A Review for Immortal Trust (The Curse of the Templars #3) by Claire Ashgrove

Posted by Melanie
Release Date: March 26th 2013

Finished Date: February 5th, 2013

Publishers: Tor Books 
Source: For Review

Format: Paperback

Pages:  464
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

When archaeoloist Chloe Broussard acccepts the contract to lead a dig in Ornes, France, she has no idea she will uncover the Veil of Veronica. When she does, she discovers a danger far greater than the demons she's confronted since childhood. Azazel wants her, as well as the Veronica, and his chosen minion is her brother. Her hope lies with immortal Templar Knight Lucan. Her life depends on oaths she knows nothing about.

For countless centuries, Lucan of Seacourt has lived with the knowledge that his brother killed their family. Now, as Azazel's darkness eats away at his soul, old betrayal stirs suspicion. He trusts no one. Not even the seraph who can heal his dying spirit.

With the fate of the Almighty hanging in the balance, Lucan must find faith in something more terrifying than the dark lord's creations. He must learn to believe his heart.

The Review: I just love this series <3

Immortal Trust is an excellent addition to The Curse of the Templars series. This book gave not only a different location but a different feel from the first two. This time around we join Lucan, Caradoc & Gareth as they travel to Ornes, France where a very important relic is about to be uncovered by an archaeologist – Chloe Broussard – who is about to have her world turned upside down because…you’ve guessed it….. she is a seraph and the saviour of Lucan of Seacourt. Lucan goes into this mission knowing that Chloe is his and decides to take a rather different approach than that of Merrick & Farran, he decides that he will court Chloe, get her to fall in love with him as a man before he springs the Templar situation on her. There is no denying the chemistry between the two but Chloe has been hurt before and has some serious trust issues regarding the opposite sex so she is very reluctant to start something with luscious Lucan. Adding to the her worries is the strange behaviour her brother Julian is displaying and his obsession with their finding - the Veil of Veronica, little does she know but Julian is possessed by evil as we see Azazel change his tactics in the hunt for the relics and for the Seraphs themselves. Can Lucan woo Chloe into taking her oaths? Will Chloe let her guard down long enough to let Lucan in? and more importantly… will she believe?

As I said, ‘I LOVE THIS SERIES’ – so I don’t think I could ever fault the books, this did indeed take on a different feel and thought it brought a nice change and gave the series a lift. This time we venture to Europe, the setting was beautiful, I enjoyed the descriptions of the surroundings, the dig itself was very interesting and even the day trip to Picardie had my curiosity going. I wanted to see these places and the details in the architecture that are described, there are very few times in books where I’m so interested in locations but this was one and I told myself I would google some of the places so I could see them for myself.
 I loved that this book took on a more romantic feel, the author writes her male leads so well, it’s hard not to fall for these big, strong, brave, heroic protectors and the devotion they show to their women just gets me every time. It was super sweet how Lucan wanted to court Chloe and make her fall in love with him before she found out about everything, he tried to learn from Merrick & Farran’s mistakes. We must remember that they are from a different time & place, that these modern women are being thrust into their lives and most of them have no clue what to do, taking the caveman approach and failing but I felt that he made more of an effort to understand her, his love for her was shining through & his protective side came across so well and not overbearing as strong Alpha males can be, he had only just met her and he was devoted to her <3 I liked the banter between them, how they opened up to each other, their little spats and even how he read her eyes but especially Chloe’s softening towards him – just lovely.
The threat also took on a different more sinister feel in this as Azazel seems to have changed tactics and a couple of surprising revelations come about, one being his allies, another being why he is so interested in the Seraphs and lastly how he is going about his quest for the relics especially when Chloe’s brother is possessed for such a reason. This is a new thing and makes you wonder what’s in store for the future Seraphs?  What will he use against them? I really like the direction it seems to be going in and I’m always left wanting more. This series is the closest thing to historical romance you will get me reading, I love the Templar history, the snippets of information we get here and there, it all adds to my curiosity and what better way to get some history across with it as the backdrop to never ending, good vs evil war with a strong supernatural feel, surrounding a fated love sent from the heavens – personally, I can’t get enough!