To start out with, I am a fan of Karen Moning’s “Highlander” series. The MacKayla Lane novels, however (otherwise referred to as her Fever series), are a bit different. I can’t say that I’m as big of a fan. (Read more on Moning’s web site.)
I started out a few years ago with Darkfever. I picked it up off the shelf at my local (at the time) Borders, and I found I liked it. It was different. It had interesting characters. A friend of mine, who read it after me, complained that the main character was too much of a whiner and not likable. I disagreed, because I thought that if I were in the situation she was in, I would be a bit of a whiner, too. Jericho Barrons seems infinitely mysterious but at the same time a good bad-guy-turned-hero. There were good villains, as well, and she left herself lots of questions to answer in upcoming sequels.
I read the sequel, Bloodfever, when it came out. The characters were evolving, and there were more intriguing characters added. I was beginning to dislike Barrons a bit, though. Then came the next book in the series, Faefever, and I read it, but by that time I was honestly getting a bit tired of the entire story. MacKayla was beginning to grate on my nerves. It ended in such a way, though, that I felt I had to read the next book someday, if only to hear how the story ended. (I won’t give it away, but it was the epitome of a cliffhanger.)
Still, there were a couple years in between when I read Faefever and when I picked up the last two, Dreamfever and Shadowfever, on my Kindle app for my iPad. Dreamfever was interesting, though for those who aren’t into the graphic romance novels, don’t pick this series up. I started to like Barrons more, though I started to dislike MacKayla more. She was a whiner. The cliffhanger at the end of Dreamfever, leading into Shadowfever, was another big one. However, I found myself halfway through Shadowfever, simply reading it because I don’t like not finishing a book, not because I really wanted to know what happened. She spent too much time in MacKayla’s head, repeating things that had already been said or thought about. The last book could probably have been a few pages shorter, easily. And by the end of it, I really didn’t like MacKayla, though I think I should have. I was also annoyed with the Dani event in the final book, and wished for a better wrap up for their relationship.
I love that she incorporated some of the characters from her Highlander series. I enjoyed some of the twists and turns in the final book in the series, including the one with Rowena in the fifth book (though I didn’t get the hint that she was that insane until that twist, and I kind of wish there had been a couple more hints throughout the books, though if you think about it, when she’s first introduced in the first book, you do get the take on her personality pretty clearly). There were a couple turns that could have used a bit more foreshadowing, I think. If she really remembered everything after she told Barrons about her prom dress (for those who’ve read the books, you’ll understand what I’m talking about), I think the scene in Dreamfever where she got up and left his abode should have been written a little differently. That was a come-out-of-nowhere-for-no-reason addition, I thought. I wished there would have been some clue or other, considering she foreshadowed very well with the V’Lane revelation near the very end of the last book.
Another note about these books: the first three, I didn’t have any problems with the language in them. I’m not a prude, and various four-letter words have been known to drop from my lips from time to time. However, the language in the fourth and fifth books seemed like it was in there just for the sake of having coarse language in there. Some was needed, I think, simply to illustrate the situation and what humanity had been reduced to, but I didn’t appreciate the cussing simply for cussing’s sake.
What I take away from this series? I like the Highlander series better. I’ve heard through Facebook and Twitter that there’s been a movie deal signed for the Fever series. My thoughts: good luck to you, but I don’t think I’ll be going to watch them anytime soon.
I'm a lover of writing and books. I graduated from South Dakota State with a master's degree in communications in 2011, the same year I was first published. I'm a wife and mom, and I work in content and digital marketing in South Dakota.
Me and my writing life 
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