Review // Buried Destiny by Anne Malcom

“Just know, wolf, I love you. More than this world. I would let it all burn, let every soul on this hunk of rock die if there was a way I could have you and still remain somewhat sane. This sounds trite, but it’s the only way.” - Sophie

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Buried Destiny by Anne Malcom

The Vein Chronicles #4
Release - February 29, 2020
Genre - Paranormal Romance
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 2 out of 5 / talked about but no 'on screen' scenes
Format/Source - borrowed through Kindle Unlimited
Length - 300 pages
Publisher - Indie

Goodreads * Amazon

Death.
For everyone, even immortals, there is nothing after death. No takebacks, no comebacks. It's a full stop. The end of a story. The end of everything.
For Sophie, it's little more than a comma. A prelude. A footnote in her true destiny.
She was fated to die.
Many times.
To know what lay beneath in the underworld. To bring the darkness back with her.
It has been patient, that power that brought her back.
But now, it's ready.
She is ready, for her true beginning.
For the end of everyone standing in her way.
Starting with a wolf she once loved.
A vampire she once treasured.
Destiny will wait for her no longer.

My Two Cents

5 "I don't even know how" stars

How can I absolutely detest the characters and yet love them at the same time?! Isla and Sophie are over-the-top ridiculous. They take the idea of 'independent women' to another level and I got sick real quick of how repetitive they were with it about 3 books ago. And yet... I can't get enough of these women!

I would still have loved to have heard from Thorne. This man... he puts up with so much... he's amazing and deserves more time to shine.

And then there's Connall. This male... this poor broken male... this male who wouldn't lose hope or faith or love for the woman who kept trying to kill him... this male who believed that he could fight and win against destiny... he was incredible and I love him so freaking much!

Even Conall wasn’t strong enough to save her from herself. From the things that weren’t her at all.

So Sophie came back from the dead. After digging her way out of her coffin, she came back not quite Sophie. She brought back company and the darkness that filled her was determined to destroy and kill everyone and everything. Why? Only Sophie really knows.

“If I die one more time, I will come back as nothing like I was before,” she whispered, too cowardly to look the wolf in the eye. “I am certain of it. Even if we win, even if the best comes to pass, my death will be final. It must be final. You must make a vow.”
“I cannot,” he said without hesitation.
“I will not be myself. I will be the dark parts of me. The dark parts of them.” She shuddered, as even now they spoke to her. His grip was blissfully tight around her arms.
“You will be my moon. Even if you are a dark moon. Even if you are more murder and madness, you will still be my witch. Even if I’m forced to fight against you for the rest of my existence, I will do so rather than bury you in a grave once more. That is the only vow I’ll give you.” Sophie’s eyes watered and she chastised herself for such weakness. For such cliché womanness, turning into a puddle with words from a man. Granted, their love was anything but cliché, and a werewolf promising to fight a dark witch for eternity rather than lose her wasn’t something that they put on a Hallmark card, but still. Even if she had come from the darkest side of the dark side, she still had a reputation to uphold. Conall cupped her cheek. “You can ask a lot of me, my moon. But not that. You will never ask me to breathe in a world you are not in. Even if you must torment me, torment this world. I will take an eternity of your torment rather than your absence.”

She killed Scott. You know, the guy who didn't hurt anyone, the guy who risked it all to care for them, that guy. She killed him. And his death, his undeserved and pointless death... not even a footnote. No justice. And I'm sorry, but nothing Sophie did redeemed her. Hello?! She was willing and wanting to kill Nyx, daughter of Isla and Thorne. How does anyone forgive that?

Okay, so Isla was still a heartless cow. Having a child didn't really change her, although she obviously had a deep and abiding love for her husband and daughter. But to expect her to make a complete 180 isn't realistic and I appreciated that the author didn't do that.

All my caring was taken up with my husband and child. I was pretty tapped out. Emotions, for me, were finite. I was done having to get upset when someone I cared about died, so I was rationing my feelings.

Connall was a male who didn't know how to give up, determined to save his mate, even if it cost him his life. And don't forget, before Sophie died, they were fighting over his omission about being the rightful king of werewolves.

“I had no plans of taking the crown back,” he continued. “Even after I met you and recognized you as my mate. I didn’t feel worthy of the crown. Of you. And that’s why I didn’t tell you. I was ashamed of what a coward I had been. I know that witches do not mate as we do. Your loyalty, your love, it is not infinite. It is conditional. And I did not want to lose it, so I lied. Because I would rather live a lie with you than ever have to face the truth without you.”

Then there's Sophie, who was cowardly and brave and couldn't decide or figure out who she was or could be. She was afraid of what was in her, but willing to embrace it if it saved her from having to choose or decide or make a stand. I hated her weakness that she covered up with sass. Why couldn't these women just be real?

“You’re wrong,” she whispered. “Witches may not have the same weird blood as werewolves, I may not grow fur and howl at the moon, but I do have a mate. My loyalty to you is infinite and it will not change, even if everything else does.” She said this as a promise, as an oath, even as she was haunted with a future that would prove her wrong.

So yeah, as strongly as I felt, as amazing as this story shaped up to be, I give this all the stars. Anything that has me loving and hating and screaming and laughing has to be worth it!

Check out these other reviews from the series:

Book One - Fatal Harmony
Book Two - Deathless
Book 2.5 - Faults in Fate
Book Three - Eternity's Awakening

About the Author

Anne Malcom has been an avid reader since before she can remember, her mother responsible for her book addiction. It started with magical journeys into the world of Hogwarts and Middle Earth, then as she grew up her reading tastes grew with her. Her obsession with books and romance novels in particular gave Anne the opportunity to find another passion, writing. Finding writing about alpha males and happily ever afters more fun than reading about them, Anne is not about to stop any time soon.

Check out http://annemalcomauthor.com/ for more information