Jesse had been born different. Unlike most born of the shifter line she had no animal to call her own, just like her mother she couldn’t shift and just like her mother she saw things no one else did. Her mother’s madness had resulted in her murder, and Jesse feared her father would turn the same violent hand to her. And it had. Alec had been her only salvation, but soon he too was sent away, but he made a promise to return for her, and she had been waiting ever since. His letters had given her hope, but as things grew worse and his letters stopped she knew what it was truly like to suffer alone. Unable to beat her madness from her, her father has sold her to another clan, forcing her to marry. But she has no intention of going from one prison to another. She has no choice but to run, but in doing so reveals the truth behind her madness, the true power of it. And now if she fails to escape it will be more than just her freedom she loses.
Familiar Ties by Kathryn Jayne is a heart-breaking, unique sweet romance written in the alternating third-person perspective of Jesse, a young woman all too familiar with the hardship of lie, and Alec, a familiar bound to her father’s service. I really enjoyed the aspect of enduring love. Jesse suffers at the hands of her father and his second in command, while Alec is forced into servitude. I thought the lost letters at the end of the book were such an amazing touch. My heart hurt for the characters and all they had to endure. Darker than the the book in the series due to the nature of Jesse’s upbringing and suffering, while being just as unique in the preternatural aspects covered. I can’t wait to read the next book, something big is happening in Mython, and each story is bringing us closer to uncovering the truth.
K.J's Athenaeum 