BLOOD CHALLENGE

Author: Eileen Wilks ISBN: 9780425239193 1/2011 PARANORMAL Publisher: BERKLEY

Lily Yu and Rule Turner’s engagement announcement is stirring up ugly passions in the Humans First camp. There’s hate mail. Death threats. Lily’s car is vandalized. But professionally, things are going smoothly . . . until a lupus in Tennessee goes on a killing spree. Then Rule's brother, Benedict, catches a lovely intruder--twice. The first time she's sneaking around the home of the leader of Humans First. The second time, she sneaks into Nokolai Clanhome with a mysterious potion. It may not be possible to deal with the rapidly escalating situation the way Lily always has: through the law. Especially when she’s pulled off the case due to an alleged conflict of interest. Lily’s loyalties will be stretched to the breaking point when she discovers that the deaths in Tennessee were only the opening skirmish in an all-out war.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

BLOOD CHALLENGE by Eileen Wilkes brings us back to the world of Detective Lily Yiu and her werewolf lover, Rule Turner.  Their recent engagement announcement has brought out more crazies.  More than their public relationship did, if that’s possible. 
 
The Lupi novels tend to be up and down.  Sometimes the urban fantasy is focused more on the murder or Lily's work than advancing the story arc or any changes between Lily and Rule.  Luckily, BLOOD CHALLENGE was an up read.  The story starts with vandals leaving an ugly message on Lily's car.  She handles the vandalism with good grace, but her fiance is none too pleased with this latest sign that the humans are being vicious in expressing their feelings.  He's assigned bodyguards to protect and shadow her every move.  Of course, this annoys Lily to no end, but there's no way to avoid it with her being the newest targets for all of the werewolf haters.  Rule is breaking the biggest taboo ever by declaring his intentions to marry his human lover. 
 
Aside from the pesky harassment, there are all kinds of things unraveling.  Murder, magic, and the issue of Rule still managing the two mantles.  I love that there is a nice visit from Cullen, my all-time favorite hero of Wilkes’, and some adorable scenes with Rules' son Toby.  What makes this story so great is that we see the advancement in the relationship between Lily and Rule as well as all the difficulty they face.  The murder plot and back story are great additions to watching these two adapt to the changes being together has caused, but it doesn’t overshadow the relationship development as with previous novels.

Christina Baker