Reading Between the Wines Book Club

Night Falls on the Wicked is one book that I could not put down!

This is my first read from the Moon Chaser series and it will not be my last! Coming into the series with the 5th book made me a little weary and I will admit, in the first few chapters I had no clue about the different creatures Sharie Kohler has created in this magnificent world, but towards the middle I was getting the hang of it all.

I instantly sympathized with Darby is who a witch on the run from demons, she endeared herself to me on the first page. She has isolated herself in a small town in Alaska, never allowing anyone to get too close to her because if they do they could be in danger. One of Darby’s powers is premonitions, or visions of the future. She can’t control when they come but they often happen when she touches another person so she tries to limit her contact to as little as possible; because when she has these the demons feel her magic at work and seek her out, trying to steal her soul. Living in Alaska helps keep the demon contact down because all but the strongest demons can’t handle the cold. Darby was a refreshing heroine to read about, she had a good heart and was not the aggressive, snarky heroine that you find in most PNR/UF nowadays.

The mysterious stranger Niklas arrives in town and there is an instant animal magnetism between him and Darby. They both know that the other is not quite human but they have more in common than they could ever imagine.
Niklas has been hunting a lycan (werewolf) pack for the last decade, every since the alpha destroyed his mother and infected him. Sharie Kohler puts a little seen twist on her werewolves though, they aren’t the sexy alpha’s with a good heart under all that fur; these lycans are evil soulless killing machines with no control over their shift. Tracking the pack to this small town Niklas is determined to end it here. What he doesn’t count on though is the attraction he feels towards Darby and the feelings she brings out in him and his beast.

When a little girl’s life is put on the line though, both Darby and Niklas must put aside their loner ways and work together to save her. Their chemistry sizzles in such close quarters and they are unable to deny it for long, and when these two finally get together it gets hot hot hot!

This was not an easy, gentle romance at all and was fought tooth and nail by both H/H but that just added to the already abundant suspense of the story. I found Night Falls on the Wicked to be well written, fluid, intense and action packed with some nice little twists towards the end. The world Sharie Kohler has created is complex and well detailed, and with her vivid story telling it was easy for me to imagine the characters surroundings. You didn’t really get to delve too deep into Niklas’ emotions until the end; he kept them locked up tight throughout most of the story in effort to keep focused on his goal of revenge but that just built up his character’s intrigue.

Night Falls on the Wicked was set up to be a great stand alone. There was only one character that I assume was from the series arc and a mention of two characters from a previous book (bk #4 I believe) but these did not distract from the story to the series. It just made me curious to read the other novels in the series, which I will be doing! I recommend this novel to all paranormal romance and urban fantasy fans.