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Hunter
Jacquelyn Frank writing as JAX
Published: May 2, 2013 (Kensington Digital)
Purchase at: Amazon
Reviewed by: Candace
Rating (out of 5): 2.5 stars
Jacquelyn Frank won me over many, many books ago with her Nightwalker series. With this new series, I expected the same appeal. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Tatyana Petrova happens upon Willow House by accident. Her car breaks down while she is searching for her brother, who unbeknownst to her is one of the newest witches at Willow House. She finds the house after trudging through a New Year’s Eve snow. Little does she know that her fate lies within those walls as well.
Annali is mated to Tatyana’s brother, Dimitre. As he isn’t there and the roads are undrivable, Annali whisks Tatyana to warmth and safety. Willow House’s prodigal son Hunter finds his protective instincts in overdrive at the mere sight of the red-headed stranger.
As Willow House’s High Priest Ryce has done his very best to protect the residents and prepare them for the future. Annali has honed her craft. Hunter has spent the time in seclusion. Tatyana has no idea that witchcraft is in her bloodline. All of the characters are fantastic. The hook is there. The interest in future books is piqued. But somewhere along the way, something is lost.
Hunter is overly descriptive, and that is its downfall. While I understood the characters’ angst, the foreplay is too drawn out. For two people who are tortured merely by fighting the desire to have sex, making them tease each other mercilessly during the sexual scenes was a bit much. These two are crazed for one another, to the point that they are nearly attacking people that they care about while coming to grips with their new-found attraction, so the level of resistance was overkill.
The bad guys were appropriately evil (and tied to the main characters) and the witches of Willow House were compelling enough to hold my interest. I want to see what is in the future for these guys. Ryce, Gracelynn, Kaia, Annali, Dimitre, Asher and Nox, as well as Hunter and Tatyana, all have a pretty heavy fight on their hands. These characters are developing wonderfully and I definitely want to see what happens with them, but the writing did not captivate me like the world of The Nightwalkers
Sexual content: Graphic sex, attempted rape
To be honest I have never heard of this author, but after reading your review I am going to checkout some of the earlier work. I always feel it’s best to start off with a new author on their first works. 🙂 Also thank you I am keeping you review in mind as points as I am writing my first book.
J.L., thank you for your comment. And please do check out Ms. Frank’s earlier work. That is where she won me over as a fan.