I definitely see what you mean — and it WAS unfair to compare the two. It;s one of those things, in reading romance, if something starts to bother a reader, and the thing appears again and again, it is hard to overlook it.

Thank for sharing! I haven’t started yet on the third book, so I will be eager to hear your thoughts!

While I also agree that the portrayal of the heroine and her emotional healing as an abuse victim was well done, something about her started to bother me as the novel progressed. I think it was her selfishness when it came to her actions/reactions. As an example:

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When Shane caught her hugging her bother and jumped to the conclusion that she was exactly like his ex. Initially I sided with her, because I could only imagine what that took her back to.

The problem is that she’d been comparing Shane to her ex for the entire book, almost completely unfairly 95% of the time. Yet she refused to acknowledge that she was partially in the wrong.

Throughout the entire book, Shane has to apologize and give in, without Cassie doing her share.

While I understand – to a degree – the reason that was so, I still can’t help but feel she gave far less than she got in the end.

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Overall I agree with your assessments. Enough that I immediately started the 3rd book.

I didn’t post the name of Dane’s paranormals earlier because I didn’t want to get it incorrect. The series is “Witches Knot”, beginning with “Triad”. Be warned – there is menage in at least two of the books, but it makes sense to the storyline and not, I didn’t think, thrown in just for the shock value of it.

@ Lissa:
Actually, only Shane Chase is a “my woman, hear me roar” kind of guy, and in this book, that attitude gets a serious come down.

The Chase brothers couldn’t be farther from the Black Dagger Brotherhood or that ilk. In Giving Chase, the hero, Kyle, is a gently soul, a landscape architect (if I remember correctly), who courts the heroine after Shane dumps her, which makes for a very interesting twist.

I would like to try Dane’s paranormals. I like the way Cole populates hers with all manner of creatures, and Charlaine Harris as well.

I really enjoyed Dane’s series about witches, vamps and fae set in New Orleans. Sounds a bit scattered, but it is really quite good – and I am not a fan of vamps!