Therian Secrets- The Mercenary by Johanna Rae.

Ok, so I will start this off by saying...RUN, not walk to Amazon Kindle books, as soon as you finish this review and get your hands on this book. You will NOT regret it. Now....On to the review. 

Therian Secrets 1: The Mercenary

By: Johanna Rae 

Publication Date: August 28, 2012  
Buy it on Amazon   
Genre: Paranormal 
Audience: Adult
Cover: Done by the amazing Tracey Soxie Weston at Soxsational Cover Art

Overview:

 When twenty-three-year-old Jodie Fletcher realizes shape-shifters are real—and that they’re trying to kill her—she finds herself thrust into a life of danger and unimaginable intrigue. With both parents away, and her newly-single alcoholic brother Luke camped in the spare bedroom, Jodie feels like she’s drowning in a world she doesn’t understand. The only thing she can count on is the leopard who has taken it upon himself to protect her. She cannot ignore the raw emotion he awakens in her and longs for more. The leopard becomes not only her savior, but her escape.

Mysterious and unpredictable, leopard shifter Danny Archer hides behind his dimpled smile and pretty boy façade. What’s more, he has a second job the human population doesn’t know about—the one that leads him to Jodie and Luke. Archer feels an instant connection with Jodie, and must find a way to balance his volatile lifestyle to include her.

Luke Fletcher became an alcoholic long before his wife left him. Now he faces the brutal reality that the past has caught up with him. He made a series of bad choices while under the influence, which have placed his sister and his two young daughters in danger. Luke must try to find the man he used to be in order to survive the chaos he’s inflicted. He knows he won’t be able to live with himself if anything happens to his family.

Review: 

What can I say but...WOW. I had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book but it seriouslt blew me away. I started it and the next thing I knew it was 4 hours later, and I hadn't slept a wink, was still clutching my iPad, the book still on the screen, and my eyes still glued to the words. I laughed, I cried, hell at some points I even thought I would die if it didn't hurry up and give me what I knew was coming, but was too damn impatient to wait for.  I can honestly say that this is one series I will be following until the end. Especially since this is only the first and I have already laid claim to one of the characters, can't leave now, I have too much invested. 

Jodie Fletcher is an amazing character and through the entire book, never ceased to amaze me with her strength and determination. She had been through so much and was going through enough in her life, having to take care of her brother Luke and his two girls Rose and Gracie, yet through it all, she put everything in her own life aside. When She meets the mysterious Leopard in her yard, everything changes.

Her life starts to change and everything from there on out just gets even more complicated, but in the best of ways. She is everything I could ever hope to be in a heroine. If I ever needed a female to kick ass at my side, I am so calling Jodie. Be it a pitchfork or whatever, this is one bad ass female. Not to mention she has two amazing best friends watching her back all the time, her rocks so to speak, Laura and Ainsley. Extremely loveable characters, even if one does like to avoid anything that would make a normal persons head spin, and the other is...shall we say...a little...abrasive at times, but with the best of intentions always.

Danny Archer is a hunk of a man with many secrets, first of all is that he's a shifter, more importantly he's a Leopard shifter. He comes into Jodie's life and stirs the pot even more, offering her something she never thought she would have. The connection is blazing from the very start and only gets hotter as the book goes on. Right from the start I fell in love with his character, and even though another owns my heart.....*grins* Danny really won my respect with his sweetness, caring and devotion to Jodie. To some he may seem like a lot of trouble, he's stubborn, and has his secrets, as do many, but he's determined to hold onto his secrets if it means keeping the woman he loves safe. 

The leader of a very important organization, Danny has to keep his head about himself and manage to make everything work. Somehow, this normally cool and planned out man has gotten himself into a situation where all he used to think as normal, has been blown out the window, all because of Jodie. Can they make it work? Will he ever be normal again? If he gonna be a big softie and make everyone fall head over heels for him....well DUH of course, he's just that awesome. 

 Luke Fletcher is a mess from the start. Things have not gone right for him and through the book they only lead to more ups and downs. He loses his wife, turns to alcohol and then finds himself having to rely on his sister and his best friend to pick his butt up and make some sense of himself. When his two daughters are dropped on him he has to smarten up even more. He has more downs than ups but he powers through them with the love of his sister and her determination to make sure that everything ends well. He hits some massive lows and made me literally want to reach through the screen and wring his damn, fool neck...but then he would do something so sweet and redeem himself, just a little. 

And the hottness doesn't stop there...Enter Leon, Rufus, Jarvis, Eddie, Adam, Doug, Mark, Zach, Laura, Ainsley, Summer, and Jenna. Every character in this book is amazing in their own way and the story just blew me away. I am a HUGE fan of shifters, but this book has so much more than a normal shifter book does.  Normally we get Large Cats or Wolves...Johanna gives us a House Cat, Tasmanian Devil, Kodiak Bears, Polar Bears, Snow Leopards, Regular Leopards, New Zealand Falcon, Ngarara Lizard, Siberian Tiger, Boars, and Goodness only knows what else she has planned for us. All I know is..there is SOOO much more I could say about this book, but I don't want to ruin anything for you. Just trust me and get your ass out there and buy this book....Here's the best part...It's a SERIES!!  Get them all, and keep your eyes open.  I have even more reviews planned as I make my way through the rest of the series. Cause I sure as hell ain't stopping here. 

Links:

Johanna Rae Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/johannamrae

Johanna Rae Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohannaMRae

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