Book Review: Devoted To Destiny by Lisa Kessler

 Author: Lisa Kessler
 Series: Muse Chronicles #5
 Audience: +18
 Genre: Paranormal Romance
 Publisher: Self Published
 Release Date: January 22nd 2018
 My Rating: 5 Cups
 Source: Author
 Blurb (from Goodreads):

Mason Knowles is a carpenter with a secret. He's a Lycan, cursed by Zeus to shift into a wolf. With each transformation, the curse becomes stronger, threatening the man to succumb to the animal forever.

Clio Clarke is the human vessel for the Muse of History, devoting her life to studying the past. But when destiny brings Mason into her present, Clio realizes she still has plenty to learn about love and trust.

Mason discovers he's Clio's Guardian, gifted with inhuman strength, however, it will take more than might to stop an immortal from hurting her. He'll sacrifice anything, even his own humanity, to keep her safe, but this shift could be his last.

The Prophecy - "Every generation the nine daughters of Zeus are reborn, and with their rebirth are also nine Guardians. They will be marked by the gods, and given gifts to protect his treasure. Their abilities will only be unlocked when they find their muse."

*Disclaimer: I received an eARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.

**Disclaimer: This book contains mature content. As such my review will reflect that.

I've been waiting to see what happens next with the Muses for what seems like years, although it probably was just a few months. I am extremely happy that Devoted To Destiny did not disappoint.

The thing that I loved most in this book is that the mythology seems to be getting bigger, and by default the world of the Muses is getting bigger and bigger. We know who is the woman that is threatening the muses, we finally meet some other very important players in this war, and I feel like we get a more focused view of the history of the muses and their lovers.

Mason comes from a line of men cursed by Zeus to turn into a wolf. Unlike werewolves however, Mason's curse threatens his humanity, there's no alliance between man and wolf; the moment he turns into a wolf, what makes him human disappears and every time he turns it gets harder and harder to find his way back to being a man again. Meeting Clio gives him the reason to resist the lure of the wolf. Before meeting her the only thing he had was his need for revenge. Clio gave him something to lose, and that is love. It was interesting to see how this relationship changed Mason. I also liked what Mason brought to the table, so to speak. Aside from his strength and his animal side, he brought a little bit more knowledge and a lot of courage to the group as a whole.

Clio is a heroine that truly grows in this story. She's truly shy and insecure, while also holding onto some really big dreams, most of them inspired by her love of history. She knows that the original Muse of History found her soul mate into a mortal man, a king, and seeing as how her sisters fell in love with men who, in one way or another, were exactly like the male lovers of the original Muses, is convinced that she has to fall in love with a similar guy. So she tries to resist her attraction and her growing feelings towards Mason. She's very discreet, she's someone who doesn't get out of her way to get noticed. Like true history, Clio is someone who sees everything, without being seen. At the same time, just because she loves history, just because she knows what to look for and where to look for, doesn't mean she knows everything.That aspect is what I truly loved. She didn't know about a few of the things that she finds out about during this book, not just about history, but also about herself. She explores her sexuality, her sensual side, she gets to explore her personality. She really goes through a transformation process during her book and I enjoyed seeing that.

The plot thickens in this book as well, guys. Because I finally got to glimpse a tiny answer, or the beginning of an answer, to one of my biggest questions: what happens to the Guardians of the dead muses. And in this book we start to slowly explore that, and I can't help but be extremely intrigued to see what happens next. There's also a great deal of changes in the rules of the game, and things happened that I'm not quite sure how to interpret them yet. I guess the next book will provide, hopefully, a little bit of answers there.

The pace was great and I read the book really fast. I'm really excited with how dark the books are getting. As always, Kessler manages to capture the arrogance of the immortal creatures, and at the same time the role of humans in the war between immortals, as just mere pawns. While that is really sad, it's also something that makes these humans stronger, especially since both Clio and Mason realize that this is how the immortals view them. I am very, very excited to see what happens next, not just because I want to find out who wins, but also because I'm curious to see if all the big players will reveal themselves. I can't wait for Dance of the Heart to be out.