Month: August 2016

Stone Bear: Sentinel by Amelia Jade

Posted August 23, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Series / 0 Comments

Stone Bear SentinelTitle:  Stone Bear: Sentinel
Series:  Stone Bears #1
Author:  Amelia Jade
Published:  February 9, 2016
My Rating:  3 stars
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Gabriel is a Stone Bear—one of the the elite shifters trained by the Lionshead Mining Consortium to protect their precious goods. He’s given up almost everything to be the best at his job, including the chance to take a mate. But after meeting his boss’s new assistant, he can’t help but wonder about the possibilities. Gabriel can withstand just about anything a shifter can throw at him in a fight, but when it comes to this strong, gorgeous, and witty woman, he finds himself weak in the knees. Could she truly be the one?

Caia Rowan is tougher than she seems. Hired straight out of school to go through training as a police negotiator, she’s seen her fair share of the ugly side of society. So when she’s offered a job in Genesis Valley, the harsh lifestyle and brutal nature of its inhabitants doesn’t faze her. But the tall, utterly intoxicating, and surprisingly well-mannered bear shifter she’s partnered with has the butterflies in her stomach doing circus acts.

As the pair investigate a series of odd occurrences within the Valley, they find that they can’t ignore the tension growing between them. But one wrong move could cost them not only their jobs, but their lives. The darkness invading Genesis Valley is more perverse than either of them suspected, and it will take the power of their bond to burn it away. Can they survive the journey, or will the brash actions of one doom the other?

 Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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Words Can Change The Mood Completely

Posted August 23, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Haven Discussion / 0 Comments

words powerWe all have those trigger words – words that make us cringe – words that lift us up – you know what I mean.  Words that just bring an emotion, a visual completeness to whatever we’re reading.  I had a run-in with a word last night as I was reading the latest Shifter Romance to cross my Kindle.  And, sadly, it wasn’t a good experience but it did make me think and perhaps be more aware of how words affect me.

Let’s be honest here – we all are aware that the majority of Shifter Romance is erotica within a paranormal setting.  Shifter couples are sizzling, smoking hot and not afraid to show us exactly how they enjoy their sexual moments.  And I am totally fine with that – heck, I wouldn’t be reading so many of then if I wasn’t, ya know?

Yet last night I was completely taken out of the moment by one word that was put in the wrong place… for me.  It shattered my illusion of a hot, sexy couple doing one of the most natural acts that any species does.  Suddenly this wasn’t a man and woman expressing their love physically.  It felt crass and I stopped reading at that moment.  I was completely out of their world and into a cringe moment of my own.

Please, don’t get me wrong here – there is no “fault” yet there is “reaction” that is personal to me.  I’m certain that as readers we all have words that are like fingernails on a blackboard to us… they simply jar and make us shudder or take us out of the experience of the story.

So I put that book aside and will return to it in a day or so.  It’s a very entertaining story and I don’t want to miss the conclusion of it – but not yet.  I need to get that hero and heroine back into a loving relationship in my mind and not the situation that one word put them into in my mind.  Silly?  Perhaps.  But it’s also an honest human reaction that I needed to express.  Truthfully, I wondered if there are other readers who react to certain words enough that they are taken out of the story because of them.

There is no right or wrong to this post.  It’s an opinion, a thinking out loud moment of mine.  The truth is words do have power – and for each of us, that word is different.

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Protected Mate by J.H. Croix

Posted August 16, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Series / 0 Comments

Protected MateTitle:  Protected Mate
Series:  Catamount Lion Shifters #1
Author:  J.H. Croix
Published:  November 12, 2015
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Dane Ashworth, a sexy, solitary mountain lion shifter, comes from one of the founding shifter families of Catamount, a town deep in the woods of Maine where mountain lion shifters have existed in secret for centuries. The community is in turmoil after the startling death of one of their shifters. In the midst of upheaval in the shifter world, Dane encounters the unassuming, curvy and deliciously sexy Chloe Silver who injures herself hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

Chloe set out to hike the famed trail in the aftermath of heartbreak. She’s lived a well-planned life, only to learn that the best laid plans could blow up in her face. She’s looking for a fresh start, but trust doesn’t come easily for her. The mere idea of shifters has never crossed her mind, but Dane calls to her in a way that no man ever has. She finds herself tossed and turned by the depth of her attraction to him. The mountain lion in Dane knows Chloe is meant for him, but he has to find a way to earn her trust and make her believe in him and in what lies between them.

Passion burns like wildfire between them while events in Catamount put them both in danger. In a love story filled with passion, steamy romance, adventure, betrayal and secrets, Chloe will have to decide if she can accept Dane for who he is, and if she’s willing to believe in the power of love.

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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Lion Lost & Found by J.H. Croix

Posted August 15, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Series / 0 Comments

Lion Lost and FoundTitle:  Lion Lost & Found
Series:  Ghost Cat Shifters #2
Author:  J.H. Croix
Published:  July 21, 2016
My Rating:  4.5 stars
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Heath Ashworth is a mountain lion shifter from a family whose roots go back to the birth of shifters. A strong alpha male and former Marine Special Forces operative, he stumbled and lost his way after a car accident where he barely escaped with his life. His grueling recovery led him down a path he never imagined. After he tangled with the shifter smuggling network, all he wants is to make it right again. Now he’s trying to live up to the man and shifter he once was.

Vivi Sheldon once harbored a secret crush on Heath. He’s her best friend’s older brother and all kinds of tall, dark, strong and sexy. She shelved her youthful fantasies when Heath moved away for his military career. In the meantime, her heart took a few bumps and bruises. She’s a busy single mother and has convinced herself life without love is better than putting her heart on the line again.

Vivi is bold, brash and beautiful. As Heath pulls his life back together, he finds he can’t stop thinking about her. The spark between them burns so hot and bright, he doesn’t want to ignore it anymore. One kiss sets the tinder between them alight in flames. Heath isn’t sure he’s shifter enough to live up to Vivi, while Vivi struggles to let down her guard.

In a love story filled with passion, steamy romance, suspense and adventure, Heath and Vivi are bound tighter and tighter together as they face down the secrets threatening shifters everywhere. Can Heath be the shifter he believes Vivi needs? Can Vivi have faith in the love between them?

*This is a spin-off series from the Catamount Lion Shifters Series.

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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Papa Bear by Kit Fawkes

Posted August 15, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Series / 0 Comments

Papa BearTitle:  Papa Bear
Series:  Finding Fatherhood #1
Author:  Kit Fawkes & Kit Tunstall
Published:  June 9, 2016
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

U.S. Marshal and bear-shifter Lucas Anderson failed to protect his pregnant witness, so when she asks him to adopt her daughter as her dying wish, he can’t refuse. Angel is a sweet baby, and he soon feels like Papa Bear, and maybe she’ll be the key to help him wear down his mate’s resistance.

Libby has shut him down for months, and he knows they belong together, but she won’t give him a chance to prove it. Can the stubborn bear and his baby win her over to their ready made family? Can he keep his mate and child safe when the cartel that killed his witness comes after him, putting all three in danger?

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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Kiss of a Dragon by Alisa Woods

Posted August 14, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Series / 0 Comments

Kiss of a DragonTitle:  Kiss of a Dragon
Series:  Fallen Immortals #1
Author:  Alisa Woods
Published:  July 5, 2016
My Rating:  4.5 stars
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

LUCIAN
I am a Dragon Prince of the House of Smoke… and I am dying.
Five hundred years is truly enough for a man like me. A monster. Yet a ten-thousand-year treaty will die with me, if I don’t spawn a dragonling to take my place. My two brothers are no use in this task. It falls to me, the eldest by a hair’s breadth, and yet, I cannot face the horror of another sealing. Another death. Another woman’s blood on my hands.

ARABELLA
I was saved from death in a dark Seattle alley by an impossibly beautiful man who swooped in on golden wings. Now he’s taken me to his lair, opened my eyes to a world of immortals I didn’t know existed, and given me an impossible task – find him a mate. Then, and only then, will he set me free.

He needs her more than he wants; she wants him more than she should; and the fate of both the mortal and immortal worlds depends on them not just repairing their hearts, but finding a Love that’s True…

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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Redemption by Anna Lowe

Posted August 10, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Series / 0 Comments

RedemptionTitle:  Redemption
Series:  Blue Moon Saloon
Author:  Anna Lowe
Published:  June 9, 2016
My Rating:  4.5 stars
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Bear shifter Soren Voss lives and breathes for the new clan he leads as alpha. It’s all he has left after the rogue ambush that murdered the woman he loved — the woman he swears he’ll always love, even if it’s only in his dreams. But the day his dream comes true is also the start of a nightmare, because his destined mate may no longer be his and his alone. Is it fate’s way of torturing him or his last chance at redemption?

Sarah Boone narrowly escaped the inferno that claimed her family and her home. For months now, she’s been on the run with a secret that will soon be impossible to hide. But the clock is ticking, and she needs a place to settle down soon. She never expected to find the love of her life running a funky little place called the Blue Moon Saloon. He’s darker and more dangerous than ever, but somehow more vulnerable, too. Does she have it in her to be the woman her world-weary warrior needs most of all?

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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Wolf At The Door by N. J. Walters

Posted August 9, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Series / 0 Comments

Wolf At The DoorTitle:  Wolf At The Door
Series:  Salvation Pack #1
Author:  N. J. Walters
Published:  April 15, 2014
My Rating:  4.5 stars
Source:  Owned, Kindle Edition
Cover Description:

When Gwendolyn Jones inherits a Tennessee cabin from a great aunt she never knew, she quits her job and follows her dream to write full time. Meeting a stranger in a local cemetery isn’t a risk she normally takes, but she needs the information on his flash drive for an article she’s writing on werewolves. Later that night, when two honest-to-God werewolves come knocking on her cabin door, they’re definitely “not” Photoshopped.

Jacque LaForge is on a mission to retrieve a flash drive before it endangers his pack. He never thought he’d find a mate, but the chemistry between him and Gwen is unmistakably off the charts. Now to convince her he’s only trying to protect her from his vengeful former pack-led by his own father.

Gwen’s first instinct to flee only gets her a smashed car and a concussion. She wakes up in a dangerous new world she never thought existed-and in the arms of the one man who stands between her and certain death.

Shifters are sexual creatures who being so close to their animal side will never, ever pass up a chance to physically show their mates how much they are treasured – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

Read on for my thoughts on Wolf At The Door.

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Winter Eve by Lia Davis

Posted August 8, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Series / 0 Comments

Winter EveTitle:  Winter Eve
Series:  Ashwood Falls prequel
Author:  Lia Davis
Published:  December 18, 2012
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  Own Kindle Edition
Cover Description:

There comes a time when setting your differences aside isn’t just necessary, it’s a means of survival. After losing over half of their dens to a group rogue shifters, the wolves and leopards merged as one Pack, but living together is much more of a challenge then they expected.

Danica Welsh was born to be the leopard pack healer. An accident involving a drug induced youth left her badly burned and scared—emotionally and physically. Without the ability to heal by touch, she secludes herself to the edge of town, away from Ashwood Falls’ overly concerned citizens. All hope of mating and family become a distant dream. When she finally starts to accepts the long, lonely existence ahead of her, a stranger crashes into her life, and her heart.

After Nevan Mathews’ fiancé died three ago, he submerged himself into his work, cutting off all reminders of a life he dreamed of with the woman he loved. He lets his step-mother talk him into taking the first vacation in five years to visit for the holidays. But an accident delays his travel plans, sending him to Danica’s doorstep and raises a need he thought he would never feel again.

Can they tear down the walls around their hearts and submit to the passion before another claims Dani for his own?

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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Gray Back Alpha Bear by T. S. Joyce

Posted August 7, 2016 by Marsha in Shifter Series / 0 Comments

Gray Back Alpha BearTitle:  Gray Back Alpha Bear
Series:  Gray Back Bears #2
Author:  T. S. Joyce
Published:  August 8, 2015
My Rating:  4.5 stars
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Creed Barnett has one simple rule—no potential mates allowed in his territory. As if there isn’t enough on his shoulders trying to manage his crew of misfit, broken bear shifters, his past is now coming back to haunt him. And when the woman he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about for the past five months shows up in his trailer park, he’s re-thinking all the rules he set up to protect the Gray Backs. Gia is a curvy stunner, but his interest in the bombshell goes deeper than her good looks. She’s sweet, and fun, and puts his inner bear at ease in a way no other woman has managed. But Gia has also brought trouble to his territory that will turn his life upside down.

Gia Cromwell’s life is ruined. She’s lost everything she used to value about herself and has nowhere to turn but to the man who started her downfall in the first place. She fully expects the sexy, reclusive bear shifter to turn her away just like everyone else in her life, but when he offers to be her protector instead, she’ll have to fight hard to keep her walls up. She knows she isn’t Creed’s true mate, but that doesn’t stop her huge crush. How can she not fall head over heels for him? Creed is easy on the eyes, sure, but he has a heart of gold and a protective streak a mile wide for the people he cares about. Now she just has to figure out whether his interest is genuine, or if they’re both in this for all the wrong reasons.

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

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