Nightshade

Title: Nightshade (Nightshade #1)
Author: Andrea Cremer

Initial Thoughts: so much better than I was expecting

So, I definitely thought this was just going to be some paranormal romance and I'm a little tired of those just at the moment. I should have known better. I grabbed this book because it kept popping up in a Facebook bookworm group. I should have more faith in my fellow readers to know that it would only continue getting posted about if it's actually a really good read. And it definitely is. Yes, it has romance, and seriously, I have to feel bad for Ren. Definitely see the Shay romance coming from page 1, but Ren is actually not a bad guy. I mean, he definitely has some alpha wolf tendencies, a little overprotective and bossy, but he's also got a good heart to help balance as long as someone is there to point out when he's taking things too far. Sadly, I don't think he and Calla would have worked out well. They would have made it work, but neither of them would have ended up happy. Ren would eventually get annoyed with her constantly questioning his orders and she would either become extremely rebellious or would lose her spirit and become a shadow of her former self and he would probably get annoyed with her for that as well. The problem is that they are both alphas, both used to giving the orders and taking care of their own, both used to being on top. Ren wants to treat her as an equal because she is an alpha, but he is, too, and that would be hard for him. He would really have to work for it and it would wear on him over time. She would have to learn to let him lead sometimes and that would nag at her. They would have tried oh so hard to make it work because they could understand each other, they are both good people, they both just want to take care of their own, but you can't really put two alphas together and expect it to work. I am really glad that Ren isn't the terrible monster I figured he would turn out to be. I mean, isn't that the usual, the guy you're supposed to marry seems nice and you think it can work and then you get to know him and you see what he's really like and you despair because you don't know how to get out of it until your true love comes along and somehow whisks you away into the sunset? Except, this time, you start out thinking Ren is pretty terrible and once you get to know him you find out he's actually kind of great and maybe there is hope for this marriage, except that Shay comes into the picture and Calla can't seem to decide (though you just have to know it's going to be Shay, duh) and now I'm feeling totally sorry for Ren because now he doesn't know what to do to protect her and he had definitely started caring about her and aarrrgh! Love triangles definitely annoy me. Moving on to the actual story, it was pretty great. I love a good mystery (and yet I don't ever try reading mystery novels...) and the secrets surrounding this site and Shay and everything are so interesting. Who exactly are the Searchers, how do they know about these sites, what do they need with Shay, who exactly is Shay and why is he so important, who are the Keepers and what is their grand plan and what is going to happen to her pack with her gone? I trust Ren to take care of them, but, unless he wants to disobey, there is only so much he can do and I'm worried about what they will do to her brother and friends. I kind of love Ansel, he's adorable. I am definitely looking forward to reading the next one once my TBR list goes down a bit (meaning only that I finish the books currently checked out, then I am grabbing the next one of these :) )

Rating: 5/5. Very good. Did not disappoint.