Title: Frayed
Series: Madison Lark #1
Author: Blakely Chorpenning
Published: December 2011
Format: Ebook provided for review
Tour: No
Fray loves being a semi-pro fighter and free spirit. However, when a deadly faction begins abducting supernatural teens in the Blue Hills of North Carolina for excruciating experiments, she quickly learns there is more to life than glitzy opponents and late night trysts. Fray and a crew of unlikely allies must rescue the children before they are dissected alive. Being a leopard shapeshifter helps. Confronting personal prejudice and traversing feelings for a tempestuous ex do not mix. But Fray is willing to go all the way to stop her world from changing. That is, until the ultimate sacrifice forces her to realize just how overdue change is.
Her most shocking discovery: Everyone’s human. At least a little…
This book held more than a few surprises inside that I was not expecting. I think it is completely unique in its story, and I was turning pages as fast as I could to find out what would happen next.
See, first we have Fray, which is actually a nickname for a leopard shifter woman named Madison Lark. She is this badass semi-pro MMA fighter. Yep, a female MMA fighter. That’s what initially was interested in this story. I love when a character is not something you normally see, especially when it is a woman who is breaking stereotypes. And Fray definitely lived up to that expectation. She is tough, strong, beautiful, and shit is about to get real for her.
Kids have been disappearing from the shifter community. And here is something else I liked. Fray is leopard, but there are lion shifters, wolves, and vampires in this book. Even shadowshifters. The diversity was beyond awesome. Fray gets paired of up with Nash, a vampire. Vampires typically could not care less about the doings of shifters, but he’s not completely heartless, ya know.
Actually, I really liked Nash a lot. He has a flirtatious nature, and a great sense of humor. I’m really hoping that he will be featured more in upcoming books. At first I thought he might be a potential romance for Fray, with all of his flirting. But that was before I met Blaire.
Blaire is the leader in training, as his dad is nearing death any day now. The guy has got a lot on his shoulders, and not the least of it is his on again/off again relationship with Fray. They have some really terrific scenes together, and he is another character I’d love to see more of.
And that’s what is so great about this story, I could say that about practically all of the characters. Everyone was so clearly described, I could see them in my mind like I’d known them forever.
Now for the plot and the whole storyline. It picks up quick and it will grab you. A lot gets accomplished in a short time – this is a novella length book. Fray wants, no – needs, to find these children. What she believes is being done to them can only be described as a horrendous nightmare.
There are parts of this book that will make you smirk, and some will make you throw your fist in the air. And there are some that will heat you up, and some that will break you down. You will get angry and scared and you will want to know how such horrible creatures can exist. This author doesn’t hold back at all, and I think the story will definitely speak for itself.
And if you aren’t sure about Fray, here’s a little bit of something she has to say:
“Do what you want to me. It better be worth it, though.” I stretched my neck until the tips of our eyelashes rubbed, facing that alien gaze. “Because I plan to spit on your carcass before sunrise.”
See? Badass.
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