Review: Secondhand Skin by Hailey Turner

Title: Secondhand Skin

Series: Soulbound Universe: Book Two

Author: Hailey Turner

Length: 362 Pages

Category: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: Never let it be said that Hailey Turned doesn’t pen breathtaking action and battle sequences. That remains true in a way only a dragon shifter could deliver.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Nothing says you can’t steal a heart. Keeping it though? That’s another problem.

Wade Espinoza knows a thing or two about hoards. As a dragon, he’s got plenty. What he doesn’t have is a relationship, and he swears he’s not looking for one. But when he’s sent to Boston to answer a cry for help from another pack, he’s drawn into a mess of fae bargains centered around a selkie who Wade instantly becomes obsessed with.

Riordan Maguire is struggling to keep his selkie clan out of the clutches of a fae lord who will do anything to take over their territory. Partnering with the Boston god pack means coming face-to-face with the first person he’s ever wanted to willingly give his sealskin. Too bad Wade isn’t local and is something altogether strange that Riordan isn’t sure he can trust.

Amidst a growing danger in the streets and Boston Harbor, Wade and Riordan are desperate to find a way to keep everyone safe. For bargains are dangerous things to break, but so are hearts. Wade isn’t willing to shatter either of theirs in a race against time that could see Riordan torn from him forever.

Review: Has there ever been a character who deserves a happy-ever-after as much as Wade Espinoza? Sure, there has. That was a rhetorical question. But I’m still living in his moment, and I love it.

Hailey Turner faced a daunting task in writing Wade’s romance. She says so herself in her Author Note. I can’t begin to imagine the pressure to give readers what we wanted, while also delivering it in a story with some heft and depth to it; that is, all the action, suspense, and lore that’s been the bedrock of this Urban Fantasy series since A Ferry of Bones and Gold stormed its way into my lexicon of faves. Adding to the bounty that is Wade’s charm is his backstory, which factors into the relationship building in Secondhand Skin. Consent and the way Riordan Maguire doesn’t simply offer it but makes it his absolute honor to give to Wade is such a beautiful complement to Wade wanting to hoard Riordan but also respecting the boundaries of that want, especially when it comes to who and what Riordan is.

When the Boston god pack reaches out to Patrick for help, Wade’s involvement in thwarting a coup plot is a matter of necessity; he’s the only member of the NYC god pack who’s available to answer the call. Not that it’s a hardship, of course, having a dragon in your corner. Boston needed Wade, and little did Wade know at the outset that he’d need Boston. Or, rather, he needed to reconnect with the man he met at the wedding of the season, and voilà, there Riordan was like magic and fate wanted it too.

Riordan is a selkie as well as the chief of Clan Maguire, which means his siblings, clan members, and his sealskin are his most prized, valuable, and guarded treasures. The villain in Secondhand Skin knows a sealskin’s worth and uses that, among other tools of coercion and intimidation, in his plot to overtake Boston from the supernatural and preternatural alike. When the final showdown bears down upon them and their allies, all the hell that’s fit to break loose does, and it’s spectacular.

Never let it be said that Hailey Turned doesn’t pen breathtaking action and battle sequences. That remains true in a way only a dragon shifter could deliver.