When dream hunter Dylan Ryve spots a beautiful shapeshifter raising hell in a bar, he knows he wants the wild young man. But Travis Feris is more to Dylan than a few hot minutes outside in the snow; he’s the assassin’s ticket into the magical town of Arcada. He didn’t plan to rescue the kid, but when he found the shifter being attacked, the opportunity to play hero was too good to pass up.
Through the solitude of a long winter night, Dylan walks in Travis’s fevered dreams, learning about Arcada and the pack, and showing the shifter the man he’d been so very long ago. When morning comes, both men know their lives will be forever entwined.
From Dylan, Travis learns that he is a strong, valued member of the pack. The dreamwalker sees his own worth reflected back at him in the dark blue eyes of the wolf. Yet when Dylan has the chance to free himself from centuries of enslavement, can he betray the man he has come to love.
Travis Feris is a shapeshifter with a brilliant intellect and some incredible artistic talent whose self-esteem is in the toilet. He feels he truly has no place in his pack and also feels that he can contribute nothing to anything cuz he’s just not worthy. He soothes himself by getting adrenaline highs by heading to bars and causing trouble. One night when he’s out making mischief he gets himself into a boatload of trouble – more than he can handle. Some men who are pissed at him roofie his drink and then plan on taking advantage of him. Luckily for Travis Dylan is in the bar and ends up saving his ass – literally.
Dylan tries to take Travis home but Travis lives in Arcada and the town, which is a magical place, won’t let Dylan in. Dylan takes Travis to his motel room and manages to contact Travis’s family. Unfortunately they can’t come to get the man because of a snow storm. Dylan wants into Arcada and he thinks that Travis might be his way in. Dylan doesn’t plan on falling for the shifter and having his life change.
Dylan is Fae and under a geas. He has one more job to do for his Master. Is that the right word? More like Evil Overlord. Anyway, he was contracted to take or capture 1000 lives. He has one more life to either capture or kill and he’ll be free. The life he needs, however is in Arcada. Eventually he gets into the town but he is closely watched. While he’s there his feelings for Travis grow stronger and he has to decide how the rest of his life will go.
This is the second book in the Arcada series and I liked this one just as much as the first, I must say. I didn’t care for Travis at all in book 1 so when I started reading and realized that he was one of the main characters in this book I hesitated. I’m glad I kept reading because we were shown a side of him we didn’t get to see in the previous book. What we saw then and for the first part of this book was his posturing and assholedness that he showed the rest of the world but was not who he was. He really wasn’t sure who he was but after meeting Dylan he started to blossom – they both did.
Dylan seemed like a pretty unlikable character after the prologue but the man had hidden depths that he didn’t even know about.
The story was really great and so heart-wrenching I actually cried at one point as I was so caught up in the emotions that were flowing between the men. I would definitely recommend this story as well as book 1 and hope that we get another book set in Arcada very soon.
Ok, now let’s talk about the cover. I can’t say I care for it at all. I think the dark-haired man who is supposed to be Travis is the one that bothers me the most. Travis is muscular but not incredibly buff. He’s described as beautiful with fae-like features. The cover has the guy looking like Matthew Broderick in Lady Hawk and while very cute (I love that movie!) he was not beautiful, imho.
I went online and got a couple of pictures that I think represent Travis better…and while I was at it I got some that I thought represented Dylan a bit more. This is completely my opinion so…take it for what it’s worth.
Travis:
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| I imagine him without scruff but it does look good, doesn’t it? 🙂 |
Dylan: (Obviously Dylan would have much longer hair)
Anyway, just my two cents.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
I need to get around to reading this, but I'm with you on the cover – it's oddly unappealing.
Yeah, the cover needs help. 🙂 lol