Tigress by the Tail: Maxey Wizard #1

Tigress by the Tail
Teresa D'Amario
ebook, 190 pages
Published July 15th 2008 by Tease Publishing
ISBN 9781934678343

Lance is a Wizard. He’s not a great wizard, but he’s all right. Descended from a long line of wizards, his brothers taunt him for being slow to learn. And as the youngest, it’s his due course to accept such teasing. Life is good, and normal. For a wizard that is.

Cassie is a Shifter. A tigress to be exact. Raised by her father after her mother’s death she’s as well adjusted as any shifter can be, and still live in the human world, hiding who and what she is.

Bliss comes to a screeching halt the night Satanists kidnap Cassie and her best friend to use as sacrifices to bring forth their Dark Lord. When Cassie literally collides into Lance, she begs him to help them escape their captors, despite the dangers. The couple work together to save the life of Cassie’s friend, only to discover a shocking passion driving them closer together at a time when both should be devastated. But when Lance overhears Cassie’s father threaten his life, he heads for the hills. Cassie follows, determined to clear up the confusion. But evil is still afoot and Cassie is taken by a secret government organization dedicated to the eradication of all things magick. Is Lance willing to put his life on the line for a woman he believes is out to kill him? Especially when he realizes the organization that’s taken her, is the one he works for?

It was the cover that gravitated me to this one, but upon reading I felt like I hit a wall straight off with this one. The structure of the writing, with it's quick, simple phrases completing full sentences, was likened to the sound of nails on a chalkboard in my head. Took me right back to the days of 'See Spot. See Spot run.' Me, I love some commas and my sentences broken so it was a struggle to just simply *read* this story. Go ahead, writers, you're not in middle school anymore, just let those sentences run.

Getting past that, the tale itself is quite good. First, shifter Cassie gets herself abducted by Satanists, then scientists, then finally gets herself shot with silver. Concurrently, wizard Lance gets his first under cover mission for the GSA, discovers the company he works for employs a number of sick bastards who are responsible for countless murders (including his own mother's), and falls for Cassie, who ends up being his True Mate.

Quite unexpected, and the thing that endeared me most to the story, was the promise Lance made to his mother on her deathbed. He swore he wouldn't sleep with the woman he intended to marry until he had bonded with her. So if the woman didn't mean enough to him to keep, what was the point in being with her at all? WHY the hell can't all men figure that out???? 3 out of 5 stars.