Hunter Betrayed
By: Nancy Corrigan
ISBN
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9781419992735
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Book Length
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Novel
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Publisher
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Ellora's Cave Publishing Inc.
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Ellora’s Cave: http://www.ellorascave.com/hunter-betrayed.html
DESCRIPTION
Wild Hunt, Book 1
Tainted from birth, Harley lives a life cloaked in darkness
and temptation. She resists the lure of her evil legacy by holding the memory
of her ghostly savior close. Every night without him is agony. She fantasizes
about him and yearns for his body, but he’s not the protector or lover she’s
envisioned. He’s a Hunter bred to eliminate her kind. He’s also her only hope
of salvation.
Calan, the leader of the Wild Hunt, was created to protect
mankind from the Unseelie Court. For a millennium, he’s sacrificed to ensure
the horrid creatures remain in the Underworld, but his strength wanes. He must
rely on his enemy’s daughter to save him, but he doesn’t expect the intensity
of their lust or love. Her touch calms his wild nature and ignites his carnal
desires. He’ll risk all to save her, but doing so forces him to make the
ultimate sacrifice, one that’ll damn him to suffer forever in his own living
hell.
A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from
Ellora’s Cave
Nancy Corrigan has always had an active imagination. When
she finally sat down to pen her first novel, she found her sweet romance had
too much spice. After trying to tone it down and failing, she gave in and let
her characters have their way. She’s glad she did. Because isn’t the best
romance the kind with lots of amazing sex anyway?
She’s lucky enough to share her cat's home with three
wonderful children, husband, dog and snake. When not writing, she works in a
pharmaceutical lab.
Her passions beyond family and reading include music,
classic cars, tattoos and animals (all of which have found their way into her
writing in one form or another).
Favorite Quotes:
He sagged in his bonds and dragged in a shuddering breath.
Why do you insist on sharing our suffering when you do
not need to?
Rhys asked the same question every time they spoke. Calan
gave his usual answer. Because it is my punishment, my hell and my sin for
condemning you. I would bear it all if I could.
Rhys sighed. You did not know what would happen any more
than I did. I would have done the same.
Calan’s next words would’ve been, No, brother, you
would’ve saved us all. He couldn’t utter them today. The game they’d played
for what might have been forever felt like a betrayal without Tegan’s sarcastic
retorts.
“That’s it. Be calm. I won’t hurt you.”
“Wh-who are y-you? What…” She focused on where his chest
should be. He glanced down and saw the ground, not his body or even a ghostly
apparition. “What are you? A g-ghost?”
“Not a ghost. I’m alive. I’m just not here.”
He stretched an invisible hand out and touched her cheek.
The surprise in connecting with her in a tangible manner nearly pulled him away
from her. With mental fingers, he tugged her closer. He wouldn’t lose her.
Not now, not ever.
She slipped trembling balled fists into the pockets of her
robe. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s time for me to go, Harley.”
She took a single step into the room. “Are you going to tell
me the real reason I couldn’t voice my feelings last night.”
He stared at her and couldn’t bring himself to speak.
“Calan, please. You asked for my trust. I gave it to you.
Now you must trust me.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I made a mistake binding
myself to you, Harley.”
Her brows pinched. “Excuse me?”
He motioned to her hand shoved into her robe. So many times
last night, he’d been tempted to trace the design, imagine what it would look
like completed. He’d resisted. He didn’t need the image of their incomplete
bond to haunt him more than it did. “I shouldn’t have started the mate bond
with you.”
Blinking rapidly, she stepped back. He saw the sheen of
moisture in her eyes. The first tear slipped free. He clenched his jaw. The
temptation to open his mind to hers and yank her anxiety away grew with each droplet
that rolled down her cheek.
“You lied to me? You don’t love me?”
“No!” He was by her side before he thought better of it. He
wiped the trail of tears away. “No, flower. I love you. I always will, but I
acted rashly. I should’ve waited until the curse was transferred back to Dahm.”
“Why?”
He cupped her face between his hands and waited for her to
reach for him. She didn’t. He couldn’t blame her. Still, the loss of her
comforting touch hurt. “I must break our bond before my siblings succumb to
madness. I’d thought only they bore the curse. I was wrong. I do too and
because I bonded my body to yours, so do you. I must take back my half of our
mate bond to spare you from suffering the curse meant for your father.”
“But you’ll mate me again after you defeat Dahm, right?”
He dropped his hands and turned away. He couldn’t look into
her hopeful eyes any longer. “No, Harley, I can’t. I only have one circle to
give. You were my one chance, my one mate, my one love. There will never be
another.”
“So you can’t love me if we’re not mated?”
“I’ll always love you.” He glanced over his shoulder. “No
matter what happens or who you end up with, I will be here. I just won’t be
your mate.”
She narrowed her eye. “What do you mean, who I end up with?”
He forced his fingers to unclench. “I hope that once my
brothers are free you’ll find one of them pleasing, maybe more so than me, and
give him your love.”
“What if my love has already been given?” She stepped
forward. “What if I said those three words you’ve stopped me from uttering and
completed our bond right now.”
“Then you’ll have negated my sacrifice. I’m giving you up so
you have a chance at life, maybe not the one you or I desire, but life all the
same. You can fight the lure of the chaos as you’ve done without me or you can
give one of my brothers a chance at earning your love and being the male I
cannot be.” He made his way to the door, each step ripping his heart open. “We
do not have predestined mates, Harley. We fall in love.”
“I don’t want another.”
He stepped into the hallway, gaze straight ahead. “Then that
is your choice, but at least you have one.”
With that, he closed the door behind him and left his heaven
behind.
This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
The story was not what I expected. I really liked it. Harley
is a woman who could become evil but tries and does keep doing good things. She
has been this way from birth. But she has some evil following her trying to
turn her to the evil side. But then she meets Calan who is the leader of the
Wild Hunt. His job is to protect mankind and his people. He can only be freed
from the prison he is in by “the one”. The one is Harley, she first meets him
when she was really young and now she finds the man she has dreamed and lusted
after for years and she also thought he was just a dream lover.
Calan like I said is the leader of the Wild Hunt. As leader
of the Wild Hunt he must eliminate the evil of the world which in this case was
Harley. Once he set eyes on her he know she was his mate and thought she would
save him from the hell he was living in. But he after starting the mating bond
with her he finds out that not only could he not be saved but he also placed
her in the same danger. Will he sacrifice his life and hers? Or will he give
her up to save her from the suffering he would go through?
This is the first book in the series and it is a great start to the series. The story flows from the beginning and keeps going all the way through. Character development was really good. While reading the story you really want to cheer them on. Excellent story bring on the next in the series I am ready!!!
FOUR HUNTER ANGELS
Thanks for the lovely review, Cindy!
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