onceuponatimeireadabook's review
2.0
I received an advanced copy of Patricia Rosemoor’s Animal Instincts from the publisher, Tule Publishing, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Tule Publishing, for taking the chance on a new blog.
This book is a paranormal romance centred around a young woman, Skye Cross, who has a psychic connection with animals and routinely works in connection with the police force’s Animal Crimes Unit and Animal Care and Control to work towards shutting down the rampant animal fighting ring in the city of Chicago. While at a raid, Skye runs into her twin brother, Shade Cross, a homicide detective with CPD, who gives her a good luck charm after admonishing her for her presence at the bust. Skye disregards her twin’s commands and goes about doing what she does best, helping animals. Although, her disobedience soon lands her a nice hot pot of trouble from which a mysterious man, whom we later learn is Luc Laverre, rescues her just in the nick of time. Not long after our main characters are introduced, Shade is killed protecting a woman during his investigation who turns out to be Luc’s mother and he turns into a ghost with short-term memory loss and a few weird rules regarding his ghostly activities.
Teaming up to solve Shade’s murder and put an end to the animal fighting ring, Skye and Luc alternate between butting heads and heavy flirting. Both of which were usually on account of Luc’s half-breed status of one of the Kindred and his self-imposed family duty to his mobster-esque father and his den of multitudinous iniquities, a casino boat called The Arc. As they search for the culprit(s), the duo face off against dirty members of law enforcement and Kindred that aren’t fond of half-breeds.
Y’all. I’m just going to say it. I struggled the whole way through Animal Instincts. I wanted to fall in love with it from the second I read the synopsis on NetGalley, what animal lover wouldn’t? But I couldn’t. I loved the premise of the story, a young woman trying to help animals and put an end to a animal fighting ring, but I just couldn’t lose myself in the story. The writing seemed a bit stilted to me and the lead characters were all over the place. It took me taking short moments out of my day to read Animal Instincts, one lonely page at a time. I had to skip over the overly graphic descriptions of the animal fights because I can’t even sit through one of those Humane Society commercials (you know the ones) on television. The characters varied from partially vivid to flat and lifeless. Skye and Luc were, of course, the most developed, but most of the other characters were a bit empty. The world-building that was put into this was underdeveloped and had definite holes that need plugging. To be quite honest, I’m still not entirely sure what the Kindred are except shifters who’ve given up their souls for more power. I was actually left in the dark on several things that happened in Animal Instincts and y’all have no idea how much it bothered me. I ranted for twenty whole minutes on New Year’s Eve after finishing it.
All in all, I’m giving this a 2 out of 5 stars. The story has good bones hidden underneath the one-dimensional characters and substandard world-building and I’d love to see it flourish one day. But for right this moment, it fell short and that saddens me.
This book is a paranormal romance centred around a young woman, Skye Cross, who has a psychic connection with animals and routinely works in connection with the police force’s Animal Crimes Unit and Animal Care and Control to work towards shutting down the rampant animal fighting ring in the city of Chicago. While at a raid, Skye runs into her twin brother, Shade Cross, a homicide detective with CPD, who gives her a good luck charm after admonishing her for her presence at the bust. Skye disregards her twin’s commands and goes about doing what she does best, helping animals. Although, her disobedience soon lands her a nice hot pot of trouble from which a mysterious man, whom we later learn is Luc Laverre, rescues her just in the nick of time. Not long after our main characters are introduced, Shade is killed protecting a woman during his investigation who turns out to be Luc’s mother and he turns into a ghost with short-term memory loss and a few weird rules regarding his ghostly activities.
Teaming up to solve Shade’s murder and put an end to the animal fighting ring, Skye and Luc alternate between butting heads and heavy flirting. Both of which were usually on account of Luc’s half-breed status of one of the Kindred and his self-imposed family duty to his mobster-esque father and his den of multitudinous iniquities, a casino boat called The Arc. As they search for the culprit(s), the duo face off against dirty members of law enforcement and Kindred that aren’t fond of half-breeds.
Y’all. I’m just going to say it. I struggled the whole way through Animal Instincts. I wanted to fall in love with it from the second I read the synopsis on NetGalley, what animal lover wouldn’t? But I couldn’t. I loved the premise of the story, a young woman trying to help animals and put an end to a animal fighting ring, but I just couldn’t lose myself in the story. The writing seemed a bit stilted to me and the lead characters were all over the place. It took me taking short moments out of my day to read Animal Instincts, one lonely page at a time. I had to skip over the overly graphic descriptions of the animal fights because I can’t even sit through one of those Humane Society commercials (you know the ones) on television. The characters varied from partially vivid to flat and lifeless. Skye and Luc were, of course, the most developed, but most of the other characters were a bit empty. The world-building that was put into this was underdeveloped and had definite holes that need plugging. To be quite honest, I’m still not entirely sure what the Kindred are except shifters who’ve given up their souls for more power. I was actually left in the dark on several things that happened in Animal Instincts and y’all have no idea how much it bothered me. I ranted for twenty whole minutes on New Year’s Eve after finishing it.
All in all, I’m giving this a 2 out of 5 stars. The story has good bones hidden underneath the one-dimensional characters and substandard world-building and I’d love to see it flourish one day. But for right this moment, it fell short and that saddens me.
shahlasworld's review
5.0
I really enjoyed this book!! It covers just about everything a paranormal book fan would like; shifters, demons vs. angels, with a little ghost action thrown in. The animal attraction between Luc and Skye roared off the page. ;) I really think that there was a lot mentioned in the book that could grow into a series.
elylibrarysec's review
4.0
Rating: 4 1/2 stars
I received this book for review from the publisher and the author. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review.
You will figure out pretty early that this is a story about shape shifters and some of them actually show their other side. But this is more about the mystery that surrounds the Lazare family that’s the most intriguing. I’m glad that the whole book wasn’t told from Skye’s viewpoint. You get some of Luc’s point of view – how family is important.
Patricia has created an interesting family business and has included a group of people that seem very bloodthirsty. What I love about this book is that you can’t figure Luc out – he’s a man of mystery. He’s one reason why this makes the story a real page-turner. There’s something going on with him and his family and our author is very good about not revealing anything too early.
If you are a lover of mystery, suspense, and the paranormal; you can’t go wrong in adding this book to your library. You may also find that if you’ve never read a book by Patricia Rosemoor before that you will want to read more of her material.
I received this book for review from the publisher and the author. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review.
You will figure out pretty early that this is a story about shape shifters and some of them actually show their other side. But this is more about the mystery that surrounds the Lazare family that’s the most intriguing. I’m glad that the whole book wasn’t told from Skye’s viewpoint. You get some of Luc’s point of view – how family is important.
Patricia has created an interesting family business and has included a group of people that seem very bloodthirsty. What I love about this book is that you can’t figure Luc out – he’s a man of mystery. He’s one reason why this makes the story a real page-turner. There’s something going on with him and his family and our author is very good about not revealing anything too early.
If you are a lover of mystery, suspense, and the paranormal; you can’t go wrong in adding this book to your library. You may also find that if you’ve never read a book by Patricia Rosemoor before that you will want to read more of her material.
avoraciousreader68's review
1.0
I can't even with this book.
*Book source ~ NetGalley
DNF @42%
Luc Lazare is half human and half something else. I don’t know what because I gave up at 42%. Skye Cross is also something, but at least she conveniently finds her mother’s old Book of Powers right when she needs it to explain what’s going on with the wonky things she can do. And it’s a good thing she reads that book out loud to her brother’s ghost so Luc an listen outside an open window and hear what she is since he keeps asking her every time they meet and she doesn’t answer him.
At 42% I had to toss in the towel. The characters are one-dimensional and stupid. There are SECRETS galore with no reveal in sight. It’s confusing as shit, the dialogue is stilted, and the pacing is herky jerky. It’s stagnant. The plot, what little there is of one, is just stuck in quick sand and sinking fast. Also, who calls cops "coppers" in a book set in what I can only guess is modern times? Skye calls her brother and his fellow officers "coppers" up until I had to stop reading or gouge my eyes out with a spork. Wtf!? This is an interesting world that got really shortchanged. The writing sucks. The end.
*Book source ~ NetGalley
DNF @42%
Luc Lazare is half human and half something else. I don’t know what because I gave up at 42%. Skye Cross is also something, but at least she conveniently finds her mother’s old Book of Powers right when she needs it to explain what’s going on with the wonky things she can do. And it’s a good thing she reads that book out loud to her brother’s ghost so Luc an listen outside an open window and hear what she is since he keeps asking her every time they meet and she doesn’t answer him.
At 42% I had to toss in the towel. The characters are one-dimensional and stupid. There are SECRETS galore with no reveal in sight. It’s confusing as shit, the dialogue is stilted, and the pacing is herky jerky. It’s stagnant. The plot, what little there is of one, is just stuck in quick sand and sinking fast. Also, who calls cops "coppers" in a book set in what I can only guess is modern times? Skye calls her brother and his fellow officers "coppers" up until I had to stop reading or gouge my eyes out with a spork. Wtf!? This is an interesting world that got really shortchanged. The writing sucks. The end.
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