This month I told Cia that I was stealing the March Signature Author Background because I decided it was time for the one who started it to be featured. I chose her story Two of a Kind since I love the Carthera series and it was a toss-up as to whether I liked Two of a Kind or Hypnosis better. If you haven't already read this series, I highly suggest it. To help you decide whether or not it's for you, here's a review, provided by Cannd.

Reviewer: Cannd
Status: Complete
Word Count: 56,359

In Two of a Kind, Cia takes us further into the world of the Carthera. The world of the Carthera sucked me in with the first book Bonds Unbroken which focuses on the falcon Carthera and the son of and future clan leader, Velaku, who makes a reappearance in this book. The Carthera are humans with an animal side which comes out once they find and bond with their fated mate. While the Carthera don’t shapeshift into another animal, they take on some physical characteristics and abilities of the animal species they are. In this book, Cavel, leader of the jaguar clan, is desperate to find a way to save his clan that is sick with a plague that has never been seen before. At the direction of an old wise woman and desperate for any help, Cavel takes off into the rainforest to locate the sacred Temple of the Jaguar Carthera.

As Cavel and some of the men of his clan, including a few with sick family, begin their journey in the jungle, they find themselves being tailed by another Carthera male. Bashta, the only other black jaguar Cavel has seen since the death of his parents, is unhappily brought to Cavel who immediately recognizes him as his fated mate. He discovers that Bashta is the only surviving member of his clan after a plague killed all but his mother and him. Bashta has been living in the jungle as a lone Carthera for many years. Bashta is initially not willing to take these Cathera who have integrated themselves with humans, to the temple, as in his experience, humans destroy the jungle and are out for treasure.

In this story, Cia delves into the power of fate and its role in the lives of Bashta and Cavel, as well as the future of this jaguar clan. The lives of two men with a shared story become entwined with one another. Bashta doesn’t want to see fate take the lives of the members of Cavel’s clan as it did his and agrees to lead him to the temple. Can he help save Cavel’s clan from the same terrible fate his clan suffered?

Bashta and Cavel don’t get off to the best start. Bashta, despite his youth, has an aura of power that Cavel senses and which challenges him as an Alpha and there is also the mating call which drives him to claim his mate and dominate him. He longs for the connection to a mate and the support it could provide in this difficult time and for the rest of their lives. Bashta doesn’t understand what he feels for this big man. After living as a solitary jaguar Carthera since the loss of his clan, he didn’t welcome his need to be near the other jaguar. Bashta also must deal with the memories of his lost clan, including his parents, litter mates, friends and family, which this clan’s situation brings to forefront in his mind

Bashta leads Cavel and his men to the Temple and helps Cavel go in to eventually meet the Jaguar who created the Jaguar Carthera and who protects them still. We don’t meet any other ‘God’ of the other species of Carthera in the other Carthera novels, which makes this story special in my opinion. The experience in the temple, between Cavel and Bashta is beautifully described. The Temple is a very fascinating place inside. Fate has joined them together and given them hope that the jaguar clan would survive and that the sick would be cured. At the same time, with the help of Velaku and the main character in the next book, Hypnosis, they must also seek the cause of the plague, that has threatened their kind.

Two of a Kind has twists and turns that will surprise the reader as they hope for a happy ending. The book also leaves the clan leaders with concerns that will be dealt with in the next Cathera book. I found the story to be very satisfying. You will learn more about the Carthera as a whole and the issues they face as they live amongst the humans who they have only integrated their lives with over the last fifty years. The characters in this book are fleshed out really well. Their pasts are revealed enough to explain many of their thoughts and actions. And together, they all strive to forge a better future for the jaguar clan and the Carthera as a whole. There was only point near the end, when I worried that an object Bashta is given should have been treated as a danger to those who would come in contact with it, because of its connection to the plague.

I hope you will join Cia on this journey into the world of the Carthera. Overall, it is a highly enjoyable read that keeps you hooked through to the end and I highly recommend it. While I don’t think it is necessary to read the first book before reading Two of a Kind , it will only add to the story if you read it at some point and I think you will be drawn into the world of the Carthera and will want to learn as much about them as you can! The good news is that there are several more books after this one, to enjoy. All of them are just as exciting and introduce more characters like Cavel and Bashta (who make a brief appearance in Hypnosis ~shhh!), who you will come to love and root for too.