Early Review: Twilight Hunter by Kait Bellenger

Twilight Hunter
(Execution Underground #1)
Kait Ballenger
Release: August 27, 2013
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Hunters of the supernatural, the Execution Underground are an elite group tasked with protecting humanity...but what happens when danger collides with desire?

Jace McCannon has one loyalty: the Execution Underground. Despite his mixed blood, his hatred for the werewolves he hunts is legendary. But in his search for a sadistic killer, Jace finds himself face to face with a stunningly seductive packmaster…and longing for a night with his mortal enemy.

Nothing can stop Frankie Amato from defending her kind--or catching the rogue responsible for killing women in her territory. For that, this alpha female needs Jace’s skills more than she wants to admit. But as their investigation exposes evil truths, need burns into a passion that dare not be fulfilled. For to do so will have deadly consequences for them both…

Review:

Twilight Hunter is the first full-length book in the new Execution Underground series about the members of a system for policing the paranormal world. Each member is an expert on a particular paranormal being: werewolves, vampires, ghosts, demons, etc. There is also a prequel novella that I haven't read yet but it's on my list to read soon!

In this book we focus on Jace, the member of the Rochester area Execution Underground tasked with keeping the werewolf population in line. Too bad Jace is secretly half werewolf himself. Even worse, he's falling for a another werewolf, and she's kind of an important one. They have some incredibly steamy sexy times, despite the fact that Jace hates all werewolves and can't seem to just let that go and let himself fall for Frankie.

As far as PNRs go, this is a pretty good one. Jace and Frankie are both likable and well done characters, although I felt like Jace really got more filled out than she did. Their back and forth romance runs alongside the hunt for a serial killer who is killing young women in a very gruesome manner. I liked this dark edge to the story (I have no idea what that says about me...) and was really interested to learn more about the killer and his motives.

This is classic paranormal romance. PNR has traditionally not been my favorite genre because the predictability doesn't hold my interest the way some other paranormal genres do. So, even though I really liked this book and would for sure recommend it to other readers, I can't give this as high of a rating as reviewers who adore paranormal romance might. This was a good romance that kept my interest and I really like the whole world of the Execution Underground, but it follows many typical PNR tropes and several plot lines were pretty predictable. I'm giving it an extra half a star for the great twist toward the end that took the werewolf mythology one step further.

I wonder if the next in this series will still focus on Jace and Frankie and let us further explore Jace's abilities, since a lot happened at the end of the book that really does need to be explained and shown further, or if it will focus on another member of the Execution Underground. The author set up a very enticing romance between David, the demon expert, and a complicated love interest that I'd love to read  more about.

Overall this is a series I will continue despite my small hangups. Lovers of PNR will really find a great new series to adore here.

Recommended for fans of: paranormal romance, werewolves, BDB series, Eternal Wolf Clan series.

This review is based on an advance copy of the book.

   1/2

  3.5 / 5 stars

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