Soul Mates: Deceptions by Jourdan Lane
It was long due from my side to read the second book in the Soul Mates series. Bound by Blood was probably among the first gay paranormal romances I read, and it for sure let me a strong impression, above all since it was also the first time my concept of “romance” was tested. Soul Mates are Peter and Lucien, and for me, old fashioned mind, that meant they should be all for each other and excluding any other “combination”; but that is not how it works in Lucien’s coven, a place where other vampires, but also shapeshifters, incubuses, and many other paranormal creatures find shelter and hospitality; and the hospitality more than once leads to sharing a bed. Peter and Lucien are the paired masters of the coven, but they freely, and happily, share their bed with other guests; the strong point of this agreement is that, not matter what happens, they are the real couple and other addition to them is welcomed but probably not permanent, if not maybe for Xavier, a constant for now from book 1 to book 2. New addition of book 2 that I suppose we will see again in the future, are Nikolas, an alpha shapeshifter, and Sabaan, an incubus.
Sex for Peter was never a problem, neither in book 1; if I remember well, his main issue was for Lucien to be a vampire, not for them to share their bed with other companions. So sex is still not a problem, but I liked that the author chose to start and end the story with a sex scene that was exclusively between Peter and Lucien, as to highlight that yes, they are the real and steady pair of all the series. Truth be told, Peter can come out like “slutty”, since he basically shares his bed with whoever he likes, but that was him also in the first book, and I think this is his nature; and in the end, I think that Lucien liked him exactly for this reason, for his “freedom” towards sex, Peter likes sex and sex is a healthy and good way to express his joie de vivre.
The main issue between Peter and Lucien is instead that, even if Peter is sharing the bed with most of the members of the coven, he is not really one of them; Lucien is refusing to turn Peter, and in doing so he is alienating him from the coven. The coven can accept Peter as Lucien’s bedmate, but they are not willing to accept a human as their master. I liked that the author didn’t choose the easy, and fast, way to resolve this contrast, but she preferred to give to Peter the chance to prove himself to be worthy of being a leader, even without being turned to be so.
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=526
Amazon: Soul Mates: Deceptions
Amazon Kindle: Soul Mates: Deceptions
Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: Torquere Press (September 16, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1934166863
ISBN-13: 978-1934166864
Series: Soul Mates
1) Bound by Blood: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1148241.html
2) Deceptions
Reading List:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
Cover Art by Rose Lenoir