It's A Keeper

I won’t lie – I’m a big fan of Gabrielle Evan’s books – so it should come as no surprise that I really like the beginning to her latest series, Wicked River. I tend to be one of those readers who gravitate towards an author for their writing style and then read everything they write. Sometimes I like them for different reasons, and depending on my mood, but there is inevitably something in their writing that holds true regardless of how their plot or characters may vary. So I found myself picking up the first book in Evan’s new series and reading it front beginning to end in a day. I enjoy her unique blending of romance, intrigue and humor into a light story that I don’t want to put down. Her newest book, Keeper of the Light, is the first book in the Wicked River series which incorporates several types of paranormal beings.

Keeper of the Light focuses on Damon and Tate (let’s call them Hot and Hotter), vampire/ lycan hybrids who have been mated for centuries but aren’t yet complete without their zeta, the third in their relationship. At a chance meeting with Ryah at a local county rodeo, they immediately know she’s their mate but quickly learn she’s married which leaves them unable to claim her. Evans gives readers a unique view of the heroes’ softer sides while maintaining their very alpha tendencies as the two men deal with the emotions involved in watching their mate with another man.

Ryah is a strong heroine – a fact that comes about slowly – that chooses to overcome the abuse she suffers at the hands of her husband. The challenge of creating an abused character while depicting her strength is one easily matched by Evans. The tension in the book picks up when Damon and Tate discover Ryah is abused by her husband; and it’s only when he takes his abuse a step further and attacks her in public that they rescue her and she realizes the time has come to accept their offer of help. Ryah doesn’t become overshadowed by the equally strong heroes – her mates.

I loved the characters, and the relationship the three shared. Despite the drama surrounding them, they had lighter moments and some extremely hot moments in the bedroom (and the kitchen). Evans crafted them so well that their interactions were realistic though some of those hotter moments seemed a bit acrobatic to me! Once giving into their passion forces Ryah to acknowledge the love she feels for these men, she then has to face that there is more to the world than she ever knew. First she learns the men she loves are vampire/lycan hybrids only to find out that she is a lycan herself. And if that wasn’t enough, she discovers she was born to an incredible destiny that causes her to be stronger than she ever believed herself. With a husband that won’t let go without a fight, a destiny to be fulfilled and her future awaiting her, readers will flip pages quickly to see just how Ryah handles herself.

RATING: 4 Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries