A killer whale and a swan shifter are bound to be good for some conflict, right? However, the focus of this story is more around the secrets both of them are hiding and the suspense of whether they'll be able to solve their issues than their shifter natures. That took away some of the enjoyment for me, but I still liked the book. It got into some more of the background of the bigger story as well, and that was very helpful.

Whitley, the swan shifter, is painfully shy and withdrawn, almost too insecure to be true, and convinced he is worthless. The things he puts up with in terms of being ignored are unbelievable, and I was yelling at him to fight back. I had severe doubts he'd ever be able to get out of that frame of mind, and, to be honest, wasn't convinced he'd done it even at the end of the book. Maybe it just wasn't in his nature.

Jude, the killer whale shifter, is an interesting contradiction. He acts like a total prick, disregards anything close to honesty and decency, and ruthlessly follows his goal. The problem is that his goal is very noble, so I felt bad about hating him. It was very weird, and it meant I never really managed to understand him, never mind connect with him. He did sort of redeem himself in the end, but since I didn't really care about him, it fell a little flat for me.

If you like stories with a lot of intrigue and mystery, as well as two mates battling it out as they try to understand each other and their situation, you may like this book. ( )