Summary
It’s the dawning of a new era in the supernatural world.
There’s a war on the horizon, and I’m caught between enemy lines. On one side, my human grandmother. Harriet Aberdeen will walk through fire to get what she wants—me. On the other, an arrogant, sexy vampire. Sam Mason will stop at nothing to save the woman he loves—me.
But neither one is in control. The power is in my hands until fate steps in. Now I’m at a crossroads. If I run, I risk the life growing inside me. If I fight, the outcome is the same. So, I only have one option—give myself up and pray my grandmother will go easy on me.
Yet, it’s not my grandmother I need to worry about, but my evil sister Rianne. She’s jumped on the crazy train of genetic engineering. She has this hair-brained notion that we must give up our humanity together. Over my dead body, that will never happen.
Again, that darn fate has a way of screwing with me. After an epic sisterly brawl, Rianne has the upper hand.
Now, with time knocking on my door, I can’t wait for Sam to rescue me. I have to save myself. Otherwise, I won’t be the woman he fell in love with but a monster who will kill anyone in her path.
Excerpt
I winced, feeling a sharp pain in my lower back that vanished when I thought of Layla. Fuck! I held my breath as I crawled to my feet and listed to one side. I oriented my vision and sharpened my vampire senses.
Mangled metal, smoke, fire, dust, and debris created a dystopian scene in the hospital’s boiler and electrical rooms. The wall between the two areas had crumbled.
The last thing I heard from Layla was her screaming my name. I growled low, yanking a piece of metal from my leg and another from my back.
“Layla!” I shouted.
Sirens trilled. Or maybe the blaring noise was the loud ringing in my ears. After all, the fucking boiler had practically blown up in my face several minutes ago.
Roman Brown would be a dead vampire when I got my hands around his throat. The bastard was the head of a blood cartel and on the most wanted list by my government. Roman was also one of many on our growing list of enemies.
How the fuck did Roman know we were at the hospital? Layla and I didn’t even know we would be in the ER until she’d found blood on her panties. I’d never been so fucking scared in my life, and truth be told, not much frightened my immortal ass. Hellfire would rain down if anyone laid a hand on Layla or did anything to hurt our unborn babies. Oh fuck. We were having four little ones. Four freaking kids. I couldn’t process that right now. I had to find Layla.
I shouted her name again, then listened. That damn ringing was masking everything. Maybe my sharp senses were off. I’d only heard two fetal heartbeats last night when I’d been drifting off to sleep. I hadn’t heard four. Maybe the aftermath of the chip malfunctioning had compromised my hearing. Throw in the explosion…
Regardless, if she was dead, I would die right beside her. My life had no meaning without her.
I navigated through the mess, feverishly retracing my steps from the parking garage to the electrical room. I checked my watch. Only minutes had passed since the explosion. But that did nothing to ease the gut-wrenching pain in my stomach. Layla could be under a pile of burning metal.
Think, man.That was the problem. I couldn’t wade through the fear overpowering my senses.
I stopped in the middle of the room, took in a huge breath, and concentrated.
Before the explosion, I’d run into a hairnet dude toking on a cigarette as he’d waltzed out of the laundry area. He’d seen two men with short blond hair and fangs and a bald dude with a scar on his face. Scarface had been chasing Layla. And my comrade Lane had been chasing Scarface.
Lane! Oh man.I’d found his head on the road behind the hospital. I would put money down that Scarface was responsible. I clenched my fists, my heart hurting. Lane had been a good soldier and Layla’s bodyguard. But I was to blame for Layla getting away. I was the one who fucked up.
Review
(audiobook) While having a few really important events and revelations, I felt the book dragged a lot and wasn’t as packed as the previous ones. Also the pace was weird, with some events taking several chapters, while others happen off page.
With a story focused on Layla and Sam’s relationship and everything they cause, I found it frustrating to have the main events in their love story rushed that much–or hijacked by more action focused elements. And the ellipsis just about killed me. I felt robbed of my love story. I get that they’re both action oriented people, and that their life is crazy at the moment. Maybe that’s why they needed a break and some chill time would have been refreshing. Oh well, probably a matter of taste.
While the book starts on several chapters from Sam’s point of view since Layla has been kidnapped, Layla and her family are really at the center of the story. From surprises to grief, she doesn’t get any respite, and one member of the extended Aberdeen family is always around the corner. Some are friends, some are foes, and some are somewhere in between. More and more Layla chooses to join the Mason family, who seems more balanced even though they’re all monsters. At this point, the reader really wonder who are the monsters anyway.
Sam takes a bigger role as a leader, while also dedicating himself to his woman and unborn children. We also see more of him with his father, and his sister and family. At a crossroad, he’s clearly working on choosing his path and who he wants to be.
The usual flaws can make reading this book a little bit annoying, especially the repetitions. We’re four books into the story of Layla and Sam, and it’s a series with cliffhangers. Do we really need to read for the umpteenth time about what happened to Sam’s sister in a previous series? Or how his father left them in foster care for a long time?
I felt the theme of monsters–of the supernatural kind or of the human kind–was more prominent in this book than in the previous ones, and it was interesting. Human becoming monsters, monsters showing human qualities, Layla and the babies she carries at the frontier between the two worlds, the place of monsters in the society… A lot of aspects are explored.
Narration was good. At this point, both narrators know their character quite well and have no trouble expressing all their nuances. If not for the fact that it could have been way shorter without any impact on the whole story, this book was good.
Quickie
- Series: Vampire navy SEAL: Sam & Layla #4 (ends on a cliffhanger, and references a lot another series by the same author)
- Hashtags: #paranormal romance #military romance #romantic suspense #enemies to lovers #surprise pregnancy #vampire #vampire hunter
- Triggers: violence and death, lots of blood, including blood play
- Main couple: Layla Aberdeen & Sam Mason
- Hotness: 4/5
- Romance: 4/5
- + delicious romantic moments between Sam and Layla
- – with Layla’s family dramas, she would be better off as an orphan…
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