50books_poc | Liu, Shadow Touch (#3)

A while back, I read the first of Marjorie M. Liu's Dirk and Steele paranormal romance series, Tiger Eye. I enjoyed that well enough to stock up on the next several books in the series as light reading during my pregnancy, and then of course never got around to reading any of them. Recently, however, I needed something light, fast, and fun, and picked up the second book, Shadow Touch.

I believe the general consensus is that this is a better place to start the series and a better book generally, and I agree wholeheartedly. Elena's touch can heal; Artur's touch forces him to experience the emotional history of people or objects. They meet as captives of a shadowy organization. Together, they try to escape, fall in love, and, yes, fight crime.

This is full of fierce funny characters, fast-paced cracktastic action, and tasty tasty angst: just the thing for taking one's mind off other stuff at three in the morning. It also has the start of a long-term plot arc that opens up the world established in the first book, which now seems rather like a series prologue to me. I had altogether too much fun reading this, and while some of that may be the delight of finding exactly what I was in the mood for, well, there's nothing wrong with that. I look forward to reading more of Liu's work as the mood calls for.

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Possibly also of interest, though not qualifiying for the challenge: Daniel Fox, Dragon in Chains: first book in a fantasy trilogy inspired by Taiwan, about which I have extremely mixed feelings.