Wednesday 21 March 2018

#BookReview ~ The Last City: The Colony Book 2 by R.M. Gilmour #Romance #fantasy #ScienceFiction @RMGilmour




The Last City:
The Colony Book 2
By R.M. Gilmour


A battle approaches Threa - a war of wills, one driven to control it, and the other to destroy it.

While immersed in their history, Lydia learns of the overwhelming threat to the planet and its people. And even though she was brought to Threa by her soulmate Jordan, it has come to be her home. And she will not let it go.

Every day Lydia trains with Lena and Dax, but she doubts she will ever be as strong as they need her to be. She is determined however, to be strong enough, to be ready, should she ever again, be confronted by an enemy.

But what she can’t fight, are Jordan’s memories. With each step that he takes toward the past, Lydia feels him pulling away, closing himself off.

As the war rages, Lydia is determined to stay strong when her faith in Jordan is challenged. But is she strong enough to survive her own fears? Or will his ties to the past sever the unbreakable bond between them?

The Coffee Pot Book Club Review


"Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken..."
Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare.

The world that Lydia lives in is far removed from the one she was born in. But it matters not, for her home is wherever Jordon is. And yet, the threat of war forever sits on the horizon, and Lydia must learn to battle her own ghosts if she has any chance of vanquishing her enemy. However, there is a war that she is unaware of and one she cannot fight. For this war is Jordon's and his alone. He must face it, and he must own it, or all will be lost forever.

The Colony was one of those books that wriggled into my heart and stayed there. I reviewed it back in 2016, and I still hold it up as an example of the very best in romantic fantasy. It has been a long wait for the sequel, but then some books are worth such waits.

The Last City (The Colony Book 2) by R.M. Gilmour picks up where The Colony left off, and once again I found myself immersed in this wonderful fantasy world that Ms Gilmour has created.

There are some books that leave you gasping, and for me, The Last City is such a book. The storyline is enthralling. The characters leap of the page. The love story is sublime — there is simply no other word for it. There are several antagonists, and all of them bring menace and fear into the story. The pace of the plot is perfect. There are plot twists that I did not see coming. This book also has something very rare, and that is movement. It was so easy to read it was like listening to a symphony. Everything had its proper place. Everything was well timed. Perfection.

I adored the characterisation of Lydia. But be warned, there are some very harrowing scenes in this book. I am not going to give away any spoilers, but there is one scene in particular that made me hold my breath. I wanted to look away but I couldn't. Very traumatic. Lydia deals with this trauma as anyone else would. She does not brush herself off. She doesn't forget about it and move on. Yet she finds the will not to let it consume her. And that is something that I really liked about this book. This attention to detail, this understanding of mental health made Lydia human. A very believable character. As for Jordon... Well, doesn't he have a secret that will break your heart! His compassion. His gentleness. His understanding just left me in tears. He is an exquisite character that I could not help but fall in love with. The chemistry between Lydia and Jorden is so wonderfully real that at times I actually cried.

Lena is a wonderful contrast to Lydia, she is this real tough cookie who is a warrior first and foremost, but even she has secrets. Which leads me on to the supporting cast. There is quite a big cast in the book, and they all bring to the story something unique. And as for the antagonists...  All I can say is Ms Gilmour — I did not see that coming!

The Last City is Book 2 in The Colony series. I don't usually say this, but I would not recommend starting with this one.  You can pick up the threads of the story in The Last City but seriously, start with Book 1. So much happens in The Colony that to start with Book 2 would really be a disservice to yourself.

Hand on heart, The Colony series is the best romantic fantasy series I have ever read, and I would not say that if I didn't mean it. If you are going to read only one fantasy series this year, then read this one.




R M Gilmour
R M Gilmour was born in Sydney, Australia and currently resides in sunny Florida with her two children and two cats.

Writing stories since she was a child, she has always enjoyed losing touch with reality, even if for only a short time, through either reading or writing. For many years she has played host to a never-ending stream of characters patiently waiting their turn in the spotlight, several of which refuse to let her fall asleep until that last hand-crafted sentence has been written down, lest it be forgotten. More often than not it is forgotten if not written down... all hail pen and paper!

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