Title: Defiance
Series: Rebellion: Book Two
Author: Annabelle Jacobs
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 258 Pages
Category: Urban Fantasy
Rating: 5 Stars
At a Glance: Annabelle Jacobs delivers on the action, tension, and romantic suspense in Defiance, and then throws in an excellent and unexpected plot twist. It was more than a means of moving the series arc forward, it added another layer of intrigue to some already intriguing characters. Consider me hooked.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Returning to their pack was always going to be dangerous, but is the fight for freedom worth the cost?
Cole and Logan return to London, ready to execute their plan of connecting with the human resistance. But with both of them blamed for the deaths resulting from Cole’s escape attempt, they receive a less than warm welcome from the McKillan pack.
Cole gets a second chance, but it’s not without restrictions, and he must toe the line and do whatever it takes to fit in. But earning the trust of his alpha and fellow shifters comes at a price.
For Logan, being close to Cole and unable to touch him is a daily torment, but watching from the sidelines while Cole learns what it means to be a McKillan enforcer is pushing him to his limits.
Both men must play their parts to perfection if they want Cole to be accepted into the pack, and that means doing what’s asked of them, no matter the cost.
Review: The plan to infiltrate the McKillan pack is now in motion, which means the anxiety, danger, pining, and the all-too-rare stolen moments between Cole and Logan have also been brought to bear. Cole, Logan, and Logan’s best friend Aaron must play their parts convincingly, which means Logan and Cole have no choice but to behave like adversaries even as their wolves call to each other to protect and bond, but this act, the semblance of animosity towards each other, is the only thing keeping them from a long, if not life, prison sentence. Logan and Aaron are on pack probation, but for Cole, not toeing the line and earning his assimilation into the HRU (Human Reconnaissance Unit) could mean a death sentence. And some would love nothing more than to see him fail.
Cole is now confined to a flat in the McKillan territory after enduring a harsh interrogation. He’s under surveillance nearly every waking moment, which means each word, each reaction, and each emotion must be guarded. It is admittedly better than the prison cell he was expecting, but still, the isolation and restrictions placed upon him quickly begin to take their toll—a wolf restlessly circling his cage is an analogy that’s not far off the mark, and Annabelle Jacobs telegraphs his tension and fear to her readers.
The apathy amongst those in power is translated loud and clear in Defiance, the very human tendency to look away from the horrors of oppression and authoritarianism and brutality and bigotry as long as we aren’t the ones being afflicted by it. I loved how Jacobs worked this into the story and then used it to set up an excellent plot twist that I did not see coming until it was set in motion. It was more than a means of moving the series arc forward, it added another layer of intrigue to some already intriguing characters, and left me more than a little anxious to see what this will mean for a handful or so of the more prominent supporting cast going forward; this includes Aaron and even more so Cole’s best friend Nick, for reasons I can’t say without potentially spoiling things, but suffice it to say, on a scale from one to ten, Nick just got dialed up to eleven.
Where there is oppression, where there is an imbalance of power, an absence of equity, there is bound to be defiance, and this principle provides much of the suspense and action in the story. The joint human/wolf resistance must prevail, a balance must be restored, or many more humans will be forced to join a pack and take “the bite” against their will. Some will choose to run, even if it means they’ll die trying to escape that fate, but that’s where Cole, Logan, and a host of others come into play.
I’ve read so much of Annabelle Jacobs’ work (quite possibly all of it?), and can say with more than a little confidence that the Rebellion series is shaping up to be my favorite. The agitation and anxiety are palpable, the interactions between all the characters are genuine, the current of longing and desire between Logan and Cole is prominent in every interaction, and the state of the world in which it’s set delivers a sympathetic connection between the story and its readers.
You can buy Defiance here:
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