After being held captive at the hands of a serial killer, Holly Lawrence is the only one who’s ever managed to escape the werewolf known as the Hunter. As a Hound for Shifter Town Enforcement, it was her job to track and find the killer; instead another girl died the night that she escaped. Now, the Hunter is changing his game and he has Holly in his crosshairs, all he needs is a good chase.
But when he targets the pack of Sanctuary Falls, alpha werewolf Caine Morgan is determined to protect them–and he’s not the only one. The Hunter is using Sanctuary Falls in a terrifying cat-and-mouse-game as he zeroes in on the one prey that ever got away: Holly. As Holly struggles to stay one step ahead of the Hunter, it’s up to her and Caine to work together to save herself and his pack…
But with the body count rising with every full moon, this killer won’t stop until Holly cries sanctuary….and runs.
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Cry Sanctuary continues the suspensefulness that the previous book Hounded gave us amidst a world of shifters and reunites us with some familiar faces as well as introducing us to some new ones. The villain in this story is just as nasty as the previous and his taunting of the heroine throughout the story adds an extra umph of emotional impact.
Holly Lawrence isn't your typical heroine...she's got some curves and doesn't dress to impress. She's also the one who got away. Her survival has weighed heavily on her and it's lead her on a non-stop hunt for the killer just as he hunts her. Holly is an extremely likable heroine who you can't help but admire and I hated how much guilt she carried over things beyond her control. Her interactions with her family were realistic and gave her some rare moments of peace. The slow and sensual burn between her and alpha werewolf Caine Morgan also brought her moments of happiness and some steamy sexual interludes to us readers amongst the tragedies The Hunter is causing shifters.
Caine Morgan is extremely sexy and dependable. As alpha he has the protection of his entire pack to weigh on him and when The Hunter goes after them guilt starts weighing on him too. Guilt forms a bond between him and Holly and working with her on this case brings them closer together emotionally and physically and gives them both someone to count on. Even though he's alpha he trusts Holly's abilities and lets her take the lead which made me like him even more.
The identity of The Hunter is learned very early on and seeing the differences in his personality between killer and average Joe makes him even scarier. These scenes are well-paced, intense, with moderately graphic kill scenes and reiterate his cruelty. The reasons behind his deeds emit a moment of sympathy but his actions quickly make you forget and the heinousness and bloodiness sticks with you long after the story's conclusion.
Cry Sanctuary was a truly enjoyable story that had my emotions on a roller coaster as I went from grisly scenes of death to a touch of humor to the seductive pull of the relationship between Holly and Caine. With some wonderful secondary characters, at times there were almost too many that I lost track of who was who, and the satisfyingly slow burn of Holly and Caine's romance I was fully immersed in this story from start to its pulse pounding conclusion. And while I don't feel that it's entirely necessary to have read the previous book in this series why wouldn't you with such an exciting and unique premise? Here's hoping that more stories from this world are on their way soon!
My rating for this is a B+
*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest opinion.
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