Tainted Soul by Sam C. Leonhard

Title: Tainted Soul

Series: Tainted 02

Author: Sam C. Leonhard

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Suspense, BDSM, Kink

Length: Novel (314pgs)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (19th December 2011)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4 ½Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Gabriel Jordan, part-time werewolf and full-time private investigator, should be living a happy life. Three years ago, he was a homeless thief; now he’s got a loving partner and a job he enjoys, he lives in a nice house, and he doesn’t have to worry about tomorrow. So why the sudden urge to cheat on Aleksei, the handsome and occasionally deceptive fae he loves? Why does Gabriel feel compelled to flee the life he’s built for himself?

Someone’s calling him. Someone’s looking for him. Someone holds his destiny in her hands. The portals to the hidden worlds have become unstable, even dangerous. Fear and madness linger in the dark. Panic and nightmares chase him, but Gabriel can’t fight an enemy he can’t see, and even turning into his wolf form may not be enough to save him.

Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2674

Review: Okay, so I will go through the motions but really if you want to save yourself some time then don’t read the rest of this review, just go get this book.  Clear a couple of hours and sit back and enjoy a brilliant fantasy.

Gabe and Aleksei are back and things are not going too well.  It’s been three years since we last saw them and Gabe is fighting urges that don’t feel quite right to him; and trying to ignore the voice that is urging him to hurt Aleksei. He knows that he still loves Aleksei, but he feels like he is losing his mind at his own reactions.  Aleksei is trying to be patience, but he has realized that something is off and that Gabe is keeping something from him.

This is a brilliant fantasy that ties up all we learned in the first book nicely. Gabe is being Called and it is getting harder to ignore it.  He doesn’t realize that his wolf side is emerging or that he keeps forgetting things. The portals have become unstable and are killing random people; an ancient species awakens and starts to hunt Gabe. Lia (Aleksei’s sister) (a truly nasty woman) is desperate to get Gabe out of Aleksei’s life and we still have the mystery of Gabe’s blood. We also briefly meet Gabe’s mum and all I can say, Gabe was lucky to live on the streets and not with her.

The strength of Gabe’s love is all that is really saving him from doing something that he wouldn’t be able to live with.  and Aleksei’s love for him is all that he can really trust. There is quite a bit going on in this story but you never lose your way or miss anything.  It is also really well written and the characters are brilliant.  The story keeps you in its grip and it keeps you on tender hooks right until the very end.  I also have to say that the very end tore at me even though I knew it had to happen. There is one part of the book that has both m/f and cheating but neither is as it seems and it’s really hard to explain without giving stuff away, but trust me, there’s a good reason for all of it.

For those of you who stayed for the review, you now know why I will recommend this to you.  And if that’s still not enough then I don’t know what to say to you, except are you mad. Okay, fine…there’s danger, angst, pure love, incredible hot sex, a little bit of BDSM/kink, hate and a sneaky vindictive female.