Review: Cipher by Moira Rogers

Cipher 
~Moira Rogers 

Format: e-book 
File Size: 449 KB 
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. 
Publish Date: September 6, 2011 
Language: English 
ASIN: B00530J3AA

From the author's website:
Fourteen months ago, Kat Gabriel's life changed forever when she used her empathy as a weapon. Now she can't escape the weight of those deaths--or the loss of the easy friendship she and Andrew once shared. Obsessed with her mother's violent past, Kat is determined to learn the truth of her inner-darkness by understanding her legacy.

 Since the attack that turned him into a wolf, Andrew Callaghan has done everything possible to make himself stronger. More capable of protecting Kat--both from the supernatural world that forced her to kill, and from their own volatile connection. Pushing her away hurt them both, but he's finally made himself into the protector she needs.

 As Kat's quest leads her into the darkest underbelly of the psychic world, Andrew is determined to be at her side. But every step forward reopens old emotional wounds and shakes their control. For a dangerous alpha and a deadly psychic, distraction could be fatal--especially when the greatest threat they pose is to each other.

Kat Gabriel is a powerful psychic - she can feel other people's emotions as well as project emotion into others.  She knows her mother also shared this gift, and was involved in some questionable practices that may have resulted in her death.  Kat is even stronger than her mother though, and fears her powers will affect Kat like they did her mother; to that end, she is looking into her mother's past to try to find out where things went wrong.

Andrew Callaghan is a "turned" werewolf - he was not born this way.  Fourteen months ago he was attacked trying to save Kat.  New werewolves are very unpredictable, and with Andrew's strength, he knew that to protect Kat he had to stay away from her.  Neither of them are happy about it, but they both accept that that's the way things are.  There had been an attraction between them before the attack, and it hasn't gone away.

When Kat needs some help tracking down a lead from her mother's past, Andrew ends up going along to assist.  When Kat is almost killed, Andrew cannot overcome his instincts to protect her.  Together they  uncover a mysterious cult and battle for Kat's safety.

My thoughts:
I have been waiting for Kat and Andrew's story for what feels like forever; it was totally worth the wait!  In Deadlock, the authors tease us up with bits of Kat and Andrew's story, and in Cipher they BRING IT!!!

Cipher is a super-sexy psychological thriller.  Without giving spoilers, Moira Rogers doesn't pull any punches in this 4th installment of their Southern Arcana series - things are still unsettled in the political heirachy of the shifter world, old friends from previous books in the series are suffering, and this new threat that Kat uncovers is ruthless and will stop at nothing to attain their goal.

Because Kat is a psychic, a large portion of  the book is mental - thoughts, feelings, emotions - but it's definitely not passive.  Cipher is full of action - both the kick ass kind of action and sexy kind of action.  Kat and Andrew are both killing machines and worry about accidentally hurting the other by not being in control of their powers.  If they want to be together they must learn to trust each other and themselves.  I absolutely loved the way Kat and Andrew work through their relationship issues in the bedroom *wiggles eyebrows*.

Cipher hit all the right buttons for me:  An exciting mystery with creepy delusional bad guys, sexy and strong hero/heroine who compromise and work together, a few plot twists that I didn't see coming, and revisiting characters from previous books.  This series just keeps getting better and better!

 My Rating:

Book provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.