Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: The Kachina Job
AUTHOR: A.J. Marcus
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200
BLURB:
The lion, the jaguar, and the owl against the werewolf. Who will prevail?
Phillip Twohands is a thief and a weremountain lion. When he takes a job stealing an ugly kachina, he never realizes it will change his life forever. Daniel Hernandez is a werejaguar who is hired to steal the same kachina by the same werewolf who hired Phillip. When their paths cross, it becomes clear the tension between them is not all about rivalry.
The local sheriff, Shannon O’Flaherty, catches them in the act and has no choice but to take the two into his personal custody, which quickly ends up with the three of them in bed together.
When they learn the kachina has an ancient wolf spirit trapped inside, they rally to prevent it from transferring its power to the werewolf who hired them, but it will take all the strength in their new bond to succeed.
REVIEW:
The lion, the jaguar, and the owl…it kind of sounds like the start of a joke, but these three men aren’t walking into a bar together. They’re climbing into Shannon’s big old bed, after the dominant owl shifter arrests Phillip and Daniel for stealing an ugly wolf kachina. Unfortunately for the three shifters, the kachina houses an ancient wolf spirit which the “badguy”, werewolf alpha Mendoza, intends to use to make himself alpha of all weres. To make a bad situation worse, other ancient animal spirits want to see the wolf spirit free, which will not go well for human kind. Phillip and Daniel find themselves roped into helping Shannon retrieve the kachina before either of those undesirable scenarios can come about.
I’m going to have to say that I’m fairly certain I really liked this book. I know right, how hard is it to decide if you thought a book was great or not. Thing is, this story wasn’t what I was expecting, at all. I think that threw me a bit, and for some reason I’m finding it hard to reconcile what I expected with what I got.
To start with, the relationship between the three men begins as some sex between Shannon and Daniel while Phillip ends up added almost as an afterthought later on. There’s some initial jealousy between the three of them but nothing significant because even though they’re sleeping together they barely know each other or like each other. Although a bond does form between them there is none of the usual shifter principle of “instant recognition of a fated mate”. Though I can assure you that they do end end having feelings for each other. While in hindsight I enjoyed and appreciated those differences, I think it took some time for the story to feel right.
I was also worried that the sex in this book was going to be a let down. We have Daniel and Shannon, and then Daniel and Phillip having sex but the first time the three men all get into bed together it happens off page. Then the plot really takes off and I thought we were going to be left without one good ménage scene. Pfft, I needn’t have worried. If a bit of DP between roaring shifters (in human form) is your thing, then you’re going to need to read this book.
Unlike most ménages, it was the plot that stole my attention with The Kachina Job, not the romance. I loved the paranormal element of this story, the kachinas, the spirits, the magic – all of it. I would love to see this become the first book in a series because I definitely enjoyed reading the author’s rather unique take on shifters. Plus, there was the secondary character of “the Wilsons” who could surely use a story. They seem like a whole other branch of paranormal that could be explored.
I think most shifter fans will enjoy this story, although, as I said, it’s not your typical shifter romance.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: