Review: Excellent first in a series
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 21, 2013
This book is a stand alone story as well as the first in this author's Lycan series. I enjoyed that the werewolves in this book were people who had jobs, went to work, college, fell in love, and also happened to be wolves sometimes. They weren't all superheroes or power hungry villains or even movie monsters, they were people with certain genes who were born into a society that had to blend in and keep  certain parts of itself hidden.In order to survive, hundreds of years ago, the Ancient Lycan elders had written down some laws and codes to keep the werewolf society secret from and separate from humans. As time went on, and the Lycans learned to adapt and they were no longer threatened with extinction, some of the ancient code became less and less relevant, especially as it pertained to dating and mating with humans. It was forbidden by ancient law for there to be half human/half werewolf offspring because it detracted from the "purity"  of the line. In modern times, most packs had done away with this, since "halves" were common and usually could shift just fine; the packs also accepted their human parent as part of the pack as well. There was a small group of "purists" who were moving in on isolated packs and taking over, spewing anti-human rhetoric and killing or enslaving any humans in that pack and then forcing their children to work as slaves.This is where our protagonists come in. Reno Smith is an Enforcer with the Lycan Line, the bureaucracy that oversees Lycan affairs for North America.  When there's trouble in a pack, like the purists' holding families hostage, it's Reno and his team's job to go in and fix it.Brandi Johansson also works for Lycan Line, but she works in Damage Control. She has to come up with cover stories for why three families "moved" away from the area overnight, or what was that wolf doing out of the zoo?  if a nervous werewolf shifted in front of someone. She spends a lot of time smoothing things over after Reno gets done with his job, because he's not very diplomatic. Strangely, she doesn't mind. She's had a crush on him since college. Actually, it's a little more than a crush,but it was an accident, really! One day, Brandi's friend volunteered her to be a demonstration assistant in the self defense class Reno was teaching, They wrestled around, got a lot turned on, she accidentally scratched him, and some blood was exchanged.  Who knew you could blood bond with someone by accident? Not Brandi! Basically, Reno has ruined her for other wolves AND she can feel what he's feeling if she doesn't block really, really hard. Reno, on the other hand, is not blood bonded and is sure he's the type to lose his mind and go rogue one day, so he won't consider a serious relationship, although if it would be anyone it would be Brandi.Ups and downs over the years leave Brandi miserable, until she finally packs to move, taking a short vacation first. When Brandi finds herself in trouble, who can she call? And will he come to save her? The purists are conspiring to make sure no word gets out, but if it does, it'll look like Brandi has been helping them all along.The writing was excellent, the characters well written and interesting and the plot complex. I loved the push/pull between Reno and Brandi, they seemed like such opposites but they fit together so well. The epilogue of this book sets up another purist act of terrorism against Reno's partner, Damien and his pregnant half wife, Beth,killing her and their baby and sending Damien rogue.Nicky Charles does not charge for her books, but instead asks that the reader donate the cost of a book to a local animal rescue group. I will be sure to do this as a thank you to the author for giving such a great series for free.Heat factor moderate.