Raven's Kiss

Raven's Kiss by Toni LoTempio
★★★★☆
Release Date: April 11, 2011
Age: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Source: Author

 Raven Grace was a college senior with ambitions of a career in law enforcement when she met the demon Aega, whose bite turned her from mortal to Shapeshifter. Now a member of the Recovery Organization, Raven keeps the peace between humans and errant Hellhounds, trolls, wizards and the like while trying to track down Aega and bring him to justice. After a particularly dicey encounter one night with a Hellhound, she goes to the aid of a girl who’s been attacked and near death—and is amazed to find Aega’s bite mark on the girl’s arm. Determined to get to the bottom of this, she revisits the victim’s apartment and there discovers her closet is a portal to a parallel universe, where people she knows lead vastly different lives. She also gets a glimpse of the Recovery Captain there—a six foot, redheaded Scotsman named Finn McPhee, whose sexy accent and even sexier bod sets her senses aflame. Seeking answers, Finn takes Raven to the magickal underworld, where an ancient fae informs them the demon’s quest is rooted in Scottish mythology and magick. As they delve deeper into legend, the truth comes to light—Aega is only a pawn, subservient to another, darker demon…a being who knows the truth about Raven’s heritage, and who orchestrated her return to this parallel universe for the ultimate showdown. Now, Finn and Raven find their passion for one another must take a backseat to Raven’s battle with a dark force who won’t be satisfied until he’s claimed her soul for his very own…

I really enjoyed this intense and fast paced read by Toni LoTempio. The main lesson I learned from this book is what we are all told, never judge a book by its cover! I never would have picked this book up on the shelf, but I would have missed out if I hadn't gotten a hold of it. It definitely borders the young adult/adult genre lines to me but with the rather heated (but few, really just 1) love scenes I would classify it as adult.

Raven is an agent who is all business, works herself to death and is forced to take a break, but trouble just has a way of finding her. She ends up involved in a case that affects her personally and feels she has to close it now.

LoTempio uses parallel universes, which reminded me of the TV show Fringe (loved that!), something new for me in a book. We all know I love strong female leads, and Raven is not lacking. She is a powerful shapeshifter who can take the form of any animal. Finn, our hot bod of a man with a scottish accent has drool worthy written all over him.

The story moves so fast, there is never a dull moment. I loved the suspense throughout and the detective work involved in reading it. I tried to be one step ahead of the characters and figure out what was going on, but LoTempio continued to amaze.

Thank you to the author for the opportunity to read and review!