Book Review: Primal Instinct by Sydney Somers

 

Book Description

She was only supposed to be the bait…

Corrine Lawson is living next door to a werewolf.

Okay, probably not, but teasing her secretive neighbor, Ryker, about howling at the moon is far more entertaining than worrying about how she'll pay her bills after getting fired—again.

At least it’s entertaining right up until Ryker abducts Cori, exposing her to a dangerous world where magic and gargoyles are real, and the search for Excalibur can get you killed. A mythical world Cori belongs to more than she realizes.

Both man and wolf, Ryker McKinnon has spent nearly a century tormented by the past, hungering only for vengeance against the shifter who slaughtered his family. When a promising lead exposes his enemy’s one weakness—a human daughter clueless about the immortal world—Ryker knows she’s the perfect bait to lure his enemy out of hiding.

Only nothing prepares Ryker for the staggering emotion Cori’s touch unleashes or the wolf’s brutal need to claim her for his own.

Once the wheels are set in motion and Cori is plunged into the middle of a centuries-old feud, will Ryker’s secrets destroy their fragile bond, or finally awaken the fierceness inside her?

My Review

Ryker lives next door to Cori but at first they don't see each other over the fence, they just talk through the fence and get to know each other. I thought this was going to be one of those "The hero falls for the girl next door" type romances because I didn't re-read the description after adding it to my Kindle. I just clicked on the book and started reading. Ryker slowly unveils his plans to use Cori as bait to get to her father but as he's gotten to know her, he's started to have feelings for her so things are working out a little different than he had first thought they would. Cori also isn't real close with her absentee father and she knows nothing about what he actually is. But when danger shows up at her door, literally and she's thrown into the fire sooner than Ryker can plan for, he saves her so he can use her to contact her father and because he feels protective of her. 

When Cori learns the whole truth about what's going on and that her father is a shifter who is responsible for Ryker's family being murdered, she's not sure what to do. She likes Ryker, a lot but isn't sure she should trust him after finding out that he only got to know her to get close to her father. 

I found this storyline to be a little confusing though because the shifters are called Gargoyles which I thought meant there would be actual gargoyles and there wasn't. The gargoyles are actually shifters like panthers, wolves and dragons but they are from King Arthur's Court ie, Avalon. They are only gargoyles in the sense that they are cursed and until they find their mates, they turn to stone at certain times. It was an interesting idea but also a little confusing. 

There's a lot of action and drama because of the danger Cori's father puts them all in. 

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon