Tag Archives: shifter romance

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Audio Book Review: Reckless, by A.J. Merlin

I received a free Audible code for A.J. Merlin‘s Reckless through FreeAudibleCodes. And, honestly, I probably owe the author an apology because I received the code when I was doing a ton of diamond paintings. But then I got accepted into graduate school and all of those opportunities evaporated. So, this book has been waiting in the wings for a while. But I’ve started walking now, which means time to listen again.

Maned wolf shifter Alek Sawyer is a pro at landing on her feet. From being dropped into foster care as a child, to tripping over her hopeless romantic tendencies as a teenager, she’s an omega with no need of an alpha or a pack. With a curvy figure and a mean right hook, she’s also not the omega that most alphas expect her to be.

But Hades, Roman, and Wilder aren’t ‘most alphas.’ When Alek is unexpectedly and irrevocably drawn to the exhibitionist panther, the quiet but firm coyote, and the secretive dire wolf, she can’t help but be reminded of the fairy tale romance she’s always wanted. But when things start heating up, she starts to realize her day dreams are drifting to some darker corners than she remembers. Corners with collars and cuffs and a strong dominating presence.

But her new romance isn’t all kinky games and bdsm parties. Her new alphas come with secrets of their own and lead lives that Alek has never considered for herself. At the end of the day, will their sudden and powerful connection be enough to keep them together?

Or will their pasts, or Alek’s own skeletons, force them apart?

my review

This is a great big “Meh” for me. And I cannot tell you how disappointed I am about that. Because the book has all of the elements to be a winner, but it just never quite manages it. It has the ingredients for interesting characters, but they remain shallow cardboard cutouts (the men especially). It has a lead-up for a strong romance, but the characters basically only come together for sex, so even that never appears. It has the structure for an interesting plot, but it never quite develops. The writing is mechanically fine, but never memorable. Same for the narration. Nothing is wrong with it (other than the alphas not sounding particularly alpha-like), but nothing stands out. The book almost says something noteworthy by being such a clear analogy with alpha/omega standing in for men/women in a patriarchal society, and how women are treated. But pulls back before actually saying it, such that it ends up just feeling like a cheap plot device rather than a meaningful comparison. There are so many almosts here. But ultimately that’s all.

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Reckless by A.J. Merlin – Book review

 

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Book Review: Kiss of Smoke, by Amy Pennza

I purchased a copy of Amy Pennza‘s Kiss of Smoke from the TikTok shop.

Kiss of Smoke Cover

What was supposed to be a dream vacation just turned into a nightmare. It’s not every day you board a private jet for an all-expenses-paid trip to Scotland with your two gorgeous bosses. And it’s not every day you spot your fiancé kissing another woman across the terminal.

The man I was ready to marry has been cheating on me for a year. Dumped and humiliated, the best I can do is get on the plane and lick my wounds. Fortunately, my bosses are more than willing to help…and in more ways than I ever imagined.

But Lachlan and Alec can’t possibly be interested in me. They’re in love with each other…right? Scotland is cold this time of year, but these Scots are bringing the heat in ways I’m not sure I can handle.

And as they continue fanning the flames, it’s clear they’ve been hiding more than their attraction to me. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Now I have to hope I don’t get burned.

my review

Oh, what a disappointment. I really wanted to love this, but I just didn’t. Some of the issues are first-book-in-a-series syndrome, setting the world, introducing the magic system, etc. However, it’s mainly that the book felt poorly balanced in two ways.

First, it’s about 85% sex, which is fine. Except that the author didn’t seem to recognize that it’s an erotic novel and kept trying to insert plot points. Unfortunately, they felt random and ill-supported, since it’s otherwise an erotic fantasy novel. The end result is that the book neither excelled in plot nor erotica, as it could have if it had chosen one or the other.

Second, this is a polyamorous relationship in which the two men are an established couple trying to find a female mate to bring into their bed. You feel this a lot. From start to finish, this was Lachlan and Alec, plus Chloe. At no point did I feel like she was equally as important in the relationship as the two of them. This comes out in the sex scenes, especially. There are a lot more of just the two of them than the three of them, and none with just her and one of them. They are a couple outside of her; she is not a couple with either of them outside of the other, and they never form a balanced trio, in my opinion.

Lastly, though not a matter of balance (and this is a spoiler), I really disliked the solution to the sticking point over her humanity. One of the men does not think a human is good enough to be a dragon mate. Meanwhile, she is experiencing significant issues with self-worth. Instead of writing a solution in which her self-confidence is improved and he comes to appreciate humans, kiss of smoke photothe author instead threw in a sudden and random “Oh, she’s not human after all,” which did nothing to solve the underlying problems.

All in all, this was a flop for me. I appreciate that some of the author’s random attempts as plot made obvious attempts to normalize some contentious real-world issues of contemporary America. But that wasn’t enough to save this for me. I was hoping for a new series to dive into. But I will be stopping here instead.


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Review: Kiss of Smoke by Amy Pennza

 

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Book Review: The Rejected Shifter’s Required Bride, by Brigitte Delery

I picked up a copy of Brigitte Delery‘s The Rejected Shifter’s Required Bride during a freebie event last Christmas.

the rejected shifter's required bride

Promised to a stranger in an arranged marriage masked ball he wasn’t supposed to attend. Paired for life with a monster she doesn’t know how to tame. The last thing either expected to find was love.

Wolf shifter Malin Fenren of the Dark Claw Pack should have been celebrating his first days as a happily mated future Alpha. Instead, the woman he thought was his forever mate left him at the altar for someone else and his exciting future turned into something far more horrific- a fate where he turns into the worst kind of monster he could imagine before succumbing to his own destruction. In a last ditch effort to save him from a quick decline into madness and death, Malin’s parents swap him in for a spot in the Mate Masquerade, where volunteers from each supernatural community are paired in arranged marriages with strangers to maintain peace between them all.

As part of the often-maligned human community, Isabella Thompson stepped up as a volunteer for this year’s Mate Masquerade in exchange for payment of her father’s debts. She doesn’t quite know what she’s gotten herself into, but if it saves her sisters from poverty and destitution, she’s going to make the best of things. Getting paired with a monster who might kill her at any moment was a risk she’d have to take. But falling for her assigned mate definitely wasn’t part of the plan.

This paranormal fantasy romance book was originally part of the Wicked Arrangements collaboration and is now part of the Mate Masquerade series. Each book in this series features an arranged marriage masquerade ball where participants are paired and expected to wed and bed a stranger by the end of the night.

my review

The cover is atrocious. The editing is hit or miss, often miss. The plot is pretty predictable, and the necessity of the mate-ball being a masquerade makes little sense. (It’s my understanding that this was initially written as part of a multi-author shared world involving the mate masquerade.) Despite all of that, I enjoyed this. Isabella is immensely practical, and I love a practical heroine who will just get on with what must be done. Malin is just incredibly sweet and trying to hold it together to do the right thing in what is, for him, a very challenging situation. And the sister offers a little comic relief. All in all, it makes for an endearing read.

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