Romance Book Review: Mercy

Author: Eleri Stone
ISBN: 9781426890550
Genre: Paranormal/ Shifter
Publisher: Carina Press

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In author Eleri Stone's debut novella Iada is a shifter jaguar who has spent most of her life trained for one goal to become the Queen of her people, the Yaguara. She has been kept in a cocoon by her uncles who hope to use her as their pawn once she becomes Queen.

Gabriel is an outcast from the shifter community. He isn't a full-blood shifter. The Yaguara do not claim those not born as full Yaguara as there own. Gabriel has seen the suffering of those life him and wants the Yaguara to take care of his kind. Member of the Yaguara would rather see them dead. Gabriel's plan is to participate in the ceremonies where those who lead the Yaguara fight to the death.

The championship for the crown comes down to Iada and Gabriel. Although she is the best of her kind and the battle is fierce, after one split second Iada loses her chance and Gabriel decides to spare her and take her as his mate. But can these two very different people learn to trust each other and claim the throne they both worked so hard to capture?

This quick read is filled with action and rich descriptive dialog about the surrounds of the amazon jungle. It is a nice read for a first published book, as Eleni Stone weaves a complicated storyline into few words. It will interesting to see what she can do with a full length novel.

Description:
To the Yaguara, an ancient jaguar shape-shifting people living deep in the Amazon jungle, nothing matters more than strength. Iada is their champion; genetically pure, she has been trained since birth to fight. Her destiny is to become the next Queen of the Yaguara by winning the tournament of succession-a battle to the death.

Her opponent is Gabriel, a half-blooded outcast whose mother was human. To everyone's shock, he defeats Iada but does not strike the death blow-instead, he extends mercy, thereby claiming her as his mate.

Despite their enmity, the attraction between them is powerful, and soon they are mates in more than name only. Their mutual distrust serves only to fuel their passion-two champions bested only by their overpowering desire for each other.

But Gabriel has an agenda that threatens the most basic tenets of Yaguara society-and that will force Iada to choose between her people or her King.