by Eve Langlais
Series: Bitten Point #1
Pub. Date: Jan. 26, 2016
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Narrator: Chandra Skyye
Length: 6 hrs 17 min
Format: Audiobook
Source: Hoopla
My Rating:
Sultry Scale:
Coming home doesn’t always solve things … but it does pave the way for second chances.
Take one deadly bite and, bam, a man’s life is changed forever, or so Caleb discovers when a loss of control leads to him joining the military and leaving everything behind.
Time goes by … years spent silent and alone, cut off from those he loves. Until it’s time to come back, a scarred veteran, in many ways broken and looking for a meaning to his life. Perhaps it's not too late to right some wrongs. Make amends. Kiss a certain pair of sweet lips one more time.
If only Renny would damned well let him.
It doesn’t take Caleb long to realize Renny’s just the thing this croc needs to bring him back to life. Yet, what if he loses control again? He doesn’t want to take nibbling on her thighs to a whole new level.
Too bad, he can’t stay away, especially not when he discovers her secret. Add in a strange creature stalking the townsfolk and there is no way he’s leaving her alone.
Years ago it just about killed him to leave, but Caleb’s a changed man now. A darker kind of animal, and this retired soldier is ready to kill so he can stay.
Welcome to Bitten Point, where the swamp doesn't just keep its secrets, it sometimes eats them.
I was scrolling through Hoopla looking for an audiobook to listen to while I was doing meal prep for the week... and I wanted something different. So I thought, hey, crocodile shapeshifter! I haven't read one of those before. The story had a nice steady pace that helped the time go by as I was stuck in the kitchen all day.
Our crocodile shifter is Caleb, who left Bitten Point, Florida for the military five years ago without an explanation to anyone. Now that the prodigal son has returned to Bitten Point, he is not receiving a warm welcome from family or friends, and especially not from his ex, Renny. He is going to have to work hard if he wants to make amends to his friends and loved ones. Caleb has a bit of a tortured hero vibe going on. He keeps his beast leashed tight because he is afraid to let him out. He is also dealing with some issues that occurred during his time in the military, which resulted in him having both mental and physical scars. I am not exactly sure what the story is on that... maybe I glossed over it while cooking, or maybe it wasn't there. I can't say. I did like Caleb and his willingness to step up to the plate and take care of his responsibilities. I didn't like that he was so judgmental when it came to Wes Mercer, a bull gator.
Renny, hurt and bewildered by Caleb's desertion of her via a text message, left town soon after he did. She has only recently come back herself, with a five year old son in tow. She is determined to keep Caleb at arm's length, but quickly discovers that old habits die hard. When it appears her son is in danger, Remy relies on Caleb to keep them safe. Once they are in the same proximity, it is apparent that the attraction and feelings are still there and things start heating up. I liked that Renny didn't relentlessly push Caleb away, despite old hurts. While she wasn't a shifter, she was definitely a mama bear when it came to her son. But when danger comes, she doesn't run off half-cocked and make things worse. That's always a plus in my book.
The suspense was quite good if not quite original. I have read man-made and mutant shifter stories before, but the unique quality in this series is going to be the types of shifters we have. Crocs, and gators and dinosaurs definitely outside the norm. I'm not sure how I feel about the reptile shifters. They don't have the warm animal magnetism of the big cats and wolves. But I'm not ready to give up yet. I'm interested to see how Wes, the big bull gator, is going to come across in his story.
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