Sara Humphreys – Unleashed

The first book in the Amoveo Legend series, published October 4, 2011.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: love it. Totally fits the book.



What if you suddenly discovered your own powers were beyond anything you'd ever imagined...
Samantha Logan's childhood home had always been a haven, but everything changed while she was away. She has a gorgeous new neighbor, Malcolm, who introduces her to the amazing world of the dream-walking, shapeshifting Amoveo clans...but what leaves her reeling with disbelief is when he tells her she's one of them...
And shock turns to terror as Samantha falls prey to the deadly enemy determined to destroy the Amoveo, and the only chance she has to come into her true powers is to trust in Malcolm to show her the way...


Did I buy this book for its cover? Yes, perhaps I did. So I am glad to be able to tell you, that the story is well worth it. I enjoyed discovering the world of the Amoveo very much.

Sam has been trying to make a living as an artist, a painter, in New York City for years. Waiting tables to make enough money to live in a small apartment. But success is not on the horizon yet, and she has been dreaming of home lately. And so she decided it was time to stop waiting for life to happen and go back home, to the small beach town she grew up in. Her grandmother loves to have her back, and she can wait tables in the local diner to earn enough money for her art supplies if needed.

One other person is anticipating her arrival though: Malcolm Drew, her grandmother’s next door neighbor. He is Amoveo, a shapeshifter, member of the Eagle Clan. And Sam doesn’t know it yet, but she is his mate. Her father was of the Wolf Clan, although her mother was human. She is the first hybrid with the powers of the Amoveo, and this gives their dying race the chance to find more mates among the humans with psychic powers.
They are hunted by human hunters, known as the Cadeo, and they have killed Sam’s parents when she was just a little girl. Her grandmother raised her since then. Her father was the last of his Clan, and now Sam is the last Wolf shifter. Malcolm will have to tell her about her heritage, and make her believe it, and accept him as her mate. And it has to be fast, as he will die without mating with her. But now that she has come this close, now that he has seen her, his powers are already returning to him.

It is a lot for Sam to take in, moving back in with her grandmother, getting a job at the local diner, meeting a hot man who is very interested in her, and vice versa, and having to deal with her stalker ex-boyfriend who won’t take no for an answer and won’t accept that she broke off their relationship after a month. Lucky for Sam, Malcolm senses her distress and comes to the rescue. It is not easy to believe his claims, especially that she herself is a shapeshifter as well. But their telepathic connection makes it hard not to belief in everything he tells her, especially when she comes eye to eye with his eagle form.

But danger doesn’t only come from the hunters…


I enjoyed this book very much. I did have some trouble in the first part of the book, with some of the too easy language used in dialogue, but I got used to it fast. I like Sam a lot. She doesn’t give up, and she doesn’t give in too easy either. When Malcolm’s overprotectiveness crowds her, she pushes him back, and keeps him out of her head.
Malcolm has known that Sam is his mate for a long time, but when she moved to New York, he lost the connection between them. Still, when he finally found her in the dreamtime, his hope returned that he would be able to claim his mate at last. He would never force her, she would have to choose him of her own free will. But he would certainly try to persuade her, seduce her, get her to know him. Even if it means courting her like an ordinary human. He did not expect to fall in love with her, just because they are destined mates, but he did.
He is strong, and honourable, and a business man in daily life, taking care of the family business while his parents are in Italy. His only companion in the states is his old butler, Davis, who has been working for his family for ever.

There is a little secondary romance between Davis and Sam’s grandmother, which I thought sweet. Sam’s grandmother is feisty, and loves to play bridge and gossip with her friends. Meaning everyone knows about Sam being back home and that hot man next door who likes her.

The suspense in the end is very well done, but to be honest, I did suspect something like that well before it was revealed.

I also liked the fact that different Clans of shapeshifters can mate with each other, and that their children will be one of the two, which will only be known at puberty. There are 10 clans, and I am looking forward to finding out what they all are.

I am looking forward to the next book in this series, and I am very happy that it is on my shelves already.

8 stars

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian