Beauty's Beast review

Beauty's Beast by Jenna Kernan is the fourth, and last, book in the Tracker series but it's the first book by Kernan that I've read. It was okay - I don't feel the need to go back and read the first three books in the series but it was interesting and full of action.

Samantha was not a character that I really understood. She was too sheltered and didn't seem to have any self-respect at all. At the same time, she was brave and willing to sacrifice herself for the good of mankind. Alon was practically schizophrenic - he seemed to have an almost split personality. But he was good to his core even if he didn't think so. Alon was pretty much a quintessential tortured hero type. Samantha's parents and brother really irritated me. I found them to be self-righteous and completely unsupportive of their daughter/sister for the majority of the novel. Yet she remained completely loyal and supportive to them. My favorite character was Aldaria, Alon's sister, who was smart, strong, willing to take risks with her heart, but also not willing to be a doormat or pushover for love. She would have made an exceptional main character for her own novel.

I did enjoy the action in Beauty's Beast a great deal. From almost the first page, there is attack after attack, fight after fight, but all with a purpose. The action moves the plot along quite well by helping the characters come to epiphanies and realizations they might not have been able to get to without the push.

If you enjoy books based on Native American mythology and with a lot of action, you will likely enjoy this book. I prefer characters who are more self-aware and more self-assured than Samantha and Alon.

Beauty's Beast will be published on April 2, 2013 by Harlequin.

Synopsis

He was the son of her sworn enemy… and now the only one who could save her

Samantha Proud doesn't think her life could get any more complicated—or tragic. Since she dared to save a human boy from evil spirits, Nagi, the Ruler of Ghosts, has been actively stalking her family. Still, she never expected well-meaning Thunderbirds to scatter them to the four winds, dumping her at the feet of Alon Garza, a gorgeous Halfling, for safekeeping.

Alon has never met anyone like the sensual shifter who has just been literally dropped into his woods. Because of who he is, he never wanted to be with a woman for more than one night. Now, to keep Samantha safe, his only choice is to claim her. But will his desire expose the dark truth he's been fighting for so long?