Review: A solid read with a sexy shifter. Who could ask for more?
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 29, 2013
Oh Liam. Not only do you have one of my favorite names, but you're emotional baggage, broken heart, and love for your mate despite her rejection had me swooning throughout your story. I wanted to just hold him and tell him over and over that it would be all better. And I'm not being dramatic. I'm being serious.We learned about Liam and Ava, and their totally messed up relationship in The Awakening: Aidan. (You can find my Goodreads review of the first in this series HERE.)  I knew going in this was going to be an emotional roller-coaster and I was very anxious to find out just what the heck was going on with Ava. Why did she dsert Liam? What made her push him away and throw him into the awful emotional state he had been in the first book, a state that was so bad Aidan had to find a shifter therapist to get him out of it, or at the very least, get him through it?Well, we find out all in this book. Strike that. We find out all about Liam and Ava in this book. We don't find out the answers to all my questions (like what is up with Britton and Val?! I am so intrigued by those two!) but Liam and Ava, and their story, comes to a head, and then a resolution that I was supremely happy about. There were also some seriously hot moments that not only kept the tension going between the hero and heroine, but also increased the tension with the conflict. I, like Ava, never knew if the big baddie was watching or not and that suspense added to the likeability of the book, for me.What about the downsides? Well, there was one big one that had me slightly frustrated. The prolonged miscommunication on Ava's part and her refusal to ask Liam for help or tell him what was going on, really grated on my nerves. Lack of communication is not one of my fave romance novel tropes. Or at least, not when it's dragged on for a fair bit of the book. I understand that there had to be a reason for Ava to have rejected Liam but I just feel like it went on for a bit too long. I was also disappointed to see Emma leave Ava's house. I was hoping that Liam and she would have a scene, where he saw she had grown up and was doing better, as opposed to when he and Ava had been together before and Emma had been rebelling like it was an Olympic sport.One of the plus sides of this book is the introduction of additional secondary characters to this world. Like I mentioned earlier Britton has me intrigued and I'd love to learn more about his story and why he is suffering a 20 year sentence. (I think it was hinted it, or mentioned in passing. So I know why, I just don't know everything that happened. Britton had to have a reason right?!)  Anyways, the end of this book left me feeling satisfied about the state of Liam and Ava for the most part, and I did enjoy seeing Aidan and Jaylin again. He intrigues me. Hopefully we see more of the secondary characters in the future though I'm not entirely certain if this series will be continuing or not. *fingers crossed that it does*All in all this was an enjoyable paranormal romance by an author with a strong voice and strong writing skills. I look forward to reading more by this author!*I received an ARC of this book from the Published in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*