So I heard of the Reapers over the course of the last two Dark Kings book I have read and was curious...who are they and what part do they play in the war that will go on between the Kings and Ulrik/Taraeth.
My goodness I wasn't expecting this. I knew they had a connection to Death but didn't know they are basically her errand boys. (oops did I say her and let the cat out of the bag on that one) Anyhow, they have strict codes that they live buy and a couple are no Fae can know who and what they are...and there is no taking of a lover to their bed more than once.
Baylon shot that all to heck when he meets half-fae Jordyn. She's always had an interest in all things fae and attributes that to her grandmother who told stories. She sees the Dark all over her town and knows to stay away. This attitude attracts both the Dark and Baylon.
We get a history on the Reapers (much appreciated so I know why I should root for them and see where they might intersect with my Kings). We get a love story to break all the rules. We get the intrigue of someone who shouldn't be alive back for revenge. And we get to see a different side of Death. No quite the 24/7 ruthless killer you might think Death to be.
I liked it. Looking forward to learning about the rest of the Reapers especially since one is still guarding Rhi and who know how that is going to play into the lives of the Kings. ( )

Reapers and the forbidden

It is amazing to think that fae are the reapers. Just imagine if this world was like that. Would you be half fae? I like the imagery but the story was slowed by typos. ( )

Listened to audio book narrated well by Victoria McGloven. The Reapers receive a message from Death to kill all the half fae, but none of the Reapers are willing to follow the orders. Baylon stumbles across Jordyn, their attraction is deep and they are not able to keep their hands off each other. It almost seems like a section where they fall in love is missing, they kiss, next day they have sex and then all of a sudden they are talking and acting like they are deeply in love. All of this while they are trying to protect her from dark fae trying to kill half breed fae. Choppy, predictable storyline. Hopefully further books in the series will be better.
( )

I have been wanting to read [a:Donna Grant|1141209|Donna Grant|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1337862623p2/1141209.jpg]'s Dark Kings series for a while now, I just have not had time to fit it in. So when I saw she had a new fae series coming out, I jumped at the chance to get in on the early reviews. (I love fae books!) What I didn't realize is that this series is a spinoff of Dark Kings, and I think I would have benefited from reading the other series first. It's not absolutely necessary that you do so, but there were many references to Dark Kings characters.

The Reapers are a group of seven dark and light fae who serve as executioners for Death (a/k/a Erith). The Reapers have taken a vow to do Death's bidding, forsaking relationships and personal entanglements for eternity. When a hinky order comes through to terminate all half-fae humans, the Reapers balk at the killing of innocents. This task is how our H/h first encounter one another and fall in lust at first sight.

Our heroine in the story is Jordyn, a half-fae human who is unaware of her origins. Coincidentally she is also obsessed with the fae and has been reading about them her whole life. For some unknown reason, the dark fae have targeted Jordyn and are trying to kill her at every turn. She is first saved by our hero, Baylon, a light fae reaper. The two have an instant connection and their instant lust turns into insta-love. The relationship faces multiple challenges including Baylon's vow and Jordyn's imminent death at the hands of dark fae.

I liked both of our main characters in this first installment of the series, but I would have liked to connect to their characters a little more. I think because the story was told from multiple points of view, that we didn't spend enough time with any one character. I would have loved more back story on both Jordyn and Baylon. However from what we see of them in the present story, they had a magnetic pull to one another and certainly steamed up my Kindle screen.

I enjoyed all of the secondary characters in this series, and I think my favorite reapers have already started to make themselves known. As I am a stickler for knowing the back story and background info, I need to quickly fit in all the Dark World books so I know everything about everything.

One thing I am not quite sure about is the title. I'm not sure who the "dark alpha" is. As the series is following a group of reapers made up of dark and light fae, I'm not sure why they would be referred to as a Dark Alpha. Baylon was actually a light fae, so it does not refer to their fae characterization. Maybe the Dark Alpha aspect will be explained in future books.

I received an advanced copy of this book from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 4 stars / 3 flames. ( )

The blurb for DARK ALPHA'S CLAIM pulled me in and since I've read quite a few of Grant's other series I figured I would enjoy it. Even though Grant's Reaper series is new, there are many mentions of characters from previous series. I don't think everyone will be confused or feel like you are missing something, but if you want to learn more about the world and the characters you might want to backtrack and read through the other three series that take place in the same world. Because there are so many books to get through, I don't see many new readers doing that though.

Since DARK ALPHA'S CLAIM is a paranormal romance, I will start with the romance. It was hot, but I expected nothing less of a Donna Grant book. The heat kicks off pretty quickly between Baylon and Jordyn and it never simmers down. It's insta-attraction and insta-love and Grant pulls it off with ease. It's pretty clear from the start—even though Baylon insists at first that he will walk away from Jordyn—that both would do anything for the other and they can't possibly live life without the other there. I thought Jordyn fit in with the other Reapers with ease. Speaking of the other reapers, I already have my favorites and I just might pick up book two if one of them are featured.

So why only 3 stars? There was a few things. There are a LOT of characters right off the bat. It makes it very hard to keep them all straight and it also makes it a bit hard to get to know them all. On top of that I had a hard time staying in the story and it just felt like something was missing and I couldn't figure out what it was.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )