Who: Andrea CremerWhat: Nightshade
When: October 17th, 2010
Why: Beautiful Cover (GORGEOUS)
How: Contest Win
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?
Okay, so you guys have probably seen me rave about this on Twitter and notice that in all of my "Something Weeks", Andrea Cremer has been a part of all of them. Why? Because Nightshade was great and Andrea is awesome.
My favorite part of Nightshade had to be the world-building. I can understand why people call it a Paranormal Romance/Fantasy because it definitely has fantasy elements in it (don't tell me those two are the same thing or i'll claw your eyes out.) She created this whole new world of systems and packs for the werewolves in Nightshade and it was just fascinating for me to read.
Of course, in every book, there's something you don't like. For me, it was Calla. I mean, in the beginning, I loved her. She was fierce and badass and wasn't gonna let Ren overpower her with his smexy Alpha self (more on my Ren love later). Then she met Shay and she become....a blubbering fool. And that always bothers me in a part of Paranormal Romance, when the main character is all-powerful and badass then just belong bleh when the other love interest comes. As for the rest of the Nightshades, I LOVED them. They were all funny and badass in their own ways.
Shay was also a moot point for me. He was sweet and nice but he had absolutely no respect for her werewolves custom. He didn't take her responsibility to her pack seriously, and just dismissed all of her culture saying that didn't make any sense and that's that. Seriously? He could've at least tried to understand a bit and not ignore the fact that she had a deep relationship and responsibility to her pack and it's well-being.
Okay, now we can talk about Ren. People can argue all you want about him being a man-whore and too Alpha-male and whatever, but you could really tell he cared about her. And he's too Alpha-male because...well...he IS the Alpha male. But he never tries to overpower Calla's decisions and lets her decide for her own pack. I can see how Calla had to struggle to avoid temptation, since Alpha-females have to be completely "pure" until the bonding ceremony. He was sweet and considerate and just plain sexy!
My rating: AMAZINGNESS.
Happy Reading!
-Harmony
