Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings

Claiming Rys by Annabelle Jacobs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can I have another five stars please?

This is, hands down, my favourite shifter book from Annabelle so far and, considering I’ve pretty much 5*-ed nearly all of her releases, that’s saying something.

Enemies to lovers with a second chance plotline is so hard to pull off.

If the past relationship was troublesome, why would someone want to try again? Or you might get some piddling little misunderstanding splitting a couple up.

Here we get neither. Rys and Gabriel were full on properly in love, both foolish teenagers keeping secrets.

When that situation blew up in a violent incident, it left them both reeling, Rys seething with hatred and hurt and Gabriel sorrowful and alone again.

How Annabelle then uses the investigation at the heart of this series to draw them back together and reveal hints to the reader of more than either man originally knew about the other is very clever.

The setting in and around Nottinghamshire’s Sherwood Forest and Clumber Park is perfect, allowing for supernatural creatures of all types to live in and around Rys’ pack.

Chuck in a gateway to the Fae world and you just know things are going to get complicated!

I’m not going into the plot itself because it works best when it’s slowly revealed as Rys and Gabriel reconnect with all their spikey feelings firmly in place.

I will say though, when they finally move beyond their past and admit all the emotions are still in place, it’s scorching hot and powerfully moving.

As all the clues to who’s behind the deaths Gabriel has been investigating with Rys’ cousin Max begin to line up, tensions rise and the connection between them brings its own dangerous risks.

In an adrenaline-packed final few chapters – although there is a series long narrative still in play – the story weaves its threads into a stunning conclusion.

There are so many amazing characters in this book, even though Rys and Gabriel are the focus, I was drawn to the others too and I can’t wait for more in the series.

#ARC kindly received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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