Get The Fever: Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series

By now most who follow the paranormal genre, romantic or otherwise, have gotten "The Fever" since Ms. Karen Marie Moning first released DarkFever, her first book in a 5 book series.  DarkFever introduces us to MacKayla Lane, a beautiful blonde Southern gal in her twenties, who has a really good life, a loving home with wonderful indulging parents and an older sister who she adores.  But this all changes when she gets  a phone call from Dublin telling her that her sister was dead.   Convinced that her sister's mysterious death was not properly being investigated, she travels to Dublin, Ireland to find out what happened.  From there the story starts getting more interesting. 

Mac starts trying to piece the events together but nothing seemed to make sense.  She's also been seeing things that no one else sees, monsters and sinister shadows and places that people unconsciously avoid.  In DarkFever we are also introduce to Barrons' Books and Baubles and its enigmatic and dangerous owner, Jerricho Barrons.  The BB&B would be Mac's unofficial command central and Barrons, well he would be the designated Giles to her Buffy.  Just a more sinister and cold blooded one at that.  But he is a hottie!  By the end of DarkFever I was hooked, the next books Blood Fever, Fae Fever and Dream Fever we see how Mac has progressed as a heroine.  She discovers facts about her existence, her destiny and yes since this has romantic elements, her feelings about Barrons. ShadowFever is the culmination with a satisfactory ending.

So what makes these books so different then since the plot sounds simple enough.  There is no way I can adequately describe why the series is so addicting.  It could be because MacKayla (call her Mac) Lane's character is so easy to like and her growth to becoming this kickass heroine is worth the read.  While reading DarkFever, all I could think of was that she reminds me of a Buffy when she just started training as the vampire slayer and Elle (Legally Blonde) with her love of pink and her determination to get it right even though most people thought she wouldn't be able to do it.

This series is dark with scenes that are heartwrenching and sometimes really difficult to read.  But between those are the lighthearted ones that tends to humanize all the characters, yes including the bad guys.  

Ms. Moning has done this wonderful job of creating a world filled with characters that seem too real in a landscape that you can easily envision and believe.  No review or even summary can do justice to what she has built in terms of characters or even the world she has created.

The five books of DarkFever, BloodFever, FaeFever, DreamFever and ShadowFever are complete in itself.  The major conflicts are resolved by the end and Mac gets a sort of happy ending.  However the world building is so good with secondary characters that are memorable as well that the series is being planned to continue.  This doesn't detract from the original five books however.  So if you haven't read the series and you love dark urban fantasy with memorable characters then do so now.  You won't regret getting The Fever.

Title: The Fever Series:

             Darkfever, Bloodfever, Faefever, Dreamfever, Shadowfever

Author: Karen Marie Moning

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Published: 2006-2011

Rating: ♨♨♨♨♨ ( 5 cups)- I can marry these books!  Mostly its the main character of Mac and Barrons that made these books for me a definite read.  The secondary characters and world building is a great plus too.