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3.29.2014

Taming the Darkness

"I don't want something to fuck, I want you."


Taming the Darkness
Devin Harnois
Love & Monsters, book two
ebook, 145 pages
Published February 12th 2013 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN 9781619213326

He used to fight monsters. Now he is one.

Claire Scarlotti has been fighting the nasties for years, but it hasn’t seemed to have made a dent. She hopes that volunteering for a secret project will not only make a difference, but gain her the recognition she craves.

But her new partner is going to be difficult. Especially at night, when he turns into a nasty. But nasty or human, she has to be able to trust him. If she can’t…well, her finger is never far from the trigger.

Victor Monroe volunteered to test a vaccine and ended up a monster. Half-nasty and half-human, he can’t always control his actions—or his desires. His first instinct is to drive Claire away to protect her. Until he discovers her touch is the human connection he desperately needs to tame his monster.

Now they must prove that Victor and others like him could be a valuable weapon against the nightmarish creatures that roam the world. If they can’t, they’ll be worse than failures. They’ll be dead.

Product Warnings:
Contains monsters, violence, a kick-ass heroine, a hero on the edge of sanity, lab experiments gone wrong, unexpected tenderness and safe sex that involves chains.

The blurb sets this story up oh so nicely. Claire is out to make a difference, and yeah, she's out for glory, too. So when given the chance to get out of patrols and actually do something that might change their situation in the war against nasties, she grabs it. Without even knowing what she's volunteering for.

Her task is simple. Partner an "alt"-a man who was once a soldier but, after his own stunt at volunteering, has been left as something in between human and monster. Victor retains his human form, able to shift into a wolf-like beast with all the instincts to kill that go with it. He can't always control his inner animal, especially after dark, but Claire awakens a strength in his humanity he's never felt before.

She fears him. He can smell it. But she defies her fear at every turn and that scares him. She's willing to be alone with him, touch him, even go into the fighting pens at his side. Claire knows she's a tad insane for the way Victor makes her feel but she's seen the man beneath the animal. And she connects with him.

It amazes me how simple these stories are of Harnois' are, and yet how good they turn out. Action. Romance. Lust. Despair. Happy Ending. All bases are covered.

4 out of 5 stars.

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