I enjoyed this book, loved the way Tate created such a strong Alpha weretiger with such yummy descriptors right from the start. Then she turned around and added vulnerabilities to Sloan, making him even more lovable. I confess I empathized with Sloan more than I did his mate, witch Sarah. Tate described a young woman that didn't trust herself, no true self-confidence; Sarah chose to hide her magical heritage and essentially acted like an ostrich with its head buried in sand whenever the subject of being a witch came up. Every now and then, readers were given a glimpse of her hidden strength and that was wonderful to see. This reader adored the setting of living with her mother because they enjoyed being roommates as well as their mother/daughter relationship. Which led to a flaw this reader found fairly glaring... she had trouble controlling her magic but wouldn't follow or listen to her mother's advice. Okay, perhaps that's actually typical; however, one of the ways for Sarah to learn magical control was through sex, and her non-magical friend and co-worker Janice was egging her on to date, party, have sex - as a stress reliever. Sarah would not allow herself to listen to either of these trusted people in her life, but chooses to follow the advice of a younger woman, Ashley, that she had never met before? This reader felt that was completely out of character for the person Tate created. This book is the first in a planned series, but is a stand alone. Not all problems were resolved in this first book, which other reviewers complained about... there is talk of a shifter war, but I didn't really expect that to be resolved by the end of this book because in all honesty, it hasn't actually begun yet. It is hinted at, implied there is a war brewing. The antagonist, Randal, shouts at Sarah that she has no clue what she has done, and she does question Sloan about that... okay, that wasn't answered, but it felt like whatever Randal was warning her about was likely tied into the possible shifter war. Because that shouted warning felt like it may have the war connection, and the war has not begun yet, it seems not answering it in this book was the correct way to set up a cliffhanger. The question of why the ley lines are so important... many authors have chosen to include a form of these mystical 'tunnels' of hidden magic in their stories, they are quite a big thing so again, it felt like Tate was setting up their importance for the future when the shifter wars begin. So this reader felt Tate answered the most pressing - to Sloan and Sarah - questions, and left others as a bit of intrigue for the next book(s). A final note, chapters one through sixteen were beautifully written, highly interesting and entertaining; however, several spelling errors were spotted in the later chapters, things that slip by a spellchecker such as the word "think" being in a sentence when it clearly read as "thing". The brain will correct these errors quite often. The incorrect words did toss this reader out of the world so that was disappointing - other than those few mis-used words, those chapters were still interesting and entertaining. I look forward to reading the next book and am pleased to add Sennah Tate to my bookshelves. ** Originally posted on Amazon reviews, May 18, 2016. **
Claimed by the BearI really like Sennah Tate's writing style, her narrative voice really speaks to me. I adore the way she creates drool-worthy Alpha males and includes vulnerability into them! Creating a huge werebear in Callan, he's tough, masculine, possessive concerning Ashley - yet his lip quivers and his insides turn to jelly at the thought of her refusing him. Now that is sigh-worthy! Many writer's create dominate Alpha's and they are awe inspiring and drool-worthy in their own rights, but there is something even more endearing when that muscular manly-man can be reduced to his most sensitive self, for the love and because of the love, of his woman. And Tate creates that type of male character that makes this reader want to swoon. This book is a stand alone that does refer to things that happened in the first book. Not to worry, Tate has you covered by giving a quick recap of the most pertinent information, so a reader that hasn't read the first book will not feel totally lost. Protagonist Ashley was an adorable character that this reader felt almost instant empathy towards and with; she's actually a fairly tough chick that is surprised by some of her new found self-doubts, yet intelligent enough to see the adoring Callen not only wants her to be strong but actually helps her be stronger simply because he believes in her. Just like in the first book, the reader should not expect every single question to be answered by books end; this book gives clues and is continuing to lay the groundwork necessary, giving readers more pieces to the bigger puzzle that concerns the town of Palm Haven. Also similar to book one, this reader found a few mis-used words that were spelled correctly but not used the way they were meant to be... an example that comes immediately to mind was a sentence where something "such as this" was actually written as "suck as this", it was giggle-worthy but did toss me out of the world briefly. The story is fairly fast paced, faster than the first book, in this readers opinion, yet is a completely satisfying read that leaves one wanting more. So, I'm ending this review and heading back to Palm Haven and book three! Oh yeah, I recommend this book! ** Originally posted on Amazon reviews, May 19, 2016. **
