Review of When Pleasure Rules (Shadow Keepers #2) by J. K. Beck
When Pleasure Rules is the second book in the series The Shadow Keepers.
Innocent humans are dying, and suspects are mounting, but no proof is emerging. The teetering balance of prejudice and hatred between vampires and werewolves is threatening to explode.
Lissa Monroe, an enticing succubus, has entered a plea deal where she will go undercover and extract a piece of soul—and because of her particular abilities, a piece of knowledge from his mind—from werewolf leader Vincent Rand. The wolf already has a powerful hold on her, and her feelings for him confuse her as much as they draw her to him. Rand can't get his mind off Lissa even though he knows she's a succubus.
Los Angeles teeters on the brink of social destruction, and Lissa and Rand must team up to stand against an even bigger enemy hidden in plain sight.
This book was a little slow-going for me, but I'm not sure if it's because I wasn't reading as much independent of the book or that I wasn't as interested so I wan't reading as much. I think it's the former.
The characters of Lissa and Rand were interesting to me. Lissa, the succubus, a supernatural creature that wasn't supposed to be able to fall in love finding herself falling for a werewolf. Rand, a werewolf, a man immune to the sheen of the succubus and attracted to Lissa herself, not the lure of what she is. He traps himself into a personal hell by believing he deserves no better, leaving his soul in tatters. She needs soul to live but refuses to sleep with anyone but Rand, a man whose soul is so damaged, she can't take nourishment from it without completely destroying him. She starves herself of soul out of love, and he sacrifices his duty for her.
It was almost a star-crossed lovers' tale, but with the possibility of a happier ending. Also, since it's a romance novel, the happy ending is requisite. It's just a matter of how they'll make their way through the mess of a story to get to their HEA (happily ever after), though sometimes the stories are an HFN (happy for now).
The world-building was more solid in this book than the first one. It expanded on what we learned previously and made the world more full. I didn't feel like I was missing anything and it left me with no questions unanswered. I hoped it would be more satisfying than in When Blood Calls, and I was not disappointed.
I felt the story itself was solid. I didn't notice any plot holes. I do wish the ultimate antagonist would have been teased earlier in the novel, though it did come into play in a different way than I was expecting, and the tie to the dead humans was also different from what I expected. Once the antagonist came solidly into play, the book became infinitely more interesting, and I couldn't put it down. The way it came into play was surprising, and what exactly the antagonist was was unexpected. It intrigued me and captured my attention so much so that I didn't want to stop reading for a moment.
Descriptions were great, and good world-building cannot exist without great description. Characters, locations, supernatural creatures and their qualities were all expertly presented. I knew where I was, what I was looking at, and what was happening at all times. That's not an easy feat, so props to J. K. Beck.
I loved the dialog, unique to individuals and solidly building up the story. It was interesting and flowed well. I enjoyed the way the dialog was presented and the tags used along with it. I felt it was nearly seamless and enjoyed reading it.
Overall, a delightful book that continues the beginning of a good series. I can't wait for the next book.
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