Instinct by J.A. Belfield

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As a fellow author with J.A. Belfield, I have the opportunity to read ARCs of her works. In fact, I’ve read this one so long ago that I had to re-read the ARC to remember all the minute details. Like how Sean is so amazingly loving to this women when you know (for a fact) he’s a damn womanizer. How Jem is so snobby and hoity-toity (that’s a southern thing) that she reminds me of the southern belles of the south.

And … (you really do want to click this because it’s profound) how, just like in Darkness & Light, they come together (for their first life) as a pair, just as strong and into each other as they do in Darkness & Light.

The fun thing about reading prequels is that I already know the characters. To see them in this ‘before they were Jem and Sean’ story is like getting inside their heads a little more.

We know Jem and Sean have a past (we’re told that in Darkness & Light). But here, we SEE it. WIth our own two eyes and the movie in our heads. We get to feel just how connected they’ve been and relate that to the future story which I’ve already read (Darkness & Light).

That … I love. I love getting that extra picture. That insight. That peek into the ‘before’ when I already know the ‘after’.

J.A. Belfield doesn’t disappoint in her imagery, the charisma between the two characters and in her overall ability to show us just how Jem and Sean really get together and the intricacies and issues that are involved before Jem even has a hint about werewolves.

Reading Instinct is like sitting at my grandparents feet and listening to how they fell in love and knowing they are right there in front of me to show me that it still lasts. In this case, the ‘grandparents’ is the novel Darkness & Light and the story being told is Instinct.

As a novella, this took no time for me to read and boy did I want more. Luckily, I’ve heard there’s another prequel coming … sometime … eventually … hopefully sooner than later because I do love Sean! (yes with the !).

5 stars all the way. Love it. Swoon from it. Read it again.

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