Title: Master’s Blood
Series: The Shifters, Book 6
Author: M.D. Grimm
Genre: Paranormal Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: Review copy provided by publisher
Published: September 4, 2013 by Dreamspinner Press
Three days after the Agency infiltrated the headquarters of the Knights, an organization that killed, tortured, and experimented on shifters, Chief Anu sends Agent Poe on assignment: find Nordik, the powerful bear shifter who controls Sanctuary, and offer alliance.
Agent Poe already has his hands full with shifters who need help and a kidnapped agent who needs rescue. Poe has never failed a mission, but he finds members of the Knights who escaped the raid inside Sanctuary, raising suspicions about Chief Anu.
Poe’s goals change once more when he discovers he and Nordik have a mutual attraction they can’t resist. Keeping shifters safe becomes more complicated, and more important, than ever.
Reviewed By: J9
In a Nutshell: Average shifter romance which adequately provided me with the romance for a mysterious series’ character.
The Set Up: Agent Poe is part of the fae Agency to fight the Knights, an organization with a mission to destroy shifters. He suspects his boss is aiding the Knights but takes the assignment to find Nordik, a mysterious master shifter who controls Sanctuary, a refuge for shifters. Poe never expects Nordik to claim they’re mates but for the first time he’s considering if he wants to be an agent.
Why I Read this Book: Nordik, the master bear shifter, has been a mysterious, powerful character in this series and I was looking forward to his HEA.
What I Liked: Nordik is a great character the series had hinted at had a good backstory and I wasn’t disappointed. He’s so old he doesn’t look at time the way Poe or humans do. He tells Poe that he was alive long before whites came to America but he goes in and out of the human world and lives for centuries as a bear in Sanctuary where he protects his “tribe” of shifters and animals alike. He’s got the wisdom and acceptance of Yoda from Star Wars, as Poe says, but he’s also got a simplistic joy in the world around him: from a waterfall in Sanctuary to the physicality of loving Poe. Nordik only rarely falls into the alpha stereotype, like when Poe tries to leave him; most of the time Nordik is so powerful and in absolute control that he doesn’t feel the need to posture. I liked this about his character a lot.
What I Also Liked: Nordik’s acceptance of Poe and the relationship is in strong juxtaposition with Poe’s internal battle. Poe wants to finish his work at the Agency and take down his corrupt boss but he also wants to stay with Nordik. This provides good romantic tension without it being overdrawn or forced. The relationship with Nordik and Poe is erotic and MM fans will like that.
The world building isn’t too different from most shifter series but it’s decent with the shifters, fae and oblivious humans. The Knights with their leader, Arcas, offer enough villainy to the shifters and Agency to keep the plots fast-paced. The plot here fits in well with the series’ plot arc, though I’m not sure a newcomer could jump in here on book six.
What I Didn’t Like: This is the insta-mate trope so often used in shifter romance. I’ve read this exact attraction and romance about a thousand times. The problem with this is it simplifies the emotional development between the leads in my opinion and makes for an average read.
IMO: Master’s Blood is a good enough shifter romance. Series readers will need to read for Nordik’s story as I did but unless readers love the insta-mates trope, this book (and series) isn’t anything out of the ordinary.
J9’s Rating:
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