Hunter Reborn by Katie Reus Series: Moon Shifter#5
Published by berkley, Signet Select on February 3, 2015
Genres: PNR
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Advance Reader Copy
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Losing her was the hardest thing he’d ever endured...
Warrior shifter Aiden’s investigation of the trafficking of vampire blood leads to a startling discovery: the beautiful vampire bondmate he thought was dead. Decades ago, they’d defied their powerful families to be together, but then Larissa disappeared without a trace. When their mating link broke, it nearly destroyed Aiden. Now she’s back with no memory of where she’s been. Even more shattering—Larissa claims she has no idea who Aiden is.
Now she’s back...
It’s a race against time to bring down an operation more evil than his pack ever suspected, and Aiden finds himself working side by side with a mate who no longer trusts him—and she wants out. But he lost her once, and he won’t let her go again. Unfortunately, Larissa’s blood is the key to a powerful monster’s dangerous plan—and he’ll stop at nothing to destroy her, sparking off a war between the supernaturals and humans that no one will win.
This was my first read in this series, and while I didn’t feel lost in picking up book 5, I didn’t feel like I knew what was going on, either. I definitely think this would work better if you’ve read the previous books. Older couples are shown, and while the world is not terribly complicated and you can definitely figure out the basics, parts of it were confusing. The mate bond was tricky. I felt as if I was supposed to know about it already.
That being said, the book worked in all other respects. Larissa is a vampire who has just been woken from stasis by a witch claiming to owe her family a debt. This witch lets her know that her biggest enemy is a wolf shifter named Aiden who killed her family and wants her for his own.
Aiden is with his pack getting ready to go into a club where something bad is going down. He’s completely blind-sided though when he sees Larissa…his dead mate. The second they see each other, their mate-bond snaps back in place and he’s 100% certain it’s her. But where has she been these past 60 years? And how did their bond break in the first place, if death is the only thing that can break it?
Unfortunately Larissa doesn’t remember Aiden. But she feels the same pull he does, and she can feel his emotions. He also seems protective of her, and isn’t trying to kill her. If the witch was wrong about him, what else was she wrong about?
This is an amnesia story that’s done well. Her memory starts to return in bits and pieces; it’s not saved until the end when magically everything gets sorted out. It’s believable and it doesn’t rely on a Big Misunderstanding. She immediately senses Aiden’s devotion and love. She begins to trust him early on, and I liked that. I like how they worked together, and I liked how Larissa was able to side with Aiden instead of the witch, rather than forcing a rift between them. There are some cool surprises, and some twists and turns with a pretty nasty villain. This was a solid story, that definitely has me wanting to read more.
I enjoy Katie Reus’s Romantic Suspense, so I thought I’d give her PNR a shot. I think if I’d been up to date on the series I might have rated it higher. I just felt like I needed to have read the other books. But, you know, the good news is that now I get to read the other books:) I also love when you find an author whose books work for you, and they have an extensive backlist! I’m one happy hussy over here;P
***ARC courtesy of Berkley/Signet
