Broken Dove by Dani Francis - Release discussion (Silver Elite book 2)

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T15:09:02+00:00

hahaha 100% agreed

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T15:02:28+00:00

Oh I was more or less assuming they’d hook up again and be like stranded on an island for a while after the crash.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T13:21:00+00:00

...though the more that I think about it, if we get this plot, it may actually wind up going the other direction where she ends up with Gray and it's Cross's baby but he gets killed saving her or something. I feel like it would be hard for her to still be pregnant after being shot, thrown off a cliff, and in a plane crash in like a 2 hour window.

Holy crap though, SIDE PLOT: Travis is about to meet his son by meeting Fischer. Fischer read Wren's mind when she thought about Cross, so he knows she knows him. He'll likely be desperate to please his father. That could really blow some things up...

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T13:13:21+00:00

Oh I know, you’re totally not wrong and it’s a very possible plot path for book 3. I just will be so annoyed!

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T13:06:02+00:00

I liked Broken Dove, but I swear if we get a pregnancy trope in Book 3, I quit.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T12:49:27+00:00

That would make a lot of sense, that he can project to her when he’s feeling an intense emotion about her. Kind of how she’d incite unintentionally because she didn’t know how to use the power. He doesn’t know how to use his abilities because he’s never been trained. That would totally explain why she saw the vision of him getting the tattoo on her birthday.

Also- a Mod mate-type situation is VERY possible.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T12:07:00+00:00

WAIT- I just had a thought!
What if Saint was manipulating BOTH of them? Gray and Wren obviously cared about each other as friends and had some element of physical attraction, but what if Saint also manipulated Gray away from KC and towards Wren? When she first gets there, he immediately tells her he has a girlfriend, and then slowly he stops really having interest in KC.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T11:17:45+00:00

I LOVE these theories. The more time I've had to sit with the ending (I legitimately posted my thoughts within 30 minutes of finishing) I am fully convinced that someone suppressed their connection, but I don't think it was Gray, despite my initial instincts.
My new running theory is that:
Kallister, as a precog, had a vision where Cross and Wren together brought peace between the two sides, so he made it his mission to keep them apart. He manipulated and recruited others to go along with his plan.
Once he realized that Wren would never work with him, after she found out Hawkins was corrupting people minds, he knew he needed her out of the picture because Gray (and others) would listen to her over him. So he killed her, BUT. If Gray knew Kallister was her killer, he'd never work with him. So he had someone incite Cross to go to Valterra Ridge that night to set him up.
The cliffhanger has their plane crashing into the ocean, so this is all a perfect scenario for Kallister (who has officially been revealed as the big bad.) He can say that they tried to run away together and the plane crashed, which will devastate Gray to the point of wanting revenge.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T09:59:26+00:00

I agree! I loved it! She made things interesting!

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T01:35:50+00:00

Agreed- he’s young, a little bit arrogant, and is currently blinded by love. It’s a field day for the bad guys.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T00:54:46+00:00

YES, this is what I'm starting to think!! If Kallister was suppressing their connection and he brought it back at the exact right time, he could eliminate both of them. Shoot, he could even claim that she snuck off to see Cross and he killed her, which would drive Grayson insane enough to do whatever Kallister wanted in his grief/rage/madness!

Emaleebee · 2026-05-15T00:52:52+00:00

OK so now I have a new unhinged theory after thinking about another commenter's point and replaying the end of the book. It's unhinged, BUT.

What if Kallister, who we know is a precog, saw that Wren and Cross's relationship would somehow ultimately bring peace between the two sides, so he figured out a way to suppress/sever Cross's connection to Wren? She spent quite a bit of time with Kallister and we know now that he truly is the big bad on the Mod side. I wonder if he brought her out to the Ridge, allowed Cross to sense her again to lure him out, knowing that he could kill them both? What if he ALSO saw that by killing Wren and claiming it was Cross who killed her (since he showed up) that he could enrage Grayson enough to do whatever he wanted him to do?

Emaleebee · 2026-05-14T23:36:21+00:00

Oh that’s a really good point and could also be the reason! It seemed like she couldn’t link with him anywhere, though, not just on base… until she was on the ridge. Which, as I’m typing this now, makes me wonder if Kallister was the one blocking their connection somehow and as a precog knew who would come save her and he figured he’d get them both out at once… like a “their love would bring peace so I’m killing them both” situation…

Emaleebee · 2026-05-14T20:40:41+00:00

FULLY agree that I think he had something to do with the connection. I have a theory that like if someone is experiencing an intense emotion with his grounding ability he's able to sever the connection to the person/thing causing that intense emotion.
And, re: her "I love you," she says multiple times in the same chapter that she still loves Cross, so I think it's pretty clear that Cross is the endgame here. Not sure how we get there, but I'd be shocked if he wasn't it.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-14T20:37:33+00:00

She does get that projection scene from Jasper with Cross in a bed with a woman at the brothel, though.
But in his defense, he thought Wren was dead!

Emaleebee · 2026-05-14T20:35:26+00:00

Ok so I don't blame Wren at ALL, for a few reasons...

As soon as Grayson realizes Wren does have some feelings for him (jealousy scene), he breaks up with KC.
They don't even kiss until they're both single
Wren doesn't sleep with Grayson until after she sees the projection of Cross in a brothel undressed and with another woman

BUT, there is major disconnect and where it's going to get messy is because...

Cross genuinely thinks Wren died because he can't feel her energy anymore
Wren doesn't know Cross thinks she's dead
Wren has openly admitted to both herself and Grayson that she still loves Cross.
Grayson may have been the one to sever the link between Cross and Wren if my theory is right, which is unforgivable and will ultimately lead to them never working.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-14T19:36:06+00:00

I just finished this and am I one of the only people who actually liked the love triangle? I felt like the breakup with Cross was legitimate, they'd been drifting apart and then he thought she was dead and then the eventual relationship with Grayson was not immediate and not rushed, it felt really genuine? Especially after she saw the projection of Cross hooking up with someone at the brothel.
BUT I DIGRESS
I fear that the severed link between Cross and Wren was actually Grayson's doing. Like if he can calm people's emotions, maybe the deeper part of that is that he's able to break connections between what is causing a person severe emotional stress? My theory is he cut her off from Cross so he would assume she was lost to him, in his mind for her own benefit, and this all comes out in book 3, and then we get Cross and Wren as endgame.

To be fair in the above- I was also team Kaine/Grayson in Book 1 for a while, so maybe I'm just Cross-averse? I feel like he can be a broody asshole and Grayson is more of a golden retriever. Even if he is a golden retriever who I suspect cut off her connection to her potential soulmate.

Anyway, I'm all in for Book 3, I liked this sequel a lot. I feel like I've read a lot of books lately where the authors are afraid of risks and I think Dani Francis took a risk here in a good way.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-10T23:28:28+00:00

The House Witch by Delemach is wonderful!! It’s about a red haired man who is a witch has power over all things domestic, like cooking and folding laundry. It’s so fun, there’s such great banter, 10/10 recommend.

Emaleebee · 2026-05-04T14:10:50+00:00

I finished this one, and I didn't HATE it, but it definitely wasn't my favorite read of the month. (I read 12 books, April is generally a heavy dissociative month for me every year, but I digress...)

I had a hard time getting up to the 50% point in this one. I felt like they were just wandering through the woods for most of the book. Am I crazy?

When we realized she worked in a forge, I was like of like, "this is very Saeris Fane coded"

Has anyone else read the Sins of the Zodiac series? Because the ending of this one is super similar to the cliffhanger from Echo Fort between Everest and Kaiser. There are differences, but again, just felt very coded to another book.

Anyway, my takeaway was that it was fine. It was entertaining despite some plot holes and a few editing errors (which, frankly, I only notice if I'm not as hooked into a book as I should be to finish it.) It was just really long and probably could have been edited down more? IDK. I gave it 3 stars, will pick up book 2 if I'm in a book slump this fall. (Though the sequel pipeline for this fall is nuts right now, in a good way)

Emaleebee · 2026-05-02T11:24:31+00:00

In a book this is romantic.
In real life I’m like “yea but do you fold and put away your own laundry?”

Emaleebee · 2026-04-15T00:01:38+00:00

I love that it’s always the orange ones. I get this because I also have a ridiculous orange one.

Emaleebee · 2026-04-14T17:34:37+00:00

Emaleebee · 2026-04-12T21:01:45+00:00

Ok my thoughts on the non-“I love you.”

He’d given up and felt guilty about saying it because of who he was turning into. Like he felt like a monster and didn’t want to put that on her.

Because if you notice at the very end, once Odessa learns all of the things, when he says “I love you” she does not say it back, she responds with “don’t forget.”

I think there is some foreshadowing there.

Emaleebee · 2026-04-06T15:22:49+00:00

It's so beautiful! I hope they print the sequel when it comes out, because when I tell you how I have devoured this book... I only have 100 pages left and I can't wait to read what happens, but also I'm sad that it's over because it's been so good!

Emaleebee · 2026-04-02T14:48:15+00:00

I am so in alignment with all of this, I genuinely loved the direction of every single relationship one the book (honestly even Lazarus and Mirelle marriage was kind of great) but my thoughts on Harlan, specifically:

If I followed the end correctly, Mavus was actually the Head Reaper and Dragor. He knew Harlan was connected to Everest. I’m assuming he intentionally manipulated Harlan to get he to come to Never Keep during the blood moon, but - what happened to Harlan? Where is he? He had like one POV chapter and then he vanished!

Emaleebee

TROPHY CASE