REVIEWED BY: Christie

TITLE: Cataclysmic Shift

SERIES: Aloysius Tales #3

AUTHOR: Tara Lain

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH:  201 Pages

RELEASE DATE: September 13, 2017

BLURB:

Aloysius, the magical black cat and powerful witch’s familiar, isn’t afraid to go into battle to protect his master, but the outcome of the fight turns his feline world upside down. A direct hit of magic steals not only his memories and power, but even the body he’s lived in for several centuries. When he wakes up naked on the floor of a veterinarian’s office, it isn’t as the cat Aloysius, but as the sixteenth-century French gentleman Alain Bellarose. And when Alain sees sexy and enigmatic veterinarian Luke Elliott, he decides he’ll make the best of his time as a human.

Luke is a man with secrets who generally prefers the company of animals—though the flamboyant boy who washes his face with the side of his hand and tries to lick his own privates might prove an exception.

Meanwhile, Witch Master Killian Barth and his secret weapon, Sammy, struggle without Aloysius’s power to draw on. Two evil females are circling, and seeing the coven’s weakness, they’re about to move in for the kill. When Alain’s memories return, he’s faced with the ultimate dilemma: protect his community or stay with the man he loves.

REVIEW:

So, after reading the first two books in Tara Lain’s Aloysius Tales series, I was really curious as to whose story would be next. Lo and behold, the MC in Cataclysmic Shift was none other than Aloysius himself!  After reading the blurb, I was highly intrigued with how the book would play out.  And now after reading the book, I can honestly say that it is my favorite in the series so far.

Aloysius was actually human once upon a long, long time ago before being changed into a cat.  Okay, so he wasn’t changed into an ordinary cat, but an extremely powerful witches familiar.  He is highly intelligent, has phenomenal intuition, and takes Killian Barth’s already magnificent power and amplifies it ten-fold.  That’s how extraordinary Aloysius is.  Impressive, right?  Well, he is also quite protective of Killian and his husband Blaine.  Which is how Aloysius got into a rather precarious and life altering pickle.   Because, whilst in the middle of an intense battle between a couple of witches and Killian, Blaine drops by and ends up being the target for the attacking witches.  In order to save Blaine, Aloysius jumps in front of him and blocks a rather strong magical attack, taking it onto himself and rendering the feline unconscious.  And, not knowing what else to do, Blaine suggests they bring Aloysius to a veterinarian he knows.

Luke Elliott gets the shock of a lifetime when he not only loses a patient (aka Aloysius) but the next morning he walks into the kennel attached to his clinic to find a naked (very well endowed) man in the room.  Turns out that the man has amnesia and can only vaguely remember his name of Alain Bellarose.  As Alain has no memory, no clothes, and nowhere to go, Luke offers him a job in the vet clinic and the spare room at home.  As time goes by, Killian and Blaine begin to suspect that Alain is actually Aloysius in human form, but also see the growing feelings between the familiar-turned-human and Luke.  Which puts them in quite the conundrum since Killian needs Aloysius to once and for all defeat the evil witches that have been attacking him.  But that would mean ripping him away from Luke and returning him to cat form.

Only Alain can make the decision on whether to lose the love of his life and return to being a cat, or keep Luke and abandon Killian in his time of need, ignoring his extreme need to protect the witch.

I happily and greedily read Cataclysmic shift in one sitting, and loved every moment of it.  It was everything I could have asked for, and even more.  As with every book by Tara Lain, she infuses this book with her unique style and wicked sense of humor.  I yelled at the book, I sniffled a bit, and I also laughed myself silly at some parts.  If you are a fan of Tara Lain, you totally know what I’m talking about, am I right?  And, as with all of Tara’s books, Cataclysmic Shift can be read as a standalone, but you will definitely enjoy it much more if you read the books in order.  Trust me, it’s no hardship to read each book in the Aloysius Tales series.  Actually, in my opinion, it’s not a hardship at all to read any of her series.  Do make sure to treat yourself and get Cataclysmic Shift.  It is a great book, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon