Review: Chase Me by Tamara Hogan

Title: Chase Me*
Author: Tamara Hogan
Series:  The Underbelly Chronicles #2
Genre: Urban Fantasy/ Sci-Fi Romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Format: Paperback & E-book
Date/Year:  June 1, 2012
Reviewed by:  E.L.F.

*This book was provided to the reviewer by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Summary from the publisher:

The secrets she’s uncovering will be his to keep…

Centuries ago, when their ship crashed to Earth, paranormals of all types settled secretly into our world, quietly going about their business with humans none the wiser. Self-ruling and careful to stay below humanity’s radar, all is threatened when Valkyrie archaeologist Lorin Schlessinger and her werewolf geologist partner Gabe Lupinsky in advertently draw evil attention to Earth and its treasured natural resources.

As the threat intensifies, Lorin and Gabe struggle to contain the chaos they’ve unleashed, and to resist their explosive mutual attraction…

My Musings:

Chase Me by Tamara Hogan is a paranormal tale that combines an archaeological dig with an extraterrestrial mystery.  The Council of Vampyres, Weres, Incubi, Sirens and Valkyries are very interested in discovering whether the artifacts found at a dig site in Minnesota will give insight into the events that marooned their races on Earth.  Lorin Schlessinger is the Valkyrie second, used to being in charge of the dig and filled with passion that can only be alleviated by eating, fighting or sex.  Fortunately for her, Gabe Lupinsky is a werewolf who is willing to use his propensity for extreme attention to detail to keep Lorin’s libido satisfied.  The Lupinsky clan deals with multiple handicaps as do most of the Weres due to their extreme inbreeding.  Gabe himself is suffering from vision issues that are worsening at an alarming rate even as he fights to keep it from preventing him from performing his investigations. 

Unbeknownst to the workers, a cloaked ship is orbiting with beings who are far more knowledgeable about the ship that those on Earth are searching for.  The Vampyres and other beings occupying the ship have a propensity for exploiting captives as is demonstrated by their treatment of the incubus Stephen, as well as the exploitation of a captured meteorologist.  Stephen has wrought his own havoc while on Earth and the Council is puzzled at his escape and urging Security and Technology Head Lukas Sebastiani to recapture him. 

An inventive melding of science and imagination combined with an erotic tale of semi-forbidden love.  A bit of kinky sex is alluded to with the spaceship entities but most of the heated encounters are between a sexy Valkyrie and the straight-laced werewolf that she encourages to join her in hedonistic encounters.  The intriguing concept of space travel to explain the presence of non-humans on Earth adds an interesting dimension to the tale which also addresses the concept of inbreeding and its deleterious effects as well as gives a glimpse of the serious effects of water shortage.  There are a few inconsistencies that allow the story to move along, but overall there is an intriguing mystery that is being gradually revealed, somewhat mirroring the work being performed at the archaeological dig that is taking place.  An intriguing read.

Ratings:

Overall: 4 stars
Sensuality level:  4.5

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Other Reviews:

• Fresh Fiction 
• Reading Between the Wines (4 wine glasses)
• Abbey Ann's Bookland (3 stars)
• Goodreads (rating as of 5/28/2012 3.44 stars)

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