This is the 2nd Claire Marta book of this week, as promised. The Dove and the Darkness is the 5th book in her Ceasefire series, and it covers Cassandra’s story. You have to read these in order, you can’t just jump into a book in the middle of the series and get it. There’s a whole lot going on, and you need the background to understand why Cassandra did the things that she did and why she has ended up where she is.
For those who aren’t familiar with Ceasefire, it’s a lot to try to explain. It’s a PNR. It primarily deals with Hell and various Hell and underworld dimensions. Lucifer is a main character in the first books, and is a supporting character in all the other books, including this one. So, Cassandra is an Oracle, who was raised in Hell from the time she was 6, as Lucifer’s foster daughter and her 1/2 sister is Mavi, who is Lucifer’s consort. It’s complicated.
Cassandra made some choices based on some information she got from her visions, and, well, it didn’t necessarily go well for her. When she wakes up somewhere she isn’t familiar with, she starts to worry. That’s when she finds out that she’s been taken from where she was and is now in a prison, waiting to be trained so that she can be given to the person who has bought her. And her training isn’t going to be how to sit and embroider a pretty picture. Nope, she’s going to learn to do all the sexual things out there, and if she doesn’t do it right, bad things are going to happen.
That’s where Master Soren comes into play. He’s there to train Cassandra. He’s all very Dom-ly. He is nominally under the Warden, but you get the idea that there is a lot more going on there than we are seeing. The Warden, who is a nasty ass bitch, really likes him, because he will totally Top her when she wants him to. Soren is basically in charge of the training, which is what brings Cassandra to his attention. He’s been doing this for a very long time, so he knows what he’s doing. That includes isolating her in a room by herself and giving her no other contact for days, other than sliding food in under a grate. When he comes to get her again, she’s so grateful to see him, because she gets to see someone. When Cassandra is good, she gets orgasms. When she’s bad, she gets punished. Soren really enjoys it. Cassandra definitely enjoys it, at least parts of it. There are other things that she likes about the time she spends with him.
I like Cassandra. I think that she is a lot stronger than anyone really gives her credit for. I mean, she does have all these visions, and if she’s not careful, they do overwhelm her. I mean, they do get overwhelming enough that she has hurt herself to help control everything, but she’s still dealt with these things all her life. Being raised by a demon and Lucifer, she has been really protected from a lot, but that doesn’t mean that she hasn’t had terrible things happen to her anyway. And she survived that. In this case, even as Soren is breaking her down and she is getting in deeper with him, she is still trying to be herself, and she is still fighting. I have a lot of respect for that, and I think that it’s going to do her a lot of good in the future.
Interestingly enough, I feel like I don’t have as good a grasp on Soren as I could. I think I like what we’ve seen of him, but there’s just a lot hidden when it comes to him. Even being in his head at times doesn’t necessarily give us a lot to him. But, like I said, I think that I like what we know about him. I can’t wait for the next book, to see more about him.
Before you read this, remember that this stuff may be spoilers.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize who Soren is, where they are, and who his brother is. I wanted to dope slap myself when I got there, because duh.
OK, that’s all for this one. Go check it out! Happy reading!
In Between the Pages 