#Review: East of Ecstasy by Laura Kaye - 5 Wine Glasses

Title: East of Ecstasy 
Series: Hearts of the Anemoi #4
Author: Laura Kaye 
Format: ebook/Paperback, 368 pages

Expected publication: April 22nd 2014 by Entangled Publishing

Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Kobo

Source: Publisher

Reviewer: Crystal

Rating: 5/5

Blurb:

Annalise Fallston made peace with postponing her big-city dreams to care for her ill father, but lately she’s been filled with a restlessness not even her beloved painting dispels. Worse, the colors don’t speak to her as they always have, and all her efforts produce dark, foreboding images of a dangerous man and a terrifying future.

Devlin Eston, black-souled son of the evil Anemoi Eurus, is the only one who can thwart his father’s plan to overthrow the Supreme God of Wind and Storms. But first, Dev must master the unstable powers he’s been given. Distrusted and shunned by his own divine family, he never expected to find kindness and passion in the arms of a mortal.

But Devlin’s love puts Annalise in the path of a catastrophic storm, and in the final Armageddon showdown between the Anemoi and Eurus, sacrifices will be made, hearts broken, and lives changed forever…or lost.

Thoughts:

The Hearts of the Anemoi has to be one of my all-time favorite fantasy romance series out there. There hasn't been a book in it that I haven't loved. A character that hasn't impacted my heart. A story that I haven't gotten lost in. I didn't think that it could get any better then it was. I was wrong... East of Ecstasy exceeded all of my expectations and then some for the final story in the series. By the end I was silently crying in my bed, the hubs blissfully snoring away without a clue, because I knew that I had to close my kindle and say goodbye to these amazing characters. Who am I kidding? I'm tearing up now just writing this! 

There was not a page, a sentence, a word, that I did not love in this book! The emotions in East of Ecstasy were so raw and intense, imagine them as a physical entity riding a roller-coaster through a sand-storm. 

After reading South of Surrender, I had my doubts about Devlin, just like the rest of the Anemoi did. Whose side was he really on? Could he be trusted? How could I possibly know the unimaginable layers that made up Devlin Eston... And I couldn't help but to love him more and more as each one was peeled away. He's a broken, complex character that has suffered horrible atrocities at the hands of his own father. But despite that, and the contempt that the other Anemoi show him for the sins of his father, Devlin is determined to do right by them, by Anna, and by the world that has shunned him. His characters dimension expands as the story progresses. He is not always nice, especially when he first meets Anna. He doesn't always chose the right path. But he tries. And he doesn't give up. Despite the guilt, the demons, and the disparity of his self-worth that plagues him. And Annalise Fallston see's something in Devlin worth fighting for. An artist with a rare form of colorblindness, where she can only see in shades of grey and black. The only time Anna see's color is when she paints. But lately her paintings have been dark and ominous. When she firsts sees Devlin she thinks he is part of those visions from her paintings, but it turns out that he is in fact, very real. There is a spark from the start between these two. The Anemoi have the answers to her rare abilities and Anna has the strength in both her feelings and belief in Devlin to help him through this journey. Devlin's lack of control and self-worth is a constant struggle between him and Anna though. I love how Anna was so honest with her feelings for Devlin that it boosted him up, despite it sometimes costing her. 

East of Ecstasy is the apex of the series, where everything from the previous three books that has been straddling the edge finally topples over and then is built back up stronger then ever. Each past character plays an integral part in this story and I couldn't be happier that they were all included, though at times (say...when I was bawling like a baby) my feelings on this were all over the place. And I loved that just because some characters might have found their HEA already, didn't mean that they stopped growing. As a reader of the series I felt like I was brought back to the beginning, a circle completed. From the heaven-touching highs, the tension-relieving humor in the median, to the heart-shredding lows, this story will literally turn your world upside down. 

I hate to say goodbye to this series but I don't think that it could have been wrapped up any more perfectly. Though I would love to see a story for Seth and Alastor in the future, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for those. Despite my love for Owen, East of Ecstasy is hands down, Laura Kaye's best work yet and one of my favorite reads of the year! If you love heart-pounding romance and the fascinating world of mythology I recommend that you pick up this series today! 

*Side-note: I received an ARC of this book, so the final copy may vary. But there were some minor inconsistencies at the beginning of the story that popped out at me. However, they were so minuscular compared to the over-all story,  I was able to easily overlook them.