Pen the Dream : Review of "Onyx Night - Catnip and Cauldrons

What's New to Review ~ Wednesday!

Breaking News: Look for a new addition to the website soon. "Friday Finds" will be a section that I will be adding that will be catered to the busy authors. New publishing calls and antho calls and any other marketing news I can throw your way. So get ready!

Now, on to the business at hand. Who out there likes sorcerers, shifters, and a some intense "heat"? Well, this short novella has all of this and more. From a community of were cats to hidden secrets, cat-napping to intrigue, and a romance that has the promise of an eternity, "Onyx Night" had me flipping the pages easily and quickly.

The Book:

"Onyx Night" is a novella length story that ranges about 20k words. Easily read in one sitting, and it took me just a little over an hour to complete it. This fast paced paranormal/shifter story is incredibly well written. With three or four intense love making scenes packing a punch to add some spice, the reader can't help but enjoy the mysterious world on Onyx and the were-tribe at Catcall.

The author has done an excellent job of description here as our heroine comes into her first change. The feelings one would expect to encounter, the newness, the testing your boundaries all are beautifully encountered. Props to Ms. Lake on getting into the mind of a cat. When our heroine shifts, she has all the attitude of a fully grown feline and the actions are fluent.

The Plot:

Onyx Night is the heroine of our little tale and she is away at college, with a dangerous crush on her professor I might add. Admin personnel pull her out during the lecture and inform her of bad news. She must return home and quickly. Heart in her throat, she whirls into Catcall to find some very disturbing news at that. With her life coming to a collapse, she breaks down and shifts to a cat form for the first time. Life changing events are happening way to fast, and soon she finds out that everyone in the town are were-cats. But, now that she has made her first shift, she has duties to uphold. And Onyx isn't ready to agree to everything that the leaders one. She over hears an abundance of information that soon has her thinking that she is no longer safe. Running back to school is her only chance, but will it be enough.

Enter the hero - Cole has been skipping from college to college for years. Staying gets too complicated when people begin wondering why he hasn't aged. He has known about Onyx's gifts since he met her, and vows to protect her. But, when her first "heat" comes, how can he protect her, when all he wants is to be with her?

The Verdict?

Totally brilliant! The cat and mouse chase is thrilling, the sex is well written, and I absolutely love the paranormal were-cat. Not many out there are just regular house cats, most involve the big cat variety. But, I cannot express enough how well the author seemed to get into the mind of a cat! The high and mighty attitude, the curiosity, even the movements. I was completely enthralled! (As I myself am a cat person, there is some bias there. Sorry.) As this was just the first in the series, and the second has already been released... I know what I'll be reading over the weekend! "Onyx Shadows"!