Sylvain Reynard

After a strange attack inexplicably changes her—and identifies her as the prime suspect in the theft of a set of priceless Botticelli illustrations—art restorer Raven Wood, desperate to clear her name, seeks out one of Florence's wealthiest and elusive men in an attempt to uncover the truth. Includes bonus material. By a best-selling author. Original.

The Raven

Briar's Reviews

The Raven was a fantastic novel that kept me hooked at every turn! Sylvain Reynard made a wonderfully addictive novel I would suggest to anyone who loves fantasy, supernatural, romance and action/adventure! 

The Raven follows a young girl named Raven and a hero and interest in her life: a vampire prince. At first the novel appears to be some form of YA novel, but it is very dark and twisted. I see this novel as more of a New Adult or older novel, but is still just as intriguing as many YA novels. 

The novel proves to be a new take on vampire novels, at least in my eyes. A young girl who is a spitting image of someone William (our vampire prince) used to know, who affected him greatly, is saved by the vampire and suddenly feels very different. Instead of being a vampire like what happens in most novels, the girl has lost some of her memory and must struggle to remember what happened. With the help of William she discovers some of her memories and reveals some of her troubling past.

Together, the pair are an interesting and perfect set of characters. They both have very distinct personalities that are not your typical novel characters. They have obvious flaws and are not afraid of them.

I really appreciated this novel. With the many references to art, the interesting characters and a unique plot, this novel is one of the best I've ever read!

Three out of five stars! I'd recommend this book to everyone!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Anna Ureta

After reading the Gabriel’s Inferno series I literally had ZERO expectations for The Florentine Series. When the book first came out and even when the summary was first released I was a bit skeptical.
Gothic themes, Florence, Supernatural… I had gotten so used to Professor Emerson that I wasn’t sure how this, Prince and Raven would match up to one of my favourite couples. Eventually, they did grow on me and I was pleansantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. This novel is VERY DIFFERENT from any of the books in the Gabriel’s Inferno series and takes time to get used to, but like me, you’ll fall in love with Sylvain Reynard’s writing all over again and find yourself addicted to this supernatural prince.

Raven Wood is nothing short of extraordinary. She lives in Florence, Italy, and works at the Uffizi Gallery restoring paintings. Some might view her as disabled as a childhood injury has left her with a bad leg forcing her to walk with a cane. She is not a size two and doesn’t pretend to hide it. What Raven does have is the heart and courage of a lion, which certainly comes to use when she comes across the supernatural beings that run the city.
The Prince has ruled, watched over, and protected Florence for hundreds of years. Now he’s being threatened by a mysterious force and is doing everything he can to deal with it. Hunters are making their way into the city making it unsafe for his kind, and on top of that, the mysterious Raven has caught his attention…The Prince is captivated by her and will do anything and everything he can to keep her. But she wants more, more than what he believes he is capable of giving.

Like I said before, I wasn’t IN LOVE with this book instantly like I was with the Professor. There were points where I was reading where I said to myself, “Maybe I should put this one down…”
It was just…slow…and nothing was happening the first half.
For me, it took A WHILE to build up and I’ll tell you why that is.
I just didn’t see the appeal in The Prince until after he met Raven.
Another reason why I just wasn’t into this book was that there were a lot of characters that I wasn’t sure were important or not. I couldn’t put faces to names, or buildings to names. I’ve never been to Italy or Florence (now I want to), and for me it was difficult picturing the streets, the buildings, what everything looked like… It felt like Reynard handed me a book and expected me to know what places looked like. For me it took away from the experience. It’s one thing to make up a fictional town with fictional buildings; it’s another thing to have a real place with real buildings and not really describe them to your readers.

Now that the unpleasantries are out of the way let’s get to the GOOD STUFF – because everyone likes the good stuff.
The Prince is NOTHING like Professor Emerson.
He’s completely different and in another category of his own, so don’t even try to compare or put them in the same batting team.
They’re both very complex men with very complex hearts.
I don’t want to give too much away but let’s just say The Prince isn’t afraid of telling Raven exactly what he wants.
It’s very rare these days to see a book where the man is chasing the woman. (Of course in the Gabriel’s Inferno series Julianne was hoping Gabriel would remember her and he spent most of the time trying to make it up to her, but that’s different from this).

 “I don’t understand such things and I won’t pretend to understand them. All I can say is that I think no one – human or otherwise – is perfect. If perfection is the standard for normalcy, we all fail.”

Raven Wood has A LOT of SELF-RESPECT and I feel like there aren’t enough fictional women who have that trait. What I mean is, Raven doesn’t lose her values or opinion of herself and what she wants just because a handsome man wants her. She knows who she is, she knows what she’s worth and isn’t going to let anyone make her feel bad about the things that have happened to her.

 William had brought color to her world, even if the colors were black and red. He’d liked her body – all of it. He hadn’t wanted to fix her.

The best thing about these two is the chemistry and banter when they are together. That’s literally the only thing keeping me interested in this series. I could give a rat’s arse about everyone else and all the politics behind running of the city and the other supernatural creatures, and the hunters, and all that other BS. All I care about is The Prince’s relationship with Raven and how that’s going to progress. How is he going to change her? Is she going to change him? Are they going to have a happy ending? How many bumps in the road will they face together?

 “Come to me tonight.”
 “I’m not promising to sleep with you.”
 “Why not?” He kissed her again, this time gently.
 “I’m worried about my heart.”
 He arched an eyebrow at the space between her breasts, his lips curving up into a half smile.
 “Not that heart.” Her eyes slid to the side. “When you laugh at me, it will hurt.”

I feel like these two are walking a very fine line together and it feels like the smallest thing could tip them off the scale. Both are going to have to grow and give into each other a little bit if they want to be together and that’s the reality of it. If you’re unsure about picking up this book or this series I suggest you do it for The Prince and Raven.
No doubt Reynard has done it again. Another page-turning gothic romance that is sure to keep you on your toes.

4/5 Hearts of Love

Read the rest of my reviews at http://www.akiikomorireading.com

Thais Souza Passos

WHAT IS GABRIEL SWEARING AND JULIA CALLING HIS ATTENTION AND WHEN HE CHANGES HIS SWEARS BECAUSE OF CLARE?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 HOLY MOSES, HOW MUCH I MISSED THESE THREE???????!!!!!!!!!! AND HOW ABOUT THE PRINCE, JESUS!!!!!!!!@@@@@@#$%$@@! WHAT A MAN!@#$%#!#$$!@!#$

yasmin

after a bumpy start it once more made me cry, laugh and love it 💛💛

Lacey

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life

“I am the darkness made visible.”

The Raven is the first full-length novel in Sylvain Reynard’s The Florence series, and it’s a book full of mystery and intrigue. I was a fan of SR’s Gabriel series and was highly anticipating this paranormal spinoff series. Although I didn’t connect with the main characters as much as I wanted, the writing had me hooked and the supernatural aspect of the story had me fully intrigued. Fans of the Gabriel series should definitely give The Florence series a try – SR gives a unique take on vampires that was highly enjoyable!

The Raven takes place two years after The Prince (which I highly recommend reading before going into The Raven). The Prince of Florence, who also goes by the name William York, has taken back his stolen art from the Uffizi, though he’s still planning on killing the Emersons. But one night, he encounters a woman on the brink of death, and instead of ignoring her, which would be the norm for him, he saves her life.

Raven Wood wakes up with no recollection of the past week, and when she returns to work at the Uffizi, she finds out that artwork has been stolen during the week she blacked out and she’s a prime suspect. While trying to clear her name, she comes across the name William York, but when she tries to find out who he is, Raven unknowingly puts herself deeper into the underworld of Florence and into danger.

William can’t get the woman he saved out of his mind, and even though he tries to stay away, he can’t. He continues to be Raven’s protector but keeps to the shadows until Raven falls into too much trouble and William has to come forward and save her life once again. As they spend more time together, Raven and William can’t help but feel drawn to one another.

I really enjoyed Raven’s character, even though I didn’t connect with her much. She’s the type of woman who doesn’t fit in with society’s views of beauty and she is typically ignored by men. Even though this could have made her a bitter woman, she’s strong and compassionate with a heart of gold. She’s unknowingly thrust into the supernatural world, but she faces it head on. William, on the other hand, took me a while to warm up to. He’s one of the most powerful vampires and he’s lived for a long time, so he’s done and seen things that have made him jaded. But bit by bit, as he grows to care for Raven, we uncover a passionate man who has more than a little humanity left in him. I was a much bigger fan of William towards the end of the novel.

I highly enjoyed the romance in The Raven. It was a slow burn kind of romance with tensions running high between William and Raven. And I loved that by being with each other, they open their eyes to the person they are underneath – William discovers that maybe he’s not the monster he makes himself out to be, and Raven realizes that beauty is so much more than just the surface of a person.

“You are the only ray of hope I’ve seen since 1274. You’re the only one who has caused my heart to beat again.”

SR flawlessly entwines Raven and William’s sensual but sweet romance with the gorgeous setting of Florence and the fascinating supernatural underworld. The Raven was an entirely satisfying read even though I wasn’t too keen on the characters, and that was mainly due to the writing. I found myself drawn into the dark underworld of Florence and couldn’t stop reading this book! If you’re a fan of SR’s writing, then I highly recommend reading this fascinating, romantic new series.

Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change in the final version.

Thanks to the publisher for generously providing me an ARC to review.

Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/1D94eGa
Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.to/1tsIC2U

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From the New York Times bestselling author of the Gabriel series comes a dark, sensual tale of romance in a city shrouded in mystery . . . Raven Wood spends her days at Florence’s Uffizi gallery restoring Renaissance art. But an innocent walk home after an evening with friends changes her life forever. When she intervenes in the senseless beating of a homeless man, his attackers turn on her, dragging her into an alley. Raven is only semiconscious when their assault is interrupted by a cacophony of growls followed by her attackers’ screams. Mercifully, she blacks out, but not before catching a glimpse of a shadowy figure who whispers to her . . . Cassita vulneratus. When Raven awakes, she is inexplicably changed. Upon returning to the Uffizi, no one recognizes her. More disturbingly, she discovers that she’s been absent an entire week. With no recollection of her disappearance, Raven learns that her absence coincides with one of the largest robberies in Uffizi history—the theft of a set of priceless Botticelli illustrations. When the police identify her as their prime suspect, Raven is desperate to clear her name. She seeks out one of Florence’s wealthiest and most elusive men in an attempt to uncover the truth. Their encounter leads Raven to a dark underworld whose inhabitants kill to keep their secrets . . .