BEASTS~ King Of Vengeance (Beasts Of Forever) [Kindle Edition]

***Spoilers within***

Back to beasts! It's been a while since I have read a book that focuses more on "beasts" and the first time I have reviewed something about gargoyles. This is a paranormal romance (heavy on the romance), featuring two cops who turn out to be more than they seem, and are teamed up with each other to find a serial killer. You can find out more about the author by checking out my interview with her on the previous post!

The first half of the book was pretty good, moved quickly, had a lot of action (both in plot and in the romance category), but then I got to the second half. The second half felt like I was reading the first half of the book all over again with some minor changes. There is a reason in the plot why this happens, which I understand, but for me it was entirely to repetitive. I think maybe the book would have done better as a novella, or finding a way to continue to story line without reusing so much of the first half. I will say in the second half it was kind of fun to see Valentine act like Payne.

Valentine is a straight laced cop who has been investigating a serial killer but has been getting no where, and Payne a cop who has a reputation for getting things done and catching the bad guy (although it seems the bad guy is seldom in one piece when caught). The two of them are matched to find the killer, and they realize quickly that it looks like Valentine is the killer, someone is trying to frame Valentine. But along the way, they don't really get along at first, and then come together rather passionately. It is revealed that Payne is King of the Beasts, and while Valentine didn't know it she too is also a chimera.

The sex scenes were well written (not cheesy), although there were points where they moved so quickly that I found myself having to re-read to figure out what was going on. While I understand this is a paranormal romance, there were some sex scenes that didn't seem to propel the plot and were just included to make the book steamier (which it did).

The first half of the book moved really quickly, which made it easy to read, but didn't have a lot of development within it, I think if more time had been spent on developing the characters and the world maybe the last half wouldn't have felt as so repetitive. But at the same time the action is good, and keeps you involved. You really want to find out who is behind everything, and who is setting up Valentine.

If I was rating just the first half of the book I would give it a "good" rating, but with the second half feeling so much like the first, I'm going to give it a "so-so" rating. I think if you are looking for a steamy paranormal romance you will probably enjoy this book. It's not a terribly long book, so it would make for a good read while everyone is on Thanksgiving vacation, you can even get it in the Kindle store for .99!

Victor Payne is a detective with the LA Police Department. Known as the Hurt Legend, Victor always gets his man. He is one hard hitting, hard living, swaggering, smart mouthed man.

Valentine is just the opposite, a detective with the Malibu Police Department; she does everything by the book and believes the procedures are there for a reason. Now the pricey, pretty Malibu community is rocked to its core by a series of grisly murders dubbed the Malibu Slasher cases.

Payne is called in to partner with Valentine and sparks begin to fly almost immediately. Valentine instantly dislikes Payne. He is everything she hates. Payne instantly is amused by Valentine and dubs her Sweet Valentine, just adding one more insult to injury as far as she's concerned.

The plot thickens as clues start to point to Valentine as the slasher. This just can't be happening. Payne believes Valentine is innocent because he knows something she doesn't; a Beast is responsible. As Payne and Valentine set out to prove her innocence and catch the killer, more and more bizarre events start to happen, bringing the pair not only closer as partners but into each other's lives in a way neither could have imagined.

Strap on your seatbelts for another bumpy ride with twists, turns and surprises galore, as Payne and Valentine work to solve the case and fight to understand their intense attraction to each other. Ms. Elliott once again reaches out and grabs the reader, sweeping us up with her erotic images and keeping us on our toes with a mystery to solve, all along challenging us not to fall in love with her Beasts.

What can one say about Payne? I have read all three of the Beast books, and Payne is my favorite thus far. He is tough and strong, yet he has an irreverent sense of humor that I just loved. While he is a big, strong, hunk of a man, his personality is what appealed to me the most. Don't get me wrong, he is swoon worthy, but there is just something about the way he reacts to the world around him that made my little heart go pitter patter.

Valentine was a good straight man (or woman as the case may be) to his act. She was kept on her toes the whole way and gave as good as she got. This is a woman that you might not want to get on the wrong side of, and yet, I think most woman would enjoy spending time with her. Together, she and Payne just keep the reader totally immersed in their story.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end; it has everything an erotic romance should have and then some. There are scenes that will make you blush. Explicit does not begin to describe them, so reader beware. There is also quite a bit of violence, let's face it, the title gives that away, we are talking Beasts here.

Now it's time for the downside, why I didn't give this book 5 stars instead of 4. If you've read any of the other books in this series, there are bits and pieces that will sound familiar. I have to confess, I was a beta reader for Ms. Elliott and pointed this out to her. She stuck to her guns and left the scenes in, knowing it was going to reflect in my review. I loved the beginning of the book and the direction it was going in, up to a section about three quarters of the way through, however, it became a bit predictable.

I believe Ms. Elliott is a brilliant writer, her romance scenes have no rival, she can write action scenes that are up there with the best. Her characters are interesting and fun to get to know. With a few more tweaks she is going to give the big names a run for their money. I think she could write straight urban fantasy, erotica or mystery or just about anything else she puts her mind to, I just challenge her to watch out for the trap of becoming formulaic. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good paranormal mystery with strong, interesting characters and some hot lessons in erotica given compliments of Payne 101.

Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

What a great end to a great series! I will miss all of the Beasts as well as all of the characters in the series. They all really did brighten up my day(s) as I read them.

Leanore does such an excellent job with making her characters realistic and entertaining. A big form of proof is the way she made the most fierce of the beasts feel for the first time! Believe it or not he even made me chuckle and that's a shocker if you read the others in the series.

There were two new characters (Gimme & Binja) that stood out from among all the new characters and were great additions. They had me laughing quite frequently. The fact that they were able to spot the beasts adds an extra twist to it all. Add to it the inclusion of characters from the previous books and wow!

Payne and Valentine have a lot in common and you can tell they will click from day one they meet. They go through many ups and downs. Many choices to be made for the benefit of both, in the end.. You'll see!