Spoiler warning! This is book 2 in this series, and as such, this review will contain certain spoilers for the plot of book 1, Kiss of Steel. My review for this book also explains quite a lot about the setting and world-building for this series, so you may want to read/re-read that one first, to remind yourself of the world these books take place in . Or just, you know, read the first book. This review will still be here when you’re done.
William Carver is one of the few verwulfen left in Britain after most of his kind were wiped out in the massacre at Culloden a few centuries earlier. Turned by accident at the age of five, he was held captive by a travelling minstrel crew and tortured, taunted and displayed as “the Beast” for most of his childhood and adolescence. It was only when Blade, the Devil of Whitechapel, a rogue blue blood, demanded his release that he found safety and freedom and the closest thing he would have to a family. Verwulfen are considered outlaws by the ruling classes of the Echelon, however, free game to be hunted down like the beasts they are considered, and so Will has to live in the shadows, a loyal enforcer to his best friend, always fighting to control his rage and brute strength. Because his blood or semen can spread the loupe virus that turned him into the savage creature, he can never be with a woman, terrified that he will infect someone else with his curse.
Miss Helena “Lena” Todd makes it so very difficult for Will to control himself around her. While she was living with her sister and brother-in-law in Whitechapel, Will even moved out to make sure he didn’t reveal how deeply he feels for her. Now he suspects that she is involved with dangerous forces plotting possible treason against the Echelon, and he needs to make sure that she stays safe, no matter what the cost. When he realises that one of the blue blood lordlings is also out to make Lena his plaything, he starts looking for an excuse to be near her, so he can protect her. Lucky for him, part of the ruling council need a verwulfen representative to help them negotiate a peace treaty with the ruling verwulfen of Scandinavia. Will will need to learn how to walk, talk, dress and behave, and who better to teach him than Lena?
Can Will successfully aid in the signing of a peace treaty with the foreign werewolves, ensuring freedom and a stop to persecution for all other verwulfen in Britain as a result? Will he figure out exactly what Lena is helping dangerous humanist revolutionaries plot before its too late? Will the dastardly Colchester get his hands on Lena before she or her burly protector tears his throat out?
Full review here.
