Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Baby and the Panther

SERIES:  Shifter Rescue Book 2

AUTHOR: Victoria Sue

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 223 pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 5, 2021

BLURB: 

Marco knew Kai was his true mate, but to keep him alive, he had no choice but to let him go.

On the run from his panther clan and family, Marco had tried to bury his shifter side and settled into a near-human existence, working as a medic for the ranger service. All that had gone to hell when he met Kai and fell instantly for the gorgeous omega, putting them both at risk from the torture and death he had escaped from.

Nobody had ever wanted Kai—not his family, not the alphas he’d been sold to, and now not even his true mate. Rejected and humiliated, Kai runs right into the exact trouble Marco had tried to save him from.

Finally, just as Marco gets him back, a betrayal he never saw coming hits them both harder than either of them were ready for. Marco won’t just need to battle to save Kai and their unborn child—he’s going to have to start a war that’s never been fought.

And he’s going to have to win.

REVIEW: 

The first thing you need to know about Victoria Sue’s engrossing Baby and the Panther is that the book is not a standalone.  It is preceded by Book 1, Baby and the Wolf, and a prequel novella, Baby and the Bear.  You must read at least Book 1 before embarking on Baby and the Panther or you will have no idea what is going on.  This is a continuing storyline, and it’s simultaneously fascinating and complex and completely worth sinking into. 

In this installment, we get Marco and Kai’s true mates story.  Marco is a rare panther shifter hiding from his vicious mother, a Panthera of great power who nearly killed Marco in a rage when he was a teen.  I found it easy to attach to and sympathize with Marco.  Ms. Sue gives him great dimension and his backstory drives the storyline in this book.

Now Kai on the other hand, I had a bit of difficulty with.  For quite legitimate reasons, Kai has deep trust issues.  Yet, I found myself resenting his treatment of Marco for a large portion of the book.  Ironically, Ms. Sue did such a great job crafting Kai that his trauma eclipses the bonding between him and Marco.

Baby and the Panther maintains excellent pacing unlike Baby and the Wolf, which lumbered along at times due to multiple, convoluted storylines.  Here, Ms. Sue drops us into the action from page one, and the plot hooks you and doesn’t let go.

Note, however, that this is not really a romance.  Marco and Kai’s relationship takes a back seat to the dramatic engagements with Marco’s family and the evil Harker and his pack.  Additionally, the book contains a great deal of on-page (and off-page) violence and abuse, both sexual and physical.  Ms. Sue depicts the horrors of shifter politics rather heavy-handedly in my opinion.  Also, I did not see any trigger warnings, which seems irresponsible particularly in light of the content.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed Baby and the Panther.  It’s dark and gritty yet addictive, so the cliffy ending hurts.  It’ll be a long wait until January to find out what happens with Zeke and Darriel.  Catch up on the series in the meantime and join me in the wait for the next exciting story.

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

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