Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.
Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.
Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only are she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life.
I found this book sometime a while ago while looking for free books on Kindle. I didn’t come across it again until recently when I saw the audiobook via Audible for 1.99. I honestly didn’t realize it was because I bought the Kindle book a while back. I thought it was a great deal and was in search for my next Audible read. Besides, I needed to try out my new car’s bluetooth (yeahhh, I’m behind with the times).
Anyway, I thought this would be a good book to listen to. AND IT WAS. I was hooked pretty early on. With the mention of Runes and Norse mythology, I was so hooked I got the second book in audio too.
Raine Cooper is a normal girl with a semi-normal life. I say semi because right off the bat you learn she is going through a grief process that deals with her father. This already gives her a heightened sense of emotion and is pivotal to her personality. She is loving, loyal, and stubborn as all get up. When Torin, seriously smexy, moves into the house next door, her life changes.
Yes, this is a paranormal romance and it’s a young adult. Also, you may think there is a love triangle (which I guess there is, but it is resolved in the end). The love triangle is a pretty obvious thing. Girl has the hots for a bad boy, but also has it for the good ol’ boy. We can guess where it goes from there.
HOWEVER, I wouldn’t say the book is just the triangle of teen angst. There is the theme of death, mythology, and loyalty (to your duty, family, and friends). Raine doesn’t just sit alone and angst about which guy to be with. Okay, she does at times, but it isn’t central to her. She also goes for the guts of the issue and tries to solve a number of questions both she and reader has.
Despite being set in the Pacific Northwest, she isn’t a Bella. She does mention sparkly vampires though (which made me giggle).
Did I also mention the Norse mythology? I mean, BADASS. I love the Norse mythos. It might be my own Danish heritage, but I find their dieties to be far more interesting than the Greek or Roman. That said, Walters has inspired me to read more on the Norse. I want to see how the world she crafted was inspired by mythology.
As for the writing, the book is well thought out. I did have moments of figuring out things, but there were a few instances I wasn’t expecting. It was those times that made the book that much more interesting. I loved all of the characters, they were well done and I could see them in my mind’s eye.
Obviously, I will be listening/reading more from Walters and I have a feeling I will be going through all of the books in the Runes world (which are a lot).
Casia's Corner 