Rhyker’s Key (Orion’s Order 2) by MC Solaris-a review

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Rhyker, tattooed bad boy and lethal jaguar shifter, falls for the sweet and caring healer, Keena. Except, she’s determined to keep him in the friend zone… good thing he’s a predator that enjoys the hunt.

Together, can they heal their past and forge a future bonded with true love?

Keena Oliver
I am haunted by my past mistakes. Mistakes that I have no idea how I even made. I am an educated mind and spirit healer after all. So how in the holy healer hell did I end up in a relationship where the male who I thought I loved…
Yeah, it’s probably best not to rehash those nightmares. But if I don’t dare open up that box to my past, then how am I ever going to be able to move on? Especially because I so want to move on with a certain sexy male. A male whose lips devoured mine in a darkened corner that one time. A male whose predatory piercing blue eyes practically track my every move. A male who I shouldn’t be fantasizing about every second of every day. Why? Because it would ruin me.

Rhyker Kingsley
I’ve had my eye on a certain female for almost a year now. A female who is damn determined to keep me in the friend zone. A female who’s been hurt by her ex but refuses to open up to me about it. So, you could say I go through a lot of smokes… a f*cking lot.

Meanwhile, my pack of lethally trained and skilled hunters and I are gunning for an evil SOB who not only signed his death warrant the second he tried to come after my pack sister and mate to our alpha, but also the f*cker poses a threat to our world as we know it. Yet, said ancient powerful bastard has gone off the grid and is all but impossible to track.

Oh, and did I mention that the past seems to be mixing with the present? I mean, the f*ck is this? The revenge year of the shitty exes?

So, excuse me while I light up a smoke… or two.

••••••••

REVEW: This book made me laugh, cry and scream!! I didn’t think MC Solaris could do any better than Calypso’s Heart. But she batted this book out of the park!!! This book is amazing! ? I’m just trying to put into words my love for this book, but I’ll have a go….

Book 2, and I won’t lie, I’ve been anxiously waiting for this book. Yes it’s really long, but in my opinion the story is so worth it.

Rhyker is a panther shifter, he comes from a well heeled family, he doesn’t need the money, or to get his hands dirty, but that’s not how he nor his twin brother sees the Order. It’s an honour to serve their world as hunters and there is nothing they wouldn’t do for their pack.Rhyker has to a favourite of mine in this pack (but my heart will always belong to Blake) the joker, the player, the first to back his pack mates in a fight, or a prank, loyal to a fault. The first book in this series had us meeting and falling in lust with him and who could blame you.
But this is his book and it will have you falling for this big kitty, a heart as big as the world, a wit that is rivalled only by his brother. And a sense of justice in an often cruel world.

Keena is a therapist, she heals the mind and spirit using therapy and yoga. She has a job which she loves, she helps others to heal from past traumas. I love how Keena works through her own issues using dance and yoga. She’s had her share of ups and downs, but meeting the Order brought a new friend (Caly) and a certain tall, dark and delicious feline into her world.

The chemistry between Keena and Rhyker is just off the wall, they start off as friends, but Rhyker wanted more, and so stalked his prey with laughs and banter. He moved them from the friend zone with minimum effort. But he never pushed, he knew she had a few problems with an ex, so was willing to wait, he knew deep down, Keena was going to be special.The banter these two made me chuckle and smile, and their chemistry scorched the pages.

The interaction with the rest of the group is just as important.We have the pack (males in the Order) and now the girls own pack.It was great to read how they could go from teasing and pulling pranks on one another to defending each other in a heartbeat.

A new case has the Order coming together to discuss it. (Blake usually confirms with the council and then fills the Order in) Nothing new there, that is until Rhyker finds out who the client is. An ex lover shouldn’t be a problem, but with Cecille it’s a big problem, she tore out his heart and made him look like a fool. And from there on, Rhyker the badass was born! Tattoos and an attitude, and a smoking habit that’s unusual for shifters (this reminded me of a BDB book, one of the characters smoked, but his became an addiction) Rhyker’s choice of smoke is a plant based non addictive one, with a slight relaxing quality to it) But the woman wants help solving a murder case and the Order are just the team to solve it. But I got the feeling she was also interested in rekindling the spark with Rhyker. But that’s not going to happen, he’s totally over that female, to him, it’s just going to be a job…..

Keena is being followed/stalked could be the ex (Liam) not a nice guy at all!! A controlling male who thought nothing of belittling Keena and then the violence! She ended it, but I don’t think we’ve seen the last of him!But it’s not him, it’s something much worse!! And Riordan does his best to see her future (Riordan is a Seer, but you’d know that If you’d read book one) ?

Loved how we get snippets of the possible books in the future (it’s fun trying to guess who will end up with who, even when the author likes to throw in a few red herrings. ?

But the Mastermind hasn’t finished with the Order, and now we see Keena in his sights! But with Rhyker by her side you would think it’s going to be fine, but it’s not fine! In fact it’s anything but ok! Could they be torn apart?

We have a few secrets to uncover in further books, looks like most of the characters have a deep dark secret that needs uncovering. We still have the Mastermind to hunt down (he was the one who wants Caly and with his little minion Barker they had her briefly before the Order rescue her) we get glimpses of him before he retreats to fight another day.

The book is told in the characters points of view. (And I did like the glimpses into the minds of the unmated males, I think they want what their boss has) We have a sneaky peek into book 3 (and it sounds like another great read)This book was more of a murder/mystery story, but with a heavy dose of romance. We also have a few twists in this book a few new faces were added (some were more welcome than others!)

Reading the book, I could clearly see the scenes playing (hint, this would make for an awesome film or tv series X-rated of course)?

It’s a whopping read 740 pages and for some it’s probably a little long winded!But I never worried about the length, once I cracked open the book, I fell in like Alice in wonderland and the world just fell away…..It flows well, it picks up speed, it’s full of laughter and can make closing the book for two mins (toilet breaks and life!) difficult but it had me racing back to finish the next page!

And the ending!!!! Oh my goodness!!! Next book please……

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Julie B