Stray
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4.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
There are only eight breeding female werecats left.
And I'm one of them.
I look like an all–American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape–shifter, and I live in two worlds.
Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked. I'd been warned about Strays– werecats without a Pride, constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female, and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.
This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever– and whoever– I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays– 'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Vincent's debut, an urban "werecat" fantasy, is a good story that suffers from about 200 pages of bloat. Faythe Sanders is a Texas grad student with a secret: she's a shape-shifting werecat. After she's attacked by a Stray a werecat without ties to any pride Faythe's father, the Pride Alpha, orders her to return to the family compound. As it turns out, two other werecat "tabbies" have gone missing, indicating an organized effort by the formerly go-it-alone Strays. The author's world building is intriguing but overly narrow, reducing the range of jungle feline behavior to a keen territorial instinct. Secondary characters abound, including Faythe's intended, formerly human werecat Marc; five years earlier, she escaped the pride on what was supposed to be the eve of their wedding. Unfortunately, they both have frustrating character tics that are only exacerbated by the novel's length: Faythe is more often too-stubborn-to-live than kick-ass, and all the tears Marc wells up over Faythe don't forgive his insufferable jealousy. A polished tale may hide within this one, but Vincent needs to rein herself in a bit if she wants to build a readership.
