This RITA® Reader Challenge 2016 review was written by Sarah FW. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Paranormal Romance category.
The summary:
Wolves mate for life—and wolves never forget their first love
Royal photographer Lexie Haven wasn’t expecting to see her ex-boyfriend Faran ever again. She could accept that he was a spy, but a werewolf? No way. No matter how good they had been together, she has very personal reasons for steering clear of monsters. That is, until he literally crashes into a royal gathering in all his furry glory—and with a gunman on his tail.
Within minutes of seeing each other again, the two estranged lovers are on a collision course. For now, Lexie is a prime suspect in the heist of a priceless ring, and only Faran can help her find the jewel and restore peace to the royal kingdom. But first, Lexie needs to trust in second chances and the supernatural.
Here is Sarah FW's review:
This was part of a double Harlequin edition and part of their Nocturne sequence. At first I thought perhaps I was in a story slump since I had some initial issues getting into the story, but on the second re-read, I found it thrilling, fun and exciting.
Lexi Haven is a world renowned photographer and seems to have it all together. She is in Marcari to help her best friend who is planning the wedding of the century between Prince Kyle of Vidon and Princess Amelie of Marcari. It has been years since she saw Farran Kenyon, and after his shocking revelation and her flight, she is still dealing with trust issues, commitment, and most of all still trying to heal her broken heart.
Farran is a member of the supernatural community, and a valued member of the Company of the Dead, a secret elite group of supernatural individuals. His nickname is “famine,” both for his appetite but also for his abstinence. Since the breakup with Lexi, he has been flinging himself into work, and avoiding any entanglements with anyone else besides his team. Farran is also still reeling from the abrupt and shocking death of their team leader.
Both characters are solid on second glance, and the buildup was intense. I did find that I wanted to find out more about their previous relationship; it seemed intense and theirs was a story that I wanted to read.
Both a murder mystery and a romance, this novel hit a lot of fun points for me. The mystery was mysterious, and had a great twist. And even better the supernatural element to the story felt natural, and seemed to add rather than take away. The romance was sizzling. There were times when it felt like there might be elements of magic sex that would fix everything, but the characters had chemistry and talked a lot of stuff out. Farran did a lot of, “Here is control, take it. I might be Alpha and want to be in control at all times, but I want you to be safe and comfortable.”
There was a significant amount of talking between the two leads and it felt like a more natural progression of their romance than a forced conversation. The secondary characters were sometimes less well drawn, but overall it felt like there was a reason for them to be involved. Maurice – ohhh Maurice – a relative of the ruling family, he jumped off the page and was so much fun to have the main characters interact with.
The setting for this novel was a cross between France and Germany and had elements of Monaco. I often love reading about urban fantasy, as the authors will take a real element and make changes to suit their needs. And this book was not overly descriptive but was able to get the setting across and created a breathing world.
It took me a second read through to get into the story, but I wanted to read more about the characters.
This book is available from:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well.
Thanks!
Really happy that you liked this story as much as I.
I’m really sad I didn’t realize this was the third book in a series. I couldn’t figure out why there wasn’t more backstory about the world. That said, it’s good! But I think you definitely miss something if you don’t start at the beginning of the series.
@morganlf, interesting that your experience was so different than mine. I have not read any of the other books in the series and I had no problem at all entering into that world. I felt there was enough allusions to what had happened in the past to make this story a standalone.
I really loved it.
I agree that this works as a standalone–I generally don’t like picking something up if it’s not the first in the series, but this worked just fine. I really enjoyed an alpha male who was secure enough in himself that he was able to give the heroine the space she needed–almost unheard of in some paranormals! I agree about the secondary characters, too, and actually that’s one of my gripes about series: often, characters from a previous book pop up in the next but so fleetingly that they come off as little more than stick figures. I get that the main story is the current romance, but come on…Anyway, I liked it a lot and plan to start at the very beginning of the series (a very good place to start). 🙂