Revelry Peta Crake.

 

ARC supplied by Netgalley.
I love shifters, vampires, romance so this shifter novel appealed. I enjoyed it a lot – of course there’s some predictability in the romance side, that’s inevitable unless there’s some kind of love triangle, so as soon as Connor entered the story I guessed he was the love interest. Still, how they get there proved a really interesting and exciting journey with a twist at the end that I just didn’t see coming.
Revelry is on the run from her old pack, accused of a crime she didn’t commit. She had no car so has to walk everywhere, few belongings and has run out of money. So she looks to the nearest town for a job to catch up on funds before her next move. She knows she has to keep moving as her old Alpha, the one who framed her, is psycho and will never let her go. I felt for her right from the start, there’s something in her character that just makes you feel “c’mon world, give her a break”. We learn just how horrific life in the pack has been for her, and that she’s now totally alone, and clearly Mac the owner of the bar feels some of that, as he not only takes her on but allows her to stay in the run down apartment above the bar. She quickly starts to learn more about the locals, being careful at all times to keep her shifter nature secret. She’s scared when she finds out that the brooding Connor is a wolf shifter too…and wonders what it is about him that everyone seems to dislike as he doesn’t seem to deserve the harsh words and looks he’s given. Then she learns the previous barmaid had gone missing and Connor is who the locals blame. They don’t know the full story though, and he’s certainly not anything to do with her disappearance. Then there’s a fracas in the bar one night when she’s alone, five local lads decide she’s fair game and Connor intervenes to rescue her, then one of them goes missing. Now two people are missing, and life is looking increasingly dangerous for her there, but after something happens which she’s involved in she’s unable to leave until the legalities are sorted.
She becomes more embroiled in the disappearances, and needs to trust someone. Connor is there when she needs help, can she trust him? She’s not used to leaning on anyone but she needs help if she’s to get out if this alive. There follows a tale of murders, a mysterious person tracking Revelry, the attraction between her and Connor that neither seem to want but that happens anyway, Revelry’s old pack getting closer to her trail, and all she wants to do is to try to escape and live her life peacefully. Life seems to have it in for her though, and it all wraps up in a nail-biting, exciting and dangerous finale. Of course there’s that twist too – the one I simply didn’t see coming that adds even more to the novel. Even knowing about it I still can’t look back and see where I could have guessed it, its very cleverly done and incredibly believable.
I need to be invested in the characters to enjoy a story and I certainly was here – they’re a fantastic group and the plots are perfect, tying in with the main theme to produce a riveting, exciting and suspenseful romance. I don’t have pricing or length info at present.

Stars: four and a half. Excellent read and one I’d read again.