More story, less romance. Somethings dont fit for me, but hoping the next book in the series evens this one out.

I love when I stumbled across a new author and novel that rocks. MASKED POSSESSION is the first novel in the Masked Arcana paranormal romance series by Alana Delacroix. From its brilliant world building to scorching romance I fell hard.

We meet Caro Yeats a half Masquerada who lives in Toronto, Canada and works at a PR firm that assists Supernaturals. They handle everything from spinning a mermaid sighting to rebranding an image. Caro was a former investigative reporter who changed her identity and fled after she was nearly killed.  While she isn't comfortable or familiar with her supernatural side it did land her the job so for that she is grateful. I liked Caro and found her to be smart and clever.

Masqueradas are able to shift into different people and creatures creating a whole new persona with different physical attributes than their own. They can change into an old woman or a giant capable of smashing you.

Eric Kelton is the heirarch of the Masquerada and he is in series trouble. When a Masquerada takes on two many personas they run the risk of convergence. Eric needs help getting rid of his alter egos before he loses himself.

Suspense, danger from the past and snark made this an addictive tale. I loved the brilliant world building and slight deviations to supernaturals that Delacroix brought to this world. Fey, vampires, shifters, Masquerada and more. The supernatural live in hiding alongside humans and have a hierarchy and laws.

The suspenseful thread shared a threat from Eric and Caro's past. Delacroix did a fantastic job with the villain of this tale and the way she tied him to Caro was clever.  The author allowed the threat and suspense to build beginning with small confrontations and threats to an epic battle that had me holding my breath and gripping my Kindle until my knuckles turned white. Eric's condition, Caro's secret and deceit all added to the overall suspense and provides the reader with an addictive story you cannot set down.

Caro is stubborn, independent and not openly trusting. I loved how Eric while protective respected her wishes and taught her about her supernatural side. Caro's abilities proved rather interesting and I am anxious to see how she develops. The romance developed slowly with heated kisses and unusual connections. Their back and forth banter made me laugh aloud and endeared me to them. The two share a connection and their attraction and developing romance felt genuine. Delacroix turned on the heat and the sex scenes were vivid and hot. I loved that she allowed their need for control and strong personalities to show.

Secondary characters from Eric's security team to Caro's PR firm added interest, provided conflict and introduced key players to the series. To my delight, secondary characters were developed and had strong, memorable personalities. I immediately wanted to know more. Our villain and those aiding him are characters you will love to hate, especially a little vixen.

MASKED POSSESSION was a brilliant start to what looks to be a fun, engaging paranormal romance series. MASKED DESIRE, book two, will release in Spring of 2018.

Masked Possession, Alana Delacroix

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:Sci-fi and Fantasy, Romance

I found this pretty hard going to start, I'd been so intrigued by the "differentness" of the Masquerada but found it very difficult to graps what they actually were/could do. Did they become another person, or were they still "them" inside.
Fortunaly much of the things I struggled with Caro did too and I learned along with her ;-)

I really felt for Caro, alone, running and hiding from her past and so scared after what had happened to her. She just trying to lead a quiet life, head down, get on with her life when Eric drops in to it. 
She's attracted to him and he to her right from that first meeting. As she's told her boss Julian though, never trust a Masquerada, and she's not about to start. events are against that though, along with Eric who's determined to get to know this mysterious lady who brings out feelings in him he thought were long gone. 

Eric was facing a difficult time too though, a challenge for his position from someone they thought was neutralised. For a clever group they were pretty stupid about that, and the enemy comes at them hard and fast, catching Caro along the way. 

Its a fun read, decent amount of drama, though some was a little predictable. Sometimes it seems authors are so keen to enforce a characters position they light up the way with imaginary "bad guy here" signs, "don't trust this one" etc.
You know, we've all read at least one book where instead of working it out from the subtle clues the author has whacked in some really obvious signposts to ones in case we missed it! 
It's not a huge thing but I prefer the less obvious approach, even of it means getting to the end and being totally surprised. I like to then look back and see "ah, here's where I missed it," instead of having the plot and characters spoon fed to me. 
That's a small crit though, and it was a fun read, once I got to grips with this different group.
There were a few times too when I thought people acted out of character, and that didn't sit easily with me. Things where I'd be thinking "but why? why not tell/do/explain" about some incident or bit from the past. Secrets are fine, but when everyone is in crisis mode and dangers is lurking everywhere, its not time to decide you don't want to talk about something or get precious about the past. 

I think as the series continues and the world gets more familiar to readers and to the author, the novels will improve. There's some good bones here and I'm glad I chose this story. 

Stars: three and a half. A good intro to a new world. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

Attracted by the cover and the blurb I requested and received an ARC via NetGalley.

A year ago, Caro Yeats was a reporter in Washington who helped put a dangerous man in prison. The result was a vicious attack that almost killed her and made her leave town and her identity behind. Working for a PR agency for Arcane beings (we are talking vamps, fey, merpeople, weres etc.) she is asked to solve a big problem for powerful Masquerada Eric Kelton. Masquerada can shift (masque) into other persona live for about a 1000 years and are rather self centered. Caro would know as her mother was a Masquerada and she is the reason Caro dislikes Masquerada.

Eric is the heirarch of North America, like a King, but he is experiencing trouble maintaining his masques and fears he might not be able to shift again. He is immediately attracted to Caro. The story revolves about an enemy of Eric, a rival to the throne. Eric is challenged to a fight to the death with the throne as the prize. Eric's security detail is convinced Caro is a spy for said enemy, but Eric is too smitten to believe that. Eric and Caro are both strong people, but I sometimes got a bit annoyed by Caro's stubborn streak when it endangered her.

The writing is flowing and engaging. I was pulled into the story. It did lag a bit in the middle and I wondered about the time frame. The challenge was supposed to take place within a week and that week seemed endlessly long.... many many things happened.
Plus there were several plotpoints that just did not make sense!

In the end I can say I enjoyed the story and will look into the next in the series. (less)