Wicked Kiss (Realm Enforcers)

Wicked Kiss
by Rebecca Zanetti
Release Date: July 4, 2017
Publisher:  Lyrical Press
Book #4 Realm Enforcers series
Number of pages:  286
Kindle
Source: MCL
Paranormal Romance M/F
Rating: XXX
Read 7/11/20 to 7/12/20

 

Working as an informant for the DEA, Victoria Monzelle is used to living on the edge. But she’s not a big fan of getting kidnapped. And definitely not by a bunch of bad boy witches with fancy-colored fire to shoot at people. So when Adam Dunne shows up and claims to be a witch enforcer, she’s not going to put her life in his hands based on his word, no matter how smooth and smart and beautifully Irish his words sound. But on the run from a tribunal of witches, she isn’t going to make it far . . .

Before she knows it, Adam’s word is all that stands between her and execution. Sophisticated, just-gotta-ruffle-him Adam has vowed to make her his one eternal mate, wild and unpredictable as she is—to save her from a sentence of certain death. But Tori isn’t interested in being anyone’s pity date. And if they think she’s unpredictable now, they should see what’s coming next . . . 

This may seem to be a weird place to start my review of this book, but I want to talk about the author’s dedication. Just days before reading this story, there was some controversy after some dude talked about trashy and not trashy romance, basing his opinion strictly on the covers of two books. (For the record, there is no such thing as trashy romance in my opinion. Different people like different things, doesn’t make one thing trashy and another not.) After a lot of back and forth and the guy trying to defend himself, it turns out his young daughter (I believe he said 10?) loves romance and he wouldn’t want her reading anything with a lot of sex. Ummm, dude. There’s a YA category of books for a reason. Doesn’t make an story meant for adults trashy just because it’s not appropriate for a tween. Anywho, then I see this dedication Rebecca Zanetti wrote to her son back 3 years ago basically saying he’d get a ribbing from friends for his mom’s mushy words, but his friends aren’t old enough to read her books anyway. And if any girl ever says she read his mom’s books then they’re too old for him. Oh boy, I know this has nothing to do with this story and how it’s written and all that, but it sure made me love this author even more. I just had to mention it because it made me laugh and brought me joy.

On to the story! The stories in the Realm Enforcers series tend to have a lot of action. I think this one had even more than the previous books. After all, Tori was already in dire straights when Wicked Burn ended, and Adam had already put his reputation on the line more than once to get her to safety. That means this book ended up quite the page turner.

There is part of me that was thoroughly annoyed with Victoria. Why couldn’t she just listen to Adam and let him help her? So frustrating! For some of the things, she had good reason. No spoilers here, but we all know that Tori, like her sister, is going to be an enhanced human. Turns out her “gift” is a bit different and really unexpected. But instead of confiding in Adam, even after she realizes he knows there has to be something special about her, she just keeps taking off on her own. I’m telling you, Adam had way more patience than I would have had!

On the other hand, I felt for Tori. One second she’s unfortunate enough to witness a weird fight at her friend’s house, the next she’s waking up in another country across an ocean with no explanation of the crazy things she keeps witnessing. And once the crazy things are explained, she’s supposed to come to terms with the fact that there are witches and vampires and demons and more. Plus, her sister is married to one! That’s a lot for anyone, seriously. Which made me try to cut her some slack when she was being unreasonable about the whole situation.

That all being said, I really enjoy the relationship Adam and Victoria have and the chemistry that sparks between them whenever they’re together. As much as Tori just wants to keep her friends and loved ones safe, she’s in a situation that makes that extremely difficult to do without hurting other friends with her new knowledge. Once she gives herself over to the fact that the best way to do that is to accept Adam’s help, she jumps in with both feet and turns out to be a very bright and crafty ally to her immortal friends.

I love the way everyone bands together in this story. It’s been building and building in momentum through each book. We still don’t have all of the answers, but the key players are watching each other’s backs and putting it all out there to help in any way possible. There is such a deep loyalty within these groups of friends and I love it all. Now if they can just help Bear and get to the bottom of everything else I’ll be a happy camper.

4 stars