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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Warning: May contain spoilers
Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
July?  JULY!  I have to wait until July 2011 for Wofsbane, the 2nd book in the Nightshade series!  Seriously?!?  I hope it’s true when they say good things come to those who wait.
So here’s what Goodreads has to say:
Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?
Did you get a chill? 
Nightshade is the February read for the Vampire Book Club (visit them @ vampirebookclub.net) and the viewers picked a great one.
Calla Tor isn’t a werewolf, she’s a Guardian.  An Alpha Guardian.  Created by the Keepers to protect their sacred sites from invaders like the Searchers, a vigilante group of humans that are bent on destroying the Keepers. 
On her 18th birthday, October 31st and Sanheim, Calla is set to wed/join in union with Ren Laroche, who is the stud of school and Alpha of his pack.  Ren is hot for Calla and tries several times to get her to break the rules and consummate their relationship.  For him that would be okay, but like most things there is a double standard.  Calla has to be completely pure of heart and body for her union.  Kissing is even frowned upon until her union.
Enter Shay, a human that she saves from a bear attack.  Even though Ren ignites intense feelings in her, she is drawn to Shay’s touch.   She is torn between her duties and her heart.  Calla was destined for Ren; created specifically for him so they could start a new pack, yet with Shay, she questions her entire life and what she has been told by the Keepers.  Who’s right?  Who’s wrong?  And can she truly be happy with Ren.  Can she love him the way she knows she can love Shay?
I loved this book!  And I’m not usually into the shapeshifting/warewolf books, but this was good.  Creepy at parts, especially when they were talking about the succubi and paintings coming to life.  Yikes! What is up with the “uncle”?  There’s a story there.
I am probably in the minority, but I love Ren and wanted him and Calla joined.  Shay just got on my nerves and I really hoped in the end Calla would stick to her duty even though she had questions.  I felt her and her new pack could have faced anything together.  Even at one point when her and Shay were facing his uncle, she started to question again what she was doing and had everything they had uncovered been another lie.  I was screaming, YES, YES.  Go back to Ren.    
Cremer did a great job of showing the playful/youthfulness when the characters took to their wolf shapes with nipping at their flanks or tongues lolling around.  And I especially liked how she showed their dialogue while in those forms.  They were animals but teens still.
And the cliffhanger!  Ugh!  I was like NOOOOOOO!  I haven’t read the excerpt from the next book, but you can read it here at Nightshadebook.com. 
What do you think will happen next?  Where is she?  And will she ever see Shay, Ren or her family again?

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