Allegiance ( Penton Legacy 4) by Susannah Sandlin

Hello to all,


  Today is the release of the long awaited new instalment in the Penton Legacy series which i love as you know it ( reviews for precedent books can be found here: Redemption, Absolution, Omega): Allegiance.
It focus is on Cage who was still a mystery at the end of Omega but had a lot of fans already^^, even better we get to see some characters from "Storm Force"  which is fabulous and add a lot of humour.

Thus i couldn't forget to share the news and my opinion on the story ( thanks  Susannah/ Suzanne for the early ARC) but that's not all....i'm sharing this with you ( between the numerous storms) because since it's the release day you could win!! If you are on facebook a big party is taking place this evening with a lot of authors so gifts cards and books will be given as prizes and you don't want to miss that. All info can be found here ( if you are not on facebook don't worry the Suzanne has a blog tour with international prize and will have something on her blog too)

 Now let go back to the essential: Allegiance!


Happy Reading

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Publication: 2014

ISBN:  147782331X

Genre: paranormal romance

Violence: strong
Language: normal
sex: strong
Public: 18+

Source: ARC from the author

Short description from goodreads :

 From award-winning author Susannah Sandlin comes the fourth book in the smart and steamy Penton Legacy series.

British vampire psychiatrist and former mercenary Cage Reynolds returns to Penton, Alabama, looking for a permanent home. The town has been ravaged by the ongoing vampire war and the shortage of untainted human blood, and now the vampires and humans that make up the Omega Force are trying to rebuild. Cage hopes to help the cause, put down roots in Penton, and resolve his relationship with Melissa Calvert. The last thing he expects is an attraction to Robin Ashton, a trash-talking eagle shape-shifter and new Omega recruit.


Meanwhile, as a dangerous saboteur wreaks havoc in Penton, the ruthless Vampire Tribunal leader Matthias Ludlam has been freed on the eve of his scheduled execution. But by whom? And to what end? As war and chaos rage on, love is the last thing Cage is looking for, but will his attraction to Robin distract him from the danger living among them?

My opinion:

                         You know you are really hooked into a series when the style change (even subtly) and still you can’t stop reading.  Susannah Sandlin ( aka Suzanne Johnson) did surprise me a lot with this fourth instalment and  that’s really a good point. She is still a master at descriptions and her knack to create realistic, tortured heroes hasn’t changed but this book is a lot darker than the precedent. Don’t worry though the romance part is still there and thankfully we have a lot of humour to balance the darkest part. Oh and shifters are included too now ^^.

First, I must say that I was really happy to see Robin and Nik again, after “ Storm Force” I just wanted more of those characters and honestly these two are the ones that fit the most in Penton.  I loved to see the banters between Robin, petit woman but fiery temper, with Mirren, the big bad brooding vampire so massive. The humour there was exceptional and since she can’t keep her mouth shut Robin did made a lot of funny remark and created some interesting relationship.

We learn also a lot more about her past and Nik’s, I was quite surprised to learn so much about both of them. We still don’t know everything but we can understand them better now. It’s so well done that even without having read “Storm Force” you wouldn’t feel lost at all.  I wouldn’t recommend you to start the Penton Legacy series with “Allegiance” , not it wouldn’t be possible, Susannah made is so that you get a lot more if you read it in order. It’s even more important in my opinion if you look at the psychological part of the characters; however you get enough reminders about the story as a whole that you shouldn’t feel too lost if you were to get this one first.

Now I must also admit that from the Penton books, this one isn’t my favourite and I even felt a little disappointed or more exactly I felt disturbed by the changes. The author didn’t do anything wrong, not at all, but I wasn’t expecting so many dark twists. At the end of “Omega”, book 3, we were left with a complete ending oh everything wasn’t happy per say but the couple had his happy ending, the villain was caught and we could have been happy if the series had come to a end then. I’m not saying it should have ended no but it was the feeling I got you know, main questions are answered, lovers are together and we can imagine things will improve and everyone will be happy at the end. You see?  Of course I wanted the big villains to suffer and yes I wanted to learn more about Cage but at the same time it was a want, a wish not a necessity. It felt complete enough.

In “Allegiance” we can feel the desperation, the tension and it not only the state of the city but more the psychological evolution of its inhabitants that got to me. It was heavy and so sad (a character dies within the first 5 chapters!). Yes Cage was a psychiatrist and for that reason he is better equipped to fight that but still I guess I had hoped like those living in Penton for a reprieve, to see the city come back to its glory while it’s a more insidious war that is brewing.

I didn’t like how Cage reacted in the precedent book but he redeemed himself in Allegiance in more than one way.  I loved how we discovered him, while he did the same and to see him speechless in front of a bold semi naked Robin was really to fun! Even Melissa went back to my good grace per say as she finally comes back to her sense.. however I was distressed to see how the war had impacted everyone in Penton…. It’s logical and a realistic answer to all the events it makes perfect senses but I wished for their happiness and it was a shock to see it was still so far away^^;; we discover a new side of Aidan that I’m not comfortable with.

The new twist on shifters is an interesting one and I can’t wait to see what Susannah has under her sleeve about them, I do want to learn more. What disappointed me the most was the ending because  it’s too much of a cliffhanger ( not real one but the feeling is there) it wouldn’t be possible to stop the series now…. Too much has to be done, answered and I do hope we will have a real HEA later too… until now the books felt complete , we wanted more yes ( I still do) but it wasn’t such a need like it is this time so I can only hope we will learn about a 5^th book soon^^

 I can only recommend you to start this series if you haven’t already since it’s a lot better read in order and before Allegiance “ Storm Force” would be a good read too to see more of Robin and Nik. I really can’t wait for  more

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

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Remember you can attend the party on facebook between 8 and10pm (eastern) at this link  it will be fun for sure! you can also enter to win some swag  on her blog here 

Don't hesitate to check those if you can^^