4.75 stars!
Wow. I knew Eden Butler could write contemporary romance with angst, passion, and heart touching emotions. I should've known she'd being her writing talents to paranormal romance. Crimson Cove was everything I'd hoping it be; passionate, angsty, hot, and even emotional. It was a page turner I couldn't put down.
The best thing about this book for me was Bane, Janiver, and their chemistry. The book is told from Janiver's point of view, so how we see Bane and get to know him is through her eyes and interpretations of his actions. Bane however makes things easy for her and us by being up front about what he wants. I am a huge fan of Bane's no nonsense attitude. I loved how he was with Janiver, taking care of her, and always being there when she needed him. I even liked the way he let her be herself even when he knew he might be better suited to being in control.
The attraction between them was so hot it was almost blistering. I kept wanting them to give in to it, even though they were both fighting to be noble and deal with not only the situation at hand of finding the Elam and restoring order, but also taking into account how things had changed since Jani had been gone. I loved how Bane could read Jani's emotions, and sometimes even her thoughts, but he never pushed the limits. He tried to get her to open up about what she was hiding, but he never barged through her mental barriers when he easily could have. That just mad me respect him even more.
I liked how Eden Butler introduced this alternate reality and universe in the beginning of the book, but don't go too heavy into the details. The story was really easy to follow and focused mainly on finding the missing Elam and whatever storm was brewing between Jani and Bane. I must admit I liked how even though there were numerous paranormal beings present in the book, none were perfect, even if a few believed in their superiority over others because of lineage or material possessions; all of the characters were flawed, but real, and easy to relate to. I loved seeing Jani with her siblings and learning about what had distanced her from her father and caused her to run away from home and never look back. I even loved the mystery and suspense in the story, with Jani trying to find the Elam and those responsible for taking it and causing chaos.
As much as I love her contemporary series, I would love to see more set in this world. I think there is a lot of untapped potential here and room to explore this alternate reality more. I'd love to get into Bane's head, that's for sure! I also hope she continues to write other paranormal books. Once again Eden Butler has written a fantastic tale of love, duty, honor, and courage.