A rising star on the Covent Garden stage, Bianca Parrino believes she has everything she wants. Independence. Wealth. And a life finally free of her violent, abusive husband. But when her close friend, Adam, is murdered, and Bianca is suspected in his death, she is unwittingly drawn into the search for his killer, and soon must question everything she believes—about her friend, about herself, and about a world she never knew existed.

A member of the mysterious race of shape-shifting Imnada and part of an elite military unit, Captain Mac Flannery gathered intelligence during the Napoleonic wars. As a result of a savage massacre, Mac and the men he served with are cursed. Now one of them has been found murdered, and Mac suspects the existence of the Imnada has been discovered at last. His only link to unearthing the truth is the beautiful actress who turns up unexpectedly at Adam’s funeral.

Before long, Mac has more to contend with than Bianca’s overt mistrust, his ill-fated attraction to the haughty and beautiful actress, and his ongoing search for an end to the curse. Because Adam’s killer is back, and Mac is next on his list

Generally I'm not a fan of paranormal romances that have the Fey running around being jerks.  I'm actually not terribly fond of the Fey as a rule, unless we're in a fantasy setting.  Urban fantasy/Paranormal does not count.  Not even Historical Paranormal Romance set in 1816 (possibly my favorite of all years for Regency romances for no reason I can ascertain).  But I give Egan credit--I was invested enough in the Hero's plight that at the first mention of the Fey I didn't jump ship to a new book.

Admittedly part of what kept me going was that Bianca (our Heroine) spent a fair amount of time wanting to throttle Mac for various idiocies.  Note to Heroes everywhere - its probably best just to come clean about your worries, cause you don't earn smexy times by withholding that information. Bianca was a sort of heroine I like--she has gumption.  She has to deal with a lot of crap in this book and Mac really adds a boatload more that she didn't need.  She keeps her head high and speaks her mind, determined to not falter.

Mac for his part, was more interesting when he wasn't mooning over Bianca.  Its not that I begrudged them a romance, but there are times when Egan sets this up more like an urban (historical) fantasy, then a paranormal (historical) romance.  The sudden shift from the mystery of how to help Mac and his friends to how tormented Mac feels and how he needs Bianca to the ongoing problems of the Imnada didn't feel genuine.  They felt a bit more forced.

I liked that Egan played around a bit with the 'shifter' curse Mac and co find themselves stuck under.  There's a deeper purpose at play for the Imnada and honestly I can't wait to see how the next book plays out.