Tag Archives: shifters

A new reading challenge: Wolf Marked

Oh you guys, I found a new reading challenge. You know how much I love to build little reading challenges for myself!

I generally keep See Sadie Read and Sadie’s Spotlight fairly separate, so that promoting books won’t compromise the integrity of my reviews (or even give the impression of it). But lets be honest, I find a lot of new books over at Sadie’s Spotlight and end up reading and reviewing them here. I mean, give an obsessive reader access to tons of new book posts and she’s bound to find a few (hundred) that interest her.

Well, that’s what is happening now. The idea actually started as a joke. I noticed that there had been three different books with the same title on Sadie’s Spotlight within a short time of one another.

So, I took to Twitter to share the fun. And to my delight I wasn’t the only one who was amused.

They absolutely need to duke it out

— Rhode Red masked indoors at public places (@rhoderedpvd) August 9, 2021

Well, when @rhoderedpvd agreed, seeing them “duke it out” seemed like an excellent idea after all…and feasible.

I already had a copy of Veronica Douglas‘ Wolf Marked, as Xpresso Book Tours included a copy with the tour material, and I was able to buy a copy of Alexis Calder’s Wolf Marked. That only left Harper Brooks’ Wolf Marked as a hold out. It isn’t actually released until Sept. 9. But, Lady Amber’s PR came through with a review ARC. So, this reading challenge is on.

Here’s how they break down. All are in the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance arena. Calder’s calls itself New Adult, while the other two don’t. But Books’ heroine appears to be in her twenties. So, it very easily could be, and Douglas doesn’t specify in the blurb. But I’m anticipating a lot of early twenties female leads and growly wolf love interests. (We’ll have to wait and see if I’m right or not.)

To be a little more detailed, here are the actual blurbs:

Description:

The cycle of the moon can bring love… or death.

Time is running out for Astrid. If the wolf-shifter doesn’t find her soul’s mate before her twenty-fifth Blue Moon rises, the consequences will be fatal. With only three weeks left, things aren’t looking good… until Erec, a smooth-talking rogue wolf, lands at her feet.

The strange spark between them leaves Astrid wondering if this mysterious man could be the one meant to break her curse. But can she trust him?

From the moment Jerrick killed the only man Erec ever looked up to, Erec vowed to stop the crazed wolf. Partnering with the west-side pack seemed the logical move to accomplish that goal. But he never expected to fall for the alpha’s beautiful daughter, and now this lone wolf is wondering if she could be the one to save him from the curse.

With imminent dangers looming and the swirling patterns on their skin marking them for death, can Astrid and Erec save the west-side pack from the encroaching pack before their last Blue Moon rises in the sky?

Description:

They tried to break me. Now I’m going to break them.

Cursed to never shift, the only thing I was looking forward to about the First Moon Ceremony was that the magic sealing me into Wolf Creek would break, and I could finally leave.

Instead, the ceremony reveals my true mate: Tyler Grant, future leader of my pack and the man responsible for my most recent concussion and black eye. He’s as brutal as he is handsome and fate is a bitch to put us together.

There’s a rumor that a mating bond could break my curse and just as I’m getting my hopes up, Tyler destroys them all.

Instead of bonding with my mate, I’m beaten and left for dead.

A hot-as-sin feral shifter finds me and helps me back on my feet. But his help comes with a cost and I’m not sure I’m willing to pay the price.

With my former pack hunting me down, even an enemy might be a better ally than trying to stay alive on my own.

Description:

Werewolves are hunting me down.

I was just an ordinary girl working tables in small-town Wisconsin. I had no idea magic was real. That was, until I backed my car over a werewolf a couple times.

In my defense, the wolf was trying to murder me, and I was all out of mace.

Now I’ve got a pack of rogue wolves on my heels, and the only one who can protect me is Jaxson Laurent—the Chicago Alpha. He suspects I’m special and can’t take his eyes off me, but the problem is—he’s the sworn enemy of my family and every time we get close it feels like something is going to rip out of my soul.

With danger around every corner and wolves howling in the night, I need to master my magic and stand my ground, or I’ll be dead before the next moon rises.

Stay tuned to see how it all plays out!

Book Review: Wild Rising, by K. Panikian

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Author, K.Panikian sent me a copy of Wild Rising (Yellowstone Shifters, #1) for review.

“My name is Sienna Wilder and up until about age 12, I thought I was human.”

From a young age, Sienna learned to control the savage creature that raged in her heart. Swearing never to unleash the puma again, she kept her head down, her emotions level, and she survived.

Inside though, she yearned to find a place where she could roam free. Landing her dream job as a park ranger at Yellowstone, Sienna thinks she’s finally found it, only to discover that she’s not the only one with a secret beast. Now, women are disappearing and no one is paying attention. Sienna must discover the truth or she may be next. Can she learn to trust her wild side in time to save herself and the others?

I was really pleasantly surprised by this one. I liked Sienna and the other park shifters. I liked the world Panikian creates here, and I enjoyed the murder mysteries (though having two unrelated ones did dilute the plot a bit). I was also intrigued by the possible, future love interest. I can only imagine the series is going to be slow burn in the romance department. There is attraction here, sure, but not even the beginnings of a romance yet. So, don’t go in expecting passion to leap off the page.

I did think that after a lifetime of dealing with fear and her beast Sienna sure overcame the issue with unbelievable ease. And I thought the possessive female betas warning off the new woman in town a little cliched. (Though having powerful, authoritative female betas was a plus in other ways.)

On a side note—just for FYI—I like the cover, but think it makes the book look YA/NA, like Sienna is an older teen. But she’s a full-fledged park ranger. Her age isn’t given, but to complete training and work in the field for a decade, I can only imagine her in her late twenties at least. I only mention it so people go in with appropriate expectations.

All in all, I’d be happy to read the next book in the series when it comes out. In fact, if it was available yet, I probably would have continued right into it last night, when I finished Wild Rising.

Book Review: Wolf Hunter, by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

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I won a signed paperback copy of Linda Thomas-Sundstrom‘s Wolf Hunter.

Two enemies fated to be supernatural lovers… Only a few people know about the Weres hidden deep within Miami’s underground. Those few either embrace the wolves, or seek to destroy them. Cameron Mitchell has sought to protect his kind. But one beautiful woman may be his undoing. Born into a family of wolf hunters is one thing. But when Abby Stark actually meets one, she is immediately drawn to Cameron Mitchell. Abby knows she and Cameron have no future. Yet walking away from him, and from the danger he represents, proves to be impossible.

Welp, this was not at all what I expected. I’d seen this labeled New Adult. And to be fair Abby is 23-24 years old, so New Adult age. And while I know plenty of New Adult titles do have sex in them, they don’t usually have the characters sexing it up within about 10 minutes of first meeting, after having exchanged about 10 sentences, which is what happens in Wolf Hunter. I’ll grant that Thomas -Sundstrom did a good job of establishing that there was some sort of magnetic, paranormal draw at play. But it definitely required that I re-calibrate my expectations. (I also didn’t realize it’s 4th in a series, but that took much less mental adjustment. It stands alone pretty well.)

I don’t actually have any problem with the book being more erotica than romance. In fact, I can’t really say there was any romance at all. The attraction and loyalty and love was all based on the characters being fated mates and the go-go-go of the plot never allows them to actually speak and get to know one another. So, I’ll re-phrase. I don’t have any problem with this being erotica (or erotica-like, since I wouldn’t quite call the sex graphic enough to truly qualify), instead of romance, as I expected. Especially since the little bit of plot that the sexy-times hang on is entertaining, the writing is easily readable, and the editing clean.

Thus, as long as you go into this with appropriate expectations it’s perfectly enjoyable. I’ll probably even look up those earlier books that I apparently skipped.

Other Reviews:

Paranormal Romance Guild