Judith’s review of Shivaree by Cara McKenna.
Hot on the heels of a nasty break-up, Natalie’s truck breaks down in the sweltering Louisiana back woods. A glow beyond the trees and a haunting melody lead her to what she hopes is salvation. The Shivaree is a bar where the locals loose themselves in cold drinks and in the warm bodies of their dance partners. Gabriel is the resident musician who possesses a remarkable musical talent and an undeniable sexual charisma. The only thing standing between Natalie and the perfect rebound is Gabriel’s dominant and possessive lover. But Natalie has never been afraid of a bully. Certainly not one built like Shane Broussard. She’s ready to discover the perfect remedy for heartache: two hot male bodies and one, long, sultry, Southern night.
It is a well-known fact that in both fiction and non-fiction, Louisiana is depicted as a land of mystery, shadows, hiddeness, and the world of magic. It is also the world of forbidden love, sultry bodies and enticing music. It is the birthplace of the Blues and the cradle of music that weaves a web of magic around the senses. It is into this world that Natalie Foster is forced when her truck breaks down near a bar known as the Shivaree. (A Shivaree is awedding reception and a celebratory “riot” all mixed up into one.) Set in an old house on the edge of the Bayou, draped in hangings that look suspiciously like old wedding gowns, the Shivaree is run by a huge, good-looking, and angry brute of a man named Shane Broussard. He is an auto mechanic by day and a bar owner by night, and his world has been turned upside down by Gabriel, a gorgeous musician with whom Shane has fallen in love, and whom he now hates because that love is not returned. Shane also does not yet know how to handle this unexpected obsession. Natalie falls under the spell of both men. And for a few days on her journey away from her ex-boyfriend in Miami, she becomes a part of the tangled web of these two lives, alternately fascinated and then repelled by these two very different men.
For Gabriel, Natalie becomes a weapon against Shane in the war of emotional and sexual dominance they play on a nearly nightly basis. For Shane, Natalie becomes a reminder that he still loves women and finds her extremely attractive. Somehow that knowledge brings some balance back into his heart and mind.
This is not a simple plot. It is, in truth, a vignette in the lives of Shane and Gabriel, one into which Natalie finds herself thrust by circumstances and one from which she must find a way to move on. It is an intricate and riveting study of three people caught almost in a “stop action” kind of moment in their respective lives. The story is a very erotic one, especially overlayed with the dark and mysterious shadows for which the Bayou is famous. It is almost as if the Shivaree is a metaphor for the encounters each of us experiences at some of those “crisis crossroads” in life. And for each of these individuals, it is an encounter that seems to be some sort of “break through” within themselves.
I didn’t get into this story right away–it is not overly long, but after a chapter or two I began to appreciate the expertise of the writer and I became involved in the struggles of these characters. This is really a very well-written novella and a story that may not always be easy to read but one that will, I think, force the reader to look a little deeper into the human experience. There is menage action in this tale but that is not the focus of the story. Ultimately, it is about the quality of relationships and whether or not we are willing to sell our souls for what we think we must have.
I give this book a rating of 4 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.
I’m curious Judith. Does the story end with an HEA or HFN for 2 or 3 of the characters?
Wow, Judith! I think that is the most insightful and complex review I’ve received for Shivaree! Thank you very much for such a thoughtful analysis.
I can answer Kaetrin’s question about the HEA… People have written to me saying they loved the story, right up until the end. It has what I can only describe the exact right ending for the characters and the circumstances, but it’s not a “happy” ending. I don’t think it’s a downer, necessarily, but it’s not an HEA by anyone’s estimation. So many people have written to me to ask that poor Shane get the ending he deserves, there is a sequel in the works, hopefully to be published in the next six months by Ellora’s Cave. There is also a prequel coming out at the end of the summer, called Backwoods—the stand-alone story of how Shane and Gabriel and their red-hot, codependent tension-fest came to be.
Again, thank you so much for the thoughtful review, Judith!
My best,
Cara McKenna