Setting: Las Vegas – hotel rooms; the Bellagio fountains; a house; streets; the desert;
Theme: torture (yuck); pain; survival of the strong; physical and internal strength; fate; attraction/rightness/maybe love;
Characters:
‘Charlie’ Claire St James: lost loving parents when she was 12; parents were werewolves, but did not tell her – wanting her to be raised human – though before accident hinted that she needed to learn self defense, and someday she would understand why; she is genetic werewolf (unheard of for female) and a dormant (potential mate who can have baby werewolves); grandfather decided to leave her with human friend of her parents to be raised, but assigned Jessie to watch over her; at 17 attacked, almost raped; Jessie then asked to be able to befriend her (and become her lover/best friend/confidant); she likes rough/physical/bordering S&M sex; she is beautiful; she attracts the attention of guys, and surrounds herself with people she trusts; she is a drummer in a band; she has been taking self defense classes with a man who likes to hurt her, but who teaches her what she feels she needs to know; she has been dreaming – of a man with blue eyes, then a man with green eyes, then a big wolf that chases her;
Malcolm Cole: because of Lily’s testimony to the council, he has been exonerated of being a killer, and held up to be a hero because of the revenge he has enacted on behalf of the victims he is called to (remember the gypsy curse of the last book? – WWII spy, at a Nazi encampment, goes to an older, dying woman, she curses him (thinking him a Nazi) and he has red bands on his wrists, and is teleported to the scene when an innocent is murdered – too late to save the innocent – though he does wreak vengeance on the perpetrator where he can); recognized as powerful alpha; caught a hint of Charlie when in Pittsburg – and feels the need to claim her; a bit (not too much though : ) cautious after his arrogance and cruelty to Lily; follows her to Las Vegas, and marks her – though more subtly than James did – he meets her at a bar, and her interest and a bit of his persuasion (though she is strong and able to block him), he takes her to a tattoo parlor, and has his blood mixed with ink to be used to tattoo her wrist; she feels the magic, knows it is him (he held her still til it was complete, in spite of her insistence they stop), and she runs… he chases, he tries to be reassuring, he finally feels guilty enough to let her go (hiring a cab to take her back to the hotel – bad decision).
Gabriel Fallon aka David Reese: hmmmm… werewolf; special talent is morphing into more than just a wolf – eye color – and bald eagle, what else?; head of the Hunters, seems to have a vision of werewolves ruling the world, and against those who counter that idea; like Charlie’s parents, who wanted to fit in as human – so he killed them, and spared Charlie – intending to make her his mate when the time was right; rich; as David Reese (with black eyes) he is her trainer; as Gabriel Fallon built hotel in Las Vegas, and to get control of Charlie, contracts for her band to play there for 6 months; has her put in suite below his penthouse floor, where she is isolated from the rest; he is out of town when she gets there, allowing Malcolm the time to mark her; heavily into S&M, and torture, and control;
Jessie Graves: werewolf Sentinel; attorney; loves Charlie; knows he cannot ‘petition’ to be her mate unless she dreams of him (she doesn’t) – but at end asks for guardian rights over her; early scene with them and the rough, power, control sex where she is dominated and wants; did not know Reese and Fallon same man – and he is the one that calls in the council to stop her torture at his hands;
Dannai: powerful witch that works with the council; she can heal, and find people, and do lots of magic; she heals Charlie and Malcolm;
Alexander Cavanaugh: werewolf council Overseer; Charlie’s grandfather; flies to Vegas when it is apparent that Fallon is the head of the Hunters; meets Charlie for the first time after she is finally rescued;
Lily Cane / James Valentine: Lily can ‘sees’ some of what Charlie is going to face (only bit by bit), and ‘sees’ that Fallon is the Hunter; she comes to help where she can, both in protecting and in emotional support to Charlie, especially as she faces the mating; she ‘sees’ the hotel blowing up and gets the weres to get the people out to safety;
Vincent Cromwell: wizard; works for Fallon; seems a bit uncomfortable with Fallon – and when captured, gives what information he can to the council; don’t know if we will see him again…
Seth: warlock; dark; looks young, but has old eyes; smells evil; ruthless; has his own agenda, what is it? Alexander thinks he is a half warlock / half ______ that amps his power; he answers the call to assist Fallon in removing the mark from Charlie – which can only be done if she asks for it; he dispassionately watches her torture; he gets angry later on when she elbows/kicks him interrupting his magic; she know he would harm (even kill) her if not for Fallon; next book?
Ulrich: her great – uncle, Alexander’s older brother; working with Fallon (and where we get their agenda); watched (participated?) while Fallon tortured his neice; sees the future in her and Fallon – their strength – necessary for the weres to not just survive, but to flourish;
Malcolm’s pack: Jake, Lucas Cage, Jacob Sampson:
Lucas, next book? – alpha from Australia, under Malcolm’s pack… heads for where a tank of gas will take him on his motorcycle… and Dannai – heads for where a tank of gas will take her in her classic
Summary:
Malcolm marks Charlie – and fights the pull he has to completely take her – he wants her to have some time to adjust, some right to choose; once back in hotel room (mistake by Malcolm), Fallon has Vincent put her to sleep, ogles her naked, sleeping body, and then in the morning, comes in with 4 henchmen, take her to basement torture chamber, where he is happy she refuses to agree to having the mark removed – she figures anything he wants, he should not get… he is cruel, he uses sexual stimulation, he has her whipped, all with witnesses and helpers, and he enjoys it – and she refuses to agree… finally the council shows up, his warlock zaps the three of them to his home outside Vegas; he blows up his hotel; Malcolm, has a short fight with Ulrich – and then puts Charlie’s safety over his need to win; he follows the pull of the mark, on a motorcycle (with Jessie following in a helicopter); Charlie can feel the burn of the mark increasing, and knows he is coming to rescue her… he can’t enter Malcolm’s home, but he sends the motorcycle through the plate window – they head out to the car – he chases;
Finally, interrupted attempts at Seth’s magic (by Charlie), Seth gets the helicopter down… Malcolm knows they cannot stop them, so he and Seth commandeer the helicopter; Charlie shocked again to learn her best friend Jessie is more (her hug, though not as painful (his Sentinel status), hurts…
At Malcolm’s hotel room, Lily takes care of her – gives her new clothes; they talk… she meets her grandfather – and after a bit of distance, she is glad to connect with him… and Lily encourages Malcolm to claim her – and wow does he… not with gentleness, or loving words and touches, but with domination – which fits her just fine;
For some reason she hides the painful bands appearing around her wrists, and Malcolm doesn’t remove his leather bracelets that hide his bands… but when he can feel her distress, he goes to her in the shower – fully clothed, and finally we see the gentle side to him – he holds her… ahhh. He takes her to the Bellagio fountains, and uses his mind control so that nobody sees them, and takes her in a boat into the middle of the fountain (with an umbrella) – wowing her…
But when he touches her wrists, and she winces, he pulls back her sleeves, pulls off his bracelet, and is instantly angry… the red, cursed bands are off his wrist, and onto hers; he calls Lily to yell at her for not warning him, she starts to tell him she just had the vision, and that it is not the same… but Daniel cuts him off, not liking how he is yelling at his wife – then Daniel takes her phone and leaves for a bit (she just goes next door, leaves her baby, and gets on a plane to Vegas – a bit miffed at her husband),
In the meantime, Fallon is staging an innocents death (mother and child – with a bit of torture first for his entertainment) that should call Malcolm to him and where he has laid a trap for him. In a panic, Malcolm is telling Charlie that when it happens, to close her eyes, it will hurt a bit, and not to open her eyes (expecting she will see horrific scenes), and then to telepathically call out to him, so he can locate her… and as he feels the pull starting, he wraps his arms around her, and is teleported with her (surprise)… to the scene before the murder has occurred… they face Fallon’s men – Malcolm gravely wounded… council shows up, Dannai heals Malcolm and Charlie… Alexander faces off with Fallon… almost has him dead, but Alexander finds a weakness – sharing telepathic images of Charlie’s torture… and shifts to eagle, and flies away.
Ends with Alexander and Lily sharing that Charlie’s gift allows her to go to scenes before death, and to take someone with her (Malcolm and Jessie the likely candidates)… and then Alexander telling Charlie and Malcolm that Dannai, Lily and Charlie form a female task group that are reforming the face of were life. hmmmm
Memorable scenes:
Is this book fiction or nonfiction?
What is the genre of this book (romance, thriller, historical fiction, etc.)?
What are the subjects of this book (sexism, hackers, financial scandals, etc.)?
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What is the writing style of this book (such as journalistic, narrative, descriptive, scholarly, accessible, expository, persuasive, etc.)?
What is the perspective of the narration? 3rd person ("he was born into nobility...")
Is this book told in the past, present, or future tense?
Do you think there is a strong female character in this book?
Do you think there is a strong male character in this book?
Does this book follow a few characters or many?
What literary devices are used in this book (flashback, footnotes, logical fallacy, epistolary, etc.)?