Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Michele de Winton, A Talon At Her Throat

Title:  A Talon At Her Throat
Author:  Michele de Winton 
Rating:  Three Siren Stones

Genre:  Fantasy
Keywords: Faery Miniature Rose, Spicy   
Page Count:  89          
ISBN E-Book:  978-1-61217-481-5
Price:  $2.99 
Publisher:  The Wild Rose Press
Reviewer:  Kristin Boyd 

Blurb/Summary:

Torn between hiding her goddess lineage from mortals and needing her powerful gifts for self-preservation, Yasmin Freeman just wants to be ordinary. But when an assignment leads her to Gray, a Talon shape-shifter able to assume the deadly features of any bird of prey, the true nature of her abilities is revealed.

Fiercely protective of his people, Gray is honor-bound to dispose of intruders, but Yasmin provokes a lustful hunger in him he doesn't understand--a hunger that drives him to disregard the Talon's strict avoidance of humans.

Gray's seductive touch triggers an ancient bonding process Yasmin is powerless to stop. Their bond should hold them together, but without the cooperation of their people, humans, goddesses, and Talons could die. Yasmin must face Gray in battle if she is to plead with the Talon elders for cooperation, yet defeating Grey might mean the end of the fragile trust between them.

Review:

Yasmin is on a mission.  A mission she took in order to redeem herself in the eyes of her people after her previous job went awry.  She wanted nothing more than to go to the landing, survey the land and help her people gain and maintain equal rights and peace within the disputed land.  Gray proves to be a stubborn but very sexy roadblock, whose devotion to his people and their land could potentially deem Yasmin's mission impossible.  She is forced to reveal and use powers that will reveal her true identity in an effort to restore balance.

Gray is an instinctual bird of prey.  One who acts first and asks questions later.  When the Landing that the Talon people have rights to becomes compromised by human invasion, he sees this as a direct threat and will eliminate said threat to preserve his land and his people.  Eliminating weak humans has never proven to be an issue before, but Yasmin is different as are the feelings that he begins to develop for her.  Can this human be trusted?  His first instinct, his sister, and the witches all tell him no while the voice of his deceased mother encourages him to look deeper.

A Talon At Her Throat is a story about balance.  The balance between the people of humans, goddesses, talons, and witches; the balance between love, lust, and manipulation, and the internal balance between the inner beast and humanity within.  Although there were minor inconsistencies throughout, the characters and storyline were written well enough to keep the reader engaged.  The cover art seemed dated and most definitely did not do the hero of the book justice.  The love scenes were steamy and passionate.  This was an entertaining book overall. 

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