Elemental Mating by Milly Taiden – a Review
Description:
Their existence was a secret the government stumbled upon. In exchange for continued autonomy, the paranormals entered an alliance with the government. Now they are A.L.F.A.: Alpha League Federal Agency, sworn to protect and serve humanity.
Brilliant scientist Melinda Caster has discovered a new strain of the Zika virus that stimulates synaptic growth in embryos, causing neuron development beyond normal human levels. Way beyond, like ESP-levels of cognitive abilities. When the lab is broken into, Melinda realizes that someone has been keeping tabs on her research and wants it for themselves. A happy accident destroys critical data before it can fall into the wrong hands, but unfortunately that makes Melinda and her perfect memory a target.
A.L.F.A sends in jaguar-shifter Agent Parish Hamel to discover who is after the virus and why. The beautiful scientist acts like catnip to his senses and throws his mating instincts into overdrive. And then she disappears along with the only sample of the virus…. Now Parish must canvas the darkest areas of the supernatural underground to rescue Melinda, and what he discovers is beyond a paranormal’s worst nightmare.
Review:
Elemental Mating by Milly Taiden is the first book in her new A.L.F.A. series. I had mixed feelings about this book, which I will go into detail later in this review.
Melinda Caster, our heroine, is a scientist who is working in Uganda. She has discovered a virus and a possible antidote. Parish Hamel, our hero, arrives on the scene a short time after Melinda discovers how the effect of this serum acts on mice. It turns out Hamel is a government agent for A.L.F.A (Alpha League Federal Agency), and he is a Jaguar shifter. Hamel has been assigned to protect Melinda, though she does not know this, and is told he is another scientist interested in her findings.
It seems this virus does not kill, but instead increases their ability beyond that of normal humans. Someone has been tracking Melinda, and looking for the virus; as both her house and workplace were destroyed. A few times, Melinda finds herself saved by a lone Jaguar, which shocks her, but she begins to look at the Jaguar as her savior. Of course, it will be much later when she finds out that Hamel is the Jaguar. Hamel recognizes early on that Melinda is his mate.
This was a very promising story, with some excitement, demons, and a couple that had a lot of sexual chemistry together. However, despite this, my mixed feelings brought this down at least a star. I know this was also meant to add humor into the story, but I felt some of it was a bit amateurish. When they both ended up in the Demon realm, it was totally off the wall for me, being more on the silly side.
That being said, Elemental Mating had an interesting and exciting theme, and a sexy couple. I will try out the next book to see if my mixed feelings change. If you enjoy a shifter story line, with this type of humor, then you should give Elemental Mating a try.
Reviewed by Barb
Copy provided by Publisher
