The Hunt is a paranormal romance that takes place in a land where shape shifting man/cats guard the people from dangerous creatures who would prey on them. In a field overflowing with vampires, this book was a nice change of pace.

Miu is a thief and has the thief’s mark. She is under the control of Lierr, her Master who has given her a task that she must complete – steal a moonstone necklace from the temple of Amun Ra or her sister will suffer. Miu is a very talented thief, but stealing the necklace is going to be difficult. In order to get into the temple, she will have to be a participant in the Bride Hunt where virgins are hunted by the Guardians of the temple, who take their captives as their mates. The Guardians are shapechangers who can take the form of giant cats and they guard the kingdom from enemies.

Miu is good at pretending and she’s an experienced thief, so she goes to the Temple clad as a virgin (which she is not), intending to get into the Temple, get the necklace and get out. However, her attitude catches the attention of Amun Ra. Miu is decidedly not a shy virgin, and Amun Ra thinks she might be up to something. He assigns Jafar, an experienced Guardian to watch Miu while she’s in the temple. Jafar isn’t thrilled by the assignment, but he pretends to be a helper to Miu and guides her in the Temple. It doesn’t take too long for Jafar’s Cat nature to come to life and it calls to him that Miu is his Mate.

Miu thinks that Jafar is a mercenary sent by Lierr to make sure that she steals the necklace. For his part, he protects her in the maze of tunnels under the Temple and helps her when they get in trouble (which they do. Often.) Miu is more than just a bit of a smart mouth and prone to running off from Jafar, but she senses the attraction between them just as he does. When she finds the necklace and takes it, her crime is one where the death penalty is mandatory. Some of Jafar’s fellow Guardians don’t trust Miu, but he has fallen in love with her and tries to cut a deal with Amun Ra.

The world of Miu and Jafar is one that has been pieced together from lots of sources. Amun Ra and the temple have a vaguely Egyptian air about them and the description of Jafar’s clothing brought to mind Egyptian loincloths. While in the Temple, the Guardians battle Ifrits (Arabic) and one of the dangers that Jafar and Miu face is a Banshee (Celtic). It’s all a bit of a mish-mash. To add to the mix, Jafar the cat/man shapeshifter hero reminded me of Dara Joy’s Rejar. This is very much a patchwork world, but the more I read, the more I found it to be an interesting one.

It took me a while to warm up to Miu and Jafar as characters. I thought they were not particularly interesting apart, but they shone as a pair. The sexual tension between them smouldered, simmered and then finally caught fire and blazed. There was a scene where Jafar claims Miu as his mate that involved public sex that I was not all that comfortable with, but then I’ll admit to being on the conservative side. I thought the first part of the book dragged, but the last half more than made up for it.

This is Anne Marsh’s first book and I think it’s a promising start. Her world is an interesting one, and it leaves itself open for more books about the shapeshifting man/cats and kingdom they defend.