy. Neither family will welcome their bonding, especially as the long animosity is edging toward open war between the two families. But Holm will let nothing stop him from forming the Heartbond, not even Lark herself.
However, his resolve is tested when his mother is stabbed by a Hawthorne youth, the blade carrying a poison that nearly kills her. As the feud escalates, so does Holm’s determination to win his Heartmate. Only Lark sees the situation as hopeless. Thus, Holm must fashion his Heartgift to win her love.
People who love HEARTMATE and HEART THIEF…will be thrilled with this next entry in the Celta series. Long may Robin D. Owen’s thrill us with her very special talent.

In the middle of this one. The Hollys and Hawthorns, particularly the Heads of House are busy making Holm Holly and Lark Hawthorns lives even more complicated than they would by anyway. A Feud not good for courting. Owens gives us an insight into the medical details this time as well as Blood Feuds and prophets and 2 more delightful young Fams. Should have said before that the Fams, sentient animals friends who chose to bond with humans are some of my favourite characters. And I like those who choose to live independent lives, did you know they make for great information networks when they choose?

I started reading this series some years ago and have gone back to purchase those books i do not own. This book was as good the second time around as the first time.

Love this series. Robin does a fantastic job creating a world and myths. This is Holms and Larks story. Talk about opposites but they work. I like the other storylines that carry on from one book to the next. This worlds population is relatively small and allows the characters to continue on in other stories. Can't wait for the next book in the series.