Crux
3.5 Stars

Synopsis
Mackenzie Brooks is on the run from a deranged stalker convinced that she is his destined mate. When her new boss asks PI Jackson Holt to keep and eye on her, Mackenzie is suddenly exposed to the reality of magic and supernatural beings, and must learn to trust Jackson if she is to discover the truth about her past and her destiny.

Review
Action packed and entertaining with some strong world building.

The characters are engaging but the relationship between Jackson and Mackenzie is too sugary sweet. Mackenzie is initially characterized as a scared and naive innocent with a strong inner core that eventually comes to the fore. Nevertheless, she never transitions into my preferred kick-ass heroine as she needs to be rescued too often and some of her behavior is contradictory the ease with which she comes to trust Marcus rubbed me the wrong way. While Jackson is sexy and protective, his personality and backstory are underdeveloped and he comes across as quite bland.

While the story is well written and the villain suitably fanatical, he is missing that diabolically evil vibe that would make him truly threatening, and the final showdown is anti-climactic.

Despite these problems, the creation of the supernatural world is particularly compelling. The secondary characters are intriguing and have a wide range of abilities. There is also a certain hierarchy within the social and political structures of the various magical groups that has incredible potential and will hopefully be expanded on in future books.

Overall, a solid beginning to the series and I will be reading the next installment. ( )

I bought this book when it was a freebie on Amazon. I hardly ever look at the description of the book when they are free. I just think "FREE BOOK!!" and hit buy. Well I enjoyed this book.

I haven't read too many books with cat shifters. This one is about a woman that doesn't know she is a cougar. She is on the run. She turns up in New Orleans and meets some really nice people but she is afraid and not sure if she can trust them. Her name is Mackenzie.

Mackenzie is running from Marcus who has told her that they are destined to be together. That is when her life is turned inside out. She meets, Nicole (Nick), Jackson, Alec, Kat and Derek. Nick senses something is bothering Kenzie and gets Jackson to try and figure out what it is.

I enjoyed getting to know the character and will possibly read the next ones. ( )

Mackenzie has been on the run for the past month from a stalker, intent on kidnapping her to fulfill some crazy-sounding destiny. So far he’s chased her through 4 cities. Now in New Orleans working in a bar, this place and the people she’s met feels like it could be home and she’s forced to accept that the crazy stuff her stalker talked about--shifters, witches and magic-- is real. And for Mackenzie it’s instant lust when her eyes fall on Jackson, a private investigator who is best friends with the bar owner.

The story sucked me in right away, although that only lasted for about half of the book. The characters we come to know are likeable enough as is the overall situation. I enjoyed the sexual tension between Mackenzie and Jackson more than the sex, and when they get started, it goes on for quite some time.

But what killed it for me was that the villain of the story was just so outrageously over-the-top powerful. That does provide a challenge for the story, but I found it too unbelievable, even for this type of fiction. And I’ve been reading urban fantasy since before it became a popular genre. ( )

This was a free read off Amazon. I was really like a lot of the characters. The only problem I had with this book is Marcus. The author starts of this book as Marcus being the bad guy. Then she turns him into a victim too. And Marcus becomes this sorta likeable character. I can see Marcus as the victim, but the author did too good a job of making him the bad guy in the beginning. It was hard to buy that he did such a complete turnaround. ( )

A refreshingly good YA novel.

What I didn't like:
The legend this book was based upon seemed underexplained- it needs a bit more fleshing out to make it more interesting.
There were things that Birdie was too smart to not have seen coming, like:
her dog wasn't a normal dog
who Jeff was

What I liked:
the humor was done really well and made me chuckle out loud quite a few times.
her inner monologue irritated and amused me at different times-made Birdie feel more real.
her indecisiveness when it came to Grey-really fun to watch!


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