Reviews

It felt a bit empty. Like being served shots of different drinks about never more than that. It was good but needed more content on all aspects. The shape shifting, mystery, and romance all felt too quick and half brewed. I was disapointed, because I just wanted more.

lezreadalot's review against another edition

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4.0

“Well, I am a scientist.” Pushing aside any lingering doubt, Eve closed the distance between them, pausing when her lips were mere inches from Selene’s. “Testing theories is sort of my thing.”

3.5 stars. Though this had a healthy number of my nit-picks and narrative dislikes, I really liked this paranormal romance! It's my first full length book from O'Brien, and definitely my favourite so far. Selene is a shapeshifter who knows very little about her nature/the paranormal world, and Eve is a forensic pathologist who's got a serial killer on stalking her. They meet after a traumatic event, and immediately click. The term "fated mates" isn't used, but that's clearly what they are; they have an empathic bond that goes beyond description. Their first meeting and the events that follow are so good; I actually felt the spark of attraction between them, and it so so swoony from the very beginning. Not all books do that convincingly enough, and it laid such a good, stable foundation that I didn't mind that the relationship moved faster than my slow-burn-loving heart usually prefers.

As mentioned, there's a bunch of things that'll just never work for me. We get periodic snippets from the villain's POV, which will just never appeal to me, especially if the book is going to retain any kind of suspense. Some sources of conflict included lack of communication and ex-girlfriend drama, both of which I hate. Though I'll admit, the ex-gf stuff wasn't as annoying as it could have been, since Jac is a stable presence in Eve's life, and has a reason to be around. She doesn't just show up. But her attitude and the jealousy plot with her and just the way she was written got almost caricaturish, and just not enjoyable. And while I understood Selene's reasons for keeping secrets, this one was just kept too long, and I wish a way had been found to bring her into the know sooner.

Listened to the audiobook as read by Alexandria Wilde, who was as impressive, immersive, and enjoyable as always. O'Brien's books are always really hot, and this was no exception. Even though the paranormal world wasn't really developed well, I still liked what we got. And even though I had my nitpicks with the romance, they were just so great together. Really glad I picked this up!

Content warnings:

Spoiler

murder, gore, attempted rape, stalking, torture

fianna101's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

banrions's review against another edition

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4.0

i really enjoyed this. i picked it up because i realized that alexandra wilde is abby craden, reading (best guess) more erotica-like stories, and i love her narration, and also WEREWOLVES. i love werewolves. they are my favorite horror/fantasy/creature probably and there aren't enough stories that hit them the way i enjoy them, especially not sapphic ones. this is sllllightly less werewolf and more shifter with werewolf elements, but it's close enough that i had a good time.

this did have more erotica sex scenes than maybe your average romance novel, but it is def very heavy on plot and character stuff. i sort of expected more, tbh but only because i don't read a lot of erotica and don't know what to expect, i guess. i don't know if this even qualifies?? the plot has to do with a serial killer and (possible, though never happens on page, only is threatened as something that might happen) rape. so, beforewarned, you do get a few short chapters in the killer's pov and this is largely a story about stalking, a serial killer case, AND set in between, a love story between a lonely shapeshifter and a forensic pathologist with trust baggage issues.

i really liked both selene and eve as characters, and their dynamic (though very fast) was really fun to delve into. i found jack, eve's cheating ex and a cop, to be really fucking irritating, but she made sense, character-wise. i adoooored the voices alexandra/abby gave to eve and selene. i have no idea if selene's voice is actually kinda italian sounding, but what it does sound is hot and dreamy and lovely. to my ear, at least. overall, i enjoyed this and i'd rec it. i'd like to see a sequel, honestly. i think there is setup where we could see selene and eve learning more about selene's powers and their relationship develop further, but it doesn't leave the reader feeling unsatisfied.

rebl's review against another edition

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4.0

I would listen to Alexandria Wilde read me a phone book. Or a take away menu. Anything at all. I highly recommend this narrator.

The novel was fairly entertaining. It follows the usual formula of genre lesfic, written in a skilful and vivid manner.

bmzhang's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

The romance was pretty cheesy, quick, over the top, but the thriller and paranormal aspect helped with some of that

magnetgrrl's review against another edition

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2.0

I truly think there should be way more books with lesbian werewolves, and I'm consistently disappointed that there are not. This one was... OK. There's something about the characters in this book that I'm going to find nearly impossible to describe but which I'll try to mash out anyway....

Basically, they seem too serious, but also like unrealistically dramatic? Melodramatic? Even for a romance novel, ha. There's not quite insta-love, but close. There's a certain datedness, wherein they sort of read like lesbians of the 80's from older lesbian romance novels - maybe falling into older stereotypes? I'm not sure. The ex has no boundaries and possessive/jealousy issues that if written on a male character I think would read in a very different way and likely be taken more negatively, but somehow it is allowed to fly with a lesbian character. I find that frustrating.

This is maybe more like 2.5 stars because I didn't hate or super dislike this book, but giving it 3 feels like a stretch. I wouldn't dissuade anyone from reading this, but I wouldn't recommend it for any reason either - unless they want to talk with me about the weird vibe the characters give off that I know I'm just not describing well enough.

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