Review: excellent follow on novel
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 27, 2013
The Awakening: Liam. Abby Niles.ARC supplied by publisher.I'd read and enjoyed the first in this series, Aiden's story so was keen to review this one. We met Liam in the first book, where he was deep in a state of grief as his Mate had rejected him. It's a lot to take on though as a human, being told your lover is really a shifter. Although we saw brief clips of Ava it was really just as part of the scene setting for Aidens story. This time Ava comes to the fore, and we learn more about her rejection of Liam. There's kidnapping, escape and lots of very real danger to Ava, her young sister and to Liam, and the conundrum of how much the shifter officials can cover up from the human police as they strive to protect the secrets of their world.As more is revealed to Ava about shifters and the Mating bonds it also allows the reader to learn more about the world, the reason for some of the decisions and how difficult it is to integrate while keeping the secrecy so necessary. I really liked Ava once we knew her reasons, she loves Liam but needs to keep away from him. The more that is revealed the more she knows she needs to stay away, and she finds it a struggle having to lie to the police, her friends and family about the kidnapping in order to protect the shifters, and yet if she and her sister are ever to be out of danger she has to let them take control. Its a dead end so far though, tracing who is responsible, he clearly has a hatred of Liam and blames him for something, and yet no-one seems to know what it is he thinks Liam did. Ava can't help wondering what happened, especially when she can see that the shifters, and Liam, are still keeping secrets from her.Its a great read, not too dark or deep but enough to keep the reader engrossed for a couple of hours.( I am a quick reader though, s may take others longer) It links well with the first book, and I feel it's the sort of series I will enjoy reading back to back in a "paranormal-fest" day. I love to read my way through different series once they're all out, I can immerse myself into another world. Its easy to follow, you won't need to read the first book, though of course that gives a deeper insight into the history. The biggest problem I had again, as with the first book, is the terms used, remembering exactly what each stage was. A glossary explaining that would be useful, as apart from a couple of obvious ones such as dserted they are such strange words. Priced at 1.89 for around 158 pages/253kb its good value.Stars: excellent read, five stars.