My Thoughts:
The first thing I have to admit is that I was really disappointed to realize this book wasn’t about Antoinette and Christian again. I loved these two and at the end of Night’s Cold Kiss I was sure their story would develop more in the next book. The end left my HEA loving heart yearning for more and I always assured myself: you will get your fix in book two. So you can see when I realized I wouldn’t get this, Death’s Sweet Embrace and I had a rocky start.

This story is all about Kitt, the snow leopard shifter we already met in book one. She still suffers from the aftershocks of her brother’s death but there are some important things in her life that need her immediate attention right now. She accepts a position for teaching at the NYAPS (the parahuman university) and she has to face her past there. She meets her daughters- twin she had to give away after birth and as you can imagine this situation troubles her not only with anticipation. To make the whole situation even more complex she also discovers that her first big love and father to the girls, Raven, is currently at NYAPS too- so she finds herself in an emotional roller-coaster ride from the start.

I was never sure what I really should think of Kitt. I started out really liking her but when story progressed I couldn’t really follow her reasoning- her past lays very much in shadow through the whole book and with this missing intel it was hard to understand or like why she did this and that. All her struggles against Raven didn’t sit well with me. For me he was the epitome of purrfect. He is one of those dark and brooding bad good guys- my kryptonite. He seems to be strong and cold on the outside but every time he’s with Kitt all his thought and actions are centered around her. He adores her with every part of his being- she is his everything  and he is highly protective of her and the girls- exactly how it should be. That’s part of the reason why I didn’t understand her rejection of him- she was stubbornly set on this. Kitt is a huge contrast to Antoinette from book one- she’s more shy, not so direct and more a thinker than a fighter. She’s not weak- after all she is a snow-leopard shifter and has the claws to defend herself but she keeps her strength to herself and this infuriated me at some points.

I loved that Oberon got so much more screen-time in this novel. We finally learn some more about him and he seemed to be a different person with Kitt. I loved to see his more gentle side and I really hope he’ll get his own HEA at some point. Sadly we didn’t see much of Christian but Antoinette still plays a big role so that made a bit up for it. And we finally learn something about the Dark Brethren so my curiosity got sated a bit.

We learn so much more about the Animalians- how their society is build, prejudices they let fester in the middle of their community  and how old fashioned their views of the female role are. I would have loved to smack most of them real hard for most of the time.
The plot in Death’s Sweet Embrace was complex and perfectly constructed- mysterious murders and even though some chapters are out of the bad guy’s POV I was never able to guess who it was.The story ARC of this series got more depth and an added layer here and there and I’m highly curious about how this will all work out in the end.

Death’s Sweet Embrace was not what I expected- it was different from the first novel in this series but I still enjoyed reading it.  I didn’t like Kitt as much as I hoped but Raven made up for this. Entertaining read with a fascinating urban fantasy setting that will make you yearn for more. Recommended to all urban fantasy readers out there.

I give Death’s Sweet Embrace 3,5 out of 5 bookies. 
If your interest is caught now be sure to check out my interview with Tracey here and take your chance to win a signed copy of Death’s Sweet Embrace.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.