Book Review: Hunter’s Season by Thea Harrison

Title: Hunter’s Season
Series: Elder Races, #4.7
Author: Thea Harrison
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy from author
Published: September 18, 2012 by Samhain Publishing

Duty. Devotion. Desire. When fate brings two isolated people together, love is in the cards.

As a palace guard and assassin for the Dark Fae, Xanthe always wore a mask, hiding her emotions to do her duty. But when her identity is compromised, she trades undercover work for guarding Queen Niniane—a position that often brings her in contact with Chancellor Aubrey Riordan.

Aubrey’s trust is shattered. A year ago his wife tried to assassinate their new queen in his name, a betrayal of everything he believes in. And now an attack on his life is proof the dark conspiracy is not yet over. Although injured and weak, Aubrey can’t help but be drawn to this shy assassin and loyal protector. Xanthe is everything Naida wasn’t, and the passion she stirs in him is something he thought had long passed him by.

Warning: Take a man recovering from an assassination attempt, the assassin sworn to protect him, add in a magical Tarot card deck and an isolated cabin, and watch the sparks fly!

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: Excellent conclusion to the Elder Races novellas with an emotional romance. This short novella was thoroughly satisfying and I think it will be for other series fans as well.

The Set Up: Assassin Xanthe has finally returned to her Dark Fae home since her cover was blown after her last assassination. She’s now assigned to the Dark Fae Queen which puts her in close contact with Chancellor Aubrey Riordan, a man she’s secretly admired for many years. When Aubrey is attacked, the Queen assigns Xanthe to guard and nurse Aubrey. But Xanthe can’t keep her love a secret in the face of Aubrey’s loving persuasion.

Why I Read this Book: I am an Elder Races j-u-n-k-i-e. I will read anything by Thea Harrison and count myself lucky.

What I Liked: Xanthe and Aubrey have a lovely, heartwarming romance. I love that the author gives them lots of time, more than half the novella, to co-habit in a secluded cottage together. They slowly share their inner selves and in doing so their attraction naturally progresses. Xanthe and Aubrey both have such stoic public facades that it’s romantically satisfying to watch them slowly open their inner selves to each other. This is by far my favorite romance of the novellas because more time is spend on Xanthe and Aubrey’s romance since the plot isn’t as complicated as in the other novellas.

What I Also Liked: Like most other paranormal romance fans, I adore the novels of the Elder Races so anytime I can revisit couples from the full length novels I’m ecstatic. In this novella fans will catch up with the fanciful Niniane and the now-thawed Tiago, whose romance I adored in novel two of the series. Niniane and Tiago play big roles in this novella and it was fun to watch how their relationship solidified and strengthen. I also like seeing Niniane’s unconventional ruling style over the stuffy Dark Fae; she shows wisdom, strength and snark befitting her character. Tiago is still the same reserved character but goo in Niniane’s tiny hands—still as sigh-worthy as ever!

What I Didn’t Like: In the past three novellas I’ve wanted 25 more pages of story to solidify the relationships but that wasn’t necessary in this one. Everything about this novella, from plot to romance, is perfectly balanced and a great read.

IMO: Series fans won’t need me to tell them to read this but I’ll say it anyway. Plus, if you were like me and a little disappointed in the last two novellas, I can honestly say Harrison has returned to top form in this final installment. Finally, I think non-series readers could enjoy this character based romance with a tad of the paranormal.

J9’s Rating:
 

    

 

Check back tomorrow for Thea Harrison’s guest post and giveaway!