If any of you get hurt I’m going to be really mad. I sleep with a Glock next to my bed so don’t think I’m joking. I will shoot you if you don’t make sure Gibson gets back here safely.
Lauren Dane
Beneath the Skin
Format:
ebook & audiobook
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Mia Porter came home to Boston to recover, but her military reflexes kick in when a fellow jaguar is gunned down only inches away. Getting the handsome stranger to safety and removing the bullets is the easy part…discovering she’s saved a member of the very family hers has been at war with for half a century makes things tricky.
Nor is she pleased her cat finds his to be quite an attractive specimen.
Gibson de La Vega, Bringer of Justice, enforces his Alpha’s law and defends de La Vega territory against all. But even he’s not immune to silver bullets. That Gibson feels the same burning desire for Mia only complicates matters.
Negotiating an end to an epic familial feud is nothing compared to the violence sparked by the attack on Gibson. As heat and need build between them, Mia and Gibson will fight together to protect their families from a danger far closer to home than anyone expects.
Point of view:
3rd. Alternating perspectives. Sometimes the point of view changes mid-paragraph, but Tanya Eby’s narration helps immensely with this.
Rellim’s Thoughts:
First, a note about the cover: Gibson is black. This series was re-issued with new covers in 2017. I’m disappointed that Carina Press opted to put a white model on the cover. Since the original cover AND the cover of Trinity features a black model, we know it’s possible.
Second, a note about reading order: After listening to Beneath the Skin – it’s obvious that some of the story line from Trinity & Revelation about mages/magick continues in some other books. Unfortunately, I didn’t check Dane’s website for a reading order and missed that Heart of Darkness and Chaos Burning (from her Bound By Magick series) chronologically take place between Revelation & Beneath the Skin. Honestly, that whole story arc is barely mentioned and while the other books don’t stand alone, this one probably could.
This is my favorite of the series. I think partially because the balance of relationship to action/mystery/suspense is more enjoyable. More than that, Gibson and Mia are both strong characters – physically & emotionally. They are an equal match and it’s fun to listen to them get together, discover that they both want more, and work together to solve & defeat those who attacked them.
The ending was a little abrupt, especially for being the final book in a series – but overall it’s a great listen.
Narration:
I really enjoyed Tanya Eby’s narration. There are a lot of characters of various sex, age, and background. She does a great job of giving them all unique voices/sounds.
About the author:
The story goes like this: While on pregnancy bed rest, Lauren Dane had plenty of down time so her husband took her comments about “giving that writing thing a serious go” to heart and brought home a secondhand laptop. She wrote her first book on it before it gave up the ghost. Even better, she sold that book and never looked back.
You can connect with Lauren Dane here:
About the narrator:
Tanya is a member of SAG/AFTRA. She is a narrator and has over 500 titles to her credit. She also narrates under the name of Tatiana Sokolov for books that are particularly saucy (AKA erotica books). When not narrating, she’s working on her own writing. Check out her books: Easy Does It, Blunder Woman, Pepper Wellington and the Case of the Missing Sausage, Foodies Rush In, Tunnel Vision, and Synchronicity. She also has a food blog at dips.tanyaeby.com.
(Rellim’s note: As a rule, I don’t post pseudonyms, but this bio is copied directly from Eby’s website.)
You can connect with Tanya Eby here:
My Favorite Quotes
I will shoot you if you don’t make sure Gibson gets back here safely. – Beneath the Skin by @laurendane #Audiobook narrated by @Blunder_Woman #Shifters #deLaVegaCats
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