Rating: 4 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Seiran Rou has just graduated as the first male witch to finish a magical studies program and he is feeling out of sorts. He doesn’t know what to do with his life, his earth-connected body is at a loss in the cold Minnesota winter, and he is missing his boyfriend Gabe who is busy mentoring a newbie vampire. Seiran can’t help but resent all the time Gabe spends with Sam and he is frustrated that Gabe isn’t communicating, despite always being on Sei’s case to talk to him. When Seiran learns that his uncle has left him a house in California, a home where his father once lived, Sei takes off in hopes of learning more about his father who died before he was born.
Seiran can feel the earth’s power the moment he walks into the enormous house. It is clear that the magic running through the home is intense, almost more than Sei can handle. As he begins to explore, Sei learns more about his father and the magic that surrounds the home. He also finds a magical faery ring, a place of pure evil that is being used by the Ascendance for no good. Seiran is determined to do whatever he can to get rid of the ring, but the evil may be too strong, even for his magic. And not everyone wants Sei around, poking into the Ascendance business. Before he knows it, Seiran’s life is once again at risk and it will take all his power to find his way to safety.
Ascendance is the fourth book in Lissa Kasey’s Dominion series and I am continuing to enjoy Seiran and Gabe’s story. This one follows on from the aftermath of Conviction with Gabe mentoring the newbie vampire Sam. We can see our guys are having trouble communicating and Sei in particular is at loose ends. I liked this way this story takes us deeper into Seiran’s history as we learn along with him about the father he never knew. We also get to see a bit of a different side to Tanaka, learning about her early pregnancy. I also enjoyed seeing how Sei is finding his family. After so long being isolated with just his mother, Sei is meeting new relatives, as well as building a tight-knit group with Gabe, Kelly, and Jamie.
This book also furthers the ongoing plot arc with the Ascendance and we learn more about them here and some of the evil they are up to. We have always known this group has a number of deranged members, but we get more history, as well as learning more about their current activities. The book nicely sets up future stories and I am interested to see what else is to come in this conflict.
I did wish we had more time with these guys together as I love Gabe and Sei. The guys are kind of out of sorts with each other early on, but even when their issues are resolved, there isn’t a lot of time with them together. I felt like after their conflict is addressed, I needed to see more of them re-cementing their bond, and I feel like a lot of this book is Sei on his own.
I really am finding this an enjoyable series, one that has some creative spin on the vampire and shifter worlds. I like the way Kasey continues to build the series and am really looking forward to more.
