Dark Heart Rising - Lee Monroe

Dark Heart Rising (Dark Heart #2) - Lee Monroe
ISBN - 9781444904482
Publisher - Hodder Childrens Books
Release date - June 1st 2011
Find - Goodreads/BookLikes/Book Depository

'Jane and Luca's story continues ...but not quite as they had planned. When challenges and threats from the immortal world of Nissilum rip the young lovers apart, Jane is bereft. Without Luca's dancing green eyes, and gentle smile, Jane feels lost, sad and alone. But then a trip to Paris with her grandmother thrusts her in the path of the amiable Soren - a kindred spirit who may be just the distraction she needs ...Meanwhile in Nissilum, Luca struggles with the loyalties and expectations that come with being a part of the immortal world. A world that is about to be shaken at its very core: rumblings of mounting unrest are spreading, and with rumors of an angel rebellion growing no creature is safe -- especially not a mortal girl who has fallen in love with a wolf boy...' - Goodreads

Having checked on Goodreads I realized that next month it will have been three years since I read Dark Heart Forever, the first book in the Dark Heart trilogy which may contribute to my not enjoying this one as much. I could still remember most major plot points from the first book and obviously enjoyed it (I gave it four stars on Goodreads!) but for some reason Dark Heart Rising sadly didn't appeal to me.

Jane and Luca are separated, Jane in her world and Luca in Nissilum thanks to events at the end of book one. Heartbroken and eager to get away, Jane goes to Paris with her grandmother where she meets Soren, a boy who seems to understand what she's going through. Encouraged by her grandmother she becomes friends with him, expecting never to see him again once she leaves Paris. Of course, things are never that simple and when Jane starts college she is stunned to see Soren posing as an art teacher. Theirs was no accidental meeting, engineered by Soren who has even closer ties to Nissilum than Jane - he was born there and, as we discover later in the book, has had an extremely difficult life thanks to the angels there.New alliances are formed after Soren convinces Jane to try to win back Luca, even though he is now betrothed to someone else approved of by his overbearing mother. It all got a bit silly at quite a few points, Jane dressing up in vampire clothing and no-one recognizing her, Raphael hatching mad plans, Soren telling one story and then another whilst expecting people to keep believing everything he says.

I wanted to love Dark Heart Rising as I'd quite enjoyed Dark Heart Forever but I just could not connect with Jane this time round. Whilst proclaiming to be doing everything she can to win back Luca there are moments when she has an obvious attraction to Soren, and not just because he is trying to help her. I quite liked Soren to start with, it seemed he was going to be a bit different but then he started manipulating Jane, keeping secrets and ultimately I wasn't bothered whether he got his happy ever after! My favorite characters from book one were Jane's family, especially her younger sister but we barely got to see any of them this time around. I did like that most of the story took place in Nissilum as we got to learn much more about how the country worked and its politics, more insights into Luca's family and what was happening with Raphael. He ended up being one of my favorite characters even though he was completely despicable in the first book (as Evan) and I'm hoping to see more of him in Dark Heart Surrender.

Whilst the first half of the book dragged for me, there wasn't much going on and what was happening was all action moving at a slow pace, the second half of the book picked up hugely. By the end I was almost rooting for Luca again, I still don't think he's right for Jane but we'll see. The Soren storyline was wrapped up satisfactorily enough, I'm hoping he won't make a reappearance in the third book and the same goes for Luca's brother who was nothing but a giant pain the posterior! Even though I didn't enjoy this one as much I'm still going to read the final book - if only to satisfy my curiosity.