Wolfsbane

You shall leave everything you love most dearly: this is the arrow that the bow of exile shoots first. – Dante, Paradiso

Andrea Cremer

I was exhausted; with the two of uncertain of our way, we halted on a plateau lonelier than desert paths.  – Dante, Purgatorio

This is the second book in the Nightshade series.  Calla is a wolf who is a Guardian.  She runs away from being mated to Ren and starting a new pack to save Shay, a human-turned-wolf.  In this installment of the series, Calla wakes up and finds that she is in the company of Monroe, who is a Searcher.  Searchers are the people that Calla has fought against for the Keepers, who are the rulers over her pack.  Now, she needs to make an alliance with them to rescue her pack from the Bane pack, who imprisioned and questioned them after she ran.  Some of the Searchers are as reluctant to trust Calla as she is to trust them.  This book tells of the alliance made, the quests that Calla and the Searchers make and the difficulties she faces as she comes to realization that in this war, there are casualties.

“You know.” Connor grinned at me.  “I think I kind of love you.”

The Goodreads synopsis:

When Calla Tor wakes up in the lair of the Searchers, her sworn enemies, she’s certain her days are numbered. But then the Searchers make her an offer—one that gives her the chance to destroy her former masters and save the pack—and the man—she left behind. Is Ren worth the price of her freedom? And will Shay stand by her side no matter what? Now in control of her own destiny, Calla must decide which battles are worth fighting and how many trials true love can endure and still survive.

Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.  – Dante, Inferno

This book has a lot to do with feelings and how Calla deals with the fact that she left Ren and her pack behind for Shay.  There are moments in the guilt that Calla feels is overwhelming for her.  At the end of the book, it alludes to other quests that Calla, Shay, the Searchers and the pack must go on before the end of this war.  Overall, a good read and I am anticipating Bloodrose, the third and final book.

“Is there anything you’re not good at?” Adne’s smile was blinding.  I laced my fingers behind my back so I wouldn’t choke her.

“Golf,” Shay said with a grim smile.  “I have no patience for it.”

 Alternate Covers

The room we’d entered looked like all the dictionaries on the planet had come here to die grisly deaths.

Upcoming Books

Feb 21, 2012

This is the third and final book in the Nightshade series.  Goodreads only  says what it says on the cover and I couldn't find a more accurate description as of yet.  The book is slated for release on February 21, 2012.