Sandy M’s review of Enemy Lover by Bonnie Vanak
Contemporary Paranormal Romance published by Silhouette Nocturne 1 Nov 08

I read and reviewed Ms. Vanak’s first werewolf Nocturne, The Empath, last year and absolutely loved it. That’s where we first meet Damian and Jamie, the hero and heroine of this book.  While I enjoyed most of Enemy Lover, it didn’t quite capture me the way The Empath did.

Jamie witnessed Damian and his men kill her brother, so she’s out for revenge.  She has no magick of her own, something she’s always wanted and now something she needs.  Contacting Kane, a Morph leader, he gifts her with dark magick so she can carry out her vendetta.  Thinking her plan worked and Damian is no more, she’s taken by surprise when he surfaces and claims her as his mate.  She’s now on the run from him but finds that nothing will keep him from her.  Nothing except death.

Time is working against Damian as he hunts for Jamie.  Kane exacted his own sense of justice and cast a death spell on Jamie, a slow and painful death, and Damian cast his own magick to bind her to him, but even that connection will not keep her death at bay forever.  He has to make her see they’re meant to be together, she’s meant to be by his side as alpha, but she’s running scared not just of him but something else in her past.  There’s also powerful magick within Jamie and as much as she wants to use it, it’s his nature to protect those he loves, especially when he’s failed in that once before.

As with Nicolas in The Empath, I really liked Damian’s character, alpha draicon, tortured by his past, needing family in his life and protecting them no matter what.  He’s sensitive when it comes to Jamie’s fears but refuses to give up his need to protect.  That’s just who he is.  What fell a little short for me is Jamie. I know at first she’s afraid what Damian will do to her if he catches up with her, plus issues from her past, but after he does find her and he does nothing further to make her fear him, I was disappointed that she kept pushing him away as long as she did.  I was well past three-quarters of the book before she finally thinks about trusting him and what she could have with him.  I wanted that so much sooner because there was nothing more Damian could have done to assure her of his feelings, of how he and his family would treat her.

Other than that, this is still a great read.  I enjoyed all the other characters, especially Damian’s brothers and his relationship with them.  The mystery of the Book of Magick, which held the answer to Jamie’s plight, was interesting, and even the twist at the end caught me off guard. This is a fun series and I hope Ms. Vanak is going to give us more stories of the characters we’ve met so far.

Grade: B

Summary:

After nearly being killed by his destined mate, Draicon Damian Marcel hunts her down in New Orleans and discovers she’s been infected with the lethal stone spell and her body is slowly turning into granite. She’ll be trapped forever inside stone, her spirit alive, but imprisoned for eternity.

Thinking he murdered her brother, Jamie Walsh hates and fears Damian, but must team up with the werewolf leader to find a missing book of magick that contains a cure to save her. As they search through the French Quarter for the book, they race against time and battle evil Morphs who will use the dark magick spells in the book to eliminate the Draicon for good.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: