Review: Last Ascension by Rebecca Royce

Last Ascension


The Capes, #3
Rebecca Royce


Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Fated Desires Publishing
Date of Publication: August 19, 2014
Number of pages: 141
Word Count: 38,000
Cover Artist: Fiona Jayde

Available at the following retailers:
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Lael Hudson has had enough. He made a terrible mistake years earlier and has never been able to forgive himself. His brothers don't trust him and life seems like a series of pointless encounters—one after another, all meaningless. Until he makes a decision—leave the Guardians forever. Start a new life, one of his own making.

Margot Fox woke up one day in a small apartment in a city she didn't recognize without any memories at all. She has one piece of paper in her pocket warning her of danger. What is she to do? When the little money she does have runs out she has no choice but to seek help outside, which is when she runs smack into Lael Hudson.

Despite his decision to stay out of Guardian affairs, Lael can't deny his super human powers make him want to protect the woman who is convinced she must have been abducted by aliens. Together, they will discover the truth is more heinous than either of them could have imagined and that they will have to face the truth of their pasts if they're ever to have a future.

I am a sucker for a good superhero book, so whenever I get the opportunity to read one, I generally sign up.  Fated Desires had one such book become available for an honest review recently: Last Ascension, book 3 of The Capes Series. When I looked at books 1 and 2, Seductive Powers and Adrenaline Rush, respectively, I couldn't help but feel that I had read them before. After a little bit of digging on my Goodreads account, I found out why. Book 1 and 2 were previously released through a different publisher as Screwing the Superhero and Banging the Superhero and I read them back in 2011 sometime.  Needless to say it had been a while since reading the first two books, but I never missed them. Last Ascension could easily be read as a stand alone book.

This is the story of Lael Hudson, younger screw up brother to two important Guardians.  Lael's not really a screw up, he just made a fatal mistake when he was young and still very green. A mistake that has made him constantly doubt himself and lack confidence in his own abilities. If he can't trust himself, how can any of the other Guardians trust him a their backs? So Lael decides to leave and start over fresh. He has left the Guardian lifestyle and lives as a normal human.

Margot Fox meets Lael when she finally ventures out of the apartment she woke up in a week ago in. The apartment she has no idea how she pays for, who owns or any information about herself, just a note telling her to trust no one. When she runs out of food, she begins to venture out, but eventually her meager funds are running low and she begins carefully scouting the neighborhood to figure out what she will need to do next.  Lael invites her to his soup kitchen for a meal, and eventually a job. And although Lael gave up being a Guardian, he can't help but try to assist Margot in figuring out who or what is after her.

This was a good story that played out very much as one would expect in a comic book/movie. There were over the top villains, big action scenes, crazy schemes, cool superpowers and the unexpected plot twist at the end.  It having been so long since I read the first two books I was a little concerned, but it turns out that this book is set many years in the future, so the events of the first two books weren't really relevant. I liked the book and it was a fun 3 star read.