Review: Very good, recommended
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 23, 2013
First I want to say that I received a complimentary review copy from the author. However I have purchased each of the other seven books in this series. I have also bought and read several others, here on Amazon.com. In total I have read at least 15 of Evangeline Anderson's books. Others, includingWishful Thinking (Swann Sisters Chronicles)andForbiddenare highly recommended.One of the first things that strikes me different about this book compared to others in the series is the cover. The heroine, Nina, is looking straight out at me, the reader. She is daring me to be a voyeur and become part of her story. Nina is a very pragmatic and self-assured heroine, at least in the first half of the book. She is observant, capable and adaptive to new situations. The hero, Reddix, is a mixture of several other of Anderson's characters. I found his self-loathing a bit too heavy at times, but since he was basically a social outcast from his fellow Touch Kindred, his feelings are understandable.We are also introduced to a new "big bad," a swamp witch with ex-issues and demonspawn.I have to say the Touch Kindred are my least favorite of all the Kindred races. I liked the first original three books best, with the Beast and Twin Kindred my favorite guys. I feel their planets and societies are more interesting, as well as their "endowments." I want to see more of them.Since this is erotic fiction, the intimate scenes are plentiful and descriptive. However I feel that Anderson is writing completely different when she does the sex scenes, because her writing style and vernacular changes considerably. Also after reading more than a dozen books some scenes have become a bit formulaic. (Finding different uses for bonding fruit seems to be a bit tiring and overused now.)In the latter 25 percent of the book, when our protagonists get separated and we are back on the mother ship, the story starts to unravel a bit. A new character is introduced, which is usually the heroine of the next book. The storyline gets crowded. As in too many characters from the universe are interacting in everyone's business, they are all best friends, and I did not feel that the ending was tidy enough or wrapped up strong enough for the characters I invested in. Gone was the strong character Nina that I was introduced to in the beginning. She became really unsure of herself and what made her unique about her Native American heritage just seemed to fade away and not come back.I really enjoyed reading this book, my mind was engaged and my imagination ran wild with the hot intimate scenes. Recommended.