Whew. I'm probably not the first to start a review about this book with that, but, that was... wow. More intense sex scenes (and non-sex scenes too) than I've ever read in a book I think.

It's the story of Selene and Eve. Selene is a graphic designer, but, more importantly she is a shapeshifter, as well as turning into some sort of horrible monster (she thinks) during the full moon. Eve meanwhile is a forensic pathologist who is attacked in a park she walks in every day, and then saved by Selene in animal form.

That starts the mystery part of the story, and somewhat starts the romance part of the story. The mystery/thriller is about a killer who seems to have a very specific plan.

On the romance side, it's Selene and Eve getting very close, very fast, but then a full moon comes and Selene feels like she has to lie to Eve, and that throws a big wrench into everything between them.

OH, and there's Jac, Eve's ex (and they still work together as well) who is this consistent presence pushing for she and Eve to get back together. I thought Eve was wayy too nice to her and basically I didn't like Jac at the beginning, and I didn't lik her at the end either. Overall Jac just seemed like much more of a male character (not in a good way) than a female one.

On the other hand, the shifting stuff was awesome, and overall I really liked the novel. It was a fun read. ( )

3.5 stars

Selene Rhodes is a shapeshifter, and to keep her secret, she's closeted herself off from life. At the mercy of the full moon once a month, she works from home, is friendless, and definitely doesn't have a social or dating life. That is, until she finds a wounded woman in a nearby park, and there is an inexplicable attraction between the two of them.

Dr. Eve Thomas is used to studying corpses, but she almost becomes one herself on a simple early morning walk - until she's saved by a wolf. But the man who attacked her gets away, and Eve has to find him before he finds her.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record in my reviews, I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It's an okay read, and it's hard to find quality paranormal lesbian fiction, and there are some really great parts to the story. The problem with the book, however, is that it feels rather uneven to me; sometimes the action is at a great pace, and sometimes the book drags so badly that I had to put the book down and read something else for a while. The last half of the book really picked up, but it felt like a chore at times getting there.

Selene is an okay character, but she comes off as rather "too good" to me. She's virtually perfect (save for the shifting against her will thing once a month into a presumed ferocious wolf, I guess). Eve, meanwhile, is more fleshed out in the book, and so I could empathize with her more. In spite of it all, though, the two characters did have blistering chemistry, and the sex scenes were amazingly written and scorching hot. Heck, I'll read more from this author just for those alone!

There were a lot of loose ends that really felt like they should have been expounded on in the story. For example, where are Selene's parents (her biological ones, one of whom I presume to be a shapeshifter as well)? Did she ever try to find them? How did she come to America? Doesn't her job suffer from her spending weeks on end hunting this serial killer? Are there other shapeshifters? Surely she's not alone in that regard, so did she ever try to find a supernatural community? Selene is, ultimately, adrift and alone without any type of supernatural "family." Didn't she, at least once, wonder if there were other people like her nearby?

I did like the book, and I will definitely read more from the author. I just wish that the execution had been a little tighter. ( )