Victoria Sue

3 Stars

Keeping in line with the main theme of Enhanced humans fighting for basic rights, this continues with the horrible hatred and bigotry and the brave men who try to make a difference against such.

What this doesn’t continue with is the high caliber story telling. I hate to say it, but the wording and sentence structure made for a bumpy confusing reading experience, markedly decreasing my enjoyment. Throw in a romantic progression that was frustrating, leaving me wanting for more development, personal growth, and definitely sexy times - all of which were significantly lacking in comparison to the previous books. WTH Ms. Sue? WTH?

However, despite my complaints, Vance is seriously one of the most endearing heartfelt gentle giants EVER. He was this close to overtaking my most favorite teddy bear Ethan Hobbes, and gave him a run for his money. Vance’s sensitivity, kindness, and innate goodness were the best parts of this book, and his hurt and longing slayed me. Unfortunately, I felt like I never got a clear picture as to why Vance wanted and cared for Sam so much, and Sam’s harsh handling of him did not endear me to these two further. It didn’t help that the ending felt anticlimactic, and Vance and Sam’s love resolution was way too quick and easy after the hell we were put through in the prior 200 pages.

I will say that I continue to be significantly and emotionally affected by the terrible things wrought on the Enhanced population, especially the children. This succeeds in the small victories regarding the connected storylines involving the multitude of kids that the team has started to make changes for, slowly gaining progress for those who have no champion.

Obviously, not my favorite on many fronts…. but this potentially sets up possibly the most intriguing and probably the most painful story arc to come if it involves Eli and Vance’s brother Daniel. Though I dread the hurt that lays ahead, I so look forward to being moved by some intense feels. I only hope this author takes a step back, takes her time in bringing out a more thoughtful story, as this seemed hella rushed. I'm so willing to wait a long time for something better (pretty sure that many others feel the same way) because I know fully well what Sue is capable of, and I hope she brings it the next time around.… (meer)

Beneath This Mask by Victoria Sue
Enhanced World series #3. M-M paranormal romance. Can be read as a stand-alone but better as part of the series or at least aware of the specific world building.
Gael Peterson is a member of the FBI’s exclusive H.E.R.O. team but continues to hide his enhanced abilities from his new regular human partner, Jake. The two partners are sent to a hospital to help a non speaking enhanced child. Gael and Jake grow closer as they try to prevent the child from ending up in a juvenile delinquent facility. The H.E.R.O. program gets a lot of hate and threats from the outside and a killer is now focused on Gael. It’s up Jake to figure out where the threat is coming from.

Scenes between Gael and the child are both heartbreaking and heartwarming. Scenes between Gael and Jake go from tentative to steamy. Scenes in the last quarter of the book are a bit grizzly and ugly. Don’t give up. It’s a beautiful romance in the end with two very caring men that deserve the world.… (meer)

Baby and the Panther by Victoria Sue
Shifter Rescue #2. Paranormal shifter M-M mpreg romance. Best read as part of the series in order.
Marco worked as a medic for the rangers service when he met his soul mate Kai. Fearing pack threats, Marco let Kai leave him. It wasn’t fair to keep the gorgeous omega for himself when he couldn’t protect him. Kai is once again hurt that’s he’s not wanted and runs away. Unfortunately the pack he’s temporarily with is undergoing leadership changes and all the omegas as no more than collateral to be bartered. When Marco hears that news, he and his crew go on a rescue mission.

I read the first book in the series a year or more ago, so had to look at a few reviews before getting too far into this one. It helped but for anyone that does not care too much about background will still be fine to start here.
Kai is so emotionally wounded and I felt sad for him as I listened to his background. I was then gratified when Marco stepped up to plan a rescue and then their tentative relationship grew in bits and pieces. There are a lot of pack dynamics here and threats from outside that add twists and turns to the storyline.
There is a series hook in the epilogue. It will make you immediately reach for the next book so don’t read it if you have plans to read something different next. 🤣
I will definitely be continuing this series.… (meer)