Review: Loved my little sociopath
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 17, 2013
Ah, Shane, my favorite sociopath and assassin. I don't know what it is about him that appeals to me, well other than he has a wickedly dry, sarcastic sense of humor. No matter how many times I hear everyone in the coalition talk about how psycho leopards are and they're only good for killing, I can't help but feel that maybe growing up with Owen and Andrew affected Shane enough that he can have more than the lonely existence everyone seems to have slated him for. 'An Assassin's Touch' is book nine in the 'Lost Shifters' series and I would recommend reading these in order as there is too much backstory for them to be stand alones, in my opinion.Shane has been after a cobra shifter for several months now, and he's getting pretty angry that he keeps failing in his attempts. It doesn't help that the other snake shifter breeds are helping and they continue to attack Shane in his quest. No, the only thing that matters to Shane is that he keeps failing. His foster father taught him early on that leopards do not form attachments to others, they are incapable of love, and are only good for killing. He trained Shane to be the best killer he could be and when he failed in a task there were severe punishments. The problem is that Shane does feel emotions. When feline shifters turn away from him as if he's the bogeyman it hurts his feelings. He has nightmares every night where he hears the screams of the dying. None of this makes any difference though, because Shane knows all leopards are crazy, so he must be too. If only he could get the one encounter he shared with Trevor out of his mind.Trevor is a panther shifter and he's been very happy just playing around; he never sleeps with the same guy twice. So why can't he get Shane and their one encounter out of his mind? Even worse, he's very much afraid that if he succumbs, he'll lose his heart and since leopards don't form attachments, Trevor will be left with a broken heart. Doesn't keep him from wanting Shane, and when Shane stakes a claim, it's all Trevor can do not to jump him. But when another panther warns Trevor away from Shane, stating he doesn't want Trevor and his slutty behavior to mess with the rehabilitation they did on Shane, Trevor is shoved right back down to feeling like a worthless piece of crap. None of that matters though when Shane declares Trevor, "mine", in front of the coalition.Oh how I loved this book. Shane and Trevor are my favorites and, I'm sorry Andrew, you've been replaced in my affections. In fact, Shane and Trevor are being added to my list of favorite couples. And, in the spirit of the author, I am going to jump immediately into the next book and write my review. It's the only time in this series that the author wrote back-to-back books because she loved the characters so much, so I will follow that tradition.