What could a jaguar-man shifter, 300-year-old female vampire, and a Magick Practitioner possibly have in common? In His Darkest Hunger, these characters share an enormous hatred for Libby Jamieson, a former member of their team of assassins who betrayed them three years ago. They also share a united goal: Get the information that Libby possesses about their enemies and then kill her.

Their plans get derailed, however, when shifter Jaxon Castille, Libby’s former lover, can’t quite pull the trigger to end her life. She’s mysteriously injured, dangerously thin, has been magically charmed into losing her memory for the past three years that she’s been missing, and has no recollection of her old team or how she betrayed them. Despite the tension between them, Jaxon and Libby resume their physical relationship. During one encounter, Jaxon discovers the scar from a Cesarean section on her abdomen. That’s when the story gets really interesting.

Juliana Stone’s debut novel creates an interesting team of assassins working for the good side, of course. She has a true gift for description, and readers will be able to feel Libby’s extensive injuries and see Jaxon’s amazing transformations into a jaguar. There’s a comfortable mix of intrigue, action, romance, and paranormal activities in this book, plus a creepy (and decidedly uncomfortable) visit to an evil dimension. His Darkest Hunger provides a strong debut into the paranormal romance genre, with its only weakness being an unsatisfying ending that clearly hopes to entice readers into a series based on these characters in order to get some resolution.