*ARC copy provided for honest review
I realize the current trend is away from paranormal romance and back towards contemporary. I've always been a believer that there is room for everything, and I have missed having really strong, substantive paranormal worlds in which to escape. That is why it is always a real pleasure, and one I will sing long and loud about, when a stellar storyteller combines both into a series that just keeps getting bigger and badder and ultimately begins to take on a life of its own.
Bash, Part Deux. Bash, Plus. Plays on words don't even begin to cover just how much Ms. Blevins has upped the ante in this instalment. No give-aways here, but suffice it to say there is more action, more intrigue, and more intelligent plot points than I have seen or read in a long time. And they not only lead to what I am certain will be a very satisfying finish in Bash Volume III, but also to another three or four potential character stories involving the entirety of the Kirsten O'Shea Universe.
This book, or series of Volumes is about the RTMC, make no mistake, but those tantalizing glimpses into the other supes provides a delicious co-mingling of character and world, and about makes a reader giddy with the possibilities.
But I digress; this is about Bash and Angelica. The expanding, quite realistic contemporary plot is beautifully and seamlessly woven into a paranormal world, spotlighting two strong, capable and infinitely likeable characters who fit in either world. Or both worlds.
Once again, our heroine is smart and savvy and no shrinking violet, while at the same time, being all Bash's. Bash is sometimes frighteningly dark, but full of complexities that make him somehow relatable, and utterly steadfast in his commitment to his brothers and his woman. All very human traits magnified by the fact that they are also wolves.
It all just works. It is, very simply, a brilliant read.
...Not to mention, brilliant cover art, because my fellow readers...*that* is Bash!