Reviewed by Jen

Remember when I said this series might have run its course for me? Scratch that. This book was a comeback in a big way. All of the disconnect I had been feeling was gone. All of the character focus I missed, was back again. I was engaged from the very beginning. The pacing was good, the plot moved fast, and I didn’t want to put it down from beginning to end.

One of the things that drew me in was the set-up. Lily’s mom, Julia, has lost her memory. She thinks she is still 12 years old. She can’t remember any of her life since that point, and that includes her husband and her children. Obviously, Lily thinks that whatever has magically targeted her mom, is using Julia to get to her. Then other people start popping up with memory loss all over the city. Something bigger is happening, but that Lily can’t shake the feeling that her mom is ground zero. [Read more…]

Reviewed by Jen

I struggled a little with this installment. It’s not bad. There is a lot happening to advance the main story arc. The problem I had was with a noticable lack of feels. The last few books really struck a fantastic balance between action and its character focus. This time around, I really missed the character and emotional elements. I missed the romance. And I felt the pacing was uneven. But the ending is big, so no way you can skip it. [Read more…]

Reviewed by Jen

I know it’s bad form to talk about the ending of a book first, but WOW what at ending this one has. It’s really the ultimate culmination of a fantastic book that builds and builds to a climax that is emotional, intense, and pretty much everything you could want. Not sold yet? Let me back up.

This book really gets back to the basics in what the series is about, and it picks up some dangling threads that have just been waiting to be pulled. The focus is on the lupi, specifically Nokolai, but not just them. Rule is trying to gather all the clans together to talk about the growing threat from their ancient enemy. It’s not easy, since his decision to become Rho of Leidolf while remaining heir to Nokolai has left the other clans on edge. [Read more…]

Reviewed by Jen

Finally! I have wanted to know more about Grandmother since the beginning of the series, and now we finally get a peek into her backstory and what it means for Lily in the present day. It was worth the wait, and was made even better as it tied into so many other threads we’ve seen woven over the last several books.

So it may seem at first like Rule and Lily’s surprise engagement would be a big deal in this book, and while there is a bit of fallout, it’s really quite a minor element of the story. That’s because someone nearly kills Cullen at his and Cynna’s baby shower and the stakes only go up from there. You see, the attack happens at Clanhome, which gives the Nokolai a major stake in the investigation, and the perpetrator uses magic, which drops the case squarely into Lily’s jurisdiction. [Read more…]