The Adversary: A Novella of the Elder Races

4.25 stars--THE ADVERSARY is the second novella in Thea Harrison’s contemporary, adult ELDER RACES paranormal/ fantasy romance duet focusing on the former leader of the Wyr demes new in New York, Drago Cuelebre, and his mate Pia Giovanni. THE ADVERSARY should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up after the events and cliff hanger of book one THE UNSEEN. SOME BACKGROUND: Dragos and Pia, along with 20,000 members of the supernatural Wyr leave New York to begin a new life in the Other land known as Rhycia but not all goes according to plan when an unseen force begins to cause a disturbance within the new society-misplaced items, collapsing buildings, and taking control over the mind, body and soul of our story line hero. NOTE: If you have not read THE UNSEEN, there may be spoilers in my review. The author had plans to write a four-part novella series but at this time, I am unsure as to the number of instalments. Thea Harrison has left THE ADVERSARY open ended, laying the groundwork for future story lines. Told from third person perspective (Pia) THE ADVERSARY focuses on the fight to ‘free’ Dragos from an ‘unseen adversary’. Dragos is no longer himself, in fact, he is often someone else. Struggling to free her mate from an ancient enemy, Pia and the Wyr, must formulate a plan in an effort to release the ‘unseen’ from her mate’s body but once released, the ‘unseen’ needs another host, and Pia and Dragos find themselves, once again, facing the prospect of losing someone they love. From Azreal, the angel of death, to the Seraphim, Dragos and Pia must accept that life and death are not theirs to control. THE ADVERSARY is a story of family and friendships, power and control, loss, love, desperation and revenge. Thea Harrison pulls the reader into an action packed, emotional and intense tale of magic and the supernatural, of other worlds and the paranormal, of the power of love for mate and child. The premise is strong and impassioned; the characters are numerous, familiar and charismatic; the romance is magical-the love is palpable.

It's been a minute since the last time I got to spend time with Pia and Dragos. Let me bring you up to speed. A year ago, Thea released the first part of a four parts serial, THE UNSEEN. A couple of weeks ago the author let us know that this will release as a duet. This was me when I read about it: Because Pia and Dragos. I can't get enough of them. But then I held THE ADVERSARY in my hands and let me tell you, it couldn't be more awesome. It has the fabulous Elder Races feel, a lot of Pia and Dragos goodness, lots of Liam, some of our most beloved characters from the series and a lot of magic, action and tension. I was glued to the pages, the adversary is one of the nastiest enemies our heroes (the whole bunch of them) have had to fight. That thing is a piece of work and Pia's snark brought comic relief from the tension. The thing possessing Dragos had walked his evil cooties through the house. As soon as she had her mate back, she was going to turn on the complaining wife faucet and let that sucker run. Dragos had to make a horrible, horrible call that affects his son for years to come, I suppose and I think we'll read about this in future Liam books. Which, btw., alludes the epilogue to. It sounds like we'll get a couple of those and I couldn't be happier. This young man has grown into a proud dragon, who still has a lot to learn but has Pia's level-headedness and Dragos's fierceness. So this will be interesting. Being so desperately in love with someone and mating with them—it came with a heavy price. And he paid it gladly, and he would keep paying it again and again... I loved to see how far Dragos has come. From the dragon who was ruthless to someone...OK OK, still as ruthless but now he has a conscience and almost seems...human. Dragos and Pia's love is going strong and while they have moved into the phase where you are more aware of the flaws of your partner, they don't mind. Pia is so wise and yet so snarky about it. The love for one another is in every word. "I never knew what loneliness was until you came into my life and taught me what it was like to love someone.” This concludes this novella duet and I honestly can't see how Thea could have made it more than two parts. Oh OK, of course she could have but what I mean is that she packed so much in these two shorties and wrapped it up with a bow. If you're not familiar with this series I urge you to start at the beginning. These books need to be read in order. But I promise you won't regret it.

This is a short novella, the conclusion to story begun in The Unseen. Pia and Dragos have relocated to Ryacia and after unearthing ruins of an ancient society, are now fighting an enemy that does not exist on the physical plane. I love Pia's determination, insight and grit. She can be counted on to know when to draw the line in the sand. Like all of Thea Harrison's books, this story captures all the emotional details, and engages all the depth of character that she's known for. Liam, Aryal and other major characters introduced in previous books appearances, but this is primarily Pia's and Dragos' story. (review written based on author provided ARC)