Review: Really nice sweet story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 30, 2013
Other than a I'm on birth control so we don't have to use a condom even though we really don't know one another moment I really enjoyed this title.  The whole don't use a condom thing for a first time new hook-up is a pet peeve thing of mine but hey we all have our moments.Ainsley is in trouble.  She's fled California with just what she's wearing and her purse but nothing more.  She's driving on a backroad in Montana when she almost runs over a tiger??  really a tiger???  in Montana??  She's understandably thinking that she must be hallucinating due to stress and the fact that she's freezing in this piece of junk truck with no heat she bought with cash but she didn't really just see a tiger in the snowstorm did she?  She ends up telling jokes to it as it stares at her through the window of her truck until a deputy shows up to help her get out of the now totaled vehicle.  When she ends up in a bar begging for work she knows she's hit rock bottom but where else can she go since she doesn't know if it was her uncle or brother that tried to have her killed?  She was a lot tougher than people made her out to be and I found her to be a perfect foil for our hero.  I liked how she wanted to earn her own way and not rely completely on others but also liked that she really did work to understand what was going on around her even while her life was falling apart.  She takes finding out about the existence of shifters in a rational way, if locking yourself in a closet with a tray of brownies could be considered rational.  I wasn't quite as fond of her treatment of Luc at the end but I did understand it even though it sort of was over the top.Luc knows from the moment he sees her that she's going to be nothing but trouble.  He's determined to send her on her way but as he learns more about what is driving her he just can't do it.  He's also instantly attracted to her which also makes him really want to run the other way as he can't take letting someone get close to him again after losing his entire family in a dam break.  He's a goner though and we all know it which makes this a fun story.  I felt for him when he gets news that rocks him down to his core and understood why he behaved like a complete and utter jerk to her.  I didn't like it but I really did understand it.  I loved how he goes out of his way to try to help everyone in town as they have become his new family even if he doesn't completely want to admit it.  He's gruff but so sweet and gentle with Ainsley as she heals and seeing him be so afraid of hurting her was heartwarming.  I also admit he pulled my heartstrings when he struggles to help his old friend, Ian, come back from shapeshifter hell.This was a fun title with a bit of angst with both the main players and a secondary character that I want to see more of.  I want to see Ian get his HEA and find what he needs to make him whole again.  I have to say thanks to Entangled Publishing - Covet - for giving me the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.