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One True Mate #1

Shifter's Sacrifice

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An all wolf-shifter police force has been the only thing between humans and an unknown evil for centuries, but the pack is in danger of dying if they don't find their promised mates soon.

Trevor Burbank is a shifter cop in a world of humans who don't know the evil that wants them dead. If he does his job well, the humans will never need to know, but he feels like he's working against the clock, because his pack is about to die. The females have all been killed, and the half-breeds they make when they mate with humans aren't skilled or strong enough to fight.

Gabriela Carmi has lost everything that means anything to her way too fast and now she feels like she’s losing her mind, too. On a quest to find something that won't reveal itself to her, she feels as if she’s pining for someone who may not exist, so when an evil presence begins to follow her, she isn't sure if her mind is slowly falling apart, or if the impossible is actually coming true. When an instant attraction sparks between her and the dangerously sexy police officer sent to help her, it makes matters worse and better at the same time.

It's a race against time to find the angel/human hybrid One True Mates that the pack's spiritual leaders say truly exist. Saving the shifter clans is on everyone's mind, except for the chosen, the One True Mates, most of whom don’t even know who or what they really are, or why they seem to be slowly losing their minds.

You've NEVER read a shifter romance, or a fated mates romance like this before.

This is a republication of One True Mate 1, after a rights reversion back to Lisa Ladew.

319 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 22, 2016

4574 people are currently reading
3248 people want to read

About the author

Lisa Ladew

81 books901 followers
I'm working hard on One True Mate 11. I hope to finish it by the end of the year.

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5 stars
2,877 (39%)
4 stars
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3 stars
1,461 (20%)
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181 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 591 reviews
Profile Image for Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️.
2,940 reviews2,674 followers
January 16, 2023
Complex shifter world!



The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙🤎🖤❤️💜
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌏🌎
Character development: 😍😚😉🙂🥰
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Solo Narration

The Hero: Trevor Burbank - he is a wolf shifter and works on an all shifter police force. Though most humans don’t know shifters exist or the dark dangers that surround them. He and his shifter clan are dying out because there are no more female shifters and when male shifters mate with humans the resulting offspring are not strong like full blooded shifters and they are unpredictable.

The heroine: Gabriela Carmi (a.k.a. Ella) - her aunt recently died, her mother before that. She had been taking care of her mom, then her aunt for the last ten years. Ella needed to come up with $14,000 in order to save the home and her sister was threatening her because she suspected Ella of killing them for their money. Ella thought she was going crazy, she kept forgetting things and seeing things that weren’t there.

The Story: The Shiften were fighting their nemesis, the demon Khain who was responsible for so many terrible things that happen in the world, which humans wrote off as accidents or terrorism. Khain would commit his crimes and somehow escape into another world with no trace. Khain is the one that killed all the female shifters. Trevor swore that they would one day get their vengeance even if he did feel like a fraud.

The backstory in this book was a bit complicated and confusing, especially at the beginning of the book. There was a prophecy about the ‘One True Mate’ being half angels, and though it was easy to conclude that Elle was one of them due to the odd things that happened to and around her. The whole thing about Khain and what he was doing and trying to do was hard to get a handle on.

This book is told in dual points of view via Solo Narration and was narrated by Michael Pauley. I like his voice, it is deep and resonant though he did read a bit monotone at times. Still he was able to do multiple voices for different characters and I did enjoy the narration and once I understood the world, the story was pretty darn good!

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Profile Image for jenn *mother of dragon & snake*.
691 reviews345 followers
August 17, 2017
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So. This series I happened upon while I was going through my daily bookbub email. So here I am reading this series.

First off I'm a little bit disappointed with this book. So I'm giving it a round up to four stars as I am rating it 3.5. It had the potential to go places and get more interesting in its complexity. The beginning had me all sorts of 'what the fuck is going on?'
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and 'what are all these weird names for these different shifters? the hell is going one?!'.
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Cause seriously, this book just plopped right down in the thick of some random shit going on with our two MC's and it had me just irritated. Like, just Get. To. The. Fucking. Point. Already.
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Then it did.

Though I was still confused A.F. as to what was going on, I got a little more relaxed the further I got into it and started to enjoy it. It wasn't amazing-balls like some of the shifter books that you guys have seen me read and became slightly obsessed with since about 50 or more of them were read... Once I start, I can't stop. Sometimes I wonder if it's like being on crack....
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Alright GIPHY I get it. Stop judging me with your sassy Gifs. Like if you didn't know that already I'm slightly disappointed and wonder why the hell any of you people you even follow my reviews.
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Yes that's the stink eye.

Jennymort OUT.
Profile Image for GimmeAllTheWerdssss.
597 reviews255 followers
February 6, 2017
I really wanted to like this. I love paranormal/supernatural stories and this appeared to be right up my ally.

Initally it was the time jump/POV switch that caught me off guard. Then it was the fact that the Hero was rather weak. He was supposed to the leader and mostly alpha but nothing he did came across that way. He let others make decisions and I had to read around 3 pages of him wanting to kill himself.
Then it was the heroine who started off as this shy, kinda backwards, never fit in anywhere girl who doesn't really have a life. She doesn't drive, work, or really anything besides take care of her ill mother and aunt - who are both now dead. Then all of a sudden though she's this awesome woman. I get that when she connected with the hero all felt right but that doesn't mean that her personality should have done a complete 180. There were also other random POV's thrown into the story.

Ultimately, I'm not sure how I felt about this book because it wasn't horrible but it wasn't great. It was just annoying and ended with a lot of loose ends. Now, the author did not that there were loose ends and that the story would continue throughout the following books so that was helpful. However, I'm just not sure what the first book gave me was enough to continue the series.
Profile Image for Cheesecake.
2,800 reviews509 followers
November 8, 2018
well damn...
I know I read this a couple years ago and yet it comes up as unread. Hmmmmm...
I also remember I didn't like it. Mostly the world building and the writing was choppy and hard to follow.
The orgy stuff was gross imho... not romantic. In fact I didn't even find it titillating.
Not my cup of tea.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Rellim.
1,676 reviews44 followers
September 10, 2021
Note: This series has been combined into box sets of 1-4 & 5-8. They're all in KU & the boxed audio can be purchased via WS for $7.49. Great deal for 4 books.

I'm one of those people that LOVES massive world building. I think I enjoyed it more than some folks because it didn't bother me that the romance is actually more of a secondary plot line to the establishment of this completely unique take on Shifters - which Ladew calls "Shiften" - and the current disarray of their world. I also have the advantage of having binged books 1-4 a few years ago and am now back relistening and writing reviews. I do remember being a bit more confused/overwhelmed the first time through.

While most of the story is from Trevor & Ella's perspectives, Ladew does write a few sections from secondary characters' points of view - including the main enemy. And there is a HUGE cast of characters and it's a lot of information to take in. I think audio helps with that a bit as Michael Pauley does a decent job of giving some distinction between the characters and Ladew has given them very distinct mannerisms and characteristics.

It's a lot of history of both the Shiften as well as Trevor and Ella to culminate in how they end up together and what it means for the world at large. From the romance aspect, this isn't a cliffhanger as it ends in an HFN for the main couple. However, Ladew absolutely has several story arcs winding their way through the series so more questions remain to be answered. Overall, I enjoyed it and wanted to dive right into the next book, Dragon's Heat.

Narration:
I've listened to tons of narrations by Michael Pauley... and at times he does have the tendency to sound a bit robotic or like an AI. So while he give the various characters unique "speaking lines" the main narration fell pretty flat for me, especially considering his other work. It gets better after the first book, but some folks may need to read this one.
Profile Image for Amanda.
1,069 reviews
January 5, 2017
Allow me to summarize my interpretation of the book;
blah blah blah, long drawn out descriptions of their mythology, blah blah prophecy, blah blah more mythology, blah prophecy, blah the need to have a group orgy, blah prophecy and the inability to see what is in front of them, blah blah unneeded look into the secondary character's orgy with prostitutes, blah prophesied showdown, and finally very blah-requisite sex scene between mc's to end the book.

Too many loose threads that mean nothing. So. Bored.
Profile Image for Ivy Deluca.
2,377 reviews329 followers
January 8, 2018
description
Yeah....not sure about this. I liked the setup for this 'verse, but the story just got bogged down with so much exposition about the rules. It needed to be streamlined and more time spent on developing the characters. If you care about the characters, then it's easier to digest all the rigmarole involved in setting up such a complex mythology for shifters.

It just felt like there was too many characters, not enough development. Ella and Trevor's personalities felt ill-defined and while I tried to invest, I found that I didn't care that much about them. I was too busy trying to keep all the wolfen, bearen, felen, dragen, the prophecies, the odd moments straight. Plus, the rut scene? I didn't have a problem with it in theory, but it was oddly asexual, felt gratuitous and as a result, meant nothing to the overall story.

Throw in the occasional awkward transitions and inconsistent scenes (at one point she sneaks out of the house wearing leggings, then it switches to jeans, that kind of thing), and it took this story from potential to maybe not. It's a shame. There's quite a few books in this series, so I'd love to dive in but I think it's just not for me.


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Profile Image for Stillbelieveinnightmares (busy).
116 reviews25 followers
March 19, 2025
2.75/5

Overall the story was interesting, but some conversations/ plot developments just felt clunky and were told repeatedly. I don't think there's much character development, Trevor and Ella just meet at some point and then they go to loving each other pretty instantly.
I usually enjoy (fated) mates and am aware that love at first sight is a common occurrence. For me it just lacked character depth afterwards. I also would have enjoyed a bit more world building. All in all the writing came across pretty rushed at times.

I do love Troy & Trent tho
Profile Image for Notorious Book Tease.
174 reviews14 followers
January 5, 2018
Interesting PNR

This is an interesting take on shifters and their origin. It took a little while to get into the story as there is a lot of “lingo” that is introduced but not exactly explained in context, and a lot of concepts and characters introduced. Overall, this was a quick, fun read, and I will be reading the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Cassandra.
1,188 reviews110 followers
September 3, 2016
My Thoughts - 4 out of 5 Unicorns - I really liked it!!!
***Received a copy of the ebook for an honest review and I’ve already bought my own copy!

The cover is of course awesome because it has both beautiful beasts on it which is my favorite kind of cover!

This is the first time I’ve read anything by Lisa Ladew, but I do own several of her books and now this one too! This is the first book in a new shifter series called One True Mate. It is for adults only due to the steamy content.

This was definitely an interesting adventure and story line. I really liked Ella. At first I was wondering what was going on with her, and I thought she was few cans short of a six pack. But as the mysteries unfolded, everything became clear to both me and Ella. Trevor is definitely an alpha male, and he has some interesting baggage as well. I loved reading about this new and interesting world that I can’t wait to read more of.

I recommend this book to any shifter reader because this is an interesting and new shifter world to explore! Can’t wait for book 2!
Profile Image for Theresa .
1,847 reviews77 followers
January 4, 2020
2.5 Stars... I enjoyed the first half of this read... Interesting premise and a strong potential for romance... The characters intrigued me with the bits and pieces the author gave about their backgrounds... However, there were multiple characters introduced at one time which led to some confusion for me as to their relationship to the main characters and to the story... The read broke apart for me in the second half... Decisions made by the MC seemed contradictory to his character's personality; the dialogue became sloppy and overly sentimental; and there were several aspects of the story that never got fully explored or explained... For me, it just lost it's luster... Unfortunately, I will not be choosing to continue the series:(
Profile Image for The Romance Book Disciple (Samantha).
2,116 reviews361 followers
December 14, 2017

Shifter's Sacrifice is book 1 in the One True Mate series by Lisa Ladew, a new to me author. Starting a new series, especially one that requires world building can be a challenge. I am torn about Shifter's Sacrifice and here is why:

the world building was confusing at times. The author tries to not dump it all at once in the beginning, which is great, but the way things were revealed got a bit confusing at times. It felt that things were out of order and I missed something, only to figure it out later.
I loved that there are lots of different shifters. The author has created a shifter world that is unique in many ways while not being so different that its too complex.
There is a LOT of back story that isn't fully explored. Again, I'm sure the author didn't want to dump it all out there, but I was left with a LOT of questions. What is an echo? Who knocked up Ella's sister? Whats up with the foxen? I know this is a series and these will probably be answered, but these 3 played a somewhat significant part in the story and I still don't understand WHY they were significant.
I thought about giving up. But I couldn't stop thinking about this book! That says something!
I love fated mates. Seriously, its like my favorite.

So, you see my issues? I couldn't put it down, which would totally be a 4-5 star read, but the beginning almost made me throw in the towel and DNF. So, I decided to go with 3.5 stars. I liked both characters, but the plot could have been better developed. Overall, I do plan to continue with the series. I am thinking that I will have less issues with the world building since book 2 is in the same world just with a different hero. And bonus? Its all in KU!

POV: 3rd
Tears: no
Trope: shifters, fated mates, angels
Triggers: none
Series/Standalone: series
Cliffhanger: 
HEA: 




Drakon's Promise by NJ Walters, Falling for His Mate by Katie Reus and Savannah Stewart, Blade by Alexandra Ivy and Laura Wright...then you will probably like Shifter's Sacrifice!

 


Shifter's Sacrifice
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Profile Image for Dawn Dawn.
12 reviews
December 9, 2025
4.5 stars

I am hooked.

I really enjoyed this book. Paranormal is one of my staples, and when hot alpha shifters are involved, I am in heaven.

Lisa's writing doesn't disappoint. I wish I had stumbled upon her work before now because I have been missing out. With shifters, suspense, tension, prophecies, humor, witty banter, and loads more you are in for a surprising ride.
Profile Image for Lauren Seiberling (Romance Novel Giveaways).
649 reviews408 followers
September 13, 2016
A very cool and unique spin on shifters! Lisa created an awesome world in this book, complete with an epic adventure as the undertone for the series. I was pulled in immediately, and I loved the differences between this book and the ol' run-of-the-mill shifter books I have read in the past. I definitely felt the suspense as the story unfolded, wondering what would happen to Ella and, later on, Trevor. Lisa did an excellent job keeping me guessing! The book had some proofreading issues throughout, but all in all, it was a great read that kept me eagerly turning the pages to see what happened next. I am SO curious to see how the series ends!!!
Profile Image for Shadi ***save your ratings use disclaimers**.
321 reviews182 followers
September 15, 2016
I am tempted to rate this higher just because I like where the author went with the storyline. It has some originality, the world building was pretty good, I typically love prophecy books. So I really want to rate it higher.....unfortunately, I can't. The writing was stilted at times and I didn't connect with the couple really at all. I basically read it only for the paranormal side of the story and what was going to happen.

Also I know it's shitty of me because people need to move on but I really did not like the It was a side character but jolted me out of the story long enough to ask myself wtf that scene was trying to show or do. After that, I really did not get back into the story.

Beyond that duplicate information was given multiple times in slightly different ways but close enough that it got repetitive. The heroine was annoying and never grew as a character and the hero was the same.
Profile Image for Danielle (Danniegurl).
1,960 reviews110 followers
July 31, 2020
The shifter origin is unique but the story as a whole is ok.

This isn’t a difficult story to read. The origins of the shiften are different from most of the common origin stories. But aside from that this book was very surface level. I didn’t get the depth of love, I didn’t get the emotional impact that I get from some authors. This author is a great writer, but it just needs less descriptions and more emotions. Why didn’t her aunt and mom like her? Why were all the females killed? Why is Trevor so important? I suspect it’s a series arc and over time we will know more but I need more. I may read the second book to give it another shot but this wasn’t enough to keep me here. I skimmed a lot of the book and while there are sex scenes they aren’t in depth and take 3 pages which is fine but sometimes the tension warrants more.

I would have liked them to get to know each other, and the little necklace thing seemed forgotten, she also wanted it fro her sister. It was mentioned and then dropped.

Why did Mrs. White dislike Ella so much? I just didn’t always understand why people we saying or acting the way they were it and wasn’t ever really explained.
Profile Image for yasmin ౨ৎ.
175 reviews7 followers
October 20, 2023
saw someone on tiktok say they missed weresolf stories and so i read one
Profile Image for Kristal Taylor.
377 reviews11 followers
October 6, 2017
Oh my gosh what a great book. I loved everything about this book and the author. I can't describe how enticing this story is and how you won't be disappointed by reading the first book of this series. This book is seriously a wonderful story of angels, demons, Wolfen, trying to save the human arch from extinction except for the demons. This is the first book I've read from this author and the author has a vivid imagination. The Shiften (all Shifters) are desperate to ensure the end of their kind doesn't happen; their enemy Khain!! Khain killed all the female shifters.

Ella has heard voices and felt down deferent her entire life and she thought she was as crazy. But seeing this demon when she was young and recalling his voice as an adult was troubling. He breaks into her house and she escapes out the basement window and calls 911. And oh my gosh Trevor Burbank is the one who comes to her aide. He's a wolfen cop 🚓 and he takes her statement and fall for her instantaneously. The prophecy is called me no true, Shifters finding their One True Mate. The writing is strong and enticing. It keeps you engrossed into the story from start to finish. The author has created a beguiling world 🌎 of characters that are likable. The amazing detail of each group of shifters and how they came to be shows the quality of writing. The heroine and hero are amazing together. What a wonderfully amazing book and I highly recommend this new and wonderful series.

Citlali were the spiritual and judicial leaders of the shiften. The shiften were a group of beings who could shift into their inner animal at will. These included wolven (wolf shifters), bearen (bear shifters), felen (big-cat shifters, like cougars and pumas), and foxen (fox shifters).

The Dragen helped save the day. The dragen was dragon shifters.

Trevor ignored the hand and turned to Wade, his brow furrowed, his fists clenched. “He’s not wolfen,” he snarled, barely able to control himself. Wade didn’t give an inch. “He’s dragen. They have been valued members of Police Scotland for centuries, working alongside our wolven brothers and sisters there.” Trevor narrowed his eyes and turned to Graeme. “You have females?” Graeme dropped his hand. “No,” he said simply. Trevor took a step forward. “I thought all the dragen were gone. Killed off.” Graeme lifted his chin. “I am the last.” Trevor turned to Wade again. “I would like to speak to you alone.” He was so angry he almost shook with it, his muscles tensed and full. Again, Wade didn’t give in. “Whatever you have to say to me can be said in front of Graeme. He should know what he is getting himself into.” “Fine. How do we know we can trust him? What is he even here for? How am I going to explain to—to anyone that we’re letting a non-wolfen work with the KSRT?”
Profile Image for Alaina.
7,344 reviews203 followers
September 10, 2017
Okay so I read another shifter book, but unlike any of the ones I've previously read, this one had really weird names for the different shifter species. I don't really know how I feel about that. I did skim through some parts just because I thought they were boring and I just didn't care about that character (aka the bad guy) I have no idea why but meh those parts just didn't grab my attention. I also thought that there were some unnecessary characters in this book, but I get that some were introduced because throughout the series I'm assuming they will have their own book.

As for the characters I did like: Ella (aka Fern), I loved her--hated her sister and her awful flashbacks, but I loved her character. She thought she was crazy because she heard voices in her head but then she found out that she was half-angel and half-shifter, which pretty much she could make babies with anyone. But once she was mated that was it until that other person died, then she was fair game (which is way weird). Then you find out her older sister basically bullied her and is a total bitch. I have no idea what she is but you do find out that she is pregnant with something, but you don't know how far along she is.

Other than Ella, there's Trevor and his brothers Trent and Troy. Trevor is the typical strong alpha male. However, he does think he's responsible for his brothers because they never learned to shift into a human, so they are a wolf... forever (or are they?!?!?!?! haha just kidding I have no idea). You get some information about his family and how he was abused by his father, which made me sad. Then there's the relationship between Trevor and Ella was really cute. Then it took like a complete 180 and they were like together together. At the end of the book, they officially mated (or bonded) which at first she was against because they didn't really know each other and she didn't love him. He loved her though but she came around pretty quick when she thought he died...he didn't (obviously).

Then there's the crew that Trevor works with, I liked them although I thought the new guy (who was a dragon shifter) was a weird add-in but then you find out the next book is about him so I guess it makes sense. Shifter's Sacrifice is a pretty easy read and not difficult to follow. I wish some of the characters were more interesting but overall it wasn't a bad book.
Profile Image for Katie Utterly Unashamed.
826 reviews194 followers
June 4, 2020
2 stars. This book had great potential. It is free on Kindle and Audible Escape (The audio was horrendous, the guy sounded like a robot). But I need something quick for the pool while my kids swam and figured, what the heck. Might has well work through this list of "might like". The reviews were either love or hate on this and I totally see why.

There was a lot of characters being introduced for such a short book. The story line was a great idea, but she swarmed it with too much stuff to make it work, and then left so much hanging. I don't know why so many authors think a book full of unfinished crap is better than a book with a few things happening that are explained and finished. Cuz they are not. I can't stand when I finish a book and think. Hmm, I wonder.

But maybe that is why some of these stupid short books get me to read them all, because I feel like my answers are going to come later in the series. Sometimes that is fine, but sometimes it doesn't happen and then it ruins the next couple of books because I'm too busy waiting for my answers that I can't enjoy the next book.

I'm glutton for punishment so I haven't decided if I will continue to read this series.

Like I said, I REALLY REALLY wanted to like it, but it just fell short and what meh to me. So I'll probably stop here and move on to the "might like" book.

Profile Image for Jane.
Author 6 books89 followers
July 25, 2019
In Shifter's Sacrifice Trevor Burbank, a wolfen finds his 'One True Mate' when he meets Gabriela Carmi, a half and half angel woman that is the first true mate to be found after all the female shifters were eliminated thirty years before by an evil being from another realm.

Ella, as Gabriela likes to be called is confused by her powers and all the strange happenings in her life that makes her different. Trevor is part of the prophecy for the saving of all shiftens. Together they face evil, work to overcome danger and help the shifters all find hope for the future. The teamwork is a positive aspect of the plot.

The details of the plot keep the pages turning, the characters are wonderfully developed and I loved Troy and Trent, the brothers. The addition of a dragon and other shiters species working together made this an exceptional storyline and one I will enjoy with the rest of the series.
Profile Image for Jackson .
965 reviews21 followers
August 8, 2020
Could’ve been great but was just good

I really loved the premise of this book. I love good shifter worlds and this one went deep into the past and even gave us creators and mortal enemies and prophecies to guide them. ** minor spoilers** However I was lost in the execution of the story and character building. I felt that the main characters really fell flat and lacked so much personality. I got more personality from the two nonshifter wolf brothers. I just didn’t see the love nor were a lot of the story aspects fully flushed out. She pawns a wolf pendant get attacked he investigated the scene ends up buying the pendant for who not knowing she sold it and u never hear about it again. The aunt supposedly had the whole force at her funeral and she doesn’t know why and come to find out the force are all shifters... so what’s the connection?
Idk I wanted to love it and I finished it to get to that pivotal moment when the fated mates realize their soul mate and it almost never happens here. There’s so much doubt... she even runs off and also tells him she doesn’t love him at one point and hurts him.
Profile Image for Ähmsry.
623 reviews12 followers
January 10, 2021
A very good story, interesting and captivating, but not an easy fast read. There is a whole world and new words for special things. Wonderful in its own way.

I want this story to settle and work before I dive further into the OTM series.
Profile Image for Katrina.
711 reviews43 followers
February 5, 2017
Really 2.5* .
Weak hero, convoluted mythology, a lot of leads that initially appeared to be of importance but are not followed through , e.g. police badge and retinal scan door in h's house ; the pendant - lots of emphasis on it's significance but no explanation and than it just disappears . So , overall, meh.
Profile Image for Ashlie.
125 reviews5 followers
January 28, 2019
This book was ok. Not my favorite book. I give it 3.5 stars. It was a sweet story had a good story line but had it’s dumb moments.
Profile Image for Amana.
39 reviews1 follower
August 9, 2019
Love this book and the OTM world.

I have read this before but IAM reading the series over Troy and Trent just make my day,about to reread the rest.
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