Book 1, The Soul Mate: The Holy Trinity

**WARNING:Review Contains Spoilers** I discovered this book through a recommendation on the store's Romance forum. This was a book where I was left thinking "WTF?" after reading it. The author begins the story by giving us a glimpse centuries in the past, introducing us to the "soul mate" concept of the book. Fast forward to 2011, a post-apocalyptic world where Trinity, a non-gypsy, has taken up residence with the Romani, who by the way, have magic.

Trinity's family has been murdered and she was saved by the biggest gypsy of them all, Gerick. We barely get a little backstory to this, and it isn't until the end of the book. We just have to accept that he has found her, she is his soul mate, and she is happily living with his people. Oh, and he's still sleeping with his mistress of twelve years.

The gypsy's magic spell is somehow broken and the skin-eaters are able to come into the camp. (I'm still confused and not sure if they're vampires or zombies). Trinity decides she wants to learn to fight and shoot so she enlists the help of another male in the camp, Xan. Half-gypsy/half-not, Xan has no magic but she's drawn to him anyway. They end up falling in love and getting married. Xan goes off on a raid with others in order to bring back supplies. While he's gone, the skin-eaters attack again and Gerick comes to the rescue...by turning into a dragon!

If you're already confused just by reading this review, imagine how I felt reading this book. There were so many twists and turns that just did not make sense. There was very limited backstory, which disables the reader from feeling a connection to ANY of the characters. The only interesting pieces of this story came from the glimpses back in time.

I am giving this 2 stars only because I was able to finish the book (surprisingly). The author leaves it open for a sequel, but I will not be checking it out.

The majority of post-apocalyptic stories center around ordinary people that find themselves ill equipped to survive in a world without a 24 hour Walmart, but The Soul Mate is written from a different perspective. The survivors of this novel are a band of gypsies, a family clan that knew how to thrive in the wilderness long before the fall of civilization. Trinity, the narrator, is an outsider among these outsiders. She is a Gaje, a nongypsy, who was rescued from death by a clansman for reasons that remain secrets to her. Now Trinity lives in a new reality, one filled with monsters and ancient magic. The characters are engaging as they grapple with fate- the love and death they face seems to have been written in the stars. This book won't let you go until you've read the last page.

I absolutely love Madeline Sheehan's books...she writes in such a way that just speaks...NO screams out to my heart and all the inner feelings I have about life and love. I have never read a book quite like this one...it is completely out of the normal genre that I usually read, but being such a huge fan of hers (and the fact she put it on Smashwords for FREE) convinced me to give it a try.
WOW...WOW...WOW...what an exciting and beautiful and horrible and sexy and mystical journey that was...and without a doubt, it left me wanting to read more...but OMG...it made me feel so many emotions and that last freaking chapter...made me bawl my eyes out!!
This was a completely original dystopian world where fantasy lives amidst creatures with sharp claws and teeth and everyday is a fight for survival while magic serves as a protector.
Trinity, Zan and Gerik make up the unbelievably sexy as hell love triangle...Trinity and Gerik "bonded" as soulmates and Zan, the one who loves her unconditionally.
There are so many characters in this story and it keeps going back and forth between the past and present day...you really need a score sheet or cliff notes to keep up at times, not to mention all the Romanian and Slovenian phrases which are sometimes easy to figure out but at others it's good to check the provided glossary so you don't miss a thing!
This is not only a battle of survival for all in this society or between the two men fighting for Trinity's love, but rather a strong woman determined to fight for the right to make her own choices about her own future...without magic or interference from the Gypsy camp who have taken her in.
If you liked Sheehan's biker series, you will love this one as well...the setting may be different but there are an abundance of hot, bossy alpha males, interfering bitches (I just wanted to wring Onyx's damn neck!), a real sense of family ties and loyalty, plus an amazing mix of scorching romance and blood curdling action!

***** 5 ***** "Sacrifice it ALL for love" stars

I really love this book and the series in general but she never finished it. The last book came out 4 years ago. I am still waiting on the next one. You are just left hanging and there is no way to finish it. I wouldn’t recommend if it will bother you that you can’t finish the series. I really want her to write the last book but it doesn’t look like that is happening.

The Soul Mate is a perfect blend of urban fantasy, paranormal, and hot sexy jerk. I fell for Xan behind the barrel of a gun and he's held me captive ever since. But Gerik is the other half of my whole and without him I feel all kinds of wrong. Madeline hit this out of the park with an elaborate and perfect weave of past and present story lines and an intense plot that kept me guessing. I would recommend everyone give this story a chance! You'll surprise yourself.

did I just read that? yep, I sure did. absolutely amazing, wonderful, mystifying and incredible. being a huge Madeline Sheehan fan, I'm kicking myself in the rear for not reading this sooner. gerik, xan and trinity stole my heart. what happens next? I'll tell you .... my kids are eating pizza for dinner AGAIN so I can find out .. More Holy Trinity for me tonight!!! LVLove

Lots of interesting parts. Too bad none of them make sense all thrown together with the kitchen sink. More than 50% through, rolling my eyes at every page. It was free. I'll finish, but I regret starting. I could have spent this time on an interesting but coherent book.

Starting off with this book was very confusing it felt as if there was another book before. It only goes down hill from there. The Gypsies are so racist and prejudiced its awful. And worst was the slut shaming towards the women. While the hero makes out and sleeps with his mistress while claiming her his soul mate. The whole story sucks I thought it was going to be a survival zombie book its not.

I was sceptical about this book as the plot summary didnt really interest me much. I was recommended this by a friend however and after reading some rather enthusiastic 5 star reviews I decided to give it a go. All I can say is WOW! I read at least 2-3 books a week and it has been sometime since I have read something that I really found hard to put down. It could use a little editing here and there but as a self- published book Its easy to forgive. Well worth the read and I enjoyed the sequel as much if not more. Cant wait for Book 3!

Since Undeniable I was hooked on Miss Sheehan,I just love her characters and writing style. This book is just amazing,the story is addictive and it has you hooked from the first page.Madeline give me one of my favorite book boyfriends AGAIN!!! XAN <3 3
I highly recommend this book and I cannot wait to read the rest :)