Carrie Reads A Lot: 2020

Animal Instincts by Patricia Rosemoor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a really unique paranormal read. It felt like we dove into the second or third installment in a series because of the rather developed characters and story. We hit the ground running, meeting Skye and Shade, a pair of twins with interesting telepathic abilities. Shade, a cop, has a skill more geared towards police work, while Skye is able to communicate with animals. After breaking up some illegal animal fighting, Skye bumps into Luc, a stranger who has an inexplicable control over some wild animals.

Luc is a conflicted half breed who is straddling the human and "kindred" world. In this book, the word kindred refers to a group of demon-like creatures who can shapeshift. This book was filled with a really unique mythology and a mystery that had me guessing until the very end. The romance was nicely paced, as opposed to your typical love at first sight stories. It was heavier on the romance and mystery and light on the smut (although there was some). This was a great stand alone book to introduce yourself to this author.

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Releasing the Djinn: My Monster Boyfriend by Katerina Winters
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was definitely something I haven't encountered before. It's a book that begins with the main male interest being pretty evil, but the HEA puts them together in the end. If you can get beyond that, and the non-consensual smutty scenes, this will definitely be a unique read for you.

Nadira lives in a very controlling house, forced to juggle the ridiculous demands of her family with her schooling. It's clear that this kind of life can't be making her happy, especially when she's forced to endure the insults of her family at every dinner. All of that changes when she discovers a necklace in her grandmother's belongings. This necklace ends up being the prison cell for a djinn, Idrak, who does his best to introduce some mischievous helpful wishes into her life.

Idrak starts his life in this book as a bad guy. Even after Nadira shows how kind hearted she is, he is still a pretty bad guy. These two somehow end up in a relationship? I had a little bit of a hard time getting behind this couple, but the smut is good. After a bit of a weird route, we do eventually get to a HEA. I was a little disappointed in some of the changes in Nadira, but she is still an interesting character to follow through this insanity.

Nadira Idrak

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