Lana Turpin doesn’t realize she’s a moving target. Raised in the foster system, she only knows that she blacks out during the new moon and wakes up without remembering a thing. But now she’s being tracked by some strange organization that wants her back—even though she’s never stepped foot inside their compound. And the stranger across the diner is watching her like an enemy.
It should be a simple mission for Adam, but when he touches the frustratingly beautiful Lana, his inner wolf howls…mate. Now, the two must find and stop the people who hunt her…and Adam must keep his own family from killing the only woman he will ever love.
Comment: This is the first book I try by this new to me author and it's also the first installment in a series featuring shape shifter characters, in particular a small pack of wolves. The series are set in a contemporary reality and there are also jaguar shifters.
Lana Turpin is a woman who was told she should be institutionalized because every month she looses track of her movements and there's a strange thing in her brain that, despite not being a tumor, can be the cause of her loss of conscience. But Lana is afraid and on the run so when she meets Adam, in his town, and he talks to her as if she knew what it was all about, she tries to run once more but one touch with their hands is enough to tell Adam she is his mate.
Adam knows Lana is a jaguar shifter and those are usually the enemy and currently the cause of some deaths in the wolves territory, so Adam only wanted to escort her out but after saving her and knowing who she will be to him, can they simply be together or will be pack pressure be too much?
I think I won't ever be the same reader, in love with most shape shifter stories ever again. Magnificent world building such as Nalini Singh and Anne Bishop have created are simply no match to the rest, when it comes to shape shifters. I can't help but compare them all and usually everything comes some notched down. It doesn't mean authors aren't talented or creative but I just can't see them as great when I've read almost perfection.
This book sort of suffered from it, it's not bad, but it's certainly not as richly developed or described as the others. I wanted to see more structure, more character relationships and interactions, more community rules and dealings... the way things are presented, it feels the pack and most characters just happen to be wolves or live close by. I felt the lack of magic and background in the world building.
The characters were interesting. Adam and Lana make a good couple but despite recognizing the technique that is to present mates and how instantaneous that connection can be, they were exchanging love declarations too soon! I liked their romance wasn't immediate, that they didn't jump to intimacy right away but their relationship felt very superficial even with the amount of time we know that goes on before they acknowledge their feelings. I also don't think it was very romantic. Practical in some parts yes, but there was no passion or chemistry to convince me they had to be together, to be mates.
The secondary characters were intriguing, obviously mysterious to entice us to keep reading, some of them I would love to read their stories but to think the plots would be all over the place and not deeply worked on as they could...
I liked Aren's presence but it wasn't presented as best at it could, Malcolm is a character I think was there just because, there was no need for him to progress the way it happened and the enemies are generic. I mean, I don't mind not having much focus on the bad guys and honestly, the plot would have been better without that! How great it would have been, had the author focused only the world and society where the shape shifters exist? That would have been better and who knows, with more time, a more solid structure would have been done.
I think this story had many elements but the plot was superficial and I wished more substance was given to us. Some parts were slightly boring because why would that specific things matter and it was quite amazing how often they traveled by plane just t have a conversation or something. I think there wasn't enough background to support well the characters. The shape shifting business wasn't very interesting either, they basically only shift during the full moon, we don't get many references to this aspect of their lives, except the basics...
I was entertained, I was and I am, curious about some things, I'd read the next book but the overall feel I got wasn't as special as that and I don't feel rushed to grab the next book now.
The HEA in this book was ok but well, some things were rushed here instead and it only made everything look a bit silly, I think.
It's not a bad book but well, to me it wasn't as magical as I would have liked.
Grade: 5/10
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