Review: Great Read - Hard to Put Down
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 25, 2013
Skye Cross owns a pet store but has always been involved in rescuing animals. She is aided in these rescues by using her psychic gift of being able to communicate with animals.“The pet supply store fed my bank account, but it was the animals I helped that fed my soul.”When Skye’s latest rescue mission brings her face to face with an animal fighting ring, she quickly realizes that the animals that are being forced into battle are more than they seem. Her twin brother Shade, a homicide detective, is killed in the line of duty investigating some murders that he has tied back to the animal fighting ring. As Skye begins her own investigation into her brother’s murder, she learns that the animals being forced to fight are really shapeshifters, which leads her straight into the path of Luc Lazare, a man who sets all of her senses on fire.“Luc – at least to me – was the equivalent of human catnip. He could be seductive and irresistible, and being near him made me long to step outside my usual self.”Luc Lazare has always been torn between two worlds – the Kindred world of his father and the human world of his mother. When Shade Cross gives up his own life by saving Luc’s mother from a murder attempt, Luc feels responsible to protect Skye from the dangers she uncovers during her investigation into her brother’s murder– an investigation that puts her right in the middle of the Kindred shapeshifting world. Luc can’t deny the attraction to Skye, but as he continues to work with her he also can’t deny that there is more to it than just a simple attraction.“He more than desired her. He more than liked her, as his mother had discerned. He respected her.”When Skye learns that Shade is trapped in this world because he gambled his soul away to the Kindred trying to gain information about the shifter fights and the murders, she now also must find a way to return his soul. Because of their psychic connection, Shade is able to communicate with Skye, but can’t remember the details of the investigation, only that Luc Lazare is somehow involved and could only be trouble for Skye.“The more she knew about Luc Lazare, the more tools she would have in her arsenal to resist him. … Shade didn’t know why exactly that was important, but he was convinced that Luc Lazare was someone his sister should avoid at all costs.”Luc’s half-sister Nuala also becomes a part of the investigation when she reveals that she and Shade were involved. She and Skye form an unlikely friendship, and, when she is kidnapped and forced to participate in the shifter fights, Luc’s loyalty and protectiveness of those he cares for is shown when he is forced to rescue her.“He would do anything for me, despite everything. That’s the kind of man Luc is, Skye. Don’t let him fool you into thinking he’s something he’s not.”…”I know he makes it difficult. He’s been caught between two worlds for so long, he sometimes loses himself. But he’s worth finding, I promise you.”Skye and Luc must not only work together to determine who is behind the shifter fights, but they must come to terms with the feelings they have for one another and determine if they can create a future together or if their two worlds will tear them apart.“Nuala had claimed Luc was a good man worth loving. That he wasn’t who he let me think he was. Knowing the emotional upheaval caused by The Book of Powers and the things I myself had experienced in the last few days, I wondered what a lifetime of uncertainty and of being pulled in such different moral directions had created in Luc.”I really enjoyed this book – from the interesting and dark world that Patricia Rosemoor has created to the depths of her characters. The dialogue between Skye and Luc was awesome – snarky and sweet, just like I like it!“You’re not exploring anything right now but a shifter fight,” I warned him.“Right now? Does that mean later, I can –““Can you possible keep your mind on tonight’s fight?”“Doubt it.”“Try.”“Um, nope.”“Try harder.”“That’s not a problem.”Although the book started off a little bit slow for me (in hindsight, this was because I needed to learn all the details on this new world and the characters), once the story got going it was hard to put down. There was a good balance between the action and suspense of the shifter fight storyline and the romance – love all the tension between Luc & Skye.I would definitely add this book to your TBR list and I hope that Patricia Rosemoor considers more stories that takes place in this world!I received an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.