TITLE: Hunter’s Prey
AUTHOR: Moira Rogers
PUBLISHER: Samhain
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 45k)
GENRE: Steampunk paranormal erotic romance
COST: $4.50
Two people attempting
to change their lives. Ophelia, an ex-prostitute, has taken over the job of
housekeeper for the bloodhounds in Iron Creek, while Hunter, a bloodhound, is
trying to learn how to exist outside a cage. Neither wants to admit their
attraction to the other. But when desire and emotions take charge, neither one
really has a choice…
The world-building in the first book of this series
intrigued me enough to invest in getting the second. However, I’m not
completely sure it’s enough to keep me going after this one.
In this installment, our romance occurs between Ophelia, an
ex-prostitute who has been given the job as housekeeper at the manor where the
bloodhounds of Iron Creek live, and Hunter, a recently rescued new bloodhound
who is still learning what it means to be one. Ophelia is done with being a
pawn for men, as well as only being valued for her sex appeal, but being a
housekeeper isn’t exactly what she wants either. She’s too independent and intelligent
for such menial work, and decides she’s going to quit once the new moon is
past. The one thing that gives her pause is the latest bloodhound at the manor.
Hunter had been caged by vampires ever since being created, used as a feeding
source for Nate (who has become a sort of vampire/bloodhound hybrid), and is
just starting to learn what it means to be what he is. He’s afraid of what he
can do, of how out of control he gets, and he’s especially afraid he’ll hurt
Ophelia, since she seems to be the one woman who can really get to him. He
turns down her offer to help him through the new moon (a period during which
they need to feed off their partner’s lusts and desires, which is basically an
excuse for lots and lots of sex over a three day period), but when she makes
the arrangements for him to be seen by someone else, he refuses, demanding only
her.
The story goes on from there, though honestly, there’s not
much that isn’t horribly predictable. The bulk of it is spent on Hunter’s
internal angst about who he really is and Ophelia’s flip-flopping back and
forth on her feelings for Hunter, with a subplot about a threat running through
Iron Creek supposedly bringing things together. While the world is just as
fascinating as it was the first time, it’s less developed, relying too heavily
on previous knowledge to work well as a standalone. I hadn’t read the previous
book again before tackling this one, and found gaps in my knowledge that this
one failed to fill in. For a new reader to the series, I don’t think it serves
it well at all.
It’s not helped by the fact that the characterizations for
both leads aren’t strong. Hunter’s primary conflict is his internal battle
trying to figure out who he really is – the man he was before he became a
bloodhound or the monster he is now. But because Hunter doesn’t know, we as
readers don’t ever really get to find out either. It leaves him as a shell for
me to project upon, an archetype to imagine going through the motions of what
are meant to steamy love scenes. It’s boring, frankly. Ophelia fares slightly
better, as she has a stronger sense of who she is, but just because she’s
strong-willed and independent, that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s interesting.
She’s not. And the sex isn’t written well enough to make up for the deficiency
in either of the characters.
The broader cast of characters is interesting, with both new
and old faces, but the story is too short to give any of them a decent
treatment. There’s barely enough time to get the main conflict resolved, let
alone touch on the multitude of subplots that get thrown into the mix (most
likely fodder for future stories). I would have much preferred getting some
meaty time with just one or two, rather than the plethora that took over the pages.
Will I read the third book when it comes out? I honestly don’t
know. This one had such potential, with a hero type that usually falls right in
the middle of a bulletproof kink (the broken alpha struggling for identity),
and yet, didn’t follow through on its promise. I guess it’ll be a matter of
evaluating it on its own merit rather than as an autobuy as part of a series.
Readability
|
8/10 – Clean and does the job
|
Hero
|
5/10 – The problem is, since he doesn’t know who he is,
the reader doesn’t either
|
Heroine
|
6/10 – Being strong-willed and independent doesn’t
necessarily make her well-rounded
|
Entertainment value
|
5/10 – As much as I love the potential in this, I never
believed the romance enough to invest in it
|
World building
|
8/10 – As fascinating as this world is, it doesn’t work as
a standalone as well as it should
|
TOTAL:
|
32/50
|
