Review: 2 Decades of This Story Are Told, Third Decade Should Be Amazing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 1, 2013
After finishing Savage (Daughters of the Jaguar) I had to sit back and kind of soak in what I had read. This is Paranormal Romance by genre but it was actually something a bit more as it tends towards trying to impart the author's sense of morality to the reader in a very general sense. Let me be clear, if I feel an author has decided to get on their soapbox and tell me how to live/vote/make a "better" world in a book I read for entertainment, I usually follow that with a trip to the trashcan. I read this genre for entertainment not enlightenment, with that said this book did it subtly enough for me to overlook most of it and enjoy the story.Christian is a recent arrival in the USA from Denmark; he is brilliant and shallow at the same time. His life, in addition to his academic prowess due to a photographic memory, has been a tale of women attracted to his good looks and cast aside due to his lack of ability to feel much on an emotional level due to facts that the book will provide. The book starts slowly, giving background and making you wonder if this book was accidentally placed in the wrong genre because it is pretty much story of a medical student going to live/work in Florida on the charity of others. Then things change after a near death experience followed closely by meeting the "crazy" people next door and finds them to be much more than anyone suspects (no I am not going to tell you, read the book). The title should give you enough hints but you should NOT expect the usual paranormal boy meets girl story, to quote some of my Alabama relatives "this ain't it". This starts down a road of romance combined with urban fantasy that you think you know where it is going and you will be wrong, I can safely say that this story kept surprising me in the directions it would take off in that you could not see coming. The story revolves around a myriad of things not the least of which are Christian trying to get a medical degree, not getting shipped back to Denmark, getting the girl (or not), trying to figure out why a wild animal saved him (yes that is a teaser), supernatural gift he has no idea how to embrace, and in what could have been left out IMHO a bit of what I would describe as "the Meaning of Life mixed with World Peace). Fortunately that last bit was subdued enough for me to enjoy the story.Readers should be aware that for the most part this novel is character driven rather than action packed (although there is enough of that to keep my interest) and the romance though heartfelt is somewhat low-key and rates probably closer to PG than R in that respect.The 2nd installment into the series was a vast improvement over book 1 but to be honest there was a lot of "world building" that had to be done on the history of all the characters, with that out of the way the author was able to get into the meat of the story in a much better manner.This is not a rosy story, it is a story of myriad plots, the paranormal parts, the unrequited love story, the human drama and the fact that the authors pulls it all together in a entertaining (although emotionally draining at times) manner is admirable. The story of Christian and his loves and family are more insightful than most in this genre and a bit more paranormal tidbits are served up here.This sequel takes place 10 years after book 1 and I suspect the next book (assuming there will be one) will take place after a long passage of time. I have to give this one 4 Stars and maybe more but to my way of thinking the interaction with one of the characters was unfulfilled and without knowing the future I can only dislike it until some resolution is made.I would still have a problem recommending these books until there is a good ending or stopping place, this book improved upon book 1 but still we are left with too many questions. As a trilogy with some fulfillment I would have no problem recommending the whole set. I will see what the future holds in this series.BOTTOM LINE: While a bit slower than I prefer it held my interest, the editing in the first 25% of book 1 needed some help but whether it got better or I got wrapped up in the story and blew right through it I could not say (I think that is a good thing either way) . Christian embracing his gift a bit more would have helped the book, some better follow-through on a side story or two would have helped, I got the feeling the author was less interested in telling the story in book 1 than her desire to enlighten me (no I DON'T like that). The premise and characters in this story have a huge potential that was not realized in this first book, but which do get its hooks into you enough to make you want more, which the second book delivers in small pieces to keep you hungry (well done) I shall look forward to the final book. Overall rating - 4/5 Stars - Maybe more if you are a starry eyed dreamer that is striving for "The Meaning of Life" but common folks like me are selfish and just want a good story with a bit of action and romance.  The second book raised the level of this series and made me actually want to get book #3 NOW but I shall wait to see the outcome of this story, this is one of those that predicting a happy ending would be foolish, we can only hope ...