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My Review:Title: Arctic Bite
Author: N.J. Walters
Series: Forgotten Brotherhood #2
Published by: Entangled: Amara
Release Date: May 18, 2020
Format: eARC
Pages: 239
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2020 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's 2020 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Quarantine Edition
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:
Blurb:Being immortal doesn’t mean you can’t die. It just means you’re damn hard to kill.
When Alexei Medvedev joined the Forgotten Brotherhood — paranormals hired to assassinate other paranormals — he knew it wouldn’t be a cake walk. But his next target is one of Death’s own Reapers gone rogue. For the first time since he started this gig, “damn hard to kill” feels more like “damn near impossible.”
Tracking Cassie Dobbs brings him to a remote bar in small-town Alaska, where this hot-as-hell Reaper is casually serving drinks, as if she doesn’t have a bounty on her head from Death himself. Alexei is dangerously intrigued. Everyone in the Brotherhood knows the first rule: don’t fall for your target.
But Alexei soon has bigger problems to face than an unexpected attraction. They only send assassins after those who deserve to die…or so he’s been made to believe. Now that he’s met Cassie, though, he’s not so sure.
What if everything he’s been told is a lie, and the person he’s been sent to kill is the only one who knows the truth?
I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
3.5 stars — This book was definitely entertaining, but it was missing just…something to make it a true hit for me. I’m still having problems concentrating, so maybe I *gasp* need to take a break from reading. *sigh*
Honestly? I actually really loved Alexei. I don’t know if he’ll be many people’s favourites, but he was this beautiful sensitive soul dealing with some HUGE internal struggles, and he just melted my heart. I loved how humbled he was by Cassie’s attention, how he would blush over his feelings. I ached for what he went through in his past, and how everyone had basically betrayed him. He was just completely NOT what I was expecting from this book, and for me that was a huge PLUS. He alone is why I will be rounding up. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t perfect. And sometimes he felt a bit too good to be true…but in general it was all love. I especially loved how he loved being playful because of his bear side…that was adorable as fuck.
Cassie was pretty easy to like in general, though because she was holding on to so many secrets about who she was, it was a bit harder to connect with her. I thought her whole story was seriously fascinating, though I think I would have preferred to know some things earlier on, and leave just the big reveal towards the end. I still don’t think I fully understand what she was feeling that made her quit and run…because she spends so much time talking about how reapers don’t have feelings, I wanted a bit more…depth about what drove her to the edge. I get the sickle story…that was…just sad. I wish I knew more about that, but I wonder if that’ll become clear in future books.
As for the two of them together? I enjoyed their banter and their genuine caring for one another…but their feelings felt a wee bit fast for me. I will accept that if there’s some supernatural reason, but it was mostly just good ole instalove. There were a LOT more steamy scenes than I was expecting. Which was okay, but I wasn’t super invested in them…I was missing some spark there I think.
The world seems intriguing. I will admit that it doesn’t feel super standalone, because I know I missed a lot of hints and things for the overarching plot from the first book, and I know some of the answers I want will come in later books. And unfortunately I’m not sure it grabbed me enough to keep me reading more books. But if I was invested in the series, I would appreciate all those little subtleties that tie together, if that makes sense.
All in all it wasn’t the miracle non-contemp I was looking for to pull me out of the slump, but it was fun and different.
Oh, this one looks like one I would like.