Guest Review: Pride - Rachel Vincent

Pride (Shifters #3)
- Rachel Vincent

Publisher: MIRA

I'm on trial for my life. Falsely accused of infecting my human ex-boyfriend--and killing him to cover up the crime. Infecting a human is one of three capital offenses recognized by the Pride--along with murder and disclosure of our existence to a human.
I'm two for three. A goner.
Now we've discovered a rogue stray terrorizing the mountainside, hunting a wild teenage tabbycat. It's up to us to find and stop him before a human discovers us. With my lover Marc's help, I "think" I can protect the vulnerable girl from both the ambitious rogue and the scheming of the territorial council.
"If" I survive my own trial...

Hello Mel readers, I’m back again, and this time reviewing a book from Mel’s favourite genre (UF), and from a favoured series of hers too. Pride is the third visit to Rachel Vincent’s werecats, and my definite favourite thus far.

 

 

Pride is one of those books that grabs you by the shirt front right from the beginning and demands to be read, constantly. If work hadn’t got in the way I’d have read it in one sitting. As it was, I did seem to take VERY long lunchbreaks on the two days in which it took me to devour this book.

 

 

It follows straight on from the events in Rogue, with Faythe facing the wrath of a Territorial Council tribunal for her acts in that book. Acts that could lead to her execution. Pride as a novel is well named – it is as much about the pride of the werecats involved, as it is the preservation of their own Prides. Faythe especially needs to be mindful of her pride (and Pride), and her selfish side. She is growing as a person – this time around she even manages to talk herself out of trouble on occasion – but she still has a long way to go, and this means later books will be even more involving I’m sure.

 

 

Faythe’s daddy complex does get a little grating – yes, he’s her Alpha, and a loving father, but does she really need to call him ‘daddy’ whilst being tried for murder? Rather infantile, and doesn’t quite sit with her all-out sassy, stubborn nature. She doesn’t so much push her boundaries as kick them firmly in the arse and point to the exit. An attitude that is wonderfully endearing to the reader, yet still manages to make you want to shake her on occasion (or maybe not, she is a teeth and claws werecat after all!)

 

 

A fantastically enjoyable read nonetheless, although I wouldn’t recommend starting the series here. One for fans of Kelley Armstrong and Patricia Briggs, 8.5 out of 10.