I received a free copy of this novel for my honest review. Jonathan loses everything he holds dear during his deployment to Afghanistan. Not only did he almost die, but he loses his twin brother who was also in the Humvee with him. There's a brief mistaken identity as somehow his brother's tags were found in his pocket. He had to live with seeing the pain on his mother's face when he told her that her favorite son was gone.

Jonathan goes home to recuperate , and during a restless night he goes into the basement where he finds not only his brother's things but also some of his own. Going through some papers he finds a mysterious picture of his father and a woman he couldn't identify.

The story gets pretty intense after that. After knowledge of the photo's existence, Jonathan's parents separate. Jonathan decides to go camping alone to prove he's still independent despite losing his hand. That's where River comes in. His attraction to River is unreal, but there's also an awful lot of mystery surrounding Shula. I loved this story, it flowed so nicely. The characters are so real in the book and I loved the way the shifter society was explained. I think this was the first Shifter novel I have ever read that the description of the Shifter ways actually seemed plausible. An excellent book, one worth staying up late to finish.
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Book One of the Sanctuary Series

I opened this book expecting a different type of story. Especially being labeled as a shifter romance. I was surprised with all the twists and turns that kept me wanting more after each chapter. I do wish there was a bit more action, especially with all the twists that the author takes you on, I was expecting more over the top action to follow along with it. Since it is described as a shifter romance, I think it could have used a bit more romance, but since I normally don't read a lot of romance, I'm not really complaining.

The characters were easy to have strong feelings for, both hate and love. It's a roller coaster of emotions that will take you with the characters to a whole new land. Just the very concept of society being cut from corresponding with one another is scary and intriguing. It really got me thinking about how it would be in today's time.

The ending left a lot of things open, with a huge cliff hanger. I wasn't sure there was to be a second book, and this left me quite frustrated, but considering the huge cliff hanger I was pretty confident the author had the intentions of writing a sequel. I'm anxious to read the second book, so keep a look out for my future review of River's Remorse.

I'm happy to give this book 5/5! ( )

NOTE: I received the eARC from the author, for which I'm beyond grateful.

Wow! Just, wow! I didn't expect this book to be such a black, but it left me speechless and wanting more! I'm greedy like that. Every chapter was full with tension and drama. Every page screamed that there was more, so much more in the next one. and I had to keep on going until I found myself at the end, eyes full with tears, heart racing in my chest.

Because River's Recruit wasn't just the next book. Oh, no. It was an adventure that left me breathless, it was like a fairy tale with elements of reality. It had me gasping in expectation at every corner.

Yeah, it was that good and I know I can't wait for the next installment to come out. So Charlotte, you better hurry it up!

So, here we're introduced into the lives of two very different people. Jonathan, who is an ex-marine (due to the fact that he's left with only one hand after his unit's car got blown up in Afghanistan); and River, who doesn't even live in our reality of this world. and then they meet in the midst of a snow storm that sort of placed them together for longer than initially intended.

When their worlds collide, neither one of them is left a choice but to embrace the card they'd been dealt. And what a card it is!

Outside of all the action, adventure, drama, etc., what's really interesting is River's world. Her community of people (kind of cult like) live isolated and outside of any technology and the like. Much like the Amish, now that I think about it. However, they have laws that are so severe, most of the punishments seem to lean toward death. That's how the Community control the people mostly - through fear of death. Understandable, isn't it? Family ties and family trees are respected more than anything. And of course, obedience is mandatory for everyone.

I really liked how the characters' names were almost all Biblical. Like Reuben and Issachar and others I can't think of right now. Out of all of them I really ended up caring for Reuben. He was just so amazing! He despised the severity of the laws but was well aware there was no way around them. If there was, he was definitely taking it. And he wanted the absolute best for River. He treated her like a daughter, even though if she'd been 'bought' by anyone else, she'd have been a concubine. Worthless and used up.

So, River. She was this wild spirited, but obedient to Ruben, young girl. She had a backbone and mad bow skills. Also, she always seemed to be able to see through people.

Jonathan warmed my heart too. H was such a sweetheart, knowing nothing about the Community but being determined to protect River with his life if he must. Brave, reckless at times, but always putting others before his own needs.

I don't think I need to go on. Really. You should've gotten the picture by now. This book is... an adventure you must not miss! ( )

deleting reviews if you want to take a look at them you can do so on my blog, link on my profile ( )