Dark Refuge by Kate Douglas

 Emeline Cheval has always felt a darkness in her soul, an emptiness she blamed on her controlling parents. After years of unrest, Emy has finally found some sense of peace by living quietly far away from her family and her pack. But her world is thrown into chaos when she discovers a fellow Chanku trapped in a human trafficking and prostitution ring. Now Emy must turn to the very pack she left behind for help.

On the outside Gabe Cheval has it all. Stunningly handsome and strong, he’s a prominent and valuable member of the pack—but he carries a fear that he will never find a woman of his own. He remembers Emy from his childhood, and he’s shocked when he goes to help her and discovers that the silly young girl has grown into a sensuous and beautiful young woman—one who tantalizes him with the sense that she could be the perfect mate to finally end his loneliness.

But even as Gabe and Emy come together to rescue the captive woman and explore the undeniable attraction building between them, the dark menace that lurks deep in Emeline’s heart threatens to push them apart. Through Gabe’s loving and erotic touch and Emy’s open and passionate trust in him, they uncover a horrible secret that could threaten the very core of the Chanku hierarchy.

This is a really difficult review for me to personally write. I have been reading this series since I found the first book and have completely LOVED the stories that Ms. Douglas has written, however this one just fell completely short for me on a few different levels. 

Before I get into the things that I didn’t enjoy about the book, I’ll tell you what I did enjoy about it! With each book that comes in this series, Ms. Douglas just adds to this amazing world that she has created. You are able to learn more about the Chanku people and what they are going though, and what they are fighting against. And even though there is a lot of sex that happens in her books, it doesn’t overtake the whole story.  I do also think that Ms. Douglas does an amazing job describing the different characters and giving them each their own personalities. In a book like this, where there are so many different characters, that is a massive feat to undertake, yet she still did it extremely well.

**Slight Spoilers**

My issues that I had with this book stem down to a couple different things. For one, Emeline and Gabe end up rescuing some women from being held as sex slaves, yet after the women are free they are out partying and drinking. Even when it comes to the sex that they take part in, they show no reluctance to it whatsoever. I personally would think that after being held as a sex slave for 1-5 years and being forced to have sex multiple times a day with multiple people, the thought of having sex with anyone would be far from my mind.

My other complaint with the book would be how many characters there were involved in the story. Once the women are rescued, that just adds more characters to the story that you have to follow along with and hope not to confuse someone with someone else.

**Spoilers Over**

But even taking the things that I didn’t enjoy about the book into consideration, I did still enjoy the story and I will be sure to read the next book when it comes out!