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MATING INSTINCT

A sexy, well-crafted paranormal romance that succeeds with smart characters and creative worldbuilding.

Lupine shifter Jayce Kazan left Kat Saburova in order to protect her from a perilous, immortal existence, despite his passion for her. Now that she’s been turned, can he forgive himself for not being there when she needed him most, while keeping her safe from the people determined to kill them all?

As an ancient law enforcer for the otherworldly shifters, Jayce has kept his passions in check and his involvement with humans to a minimum, until he meets Kat Saburova. No woman—human or shifter—has ever tantalized him like Kat does, but when he refuses to make their relationship permanent, she leaves him. A year later, Kat is kidnapped by an anti-shifter hate group, and her injuries are so life-threatening that a shifter friend saves her by turning her. Jayce can’t forgive himself for not keeping her safe and for not being the one to turn her. Now that she’s a shifter, he’s determined to hone her skills so she’ll always be safe, while also convincing her that she can depend on him and share her life with him. Jayce is the sexiest thing Kat has ever encountered, and as willing as she is to hop back into his bed, she knows she can’t trust him. As a brand new shifter, she’s angry and vulnerable yet determined never to be a victim again, which is a good thing, since there’s a serious threat on the loose, and it has shifters and Kat in particular in its cross hairs. Katie Reus’ third book in the Moon Shifter series is a fast-paced page turner that keeps her romantic suspense/paranormal audience engaged and intrigued. Jayce is a mega–alpha male, both enthralled and infuriated by his intrepid mate, who is bravely facing the trauma of her recent kidnapping experience and the reality of her new life.

A sexy, well-crafted paranormal romance that succeeds with smart characters and creative worldbuilding.

Pub Date: March 5, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-451-23960-0

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Signet Eclipse/NAL

Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013

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THE OTHER BENNET SISTER

Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.

Another reboot of Jane Austen?!? Hadlow pulls it off in a smart, heartfelt novel devoted to bookish Mary, middle of the five sisters in Pride and Prejudice.

Part 1 recaps Pride and Prejudice through Mary’s eyes, climaxing with the humiliating moment when she sings poorly at a party and older sister Elizabeth goads their father to cut her off in front of everyone. The sisters’ friend Charlotte, who marries the unctuous Mr. Collins after Elizabeth rejects him, emerges as a pivotal character; her conversations with Mary are even tougher-minded here than those with Elizabeth depicted by Austen. In Part 2, two years later, Mary observes on a visit that Charlotte is deferential but remote with her husband; she forms an intellectual friendship with the neglected and surprisingly nice Mr. Collins that leads to Charlotte’s asking Mary to leave. In Part 3, Mary finds refuge in London with her kindly aunt and uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner is the second motherly woman, after Longbourn housekeeper Mrs. Hill, to try to undo the psychic damage wrought by Mary’s actual mother, shallow, status-obsessed Mrs. Bennet, by building up her confidence and buying her some nice clothes (funded by guilt-ridden Lizzy). Sure enough, two suitors appear: Tom Hayward, a poetry-loving lawyer who relishes Mary’s intellect but urges her to also express her feelings; and William Ryder, charming but feckless inheritor of a large fortune, whom naturally Mrs. Bennet loudly favors. It takes some maneuvering to orchestrate the estrangement of Mary and Tom, so clearly right for each other, but debut novelist Hadlow manages it with aplomb in a bravura passage describing a walking tour of the Lake District rife with seething complications furthered by odious Caroline Bingley. Her comeuppance at Mary’s hands marks the welcome final step in our heroine’s transformation from a self-doubting wallflower to a vibrant, self-assured woman who deserves her happy ending. Hadlow traces that progression with sensitivity, emotional clarity, and a quiet edge of social criticism Austen would have relished.

Entertaining and thoroughly engrossing.

Pub Date: March 31, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-250-12941-3

Page Count: 448

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

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ONE DAY IN DECEMBER

Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...

True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.

On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.

Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.

Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018

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