RAPHAEL
The brilliant and dangerous diplomat of the Pantera shapeshifters, Raphael has devoted his life to discovering the key to the infertility that is threatening the extinction of his puma race. Creating a vast network of spies worldwide, he never expected to discover that the answer might be beneath his very nose. But when Ashe, a beautiful human female, crosses his path, his most primitive instincts are stirred. Unable to resist, he takes her to his bed, and is shocked when she becomes pregnant with his child. It’s a miracle that might prove to be the salvation of his people, but only if he can keep her safe from the mercenaries determined to kill her.
PARISH
Untamed and undeniably sexy, Parish, leader of the Pantera hunters, rarely leaves the magic of the Wildlands to deal with the humans he despises. But with the prized and risky Pantera birth on the way, puma shifter, Parish must travel to New Orleans to find and bring back a human doctor. The moment he sees the lovely, talented and all too human Dr. Julia Cabot he cannot resist the wild, potent drive to make her his. Betrayed and destroyed by love, Julia will not let her heart choose her path again. But as she and Parish fight to save the life of an unborn child, a fierce and overwhelming bond develops between them, threatening her frozen heart with the secret hope and ultimate temptation of love and family.
Series: Bayou Heat #1-2
Release Date: January 7, 2013
Publisher: Self Published
Source: Book Monster Promotions
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Reviewer’s Thoughts:
Deep on the Louisiana bayou live the stuff of legends. Children would grow up with stories of the cat people who lived in the bayou, prowling the night, looking for unsuspecting people to carry off in to the night. Over the years, these stories have been forgotten and relegated to distant, often forgotten myths. But the Pantera people aren’t a myth. While their numbers have dwindled, they still live deep in the bayou, many of their own spies infiltrating human lives. Thus is the set up for what promises to be a fantastic new series.
Often, when you have more than one story in a book you have the unfortunate issue that whereas one story may be exceptional, the other you can honestly do without. That being said, I was not exactly sure what to expect when I realized that this was two stories not one. However, I can honestly say that I was greatly surprised. There are slight issues, pros and cons, with each story so I’ll do one at a time.
Our first story is about Raphael and Ashe. It begins with a bang. Without giving too much away, I can say that the author, in this case Ivy, grasps the reader’s attention from the very first page. You’re not sure why the circumstances are happening to the heroine, but already you know that you want her to make it through ok. You get the feeling of strength of character and determination even in bad circumstances. The story progresses from there rather quickly. Ashe finds out she’s pregnant and Raphael is now determined to keep her as his mate. Ashe has the perfect blend of vulnerability and strength to match wits with Raphael sexy possessiveness. My only issue with their relationship being that Raphael is fine with letting her go and never seeing her again until he finds out she is pregnant, so you get the feeling that his possessiveness isn’t so much about not being able to live with her. It’s about Ashe’s baby being the salvation of the Pantera race.
We move on to the second story. Parish is the just the right blend of sexy and dangerous rolled in to one. A bad history with humans makes his fascination with Dr. Julia Cabot ironic. As with most shifter romances, their relationship seems to move at a regular pace of fast forward. The meeting, kidnapping and falling into bed together all happen within the first day of them first laying eyes on each other. This however didn’t bother me in the least as the story moves at such a past pace and is so engaging you don’t realize how long you’ve been sitting there reading until you notice you’re hands are cramping up from holding your reading device. About the only thing I did not like about this story was the end. I was never fond of cliffhangers. I always hate it when my favorite TV sitcoms do it at the end of a season forcing everyone to wait months to see what will happen to their favorite characters next and I realize I dislike it just as much when it comes to books.
I greatly enjoyed both stories and would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a new shifter romance to read. I’ll definitely be waiting on pins and needles for the next installment of the series. Overall, I loved both books and all four of our main characters. My only wish is that the stories had been longer.
