Cursed. The word has been written across my face from my first shift. I didn’t do anything to deserve this. But I am doomed to be alone forever. Cursed with Ghost Eyes, Jennifer Clearie was destined never to be Moon Blessed. Cast out by her pack, she was forced to live in wolf form, alone, for over a decade. Divorced from his Moon Blessed mate, future Alpha, Kendrick Biel, has to find a suitable mate in a short amount of time or lose his pack for good. When Kendrick and Jennifer are presented with the opportunity of a lifetime, they eagerly accept. Kendrick gets a mate who can’t leave him, Jennifer gets to live a life she never dreamed possible. But dreams can become nightmares in an instant I watched Aster walk away twice. The first time destroyed me. The second nearly destroyed my pack. Without a mate, I will lose my pack for good. I’d make a deal with any devil to keep it. The devil I chose, may destroy me. The second in the Kootenai Pack series. Book Tooth and Claw Book Ghost Eyes Book Fallen Lorde
I’m sorry but I dislike Kendrick! He’s getting what he deserves and I believe he does not deserve redemption or a happy ever after. He has never learned he’s had multiple chances and still is a coward. He had multiple chances with Aster then with Jen and all he cares about is not losing his pack he’s a selfish man that need to lose his pack and have someone more worthy take over. Wish the author would kill off Kendrick the pack will be better without him.
grr i detest this writing style!! this every other chapter is a reverse back to previous times is frustrating and interrupts the flow of the book and story!!! A GOOD EDITOR WOULD KNOW THIS!
this was as much about aster as was the first book to start with. because she's in many of the flashbacks to kendricks youth. so its more a continuation of their story. its a decidedly weird way to write a book as you dont know who is going to end up with who?
now we understand why kendrick didnt claim her and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father.
there's nothing loving or romantic in this book whatsoever, its cynical and cold, calculated and depressing!!!! we think kendrick is gonna get his hea and at 60% its all goes tits up and kendrick is back to being the bad one and everyone hates him. i hate this story so goddamn much! where's the pleasure here? the enjoyment?
and i have to say i really dont like aster in this book at all. she tells the story and poisons everyone about kendrick without knowing the whole story.
skimmed through the chapters that go back in time only to find that jen has a fated mate? and leaves kendrick?? grrr
dnf
this book is annoying as fuck. i absolutely with a vengeance detest books that have half the book with one person and then the other with another.
not for me no more, i dont read books to be pissed off, i read them for pleasure and there's nothing pleasurable about these books at all.
Have you ever hated a character so much you literally had a physical reaction? Then in the next book in the series the character is suddenly 100% more likable because you get more of his backstory and you realize that maybe you misjudged him. Yeah? We have all done that. DON'T expect that reaction in this book. The main antagonist from the 1st book is still a #%%= and I still despise him. At first you may think this is his redemption story but you will find out you are wrong. It is actually the story of a girl realizing that she does have a place in this world and becoming free to be herself and be loved. I do wish the author would employ a professional proofreader so that some grammar and continuity issues would have been corrected. Will I buy the next book in the series...heck yes I will!!
This book did not go how I thought it would, but should have learned my lesson with the first book. If you loved Tooth and Claw...you will love this one. I wasn’t expecting it to be based on the same formula, and that’s on me. Personally, I like to know where I’m going. I’m the annoying reader that doesn’t like major surprises:) I will look at spoilers because I like HEA, I want my man to win, I want characters to redeem themselves, I don’t want my H or h to die. NOT SAYING THAT HAPPENS HERE JUST MAKING A POINT If you are like me, you may want to check the spoiler before reading:)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I admit, I was worried going into book 2 that the author would redeem Kendrick as it was his story, she didn’t which makes for a better story. I get it’s his story, I get that bad guys can become good but imo this guy proved beyond a shadow of a doubt in book 1 that due to upbringing and back history that he didn’t/doesn’t have the social skills to be able to change overnight if ever. Sad fact of life that there are many people out in the ‘real’ world who are exactly like Kendrick. The intricacies of this storyline are delicate threads of steel tying everything together but not being obvious, making for a compelling read. Thanks to the author for keeping the characters true to their characteristics and I look forward to following this packs story.
Ghost eyes review I literally couldn’t sleep after finishing this book. My heart hurt so much. I know this is fiction but how could there be absolutely no one in Kendrick’s life to see the horrific abuse he suffered as a child? By age 13, he had been whipped - viciously whipped - so many times, he rationalized it with “what was one more night? It was inevitable in the Biel family.” This continued frequently and regularly until he was 18. As readers, how can we desensitize ourselves to the horrific impact of this on a human being?? By 13, he had learned to hide his thoughts and emotions completely due to the abuse from BOTH his parents. “Years living with my father trained me to weave half-truths and to hide my body’s natural responses to lies.” The author tries to explain that, in his mind, Kendrick’s neglect to protect Aster from abuse by schoolmates was an attempt to shield Aster. If he defended her, his parents would be cruel to her and her mother too. I could see this making sense to a child. But he continued to not resist his parents as he got older and should have been strong enough to overcome them. Was his dad’s “Alpha power” stronger than him? Certainly not when he was dying in the final two years. Nor that of his mother. But can Kendrick’s failure to protect and defend Aster truly be blamed on his “greed” to be Alpha? It feels more like his spirit was beaten to death. That even though he himself was an Alpha that his spirit and any concept of how to defend those weaker had been killed. He just didn’t know how. In my mind, it’s also very likely that his perception of things had been deadened. Like other readers, I cannot forgive his repeated failure to protect Aster, especially once he reaches adulthood and brings her back to the Pack. Even though I really wanted their “Moon blessed” union to succeed, his ultimate failure to protect Aster prevented that. At the same time, I can’t get my mind away from the fact that NO ONE knows what he went through. What his entire life was. Both books (Tooth and Claw, Ghost Eyes) gloss over it matter-of-factly. In Tooth and Claw, Aster’s wolf sees that Kendrick’s “entire back was covered in deep red welts.” She mentions it indifferently, “She saw your back. Those are some gnarly scars.” Even when he froze in place, she didn’t wonder how such horrific abuse occurred. Kendrick is completely isolated and alone through both books. He learned as a tiny child that he was completely on his own. No one has shown him empathy or compassion. Ever. And yet he still tried to show love to Aster, to show her respect, to show respect to his Pack at meals through her example. I repeat, the most important thing he needed to do was protect Aster, to stand up to his parents. He never does that and so he couldn’t in the end have her. Even with Jen, he tries to be kind. He goes so far as to arrange for a psychologist to try and deal with his issues. So to say he doesn’t deserve a HEA is unbearably cruel. These books were extremely painful emotionally for me to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
In this book we finally get more information on Kendrick and a look at how he was raised. His father was abusive and his mother did nothing about it. We learn Kendrick's side of what happened the night Aster lost her hand. Kendrick wanted Aster all along, but due to her low birth status, his father kept Kendrick from Aster. Fast forward and Kendrick is now alpha. He can, however, lose his position if he doesn't find a mate. He travels to the Great Smoky pack to find a mate. There he meets Jen. Her pack outcasted her because they believed she was cursed. All is fine between Kendrick and Jen at first. Jen cares for him and was willing to give him pups. Kendrick cares for her too, but he still calls for Aster in his sleep. As they work on their relationship, Jen begins to feel a strange pull and it's not towards Kendrick.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I love that the author writes you a chapter at the end to explain her vision and feeling about the story and characters.
Spoilers*****
At first I was waiting for Kendrick to redeem himself and then I stopped and was immensely glad that this wasn’t another book with all the perfect happy endings and loose ends tied up. Upon opening the second book I was at first surprised that Kendrick even got a second looksee and then I realised that he was so clearly clueless to all the good things in his life and this actually wasn’t his swan song. Thank you Lynn for not giving in to the temptation of giving everyone a perfect happy ending and creating such angst, confusion, longing and reflecting the reality that not everyone wins in life. So refreshing!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This wasn’t great. Writing was fine but we literally spent until 90% in the POV of Kendrick…. Who wasn’t going to become the romantic lead?
This didn’t tell the story of the ghost eye couple. This book manipulated the reader into following a romantic dead end and trying… so hard…. To invest in the couple given to us by the author.
What do I know about Andrew? Squat. The entire actual romance was done off page in the course of a chapter.
So the author wanted you to think she was redeeming Kendrick, giving him a terrible back story, pulling at your puppet strings, and literally leaving the “naaaah, made you look, he’s not being redeemed” until the epilogue.
Do I dislike Kendrick? Sure. But now I also dislike the author.
These books are good. I disagree that Kendrick is unworthy. He has no example, especially from his parents, to know what is right. He deserves his own story. That being said.. in both books, I just can’t get past the scene where he did not free her from the bear trap. He said he was going to get help, but why didn’t he just free her? It just makes no sense at all, it kind of takes away from the entire story.
I am ok with a store having some flash backs but this was ridiculous. One chapter in the now and the next 3 years before. This was constantly happening. I found my self skipping over all of the flash backs. If the story had no flash backs of where put in a good order I would give it 5 stars because overall the store was pretty good just the way they did it was utterly horrendous.
Ghost Eyes is a true page-turner. I loved following Jen’s journey of discovery and Kendrick’s attempts at redemption after the events of Tooth and Claw.
The Opening
This paranormal romance has an intriguing opening with a wonderful hook. It grabbed me right from the beginning. There is also a lot of conflict through the prologue and chapter one. I’m not sure why the first section was labeled as a prologue, though. It centers on the protagonist, is set in a location that appears again a few chapters in, and is within the same timeline as the rest of the novel, so why not make it chapter one?
The Characters
Jen is a new character introduced in this book. Her introduction is fantastic, and she’s an instant sympathetic character because of the way she’s treated by everyone else due to her curse. The curse was a great hook, and I wondered if there might actually be some special ability related to it.
Kendrick’s redemption arc is great. I get that he really believes what he thinks about Aster and the events of the previous book, but I didn’t find some of it plausible as noted below. But I love that he’s trying to do the right thing so much in this book.
Andrew is my favorite character by far. He’s wonderful. I especially like that he’s in the novel from early on rather than coming along as an afterthought at the end. I can’t say much more about him without introducing spoilers.
The Plot
This is another fated mates trope paranormal romance. In this one, the conflict arises around the fact that the protagonist is cursed so she can’t possibly have a Moon Blessed Mate.
I really liked that in this novel all the relevant parties are introduced at the beginning of the book instead of having one of the most important characters drop in at the last minute deus ex machina style as happened in Tooth and Claw.
I loved the resolution of this novel. Sadly, I can’t explain it without giving away the ending. However, I will say that it is extremely well foreshadowed throughout this story.
However, I did have one major issue with the plot. At the top of page 104, the things Kendrick says to Aster really don’t say anything like Kendrick is trying to make them sound in his thoughts.
I mean to say that I personally found it implausible that he thought these words were somehow soothing or that they could possibly mean what he’s trying to think they mean. This somewhat spoiled my suspension of disbelief at this point in the novel. I just found it all quite implausible.
The Setting
All the locations were well introduced, and the magic system is great. I love paranormal romances where the humans are ignorant of what’s happening in the magical world around them.
The Prose
This story is successfully shown and not told. The narrative was crystal clear and easy to follow. I found it quite immersive.
The number of typos and simple continuity errors in this novel is high. It really should be checked by an editor. Here are a few I highlighted while reading through, but it’s not a complete list.
P.58: Jen somehow and barged her way… P.79: “Nice to meet you Heston,” P.113: My pack gave me a mercy when the let me… P.118: His chosen mate rejected him (no she didn’t; it was the other one). P.123: I idly wondered in Aster’s wolf was as tough… P.134: Now way Aster has a… P.143: before she could the devastation on my… P.158: wish my curse on Andrew person just to… P.174: as pack members brushed passed him. P.177: The answer is now. (Actually, it’s no.) P.188: “Oh my Goddess,” (This is a human speaking who is supposed to know nothing about werewolves in this story, so why does she call on the werewolf god?) P.200: The Goddess does create evil, so I am not evil. (Think about it.) P.221: Can you bark to? (missing comma as well as to/too error).
My Opinion
If found this book really engaging from beginning to end. I wish the author would employ an editor to remove the typos, though. I’m going to rate it as 9 out of 10, which will translate to 5 out of 5 on Goodreads and Amazon. I feel it deserves such high ratings because it’s so entertaining. However, that midpoint explanation for the events with Aster in Tooth and Claw really was implausible.
At his first shift Kendrick Biel knew Aster was his mate but didn’t claim her. Aster was exiled when she hadn’t shifted in the usual timeframe. A decade later, Kendrick realized Aster could shift and kidnapped her so he could be alpha. Aster wedded, left and divorced Kendrick, he planned to ascend anyway but the elders and the council demanded Kendrick have a mate.
Jennifer Clearie first shifted in the usual timeframe but didn’t shift back for three days, pale and scarred under bloodied skin and a foot taller plus she now had different colored hair, one blue eye and one brown eye. Jen was declared moon cursed, unable to have a mate, exiled to the outskirts of the packland with food furnished once per month.
Kendrick’s lawyer and Jen’s pack agreed a mating between the two would solve both pack’s problems. Jen had dreamed of having a mate and was excited when her parents told her they’d found a mate for her. Jen helps bring good changes to the pack but struggles to be a good mate even defending Kendrick when others try to tell her his damage. Rating: 4.5stars
I am so glad Jen got her moon blessing. I would like for her old pack to anve a big run with Andrew so he can set them straight. As for Kendrick; well I hope he figures out how to love someone and them live him back. I hope he will eventually tell Lee that he was beaten by his parents every time he thought about her. At least make her understand what was done to him and why it was so hard for him to give end to their moon blessing. Once he finally tells her the truth maybe he can move on. I have really enjoyed these books so far, please keep writing.
Love the book the story of Jen was great fighting the odds to make a life, Kendrick however is becoming any like voldemort the villain in every story and I don't think I can read the 3rd book due to I can see where it's going. Love Jen and glad she got her happy ending and hope she stays in contact with the none pack shifters think her mate shall help a lot when the council come calling
This book was definitely not my forte. The main male character Kendrick is a flawed almost narcissistic man. He uses people to remain alpha. Jen is a tragic figure, used and manipulated by Kendrick. There are moderate amounts of cursing especially the F word. There are grammatical errors, but not enough to detract too much from the story. I only read to the end hoping for Jen’s HEA. Really wished I had not.
I've not read the first in the series so I had no vested interest in any of the characters and accepted Jennifer as a heroine immediately. Kendrick is more difficult, and I was left feeling that if he was prepared to break so many rules to stay in charge, maybe he wasn't the right Packmaster. I was happy to see Jennifer's development and her conflict throughout was well done. Thoroughly enjoyable
I was disappointed because the author made Kendrick out to be the villain. The thing is, he himself, was a victim of cruelty from his parents. How can he show love when he hasn't experienced it himself. I think he was a redeemable character and deserved to be loved too, but obviously the author doesn't agree with me.
Ghost Eyes is a great read. The author has done a wonderful job of weaving characters in from the prior book. There are a lot of great secondary characters that could be explored in future books.
So refreshing to read a story that's an original and not similar to others. Lynn Katzenmeyer tells a wonderful story that intrigues and wanting more. Cannot put them down. She is definitely a favored author!
Jen and Kenny and Aster/Lee, oh my. Kendrick is still a louse, Jen was a giant hick, and then there was the Beast. Again with the dreadful past/present exposition.
The constant rehash of book 1 seriously disturbed the continuity of the whole book. It could have been done differently. The new storyline was good, but rather clipped.
I enjoyed this book because it is not your typical shifter storyline! I loved that Jen got her HEA. But I think Kenrick has alot of redeeming qualities. I hope he will finally get his own true HEA!