Book Review: The Claimed by Caridad Piñeiro

Title: The Claimed (Amazon)
Series: Sin Hunters, #2
Author: Caridad Piñeiro
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: NetGalley
Published: May 1, 2012 by Grand Central Publishing

Victoria Johnson loves her life. She's her own boss in a quaint beachside town, and has great friends who keep her grounded. If only they knew who she really is: an heiress to an ancient race who possesses astonishing superhuman powers. It's Victoria's duty to restore her clan of Light Hunters to their former glory by choosing the perfect mate. In Christopher Sombrosa, she just may have found him. Strong, smart, and successful, Christopher exudes a powerful energy. Their connection is sensual, irresistible-and forbidden.

A member of the Shadow Hunter clan, Christopher has defied his own father to lead his people away from affliction and violence. Yet he cannot ignore his duty to carry on his ancient bloodline. Stunningly beautiful and brimming with an erotic life force, Victoria is everything Christopher ever hoped for in a mate . . . but as a Light Hunter, she's his mortal enemy. Together, they could unite their warring tribes. But murderous factions on both sides don't want peace-and they'll stop at nothing to keep light and darkness apart forever . . .

Reviewed By: J9 

In a Nutshell: The paranormal world of energy “hunters” is unique and well developed but the romance is just average.

The Set Up: Victoria is an heiress to an ancient race who co-exist with humans but use energy from nature to live. Victoria must secure her clans’ future by mating with another Light Hunter but she meets a mysterious man, Christopher who draws her. Christopher led a revolt of his fellow Shadow Hunters to leave their violent clan to gather energy from nature like the Light Hunters instead of hurting each other and humans. But Victoria and Christopher’s clans are enemies and don’t want the peace that Victoria and Christopher’s mating would bring.

Why I Read this Book: I love paranormal romance and am constantly looking for new series. Plus, the cover was lovely.

What I Liked: This paranormal world is utterly fascinating. The two Hunter factions, Light and Shadow, are distinct and make good enemies who keep the plot moving. The mythos of energy hunters is imaginative and held me captive. For instance, Hunters can take a small amount of energy from a fish and use that to transform themselves so they can breathe under water. This energy manipulation plays heavily into the mystery plot as well and I really liked that. Any fan of sci-fi world building will like this as much as I did.

What I Also Liked: The plot of Victoria and Christopher’s clans trying to keep them apart kept my attention and was very well paced. I had to keep turning the pages to figure out how the clans’ civil war plays out. Additionally, Victoria has a mysterious friend who is very interesting and I hope she’s the heroine of a subsequent book in the series.

What I Didn’t Like: I wouldn’t say I disliked the romance but I didn’t love the romance either. I think what I missed was the emotional connection between Victoria and Christopher. The author continued the energy theme so their energies matched and ignited them sexually but it skipped the emotional bonding. As a traditional romance fans, I wanted to see these two people develop feelings for each other and I just didn’t see it. Even still, this didn’t ruin the story for me, it just didn’t elevate it either.

IMO: Paranormal fans looking for a new series will like this book as I did. I will go back to read book one in the series and look for future installments, though hoping the author makes future couples have a more emotional connection as well.

J9’s Rating: