I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Evil Rising by Gina Dickerson
Also by this author: Kaelia Awakening, Underleaf, The Pennington Christmas Curse, Kaelia Falling
Series: Mortiswood Tales #3
Also in this series: Kaelia Awakening, Kaelia Falling
Published by RoseWolf Books / Authors Reach on 23rd March 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, YA Fantasy
Format: eARC
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Amazon Kindle, Audible 
The problem with secrets is they don’t always remain secret, no matter how long they’ve been buried.
The dark side of magic beckons to Kaelia. It whispers in her ear, seducing her with the promise of yet more power. Having discovered the truth behind the goddess Hel’s connection to Bran the necromancer, Kaelia is finding it increasingly difficult to tell who is on her side and who is against her.
Drawn into an age-long battle, she must fight to protect not only those she loves, but also the humans that her enemies, The Salloki, would devour. Confronting an evil never seen before outside the realms of myth and magic, Kaelia is torn. Should she join with Bran? Is he really as trustworthy as he says?
But trust cuts both ways as Bran too discovers, unearthing both secrets and lies about his true identity. There is also someone he wants to protect above all, even if that price is unleashing upon Mortiswood the fearsome Vanagandr.
As secrets, lies, magic, and emotions weave their tangled web, who will lose their hearts and who will lose their lives?
Sometimes the line between good and evil is so blurred it fails to exist…
Thank you to Gina for my copy of this book and for letting me organise this tour. I loved the first two books so when I saw that Gina was releasing a third I immediately offered to review. This book is based on Norse mythology. As I said in the reviews for the previous books I am not all up on Norse Mythology. It extends as far as the Thor films but Gina has provided a very useful glossary at the end.
It has been a few years since I read this series so remembering everything that happened took a little while. This affected the beginning of the book for me. If I had, had the time I would have re-read the first two books so that I had a fresh memory. If you can do this I would recommend it but if you can’t it only took me a few chapters to unlock my memories.
We open right in the action with Kaelia fighting a demon. Unfortunately for Kaelia this has become the norm. Ever since Kaelia discovered she is The Chosen one she has been fighting a whole host of evil creatures from Dybbuk demons to The Salloki.
As well as fighting evil Kaelia spends a lot of time fighting herself, her heart, her feelings. It’s always been Kaelia and Bay they grew up together and it’s rare for one to be without the other but, Bay is Vallesm and Kaelia is The Chosen One. When they created The Chosen One another being was created, Bran. The Dark One. Two Sides of the same coin, one light, one dark. Kaelia is fighting the way she feels for Bran. She can’t love him, he’s The Dark One. But when they unite and use their powers together there is no other feeling. No one can make her feel like Bran does. But can she trust him?
Gina had me completely torn in this book. Who should Kaelia be with? I can understand the reasons she shouldn’t be with Bay but it was so heartbreaking. Then there is Bran. He’s the evil one, the one we are all against, right? But, why then did I not hate the scenes when they were together? Why did I actually want them to work together (for good, not evil obviously)?
The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger. I am very intrigued to find out what is going on. I have an inkling but for now I’m going to keep it to myself. This latest instalment of the series will rip your heart into pieces and make you doubt which way Kaelia should turn.
Gina’s writing was as addictive as ever. I barely put this book down, only to eat and sleep and even that was a struggle. The pace was spot on. Gina eased you back in at the beginning and then had you racing through the pages during the action and before you know it you have 10% left and you don’t want it to end.
If you haven’t read this series I would highly recommend it. I cannot wait for the next book.
Extract
Closing behind Kaelia and the Vallesm, the grand doors shut with a resounding clash. Within the building, cocooned from the battle raging outside, it was eerily deserted; all Vanadis’ subjects united on the Field of The Chosen Dead. Kaelia turned straight around and pushed the doors but they wouldn’t budge. The inside bore no handle and the vast height of the doors were nothing but smooth silver which stretched higher than Kaelia could ever hope to reach. Frustrated, she stepped back and tried blasting the doors open with her white-blue light but the light simply crackled upon impact and evaporated. Outside, rain began to fall, pelting against the doors as if it wanted to be inside as much as Kaelia wanted to leave.
Bay shook back into his human form and took Kaelia’s hand, leading them both away from the noisy onslaught of the rain. ‘It’s no use,’ he said. ‘Vanadis sent us in here for a reason. She doesn’t want you in the fight.’
Kaelia drew her power back in with a deep breath and struggled to speak. ‘I know.’
‘She’s protecting you.’
‘But I want to protect her!’
‘I know you do.’ Bay grinned his lopsided smile.
Despite feeling angry about not being allowed to stay and fight Hel’s army, Kaelia laughed. ‘You’ve always said I’m stubborn!’
‘Well, you are. I wasn’t lying.’
‘I suppose we’ll have to go home and stop whatever it is Thom has started, or plans to start.’
‘As long as he’s in his own realm I don’t care what he’s been doing. He gives me the creeps every time I see him.’ Bay shuddered.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from him!’
‘No, I’ll protect you!’ Bay dipped his head, pressing his lips against Kaelia’s.
She revelled in his familiarity. His body was firm, his arms strong and warm. And how he kissed… hungrily, eagerly… as if he wanted to devour her. This is what she’d wanted, what she’d always dreamt of: Bay, always Bay. A thought crept unbidden into her mind. But that was before. Before she knew there was more than just one person out there for her. Before she had met Him. The thought made her pull away from Bay. That was before she’d tasted the power she could share with another who was the same, yet different to her.
Bay looked hurt. ‘What’s wrong?’
Kaelia shook her head, hardly trusting herself to speak. She chose her words carefully. The last thing she wanted to do was to hurt Bay. ‘The darkness my mother spoke of, I can feel it.’ Lifting one hand, she tapped at her temple. ‘Sometimes I think I can hear it and it can hear me.’
‘It’s all in your imagination,’ Bay replied soothingly. ‘You’ve been through a lot in such a short time—we both have. It’s normal to have doubts.’
‘It’s more than that. You’re a good person, Bay. You always have been. I’m not.’
‘You are, Kaelia.’
‘That’s what you want to think.’
Bay ran a hand through his hair. ‘You don’t know what I want to think, or rather don’t want to think.’
‘Meaning?’
‘I felt you pull away just now when we were kissing. What I don’t want to think of is why.’
Kaelia couldn’t keep from blushing. The heat rose in her cheeks, suffusing them with pink. Being pale-skinned with red freckles did little to hide it. She looked down at the floor.
‘I won’t let you fall for the darkness.’ Bay hooked a finger under Kaelia’s chin and gently lifted her head back up. ‘I’ll always be here to hold your hand and keep you grounded in reality. I won’t let the darkness of the other side seduce you.’
Kaelia shuddered. ‘There’s no way I’ll be seduced by Thom and The Salloki.’
Bay’s gaze was steady. ‘You know full well I meant Bran. I’ve seen you together, remember. I worry that’s what you think of every time I touch you because when you and he touch, it’s electric. When we touch.’ He laced his fingers with Kaelia’s. ‘It’s… normal.’
‘We’re not normal, we never will be. Don’t say that.’
Bay’s smile was rueful. ‘But I can’t make you feel the way he does.’
‘You don’t need to.’ Kaelia tiptoed and kissed Bay. ‘I don’t want you to. It’s always been you and me. Ever since we were kids.’
About Gina Dickerson
Gina Dickerson lives by the Thanet coast on the north-eastern tip of Kent, in the UK, with her family and playful Siberian husky. She is a full-time author and writes romantic suspense with a twist, horror, and fantasy because her characters refuse to play nice and wind up with more than a few bone-rattling skeletons in their closets.
She is the author of the murderous romantic suspense novels Lies Love Tells and Unveiling Christmas, the twisted short story collection, Underleaf, as well as the fantasy, adventurous romance series Mortiswood Tales – the first in the series being Mortiswood: Kaelia Awakening. She has also written fashion and shopping columns for a local newspaper.
When she’s not writing, Gina loves rummaging in vintage clothes shops, taking way too many photographs, and leafing through fashion glossies.
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@StarXTours Thank you so much, Emma, for a wonderful review. So pleased you enjoyed the book!