I bought this book yesterday, started reading it once I got home, and didn't put it down until I had finished.
Year published:2010
Series and no.: Kyndred, #2
Genre: Urban fantasy, romance
Setting & time: New York city, USA; 2000’s
Shape-shifter Rowan Dietrich arrives in New York, almost as if drawn there. She’d had an unhappy childhood there, first with abusive foster parents and then as a street child, and really just wants to visit the graves of some old friends before heading onwards to Boston and the job that awaits her there. A motorbike accident throws her in the path of alluring and mysterious chef Jean-Marc Dansant, who (not entirely out of the kindness of his heart) gives her a job at his restaurant, lends her an apartment and arranges to have her neighbour, the sexy but hostile Sean Meriden, repair the bike for her.
Rowan finds herself drawn to both men, but finds it hard to decide which one she wants more, and so the tension between then begins to mount. Meanwhile, a teenaged Kyndred is hiding away in an abandoned building near the restaurant, a father is pining for his missing daughter, Meriden finds himself pressed into searching for a runaway girl, and GenHance are up to their old tricks.
I hugely enjoyed the first of the Kyndred books, Shadowlight, and was thrilled when Viehl announced that Rowan’s story would be the next in the series, because I must admit that when I read Shadowlight I liked her better than Jessa and Matt, the heroine and hero of that book.
The romance doesn’t disappoint, with a scorching love triangle that is complicated by the weird talents of at least two of the participants, and an unexpected but hinted-at twist near the end. The man who has forced Meriden to look for his missing daughter is a rich and ruthless man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, and this, along with the activities of GenHance, the villains of the last book, add excitement. At some points I couldn’t help but wonder if seeds were being sown for future books, when scenes that didn’t seem to have much to do with the main story occasionally popped up, and, as in the previous book, some characters from the Darkyn books appeared in what felt very much like a foreshadowing and was definitely a big clue. I guess I will find out more in the books that follow.
The narrative is fast-paced but never wildly so, and there isn’t a huge mega-destruction climax like in Shadowlight, but the climax is a good one and terrifying on a smaller scale as the full power of one of the Kyndred is unleashed. The denouement, when Rowan makes up her mind, is interesting, to say the least. The kitchen and food scenes are nothing short of delicious. Being a consummate foodie I love me a good chef in romance and this one didn’t disappoint. 4 stars.
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