Series: Mystwalker #2
Author: Leigh Evans
Published: July 30, St. Martins
Format: NetGalley ebook
THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER
In the never-ending saga that is my love-hate relationship with Robson Trowbridge, I, half-Were Hedi Peacock, have had a change of heart. Ever since I shoved Trowbridge through the Gates of Merenwyn, I’ve been the leader of the pack—hard to believe, right? The thing is: I’m half-Fae. So even though my Were side is ready to heed the call of the wild, the other part of me is desperate to take flight. And much as it pains me to admit it, life without Trowbridge is really starting to were me down…
I AM WERE, HEAR ME ROAR.
To make matters worse, the wolves of Creemore want my blood—and the North American Council of Weres wants me dead. So I’m just counting the days until Trowbridge returns from the other realm…and comes to my brave rescue…and becomes my alpha mate. Wishful thinking? Of course it is. But given all the mess I’ve been through already, what’s the harm in doing a little bit of daisy-plucking? Besides, Trowbridge owes me bigtime. A girl can dream.
The Thing About Weres… wow, interesting book. There was a lot that happens in this book, and some of it was very hard for me to follow. The Thing About Weres is book two in the Mystwalker series, and I definitely don’t think it is a standalone. Sure, I plodded my way through, and was able to pick up on most things. But there were some definite issues that I felt were probably explained in book one, relationships that had already been established, that just left me floundering in book two. I definitely think I would have liked this book much more if I had that background information.
My personal tastes lean toward paranormal more than fantasy. I do like fantasy, but I have a threshold for how much I enjoy. Usually that limit is somewhere around two realms. This book had several realms, including the dreamstate. It was just a bit too much for me. I found myself phasing out and just going along for the ride when Hedi used her mystwalking ability, or going to the Threall realm. Mystwalking is the ability to walk through someone’s dreams, where they can also sift through – and adjust – someone’s memories. This is something I’m assuming was dealt with more and introduced in a better way in book one. In this book, I felt like I was just kind of thrown in.
He Let his gaze casually roam. First to my mouth, where it lingered on my upper full lip, then slowly down the line of my white throat, from there to the hollow that he'd kissed, and finally to my breast, where it rested for a heated moment or two.
There went his nostrils. Flared as if he could scent me.
"Don't stare at me like that, " I whispered, flattening a hand over my stomach.
"Like what?" His hooded eyes glittered.
As if your gaze were leaving a trail of heat on my skin. As if I were the sexiest thing you'd ever seen. As if you -
"You are. You are my fuckin' catnip," he said simply. "And I'm getting beyond tired of the whole 'look but don't touch' torture. Come to me, right now. Walk down that hill and meet me in this goddamn pond."
Initially this book started slow for me. I had a hard time just getting into it. I was lost and confused. But then a lot of things just fell into place, and the story took off like a rocket. Hedi is a half breed of fae and wolf, and she calls herself an Alpha-by-proxy, since she is covering for her mate, Robson Trowbridge while he recovers in the fae realm of Merenwyn from what would have been fatal wounds on Earth. But Hedi doesn’t act like an Alpha, and her pack turns on her eventually. She was just kind of apathetic without her man there with her. She dreams of him every night, and those dreams are haunting and heartbreaking. They gave me such sadness, my heart broke for this young girl. She lives with a world of guilt and depression on her shoulders. I really felt so badly for her.
But then the unimaginable happens. Trow is there in front of her. Now, from poking around, I see a lot of people have reached fangirl status with one Mr. Trowbridge. That didn’t happen for me. In fact, for most of the story I didn’t like him very much at all. He came back from Merenwyn a changed man. A bit harder, a bit colder, it seemed. I didn’t feel like he treated Hedi like his lost mate, and every time he was forced to be the Alpha with her, I disliked him even more. Now have no fear, he did redeem himself a bit with me, but it was marginal. Now with that part of my feelings for him aside, I did think his character was wildly fascinating. On one hand, he did not give Hedi explanation on things that clearly needed to be explained immediately (read: Anu, the female wolf), but on the other hand he had just gone through this horrifying and incredible experience in a realm where time passes so much quicker than on Earth. Every page with him was an eye opener, that’s for sure. The thing that really made me fall for Trowbridge was just how much Hedi loved him, how much they ultimately belonged together.
There were a lot of mysteries and secrets in this book, which I adore. My brain craves something to figure out along the way. Couple that with several very interesting characters, and I’m a happy girl. Yes, there were things that confused me – Asrai amulets, for one. But overall this story had plenty of twists, turns, and massive surprises that I was definitely entertained the whole way through. Drama was ratcheted up during several key points, and there was even a small taste of heat that was a welcome friend for me. This book to me was much more fantasy than paranormal, and I think it would be perfect for someone who loves reading fae books. I’m definitely going to keep an eye on this author, I want to see if some characters get their own book. I don’t want to say too much about them, for fear of spoiling a surprise. But there is a certain fae who I find colorful and kind of exotic, yet dangerous and a bit bad. I want to see more about him, and his time in Merenwyn.
I’d love to hear if you read this book, or book one. Did you enjoy it? While there were parts I absolutely loved, there were parts that absolutely didn’t work for me. It left me a bit on the fence, overall.
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