Allegiance (The Penton Legacy, #4)

by Susannah Sandlin

[kimbacaffeinate]

4.5
Allegiance is the fourth novel in Susannah Sandlin’s Penton Legacy series, and I was eager to get back to this small-town and its characters. Sandlin’s paranormal romantic suspense series has been intense from the first book, with fleshed out characters, and an action-backed plot. While Sandlin does a great job of filling in the details, I highly recommend reading the Penton series in order. Each tale continues the overall arc and tells the story of one couple. Allegiance grabbed me from page one, and had me holding my breath, swooning and laughing.

Penton, Alabama is home to vampires and humans living side-by side. Master vampire Aidan Murphy leads the group and outside forces have been working to crush this model community. In Sandlin’s world, a vaccine created to treat a global outbreak has had a nasty side effect. The blood of vaccinated humans is now deadly to vampires. The series has given us hot romances, intense battles, backstabbing politics and a nemesis to make you shiver with fear. The town was ravaged, but out of the debris, an elite force was created known as Omega Force. Uniting human military with the supernatural and you can learn more about them in the spin-off series Omega Force.

The leaders of Omega Force have sent Robin an eagle-shifter and Nik,who can see the past by touching objects to help rebuild Penton. You will adore Robin. She might look like a pixie, but her tongue is sharp and she can pack a punch. I adored Robin in Storm Force and absolutely loved seeing her in Allegiance. Cage Reynolds a British vampire we met in the last book has returned with plans to become a permanent resident. Cage is a psychiatrist and former mercenary and the man will definitely make you swoon.

Allegiance was an intense ride, and I consumed this in a short time. Outside forces are working to destroy Penton and its alliance with the Tribunal. Matthias Ludlum has escaped but who helped him? Accidents and strange sightings have the folks of Penton on alert even as they forge new friendships with Robin and Nate. Melissa Calvert and Cage work to resolve things, and we see tremendous growth in her as a character. The interaction between Robin and Mirren Kincaid is downright hilarious. I laughed so hard; I had tears. The romance that develops between Robin and Cage was delightful. They are both alpha personalities, and it caused moments of humor for me, as these two dealt with their inner feelings and attraction to each other. Sandlin brought heat to their romance, and it felt genuine. My heart was in my throat as this intense tale unfolded. No one was safe, and the diabolical happens had me flipping the pages. The tale had a wonderful flow to it, with action-packed scenes and moments of fear. This had some dark elements to it that will raise the hair on the back of your neck. Sandlin weaves humor and a steamy romance into the story perfectly balances out the tale and providing me with that book high I constantly chase. We are far from done with Penton, and I cannot wait to return.

Copy received from publisher in exchange for unbiased review that originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer