Review: The Lost by Caridad Pineiro

Title: The Lost

Author: Caridad Pineiro

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Sin Hunters, #1
Publisher: Forever
Received by: Author for Review
Overall Rating: 4/5
Heat Rating: 3/5 

~*~Book Blurb~*~

Adam Bruno is no ordinary millionaire. The heir to an ancient race possessing a dark, powerful magic, he can shapeshift and create energy. His gifts make him a living weapon and have forced him to live in seclusion. But now an inhuman force hunts down Adam-just when he finds someone who makes him feel more human than he ever imagined possible . . .

Home from combat in Iraq, Bobbie Carerra wants only peace, yet soon joins Adam in a terrifying battle against paranormal enemies who hide in plain sight. She's drawn to his strength of mind and body; he's attracted to her courage and intoxicating energy. Their scorching passion can either transport them to the heights of ecstasy or-if Adam's powers rage out of control-destroy them. But when an invisible brotherhood tightens its nets and someone Adam trusts betrays him, only a heartrending decision can save them.

Unique aspects are scattered throughout the pages of The Lost; From the characters to the plot line, I can't help but feel that this was a great start to a new paranormal romance series.

The first unique element is the story setting: the Jersey Shore, New Jersey. I have to say that this is the first book I've stumbled upon that uses that location as its primary setting. 

The next unique element is the premise of the paranormal aspects. Descended from an ancient, rare, and dying race are two paranormal factions: The Light Hunters and the Shadow Hunters, named respectively for good vs. evil. Energy is what they need to survive, even if that means taking it from the living. Without assimilating energy, an old ancient plague, barely being held at bay, slowly starts to take over their bodies, which pushes some of the "darker" hunters to up the ante at just how far they are willing to go to survive.

Hero, Adam Bruno, is a highly intelligent, billionaire who's created a company that focuses on harnessing energy. And while he knows he needs and can harness this energy; And while he knows he can take the shape of other beings, Adam is *Lost*. At the age of six, he awoke in a strange place and in the same vicinity as a man that was not his father. But he doesn't remember who -- or what -- his parents, home, or himself were. The CIA agent that found Adam takes him in and treats him as his own son. But his "father" has an agenda all his own, and Adam knows nothing about the fact that he's part of it.

When Adam meets heroine, Roberta "Bobbie" Carrera, he's immediately drawn to her, a feeling he has never had with anyone else. Essentially, Adam has kept himself alone, but on a deeper level wanting to have someone he could be close to. Bobbie may just be that person.

The heroine Bobbie ... wow! This is the first heroine I've read that I've fully enjoyed and allowed myself to get as engrossed in as I would the hero. She's an intelligent, strong, Iraq war veteran. When she's thrust into a paranormal world with a whole new set of obstacles and conflicts, she battles her own desires to put "war" behind her, not quite ready to deal with all that she's been part of in the military. Yet, her attraction to Adam overrides that internal conflict, and she vows never to leave Adam behind. Bobbie's vulnerability stems from her physical ailments, something of which Adam could care less about. Caridad did an excellent job at creating and developing her. Bobbie seemed like a very realistic character.

The chemistry between Bobbie and Adam is great. There's a connection between the two of them that neither understands, but after a time is willing to just allow themselves to trust in it and go with it -- but that's not without a few bumps along the way. When they do come together sexually, not only is it sexy, but there's a lot of emotional aspects that goes along with it, which make the scenes more subtly real. 

There's a couple of external conflicts that keep the plot moving -- despite a few momentary slow parts -- Adam goes through a period of not knowing who to trust because clearly someone is betraying him, and at the same time the Shadow Hunters are continuously upping the ante -- now convinced that Adam may be the key to their survival and setting their sites on "using" him.

There are a lot of character introductions in this first book, and ends with more than a couple of loose ends and unanswered questions -- clearly setting up the story arc for subsequent stories. However, with all the introduction of secondary characters, there were only a couple that I'm interested in reading their stories. Some of the secondary characters I did not like -- and they were not all villains.

It was also after the fact that I found out that this is a spin-off series. Not once did I feel like I was missing anything from the previous introduction of Bobbie in a different series. I have a feeling that will not be the case for readers starting in the follow up book to the Sin Hunters series because like I said, there were a lot of loose ends at the end of this story.

This was the first Caridad Pineiro book that I read and it will not be the last! I enjoyed the ease of the writing style, the character development, and in this book in particular, thoroughly enjoyed the unique paranormal aspects. I would recommend this book to any PNR lover looking for unique aspects. I'm looking forward to the next story in this series: The Claimed.