Hunter’s Way

Having recently read Lori L. Lake's rendition of 'Xena and Gabrielle join the police force' in Gun Shy... I was not altogether opposed to meeting yet another tall, dark-haired, muscular, super sexy, anti-social butch cop who comes out of her shell via the sunny blonde and beautiful charms of her new and more sociable partner.Fan fiction is actually pretty fun! Yes, yes, I know I'm a tad late in discovering ¨uber-Xena¨ type stories... but the Xena and Gabrielle chemistry is so electric and universally adored that even a more distant likeness like Tori Hunter and Samantha Kennedy conjure this magic.So homicide detective Tori Hunter is our brooding protagonist in this story. She can't hold a partner- at work or personally. She's just too emotionally troubled to let anyone close. At 37 she still hasn't worked out some extreme trauma she experienced as a kid and apparently her obnoxious and reckless behavior at work hasn't forced her into some much needed long-term therapy with the department shrink. She is simply permitted to be the (somewhat juvenile) resident rogue.Along comes ¨hot-tempered¨ Samantha Kennedy (according to the back of the book), her new partner... who is anything but ¨hot-tempered.¨ Hot, maybe... persistent, for sure... but she's not swimming in passion and anger. Breaking a mirror doesn't equate with passion as much as it symbolizes changing herself. If anything, passion is a repressed part of herself upfront. She doesn't know herself at all and is rather passive. So it's no surprise that at 34 she's still wandering aimlessly in straight-ville with a controlling boyfriend in tow. When you don't take charge of yourself... others won't hesitate to do so.Together these two search for a serial killer who is targeting young lesbians... which in turn provides us with a convenient setting of queers to observe for our closeted straight woman. The charm of this book is not just that it is reasonably well-written with wonderful character chemistry and moves along at an easy pace... but that the romance is set at the forefront.I don't want to say that the police drama is a subtext, exactly, because it is plausible enough... but it's there to give these two every opportunity to get closer, visit lez bars together and even behave like girlfriends. This is a very sweet union... which is why it's a little surprising when violence actually does ensue. There is a rape scene that I almost want to say was just kinda glossed over... but it really didn't feel that way. Again, this is not a book that wants to focus on dysfunction and depressing stuff... it is first and foremost a romance and manages to stay as much despite the drama that emerges.The one annoying factor for me about this story is the needy boyfriend who doesn't go away until, like, page 227... and then somehow STILL manages to resurface again, and again, lol... geez. GO AWAY ALREADY!! Coming out story or not... this author allowed way too much time to this clown. I'm not sure if he was supposed to be amusing (not) or prepped as a stalker for book 2... but if nothing else he is more evidence of Samantha's passive nature. If she were truly hot-tempered he'd of been found in a ditch by page 23.It is Samantha's vulnerability and femininity that appeals most to Tori and breaks down her defenses... Sam is someone Tori instinctively wants to protect.Whatever its little flaws, you're still gonna get hooked on this sexy couple.

So, most of the other positive reviews cover what I liked about this book. I do want to add my opinion to something multiple negative reviews refer to, so spoiler alert.There is a rape of one of the primary characters in this book, and a lot of people seem to feel the aftermath of it was handled badly by the author. Namely because the story doesn't spend a lot of time dealing with her recovery. She seems to be able to move on with her life very quickly, particularly with sex, which some reveiwers feel is not only unrealistic but also disrespectful of rape survivors' experiences.In my opinion, the aftermath was believable. Yes, she moves forward with her life, even into having sex again, quickly. But I want to point out that recover is different for different people. For some, like for this character, sex can be healing, even so soon after the trauma. I think the way Hill writes this characters experience is well done for the following reasons.1. She acknowledges that rape isn't about sex, it's about power and in this case was a form of torture to gather information.2. She was at a point in her life where she was learning about her own sexuality. Prior to the assault, her experiences were mediocre at best, and so her growing attraction and feelings for her new partner who was actually a gender she was attracted to...well I could see how sex could be a reclaiming of her body, not just as part of recovering, but also in general.3. She isn't magically healed after the sex and emotional release. She does still rely on coping mechanisms. She has support and healthy coping techniques.4. Not everyone who experiences trauma develops PTSD or processes it the same way.5. She is in the middle of investigating an escalating serial killer, her life is increasingly in crisis mode. Some people are extremely high functioning when they feel like their is a crisis to deal with, in fact, this is an important quality for anyone in military or law enforcement.My only real dislike about this book was that there were some formatting issues that made it a little confusing when POV changed, but it wasn't even that big of a deal and rarely was enough to pull me out of the story. Most Gerri Hill books don't have this issue at all, some I'm guessing this is an earlier work.

I love the Hunter's Series. They were captivating . Can't wait until the next book comes out.

Can't wait to read the rest of the series...have bought all three books

“So, this was what falling in love feels like. It was nice. But it was scary as hell.” “Tori was afraid to love, afraid of being left behind again.”+ • + • + • +Its unique & captivating storyline, spectacular in its complexity, fluidity & intensity creates a very compelling & entertaining book. With a nice flowing effortless progression, engaging narrative incorporating such formidably vulnerable & passionately flawed characters made it an easy read.With a good, entertaining story with interesting characters, "killer" storylines, riveting mysteries & some hot sex scenes… your only thought is—What's gonna come next?

I was a bit disappointed with the book. Gerri Hill is usually a wonderful storyteller, but I feel this one had too many issues. So it was an X &G type story, that's cool I like ubers, but I had a hard time with all the head-hopping and loss of continuity of which character was speaking or thinking. It threw me out of the story. Then there was the rape scene. I thought it was overkill and a major trigger to a lot of readers of lesfic. There could have been a better way to handle the "torture". Shock value violence against women is just so last decade, especially in lesbian books. I also thought it was totally unrealistic for a couple to engage in sex after only a few days following an attack. The story would have been awesome otherwise. The storyline was wonderful and the intimacy was beautiful, I just couldn't get over the poor editing of the head-hopping and dialogue and the rape.

I really enjoyed this story, but it took a while to get used to the peculiar grammar. There are numerous points where Tori and Sam are having a discussion and another character appears out of thin air. On re-reading I realised that there had been a change in location from a murder scene to an office with no explanation that this had happened. There are also conversations between Tori and Sam where the characters are not delineated by new paragraphs. Normally I would mark a book down for this, but I enjoyed the book so much I was repaired to forgive these foibles. Better editing would have helped!

I really enjoyed the characters in this book especially Tori Hunter. The chemistry between Tori and Sam was well built up and nicely written. My own complaint was when Sam was raped. It felt like it came out of no where and the aftermath of such an ordeal wasn't handle...well. It felt rushed. And unrealistic. I'm no expert but it just didn't sit right with me that Sam would be thinking about sex so soon after such an horrific ordeal. I had to stop reading for a while but I was compelled to return as the storyline was good.

I've read a number of books by Gerri Hill and Hunters Way has been in my wish list for a while. The first part of the book was fine, story line and characters forming nicely. Then the major incident involving detective Kennedy and the aftermath for me spoilt the book. I don't want to give the story line away but while I'm no writer I felt the book lacked compassion, empathy, credibility.

This book is captivating, amazing, brilliant! I've read it now so many times and never tire from it, the two characters tori and Sam are so believable, the love between them is so real, the story behind it and how you can find true love is excellent. Five stars for Gerri hill the series are also brilliant I have no words for this book you need to read it now.!!!!!!!!!!

Brilliant book I love gerri hill