The Power of Five by Alex Lidell

Power of Five by Alex Lidell
Length: 5 hours 27 minutes

Series: Power of Five #1
Genres: Fantasy
Setting: Lunos
Source: Audible
Narrator: Victoria Mei
Also in this series: Mistake of Magic
Also by this author: Mistake of Magic

Goodreads

Four elite fae warriors. One mortal female. A magical bond they can’t allow—or resist.

Orphaned and sold to a harsh master, Lera’s life is about mucking stalls, avoiding her master’s advances, and steering clear of the mystical forest separating the mortal and fae worlds. Only fools venture into the immortal realms, and only dark rumors come out... Until four powerful fae warriors appear at Lera’s barn.

River, Coal, Tye, and Shade have waited a decade for their new fifth to be chosen, the wounds from their quint brother’s loss still raw. But the magic has played a cruel trick, bonding the four immortal warriors to... a female. A mortal female.

Distractingly beautiful and dangerously frail, Lera can only be one thing—a mistake. Yet as the males bring Lera back to the fae lands to sever the bond, they discover that she holds more power over their souls than is safe for anyone... especially for Lera herself.

Power of Five is a full-length reverse-harem fantasy novel.

The Power of Five is a unique reverse harem that mixes fantasy romance with a bit of a historical romance feel at times! Lera, our heroine, lives in the mortal world as a slave. Her master is not a good guy and she fears that soon she will not be able to avoid his advances. This aspect gives the story its historical feel. The way Lera lives and speaks gives you the impression of hundreds of years ago. The mortal world Lera lives in is obviously NOTHING like our world today.

She is rescued by 4 Fae warriors who claim she is their fifth-a warrior magically bound to them to form their powerful quint. They are sure this bonding is a mistake because never has a mortal been bonded as part of a quint (or a female in a male quint for that matter!). They meet/rescue Lera and travel to The Citadel (their ‘headquarters) to have the bonding reversed. Of course, along the journey, they begin to have feelings for Lera.

Lidell did a pretty good job of world building without making the reader feel like they are getting information dumped upon them. Lera isn’t exactly a tough, strong heroine. She is determined and she does want to learn how to survive and be independent. The guys are all unique enough to make them easily discernible as you read. Sometimes in RH books I find the heroes can be too similar at times and thus easy to mix up. Lidell did a great job of making each of them standout amongst the rest.

The author uses a blend of 1st person and 3rd person. I have seen this frequently in RH books of late. The heroine is always in 1st person and then random chapters that are from one of the men are written in 3rd. It doesn’t bother me, but I think this might be irritating for some readers who prefer books to have consistency and flow.

Sadly, I really did not care for the narrator. Her voice was grating and her attempts at accents was painful to hear. She attempts to give each guy a different ‘voice’ which is always important in an RH audio, but her attempts made listening distracting. I think the mark of a great narrator is one you never actually think about. A great narrator has you so wrapped up in the story you aren’t noticing their accent or their pitch or their tone. I plan to continue with the series, but not the audio.

 

• POV: 1st (Lera) and 3rd (Coal, River, Slade, Tye)
• Tears:
• Trope: reverse harem, fae
• Triggers: View Spoiler »Lera is beat by her master in a scene in the beginning that might be a trigger for some readers « Hide Spoiler
• Series/Standalone: series
• Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »spoiler « Hide Spoiler
• HEA: View Spoiler »spoiler « Hide Spoiler

fantasy reverse harems like Elements of Mischief by CM Stunich/Tate James, Claimed by Gods by Eva Chase, Dark Glitter by CM Stunich/Tate James…then you will probably like The Power of Five!

 

 

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