Scent of Betrayal by Denise CarboMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I received this Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher through Netgalley, for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
This book is the second in the series, the first is Bloodlines: Shifters of Rishard, and as this is a continuation of the same story, just focusing on different characters, you really need to read the first book for it to make sense.
We first met Bethany and Davis in the first book, but they weren’t the main characters. Bethany is the niece of the former leader of the European Clan. She met Davis when her deranged brother tried to kill her, as Davis is a member of the North American Clan, when she visited Wyoming to be with the man her brother murdered. When Bethany wants to return home to Glasgow, Davis insists on returning with her as he believes she is in danger from her brother’s accomplice. Bethany doesn’t agree with his assessment but he gives her no room to disagree.
Bethany returns to her clan in upheaval as her uncle didn’t name an heir. Her cousin is determined to take over and rule, but he is vastly unsuited to the job. The Clan’s spiritual advisor wants to hold an election to see who becomes leader and he is standing in the election. Both men want Bethany to support their claim.
As with the first book, the plot aspect of this book is good. There is quite a lot of detail about the people of the European Clan and how Bethany interacts with them. Her place in the Clan is important to her and it is important to the plot. Finding out who Bethany’s brother’s accomplice was, is a big task and Davis gets little help from the Clan. In the end he gets help from the Council and having only two people running around trying to find out whodunnit means there are gaps where the bad guy can act.
In addition to this part of the plot the romance section of the book is much less annoying than in the first book, hence the higher rating. Davis is a bit of a stereotypical rubbish male about his emotions, which always feels like a bit of a narrative shortcut, but he wasn’t horrible or offensive. He was very focused on keeping Bethany safe but his alpha male tendencies got in the way of the relationship a bit.
Bethany was a very well defined character, probably more so than Davis, because he was introduced in more depth in the first book. She was calm, compassionate and reasonable, though she was a little insecure. She learned from her mistakes with her brother and wanted to learn how to take care of herself, but she wasn’t willing to become untrusting, or doubt her own judgement as a whole because of his actions. I really liked her.
Their relationship journey wasn’t a grand tortured romance, it was a more gentle revealing of feelings, though there were some difficulties.
Overall the book is a quick easy read that is pretty entertaining.
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