Title: Playing Hard to Forget
Series: N/A
Author: Piper Doone
Genre: Paranormal
Length: Novel (200 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (December 26th, 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4.5Hearts
Blurb: Ethan Robertson never asked to be the latest in a long line of werewolf hunters, but the war between his family and the werewolf Kinnairds has raged on for a millennium, and he is expected to fight like all the Robertsons before him. But then he meets Liam Kinnaird, a gorgeous, mysterious werewolf Ethan falls hard for. Despite the danger, they carry on a torrid affair until a terrible explosion destroys everything, including Liam and Ethan’s memories of their time together.
Twenty years later, Ethan is embroiled in battle once again and catches a glimpse of Liam. It triggers intense, erotic dreams that Ethan thinks might not be dreams at all. But he’s never been anything but enemies with Kinnairds. He’s certainly never been in love with one. Or has he?
ISBN: 978-1-63216-887-0
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5881
Reviewer: Prime
Review: This story on the surface seems kind of like the usual hunter vs. shape shifter story. However, as much as it, it’s more like Romeo and Juliet, with two families feuding over a millennia and carrying on the feud with each generation as the stories were passed down.
The prologue opens as a folktale before we get to the meat of the story, which opens in Part 1, Chapter 1. This is where we meet Ethan Robertson. He is a member of the human family, which have been fighting with the Kinnaird Clan to wipe out the wolves who one of their distinguished ancestors initially started the feud with.
We first meet Ethan Robertson as a young man who is being trained by his father, along with his sister, to be a soldier against the Kinnaird. He seems sweet, kind hearted and untainted by his family’s hate for the werewolves they hunt. Soon later, we meet Liam Kinnaird, a werewolf, who approaches Ethan and speaks to him after watching the human. Ethan is immediately intrigued by Liam.
The relationship that begins to grow between Liam and Ethan inPart one truly does read like Romeo and Juliet. Part 2 is set 23 years later and thankfully, I can say the characters have changed and matured during the skipped years. The change in Ethan is both horrifying and amazing, and quickly we find out that there’s more to things than meets the eye. It’s sad what happened to Ethan but the plot picks up quickly and doesn’t keep us waiting for too long to know just about everything.
Even though this is a full-length novel, this is really easy to read and the plot moves along at a rapid and steady pace. The Robertson family do truly come across as the monsters of the piece, they’re not just misunderstood, they have contorted the feud and in the end, it’s easy to feel sorry for Liam and the rest of his Clan.
It’ll probably be difficult not to have an intense dislike for Ethan’s sister, Fiona. The words witch and bitch don’t quite cover how negatively I feel about her and in that respect she is a well-written character although she doesn’t change terribly much between 1991 and 2014.
No matter what happened, Ethan retains his kindhearted nature, despite the Robertson nature trying to taint him. The thoughts and internal battle Ethan goes through to remember Liam also plays out really well. It’s not all angst, like the 20 year old he started as, but more mature in line with the 43 year old he becomes.
We get an epilogue of a sorts but the story is left wide open for a sequel, particularly when there is mention of a name in the epilogue that is mentioned oh so briefly in the beginning. Also, Ethan and Liam’s story stops abruptly, just when they are starting to get their shit together. Leaves me wondering what is going to happen…
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *