J.K. Beck – When Wicked Craves – Read for #LLC2015

The third book in the Shadow Keepers series, published October 26, 2010.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: love it



Petra Lang is cursed never to love. One touch of her skin unleashes the vilest demons. Sentenced to death by the Shadow authorities, who fear she'll turn her curse against them, Petra is rescued by vampire advocate Nicholas Montegue. As their bodies merge and transform into mist, Petra feels an erotic longing.
Nicholas risked his own life to save Petra, yet he knows he can never give in to the explosive attraction he feels for her. But the deep yearning they share tempts them. Together, they must find a way to lift the curse. For only a love this strong has the power to overcome such monstrous evil.


Petra Lang is sentenced to death by the Shadow Alliance. Not because she kept herself and her curse a secret from them, not because she created a monster just by touching Serge, but because there is a prophecy stating that she will be the end of the Alliance.
Nicholas doesn’t intend to let her die, he needs her help to safe his friend Serge, the vampire she turned into a monster. They have captured him, but he is growing stronger every day. And if he escapes, he will wreak havoc on the city …
Petra doesn’t know a cure, she has been searching for a cure for her curse all her life and has found nothing, not even a rumour. The only way to kill the Beast, is to kill her… and she is not ready for that. She is grateful for Nick for saving her life from prison, at great risk to himself and to Sara who was his accomplice, but she just doesn’t know how to help him.
And so Nick decides to take her to Paris, to see an old friend turned enemy, an alchemist who might help them. Of course the Shadow authorities won’t give up that easily, and they are after Petra and her brother Kiril. When Tariq finds proof that Sara was behind some of it, he throws her in prison, but before he can have a Truth Seer “interrogate” her, her boss interferes, and no one crosses him …

But when Nick does find out the cure, will he be able to kill Petra? Just like that? Or will his feelings for her be stronger? There can never be a physical relationship between her, one touch of her skin, and he will turn into a monster, only during the Blue Moon is her curse lifted (enough to become pregnant and give the curse to her daughter in turn, like it has been going on for hundreds of years). But Petra is determined never to become pregnant, and have the curse end with her. But she does long for a man’s touch more than anything else …

And then the monster that Serge has become escapes, takes his prison guards’ abilities as his own, and starts killing council members … just as prophesied… getting stronger and stronger with each kill …

But someone has to be behind it all, someone is managing the Beast …


This world just gets better and better. I was intrigued by Petra earlier, and I am very glad she got her own story. Petra is a witch, but she doesn’t know how to use her powers, her brother Kiril has always been there to protect her, take care of her. But she is a very good private detective, and that is how they encountered the Shadow world and its inhabitants.

Petra is strong, having lived without touch for all of her life. Raised with her brother by a loveless aunt, always kept hidden. And now there is Nick, and this forbidden attraction between them. But the Blue Moon is almost there, making her safe to touch, to finally know what it means to make love to a man. But when the sun rises, can they live with what they can’t have for perhaps years to come? Or is there really a cure for her to be found in Paris?

The plot was so good, and I really enjoyed that some of those Councillors got killed. Unfortunately, the vampire and werewolf leaders are still there to rule their people. And they want Petra dead. Just so they can stay in power for a few hundred years more. They have been killing women with the curse for hundreds of years, wiping out entire bloodlines and families in the process.

It was just such a good story, and I am glad there are a few more books in this world. As Julie Kenner told in her interview with me recently, she has received the rights to these books back, and is re-publishing them under her own name. If you haven’t tried it yet, it is really worth your while, but keep in mind I did not like the first book, but fell in love with the second one.

9 stars.






Read for #LLC2015
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© 2015 Reviews by Aurian