Selenium Night by Kharma Kelley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Selenium Night is the first book in Kharma Kelley’s Shadow Shifters series. This is not my first time reading her work and based on my prior experience I went into this book with high expectations. She did not disappoint.

What the story is about.
In this new series, readers meet Adian Bloodlocke and Dr. Maddie Ardelle. Abandoned by his pack. Aidan, an Aristan shadowshifter grew up knowing nothing about his lineage. All that would change when the alpha of the Bloodlocke pack adopted him and raised as his own. Aidan’s new life taught him about family and unconditional love. In spite of this, there were members of the pack who despised him a situation which escalated when he became the pack’s alpha.

Then the unthinkable happened, his pack came under attack leaving death and mayhem in its wake. Now he is on a mission to hunt and capture the responsible party and ensure that pack justice is served. What he never counted on was that during his quest he would find love with the delectable Dr. Maddie Ardelle.

Dr. Maddie Ardelle moved to Brdgepoint Maine, to get the pieces of her life together. Her life lacked excitement. Therefore, the last thing she expected was to get caught in the middle of the ShadowShifter's feud. When the hot and sexy alpha came to her aid, she found herself caught in a world of passion, violence, and a lot of shifters.

The Story
Selenium Night is one of those books which holds you captive from the first page and you eagerly turn the pages because you have to know how the event will unfold.

I loved the world that the author introduced me to in this story. There are two species of ShadowShifters, Aristans created by Arista one of the moon sisters and the Thesians, created in retaliation by her twin sister Thesia. Since this time, both species have been sworn enemies.
ShadowShifters are human souls that were fused with the soul of a wolf. In their natural state they are humans, however they have the power to change in various forms of a wolf. They lived in plain sight of humans, but the humans had no idea they were living among supernatural beings. ShadowShifters are born not made.

The romance was refreshing and well done. It was slow burn, which is not typical for these kinds of stories. This is not shifter story where the hero recognises his mate immediately and lay his claim to her. The hero was drawn to the heroine but had a hard time reconciling his feelings as it was forbidden for his kind to mate with humans. They got to know each other and allowing their love to develop at a natural pace. She tugged at his heartstrings and he had this uncontrollable need to protect her, which proved detrimental to his mission.

Suspense, action and humour were sprinkled throughout the pages of the book, making it a true page-turner.

The Characters

The Characters were well fleshed out. I was invested in them and could not help but root for them. Aidan is strong, determined and protective. His life growing up was hard, but that was until his circumstances changed. However, the pain of the past haunted him. Maddie had experienced her share of hurt and as such was not looking for a relationship. I could relate to her uncertainties regarding her developing feelings for Aidan. She was a likable heroine and it was clear Aidan was so enamoured with her. She is funny, selfless and brave.
They complemented each other. I enjoyed their initial contact, which provided me with some laugh out loud moments.

The secondary characters played an intricate role in making the story a page turner. My least favourite was Kieran, Adian’s adoptive brother. He is a true personification of evil. It was his actions that led to disaster that struck the Bloodlocke pack and he is the one Aidan is hunting.

The one thing I had an issue with is the author’s failure to delve deeper into the forbidden aspects of Aidan and Maddie’s relationship. They go their HEA, but it would have been good to know the effects in the future in light of the fact that Maddie cannot be a shifter.

Conclusion/Recommendation
The story delivered a heart-warming, emotional, suspenseful and action packed read. I do believe this is a great start to the series and I am eager to see what next the author has to offer. Fans of paranormal romance with strong sexy characters will enjoy Selenium Night.

I love coming back to this world! All the male heroes are so alpha-possessive and protective (and sometimes yes, annoyingly overbearing! hehe) but oh, so charming and sweet *le sigh* And the females are strong, kick-a$$, not-going-to-take-your-crap women ready to love and be loved.

We met Aldric and Natalia, our couple in past books and their relationship was gearing up to be a great one, but then at the start of this book we found out Aldric just ghosted out on Natalia. She was hurt but being the strong female that she was she’d decided to stop pinning for him and move on with her life. That is until a mission to find out missing vampires threw them back together and Aldric was no longer able to deny the attraction, and possibly mating instinct, that Natalia awoke in him.

Ok, confession time (and possible spoilers). So I loved Natalia and Aldric. I very much liked that she refused to rush into the relationship after the way he behaved. She was tenacious, resilient, and strong-minded, so a few pretty words or closeness to Aldric wasn’t going to change her mind, no matter what her body or heart were telling her. Aldric sounded like a huge, cuddly bear. The kind that scares you upon first impression but the more you get to know him the more you fall in love with him. The relationship moved slowly but surely and the way they got open up to each other was perfect. I think it was one of my favorite couples.

Now, and perhaps of what I just said, I feel that the fact that another couple’s love life was continued in this book I was not able to enjoy Aldric and Natalia’s love story to the fullest. I think I would have been happier if the time we spent with that other couple we’d had spent with the main couple. As it is, I feel we just brushed the surface of what could have been a more dynamic and sexier relationship *wah wah*

But beggars cannot be choosers and because I liked the plot and frankly I would still have liked the action, mystery, and paranormal world that this series never fails to achieve, even if there wasn’t any romance included, I definitely recommend this book (and series) to any PNR lover.

*** I received this book from one of the authors at no cost to me and I volunteered to read it; this is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.***

I really wanted to love this one. There were so many great elements, but they never really came together. Demetria and Everett have a shared grief that has kept them apart - it was quite a sad beginning, which you don't usually see in a Christmas novel, and that was good. It set it apart a little. But, things change very quickly when they find an abandoned cub. Now, this cub is quite a surprise - it's beyond a surprise, but I can't give it away. Let's just say the Jaguar world will never be the same.

It was cure and well done, this introduction to something new. But it sort of took over the story. Instead of watching Demetria and Everett bond over a little cub, it turned into more of a mystery with a dash of sex. I needed more romance and feelings and denied attraction.

It also sort of bounced around a bit. At times it was hard to follow the dialog and keep up with who was doing what.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

I loved this book! Perhaps it was because of my soft spot for vikings and all things Norse. Perhaps her sense of humor was just perfect. Perhaps her couple was so hot together I couldn't let them go. It was a little bit of all of this. It seems like every time I turned a page, I was finding something new to love.

This is a short novella with a lot of kick. It starts with a bang and just keeps on going. Nikki's crazy family had me cracking up, but also understanding her frustration at being so consumed with them that she no longer had her own self. Their interactions were a double-edged sword in her life. On one side showing exactly how needed and loved she was, on the other, not letting her live her own life or follow her own dreams and desires.

But Cruz seems to be the perfect solution, once she forgives him for throwing her grandfather out of the bar. He's quite the dark brooding type, but doesn't get so caught up in it all that he becomes one sided. He's got quite the sense of humor, even if it's a little different than most. He's also one of the sweetest guys I've read about in a long time without losing that Alpha quality I know we all love.

A hotel in Vegas just for shifters, Angie is in charge of keeping the VIP's happy. She loves her job, even if she isn't always fond of her penguin shifter boss (I really loved this detail). But she doesn't expect to run into the man who broke her heart many years ago. And she definitely doesn't want to have him staying as a VIP in "her" hotel.

Calum, on the other hand, is thrilled to find his Angie again after all these years. But Angie won't let him get too close to her heart again. When Calum's little sister jumps in to help them hoop up, as  Calum is busy with his werewolf summit, the two finad themselves thrown together at every turn.

This werewolf summit is vry important, as it seems that vampires and wolves in Europe are just about set for war. Imagine the reponse when Calum's sister and Angie are taken by rogue wolves...and there may be vampires involved.

All this plays out as Angie and Calum are trying to figure out what went wrong in their past and if they have a chance at a future. There was definite chemistry, but was there more, or was that enough?

Even for a shifter romance things in this story just went too fast. Not just the romance, but even the drama and resolution in the background. It seemed like everything happened and wrapped up with no real substance in between.