4 Star Book Review | RIDE: Awakening by A.C. James

RIDE: AWAKENING (Puca Mates #1)
by A.C. James
Published: April 29th, 2015
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy
Provided by Maxwell Author Services for Review
Purchase: Amazon

My Rating: ★★★★☆

*** This a not a full-length book. This novella is part one of a serial romance.***

Felicity Forrest has the perfect job as an investigative blogger for Everyday Supernatural. This curvy girl gets sent to the Aran Islands to find out whether a púca shape shifter is responsible for the strange accidents haunting a construction site.

Niall O’Leary is tall, broody, and totally alpha. His mission is to discover why the veil between the human world and the Realm has lifted. And as the Chieftain’s son he must find a mate or his twin will be promised to a stallion he despises. He has a duty to his family, his clan, and a need for offspring. Otherwise the púca could become nothing more than folklore.

Passion and frustration ignite when a curvy human female tempts his inner stallion like no other. There’s only one problem... She just got out of a relationship that left her broken hearted. Is she ready for a second chance at love?

Reader Note: This book is for those who are 18+. It contains explicit language, sexual situations, and one helluva cliffhanger. However, if you like curvy shifter romance, a stallion who can’t resist his curvy woman, and a dash of humor, then this is the story for you. Please read these installments in order. Enjoy!

Cover Review:

I'm going to be completely honest when I say that it wasn't the cover that drew me to this book. The cover is quite plain, but the story is what really intrigued me. So don't let the cover sway you in not giving this book a shot. You won't be disappointed.

Book Review:

Felicity Forrest is still recovering from a nasty breakup six months prior. She and her best friend Cyn are planning to celebrate Cyn's 25th birthday when Felicity gets a call from her boss with an assignment. Felicity is a paranormal investigator and blogger for Everyday Supernatural. There are reports of a Puca haunting on Inis Mor, one of Ireland's Aran Islands. So Felicity takes Cyn with her on her new assignment.

The veil has been lifted and the Puca have been awakened. Niall O'Leary, the son of the clan chieftain is sent beyond the veil to discover why the veil has lifted before it's appointed time and to find himself a mate. The puca species is mostly male, so breeding is needed to keep them from fading into myth, but Niall doesn't want any part of it. What he wasn't expecting to find during his mission was Felicity. His stallion is immediately enamoured with her, but Niall isn't giving in that easily.

Puca are shapeshifters that take the form of horses, rabbits and goats. They always have black fur and glowing eyes, and they can bring good luck or mischief. This case seems to be mischievous. This was my first time reading a book with horse shifters, so this was definitely a new and interesting experience.

Felicity and Niall don't have a very good start in this first book. The fact that Felicity is still hurting from her breakup months earlier, makes her resistant to let anyone else in. And Niall is holding back by the skin of his teeth because he doesn't want a mate. I really didn't like that he compelled Felicity to ride him in his stallion form, so I feel he kind of deserved what Felicity dealt him. But there were also signs that she may be his true mate, so that could brings some really interesting developments in the future.

Ride: Awakening has great world and character development for a serial. A lot of the serials I've read haven't had much in the way of these developments, so I was really happy that this book was different. It was so well done that it was almost like reading a very short full-length novel. This world is so rich and full and complex, and the characters are complicated and alive and different.

Rating: 

I gave Ride: Awakening a 4 STAR rating. The world and character development for this book is amazing for it being a serial. I really enjoyed the depth of both. With the way this book ended, I really want to know what's going to happen with Felicity and Niall next. That was one killer cliffhanger. I have a feeling that things are going to get really interesting.


Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author A.C. James writes paranormal romance and erotica, including Eternal Ever After which was featured in the bestselling Spice Box anthology. She pounds out sexy scenes at her keyboard where romance is laced with horror in hot stories of vampires and bad boy werewolves. Her stories feature strong heroines and alpha heroes, with plenty of action, twists, and turns that will keep you turning pages. A.C. resides in northeast Pennsylvania where she entertains her husband with her imaginative yarns and quirky sense of humor. She spends her time drinking large vats of coffee while taming two toddlers by day and writing by night. Recovering video game beta tester and tech geek who grew-up going to cons and watching SmackDown. There's probably some cosplay pictures around somewhere of her dressed up as Bloodberry from Saber Marionette J. Just don't tell anyone.