Book Review: Change

by: Soraya Lane

Available at Amazon

Synopsis:
When her twin sister dies of a mysterious heart condition, Riley King is sent to her grandma’s ranch. But instead of the isolation she’s been aching for, she learns of a family secret that’s been deliberately kept from her, until now.

As if finding out she’s actually a leopard wasn't enough shock for one vacation, Riley meets Hunter Logan … the guy she’s promised to. For life. But Riley has no intention of being told what to do by anyone, certainly not some stubborn, dominant shifter. Even if he can make her purr, her claws are slicing out. Until Riley realizes that not fulfilling her destiny would commit her sister to a life on the other side without her.

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This is a fairly well written, fast paced novel. Riley isn’t such a bad heroin, and Hunter is obviously smokin’! Riley can’t think of any other way to get over her sister’s death than by spending the summer with her grandmother. But turns out she can shift into a black panther, along with a bunch of others in that area. Her grandmother is the leader of the pack and wants Riley to take over. Oh she’s also supposed to “mate” with Hunter.

The story does grab you and it reads so fast. Perfect vacation read! There were a couple of things in the plot that bothered me though.

The inconsistencies in the story. Riley’s mother isn’t a panther and her grandmother tells her it skips a generation. But Hunter’s entire family are leopards, so why the difference? Never explained.

And if they are all leopards, why are they behaving like wolves? Hunter tells her they mate for life and live in a pack. Now if you read up on leopards like I did while reading this story – I thought maybe black leopards are one of the weird cats that might do that. Nope, they hate other leopards in their area and mate when it’s time and then go their separate ways. They are unique though, they are the only smaller cat that can roar.

Then she’s never met any of the other leopards, doesn’t know them at all. And they are all like “ok, strange girl who didn’t even know she could do this 2 weeks ago…you tell us what to do.” I just wasn’t buying it. I like the idea of her not knowing, but I’m not about to believe she will become the venerated leader overnight.

And finally, a little ewww factor. I’m not happy that all that sex stuff (I will concede there really isn't a whole lot of this) is going on and the girl is only 17. If I’m reading about people getting all sweaty and stuff, could they both at least be in their early 20s? Not still a kid.

I did zoom through it though, so that all being said it was a captivating story.