Calico Descending by Keri Lake

Time and love are criminals who spare no one -- not even the most desiring. Time is the thief who comes in the night, silently chipping away at the present.
And love is the killer of hearts.

Calico Descending by Keri Lake

Juniper Unraveling #2
Release: October 29, 2019
Genre: Apocalyptic Dystopian Romance
Single POV: Heroine - 1st person
Heat: 4
Format/Source: ebook borrowed through KU
Length: 300 pages

I was fourteen when I was sold to the men in black uniforms. Too young to understand I served a purpose beyond that of the other girls they’d taken.

For the greater good.

Now, after four years in Calico, I’ve seen more death and suffering than during my days of surviving out in the Deadlands against the threat of Ragers and famine. I didn’t think this world could get any bleaker. Didn’t think it could take any more from me than it already had.

Not until I finally learned my purpose.

That same day, I walked the dark halls in the bowels of this hell, where the suffering is in silence, and ghosts of the dead whisper through the walls. A place where nightmares are real.

A place where I met my Champion—the most revered Alpha in S-Block—locked away in his dark cell.

For the greater good.

He’s their weapon, their only line of defense against the mistakes of the past: the mutations that could wipe out all of what’s left of us.

Me, I’m his whipping girl. His reward for good behavior.
And his punishment for acts of defiance.

My review of book 1 - Juniper Unraveling

Honestly, I wasn't going to read this book. I was pretty satisfied with the happy for now ending I got for Wren and Six and when I found out this book wasn't even about them, I didn't see the point. But then I realized that I wasn't quite done learning about this messed up world that Keri Lake created. For a woman who avoids everything remotely scary, for some reason, I can't look away from this series. I'm truly hooked and so I took the dive back in and learned what I could about these new characters. Valdys, Camdus and Titus didn't disappoint!

☠️ Calico is no Wonderland. It's a place full of corrupt and immoral people doing evil things to their own kind
☠️ more twisted and disgusting experiments
☠️ I got to know more about the Alpha program. For every scar that marked their bodies, I thought of all that Six had to live through
☠️ I couldn't get enough of Valdys and would have given my left boob (the largest) to get his perspective in this story

I didn't like Cali. She didn't endear herself to me and although I was sympathetic to her losses and to her abuse, it wasn't enough to make me care about her. The fact that she was the narrator and I was still able to love this story is a testament to this author's talent. It didn't hurt that the men of her creation were so intriguing!

So much didn't happen for a lot of this book and yet so much did happen. The connections that grew between these characters was almost tangible, I'm not a fan of the convenient plot device introduced (estrous) because it took away rather than added to the strength of this story, but it wasn't enough to make me turn away. I also didn't like that Cali was THE ONE for everyone. Really? And from what I've gathered from the reviews for Kings of Carrion, which I do intend to read, it only gets worse. Please, please, somebody please tell me that it gets better. I don't want to dislike Cali anymore than I already do.

Keri Lake is a dark romance writer who specializes in demon wrangling, vengeance dealing and wicked twists. Her stories are gritty, with antiheroes that walk the line of good and bad, and feisty heroines who bring them to their knees. When not penning books, she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughters, and their rebellious Labrador (who doesn’t retrieve a damn thing). She runs on strong coffee and alternative music, loves a good red wine, and has a slight addiction to dark chocolate.

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