Her breathless kiss haunts him...
Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan was nearly destroyed when he lost the one woman meant for him. The ruthless warrior grew even colder, never taking another to his bed -- until a smoldering encounter with his enemy, Mariketa the Awaited, reawakens his darkest desires. When sinister forces unite against her, the Highlander finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive.

His slow, hot touch is irresistible...

Temporarily stripped of her powers, Mari is forced to take refuge with her sworn adversary. It's rumored that no one can tempt Bowen's hardened heart, but soon passion burns between them. Though a future together is impossible, she fears he has no intention of letting her go.

No deed is too wicked for her seduction...

If they defeat the evil that surrounds them, can Mari deny Bowen when he demands her body and soul -- or will she risk everything for her fierce protector?

Thanks - excellent Birthday gift!! Alright! - must see if I have books 1 & 2.

Got in the vampire bookbox. Thanks!

This book is one of the starting volumes for Round II of The Otherworldly Bookbook

The cover-blurb on this one is well into the "purple prose" category, with all the smoldering and whatnot, but it looks as if it could be entertaining, so I'm claiming it from the bookbox.

Later: This started off in lively fashion with compare/contrast quotes from the two main characters, snarky witch Mariketa and grumbling/angsty werewolf Bowen. Hers compares love spells to platform diving ("...and the end will be fugly if you don't know what the hell you're doing") and his gives a succinct view of witches ("...good for one thing and only one thing. Tinder."). So, a match made in heaven, right?

Given the genre, I figured that the only big surprise would have been if those two did not wind up together, but it turns out there was another rather deft (and very, very nasty) twist regarding the whole long-lost-soul-mate business that surprised me very much.

I also enjoyed the frequent humor and playfulness. Heck, the modern-day setting of the story involves a kind of global magical-item scavenger-hunt that helps get the characters moving (and in danger, though most of them seem able to do that without any help). Some of the dialogue is quite entertaining, and while the many erroneous assumptions and love/hate business got wearying, I found the characters more fun than I'd dared hope in this kind of novel. Mari's not a helpless waif, by any means - at one point she's rather gleefully measuring up four hunky guys to decide which one she wants first, and while she's already rather enamored of Bowen by that time, the fact that she's still happy to imagine how any of them might be in the sack is refreshing.

Things aren't always lighthearted, of course. Early on, our hero - not the sharpest knife in the drawer, apparently - traps Mariketa in a very nasty tomb under the assumption that she's immortal and will have no difficulty surviving for a few weeks. But she's still mortal, and has a really awful time in there - and is understandably furious with him when she gets out. (Given the genre, that alone would guarantee their eventual couple-hood even if nothing else gave it away.)

Lots of magical beings of various types - there are six full pages of info on the different races and concepts in this series - with hot-and-heavy sex, snarky humor, and inventive perils (given that most of the main characters are effectively superpowered, the perils *have* to be inventive). Not bad!

[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining comments.]

I'm adding this book to waternixie's Bride of Potpourri bookbox, which will be on its way to its next stop soon. Hope someone enjoys the book!

*** Released as part of the 2015 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***

Bride of Potpurri bookbox

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