"A paranormal erotica"

Dr. Katya Felinni is a woman of extraordinary abilities. She is descended of an ancient line of women who worshipped the Egyptian goddess Bast, and as a result of their loyalty, were gifted with the powers of the cat. She is a shape shifter, able to take on the likeness of many different cats, as well as their strengths and their needs, and uses them for the powers of good. One of her greatest needs at present though, to find her soul mate... and she does, in her boss!

Dr. Seth Malvoy is Kat's boss at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where they both work with ancient artifacts, one of their specialties being Egyptian Art. He is coolly collected on the outside, but inside he holds a secret burning desire for Kat, one he's had since they began working together a year ago. This he hides though, for he thinks no one as amazing as Kat would be interested in him.

Late one night, when Seth is checking in a shipment of artifacts from Cairo, he accidentally releases the spirit of evil Set, the God of Chaos, from where he had been imprisoned for thousands of years. Set takes over Seth's body and happy to finally be free, goes on a reign of terror, causing pandemonium all over the city. It is up to Katya to find a way to stop Set before he gains full strength, and before his will destroys Seth's spirit. She must use all of her resources, including her love for Seth, to defeat the evil one. But is that enough?

This was a good debut for Ms. LaCroix, with a very unique premise for her plot. The sensual tension between Kat and Seth absolutely sizzles, making it apparent how much they desire to be together. The evil Set was well done, showing his malice and his desire for total domination over humans and gods alike. The details about Kat's abilities, and her link to the cat world was impressively handled as well, making one wish to have her powers.

The author shows promise in her writing, but there were a few things which prevented this from being a great book. So much more could have been done with this story, and it easily could have been drawn out into a full length novel. Some things just happened entirely too quickly, not really giving the reader a chance to be drawn into the story. For example, it would have been nice to see a prologue or some back story, explaining the hows and whys of Set's being imprisoned by his brother, Horus, leading up to the main story line. Also, Seth seemed entirely too accepting of the supernatural happenings surrounding him. He showed absolutely no surprise over Kat's secret, and he showed almost no resistance to what was happening to him. Also, the climactic scene of the final showdown between good and evil was too pat, too easy, for such a powerful entity as Set pitted against a part human, part supernatural, Katya.

There were parts where too much detail was given about things not directly affecting the story. One example of this was the length the author went to, to describe the Met. Much detail was given about the museum that had absolutely nothing to do with the story itself. Likely she was trying to illustrate the immensity of the collections housed there, but it wasn't all really essential to the plotline. Another time was where the author goes into great detail about the ancient history of Egypt, expounding for a few pages. Some parts were applicable, especially those regarding the gods related to this story, but some parts weren't really necessary, in this reviewer's opinion.

All in all, this was a fair book, written by an author who shows great promise in her talent.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, August 2003. All rights reserved.

Reviewed by Kelley Hartsell
Courtesy Love Romances
Posted September 7, 2003

Summary

Katya, a descendant of the Egyptian priestesses who worshipped the cat goddess, Bast, inherited the Powers of the Cat, and used her abilities to help those in need. Several times a year, her body became honed and sexually charged, in heat and on edge. There was only one man she yearned to ease her powerful urge to mate, and that was her boss, the cool mannered curator of the museum, Dr. Seth Malvoy. If only he knew she existed. When a dark force was accidentally released and threatened New York City, Katya must use all her powers to prevent eventual destruction. Only, how could she fight the Evil One when he existed within Seth's body?