"True Colors" and "Natural Evil" by Thea Harrison

I have been catching up with Thea Harrison' work.  After "Dragon Bound" which started her series with a bang and a boom, I read "Storm's Heart".  I can't say I found it particularly interesting.  I haven't read "Serpent's Kiss" yet.  I did jump to the two novellas I am going to be talking about shortly, and I am currently tandem reading "Oracle's Moon", her latest, with Lynn Viehl's "Nightborn".

I own the books.

"TRUE COLORS"

"True Colors" is a romantic paranormal novella with elements of suspense.  The heroine, Alice Clark, is a rare type of chameleon Wyr.  Her kind has been hunted and their numbers are significantly low.  There is a serial murderer out who has been targeting her kind.  The latest kill was one of Alice's closest friends.  Gideon Riehl is a detective for a specialized division of Wyr enforcement, the Wyr Division of Violent Crime.  He initially thought that Alice was involved, but then realized that that was not the case and that her life was actually in danger.  Of course, he protects her  he tries to unravel the mystery.

The strongest points in this novella are the main characters.  Alice is a school teacher, her nature is gentle and vulnerable, but she is very intelligent and sensitive.  She instantly realizes who Gideon truly is to her.  I truly liked her.  Gideon as a law enforcer could have come across as an alpha a**hole, but I was glad to see that he was anything but.  He was a good match for Alice, and definitely these two very appealing characters made the story.

One thing I didn't like was the fact that, given the elements of suspense in the story and the whole deal about trying to discover the killer and the killer's motivations felt like it was handled in a hurry.  This type of plot would have benefited (in my humble opinion) if the story had been a bit longer.  It was a rather interesting plot, but sadly, the shorter length did hinder its potential.

Overall, I felt that this was a very good read that will particularly appeal not only to fans of Thea Harrison, but also to lovers of paranormal romance.

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"NATURAL EVIL"

"Natural Evil" was a rather pleasant surprise, to say the least.  The heroine, Claudia Hunter, was in the military (Special Forces) until recently.  She retired and is on a road trip when she stumbles upon what looks to be a very large dog lying on the road.  Realizing that the dog is still alive, she manages to rescue him, finding a vet that takes care of his wounds.  Later on, her suspicions are confirmed: the dog is not just a dog.

This is another novella with fab characters, though I have to say Claudia wins by a LONG stretch.  The plot is driven by Claudia, and though the hero, Luis, is yummy, it is Claudia whom we are mostly following throughout the whole story.  She's smart, kick butt, and boy was it fabulous to see her kick butt and take names.

Additionally, this story is also an older woman/younger man story.  Claudia is 40, while Luis is 27.  It does make for an interesting mix and I don't want to spoil the ending, but suffice it to say is not your standard "and they lived happily ever after" sort.

I definitely recommend these two novellas to anyone that likes paranormal romance, and they both can be read as stand-alones without issues.  The Wyr universe is very interesting, and the world creation is being developed a bit more in every book mostly via the characters themselves, as each book seems to be introducing new Wyr species/kinds.
 
Both "True Colors" and "Natural Evil" are published by Samhain Publishing.


Mireya