Summoned from Hell

First in the Her Angel series by Felicity Heaton, Her Dark Angel begins with the angel of death himself Apollyon, being called forth by something for a new mission and purpose. He’s quite happy for this bit of freedom after centuries being trapped guarding the devil and watching the world go by for centuries.  But when he finds the source of the call that summoned him, he also finds a young woman named Serenity with powers most people do not have.

Serenity is heartbroken over the betrayal of her boyfriend, and being a witch and descended from witches, cast a vengeance spell and was very surprised when she caught herself an angel. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Serenity accepts the angel’s help with a bit of persuasion and they begin her revenge plan.

A plan that kinda goes awry when they wind up sleeping together and falling for each other.

A quick and easy read, no earth shattering plots but I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

But we’re going to check out Scotland Lovers by Nadine Travers first.

During a hiking session, Elizabeth is teleported through time. She is still in Scotland but it is now 400 years before her time. She wants to get back home. Will she be able to, though, or will she remain in the past forever? If she can’t get back, will she be able to adapt and find happiness in this period?

Duncan knows the mating pull. He knows that this beautiful stranger is the one for him. Will he be able to convince her to stay, or will he only make the situation worse?

 

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Sundered and Sewn

First in the Talon Pack series by Carrie Anne Ryan. I REALLY liked this one, though I can’t put my finger on why.

Brie Jameson is a Beta in the Redwood pack met her mate when she was a young girl, but she kept this knowledge to herself for years, not trusting it since her mate was Gideon Brentwood, Alpha of the Talon pack. Alphas are obvi at the top of the wolf hierarchy, while betas tend to be at the bottom, so it seemed a good idea at the time to try and let him go.

Fate of course, doesn’t always work that way.

Eventually Brie is forced to meet Gideon and mate him, though it takes a while for either of them to start acting as a mated pair. He’s not willing to relinquish control and protect her every move, and while she does his best to soothe him and find her own place in his pack, she does sometimes misstep.  Also the fact that the Talon pack is recovering from the previous toxic leadership and they still don’t fully trust Gideon to leave doesn’t help matters either.

This is also one of the few werewolf/shifter romances I’ve read lately where there are same species mates so that was a nice change of pace.

There seems to be a larger story behind this series, something about a demon being released and destroying a pack, but I’m not sure if it will be revealed through the course of this series or if there is something that comes before.

But yeah definitely adding this series to the list.

Lets see if we add the next one to the list: Her Dark Angel by Felicity Heaton is next.

An angel trapped in Hell for centuries, Apollyon is tired of guarding the Devil. He longs to break free and feel the wind in his feathers, but he cannot leave the endless darkness without permission from above. When he senses someone calling him, he seizes his chance for freedom, but soon discovers the call came from a beautiful woman he has watched over from Hell, a woman who casts a spell on him and awakens the darkest desires of his heart.

Serenity is shocked when a wickedly sensual black-winged angel shows up in her city of Paris claiming that she called him when she was only casting a simple vengeance spell. He’s no other than the angel of death! When the lethally handsome warrior offers to obey her and give her revenge, Serenity can’t resist the temptation, but can she resist the forbidden hungers the dark angel stirs in her?

Vive La Werewolf Resistance!

First in the Mammoth Forest Wolves series by Kimber White, Liam tells the story of one werewolf who is basically trying to lead a resistance against the tyrannical hold of a local pack leader.

Seems this guy likes his power too much, and has held on far longer than he should. It’s even gotten to the point where he is forcing pairs to breed wolves who are genetically incapable of being alphas so he has no one to challenge him.  And of course this breeding does not have to be between willing participants.

Liam is one wolf who is trying to free those he can from this alpha, and as he’s doing so he runs into Molly Ravery, a local veterinarian’s assistant who he can tell by smell is his mate. Apparently this is a common theme among shifter/werewolf romance series? Where there are next to no female werewolves/shifter so all the males have to mate with human females who carry genetic traits capable of bearing shifter/werewolf offspring.

Anywhoodle.

This one is a bit on the darker side, aside from the forced breeding thing. I mean, the first character we’re introduced to is having an altercation with her abusive and controlling boyfriend, a family is killed, and a mated female dies. So yeah, not a lot of sunshine in this one.

Also not a lot of romance between the main duo. Usually there’s two or three full on scenes with another one or two implied, but I guess it’s kinda hard to get it on when you risk being tracked trapped and killed at any second.

I like overall story idea behind it, the Werewolf Resistance as it were, but I don’t think I’ll be picking up the series anytime soon.

Trying out Carrie Anne Ryan’s Tattered Loyalties next.

When the great war between the Redwoods and the Centrals occurred three decades ago, the Talon Pack risked their lives for the side of good. After tragedy struck, Gideon Brentwood became the Alpha of the Talons. But the Pack’s stability is threatened, and he’s forced to take a mate—only the one fate puts in his path is the woman he shouldn’t want.

Though the daughter of the Redwood Pack’s Beta, Brie Jamenson has known peace for most of her life. When she finds the man who could be her mate, she’s shocked to discover Gideon is the Alpha wolf of the Talon Pack. As a submissive, her strength lies in her heart, not her claws. But if her new Pack disagrees or disapproves of fate’s choice, the consequences could be fatal.

As the worlds Brie and Gideon have always known begin to shift, they must face their challenges together in order to help their Pack and seal their bond. But when the Pack is threatened from the inside, Gideon doesn’t know who he can trust and Brie’s life could be forfeit in the crossfire. It will take the strength of an Alpha and the courage of his mate to realize where true loyalties lie.

Rogue Everything

First in the Wildlake Wolves series by Kimber White. This one I had real difficulty with, and my issue is mostly with the believability of the main character.

So our leading lady Laura Prince is a biology research assistant who catches wind of something fishy going on with the site she’s working on. Her boss is a bit of a sleaze at first, but she thinks she can handle him, until he tries to rape her.  But our leading man Malcolm Devane in werewolf form saves the day, gets her out of the site despite a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves on their trail.  Back at his cabin, he tells her his story.  Turns out he’s and alpha who was kicked out of his pack (the Wildlake pack) after a failed challenge to the leader, and another alpha wolf with a beef against the Wildlake pack is now on a murderous rampage to wipe them all out starting with our hero wolf, and he is forcing other werewolves to follow and obey him.

So first she is attacked by her boss, saved by a werewolf, had her entire world paradigm shift, and what’s her first thought?

Get down on all fours and spread her legs.

Umm…no.

I am all for a character not fighting their feelings and going for it, but it is VERY hard for me to believe that no matter how strong those feelings are, a character will willingly and without any self-doubt or flashbacks or what have you’s, jump into bed with someone less than 24hrs after being sexually assaulted.

It wasn’t even a case of like trying to erase the memory and feelings of the attack with a more positive experience or anything similar. It was literally ‘I was just attacked and almost raped but I’m hot for you so Imma bend over and you can fuck me from behind k?’

So yeah. Not a fan of this one.  Defiantly not continuing with this series.

Tempting fate here with another Kimber White book, Liam is next.

For two generations, the wolf shifters of Mammoth Forest have lived under the brutal, ruthless control of the Kentucky Chief Pack Alpha. They have been denied their freedom, their rightful packs, and fated mates for far too long. Now, five brave men have forged a secret alliance hell-bent on resistance. Follow along as the shifters of Mammoth Forest fight to reclaim the women they love and the packs they were born to lead.

Liam – On a mission for critical medical supplies, Liam comes across curvy spitfire Molly. His protective instincts kick into overdrive. But, Molly’s stronger than she looks and she’s fully capable of taking care of her own damn self. It takes about two seconds for Liam to figure out Molly’s his fated mate. In another time and another place, that would make things simple. Here in Kentucky, that makes her a weapon the Chief Pack can use against Liam and all the resistance fighters in Mammoth Forest.

Molly – Molly Ravary’s not the kind of girl who believes in love at first sight. But when Liam McConnell walks into her life, all rippling muscles and eyes blazing with mystery, she might just have to rethink that. He’s hiding something but that doesn’t keep her from being drawn to him. When he reveals his true shifter self, Molly knows she should head for the hills. Except, his nature calls to hers and his truth opens a hidden, magical world she’s been living in all along. Instead of turning away like she knows she should, Molly finds herself all in.

 

The Art of It All

Another one by Steffanie Holmes, this one the first in the Crookshollow Gothic series. So I enjoyed Digging the Wolf enough to check out another kinda in this series, though technically I only read half of this because I didn’t realize the free book I downloaded of it was like a preview, but the half I read I enjoyed.

I liked this one because it was more unusual than most of the shape shifting romances out there. This one was all about a recluse fox shifter billionaire Ryan Raynard, descendant of the local fox shifters, heir to their throne, but of course there are always contenders.

I’m not wholly sure what the back story and the history is here since it was only half the book I read, all I know is sexy fox shifter is under attack by several different kinds of shifters who have been attacking humans in the area recently. I think they want to start a human vs shifter war?  And of course the innocent art museum curator Alexandra Kline  is caught up in the middle of things and takes up with the fox before taking time to figure out his whole story.

The best part about this half book thing? After Ryan told Alex she was his mate and they have sex, Alex is woken up by another woman who also claims to be his mate.

Dun dun DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!

Fuzzy love triangle right there.

I want to know how this story ends, but honestly not enough to pursue it right now. These Crookshollow books are firmly in the ‘when I have time’ pile for now.

More wolf romance!  Rogue Alpha by Kimber White is next.

Biology student Laura Prince lands a plum internship deep in the Michigan wilderness. When she discovers a lone black wolf with piercing gold eyes in the forest, she feels a connection to him she can’t explain. Stranger still, no one believes what she saw was real. Then, she encounters Malcolm Devane — a very real, tall, dark, brooding stranger with hauntingly familiar golden eyes. Laura is drawn to Mal in ways she knows are dangerous. But, when everything Laura has worked for gets torn away, he’s the only one she can turn to.

Exiled from his native pack lands, Mal is on a mission of redemption. If he can bring down a rival Alpha wolf and reclaim his pack, he just might get the chance to return home. But when he meets Laura, she stirs a dark passion in him he thought he could never have again. He knows instantly that she’s his fated mate but it may be the very thing that gets her killed. For a powerful enemy with nothing left to lose won’t hesitate to hurt Laura to get to Mal. Even though Mal knows the safest thing to do is walk away, the dark wolf inside him may be too strong to deny.

Digging for More Than Gold

Digging the Wolf is the first in the Wolves of Crookshollow series by Steffanie Holmes. I was a little skeptical of this at first, but I ended up enjoying it.

Young research assistant Anna meets older broody werewolf male Luke who is trying to keep humans away from his family’s shame, but someone else is trying to keep them both away from an even darker secret.

I wish they would have gone into the lore of the world a wee bit more, it’s basically our world with magic, and Crookshollow is apparently a convergeance of ley lines so lots of supernatural creatures are drawn there, and there are next to no shifter females so the males have to mate with humans. And of course those females who are destined for them or at the very least are capable of bearing shifter offspring can be identified by smell, but that’s about it.  Like what created the shifter races?  How do witches get their magic?  Are there any other supernatural creatures out there aside from shifters?

Fluff romance is fluff. The narrative is interesting, shifting from one character’s PoV to the other’s each chapter.  I liked the characters, the leading lady was nerdy and awkward and very endearing, leading man was a bit too hard headed and stubborn for me, but otherwise not bad.  Don’t think I’ll pick up the series, but not bad.

Another Crookshollow book is up next, the Art of Cunning.

Alexandra Kline has landed her dream job – curating her first art exhibition at the prestigious Halt Institute in the small English village of Crookshollow. But the dream quickly turns into a nightmare when she’s forced to work with Ryan Raynard – the arrogant, reclusive artist who refuses to co-operate with her. When Ryan’s paintings don’t show up at the gallery on time, Alex heads out to his crumbling, gothic manor to give him a piece of her mind.

Billionaire artist Ryan Raynard hides a dark secret. He is a fox shifter, who shuns the company of humans and hunts alone at night in the forest surrounding his home. But the moment he laid eyes on Alex, he can’t help but be drawn to her. He can sense that she’s the descendent of a powerful shifter clan, and she is destined to become his mate. If only he was ready to fall in love again …

As Ryan and Alex are drawn together, they realise they are facing bigger problems than Ryan’s stone-cold heart. Crookshollow is being overrun with a different kind of shifter – ruthless and deadly, these shifters are killing humans indiscriminately for no apparent reason. And they are hot on Alex’s scent. Can Ryan keep Alex safe from harm, or will his need for her endanger them both?

A Different Kind of Sacrifice

First in the Stonefire Dragon series by Jessie Donovan, Sacrificed to the Dragon is a new twist for me when it comes to dragon shifters.

I’m used to reading Sherrilyn Kenyon’s works where all these shape shifters are running around right under the noses of the very humans they often try to protect, but this one actually brings the shifters out into the open in present day.

So in this cosmology, the dragons of our mythology exist and can actually shift into human form like werewolves. They were hunted to near extinction before declaring their existence to the world and bargaining a truce with humanity by offering their blood (a cure all for 99% of diseases science is unable to take care of) in exchange for peace.  Five dragon clans carved out their territories and negotiated where they could and could not go among the human lands, and for the most part the two races have lived in peace.

Of course there are still dragon hunters around who capture, torture, and kill them to sell their parts on the black market, but there is peace for the most part.

Existing only in the UK (as far as I know from this one book) there is even a whole department of government dedicated to continuing and nurturing ties between dragons and humans, including the sacrifices.

No, not the ‘om nom virgin’ sacrifices, but rather human females willing to sacrifice some of their time along with their bodies to help the dragon shifters continued existence.

Being hunted almost to extinction is never a good thing, and the dragon shifters find themselves in need of females and young to continue their line. So women volunteer to live among the dragons for six month, and sleep with an assigned male in an attempt to be impregnated by him.  Only women with a certain genome can breed with the dragon shifters, and there is rigorous physical and mental tests to ensure the health and safety of the female while she lives with the dragons, but if all checks out away she goes.  If she gets pregnant, she stays to give birth, after which she can leave and resume her normal life.

Melanie Hall is one such sacrifice. With her younger brother dying of an otherwise incurable infection, she offers herself up and is found acceptable.  Paired with a dragon male who is such an ass at first, albeit with good reason, Melanie tries to make sense of her temporary new world and after seeing the disparity between humans and dragons first hand, is determined to change it.

The only thing is, there is no real Big Bad to focus on for this installment. It’s all focused on the main characters, with world building backstory which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s hard to put a finger on what the overall series plot it.  Aside from hot dragonman sex.

There is mention near the end of a particularly cruel and vicious group of dragon hunters with some fancy new weapon to take dragons down on the wing so I assume that’s them, but they literally come in like two chapters before the end of the books so I’m not wholly sure.

Either way this series is now on my wish list so it’s only a matter of time till I find out.

Up next, Digging the Wolf by Steffanie Holmes.

Anna: It’s been five months since my boyfriend was tragically killed in a climbing accident. I didn’t think I was over him … until Luke walked on to the archaeological site. Tall, dark, sexy, tattooed, funny, dangerous. Everything I want in a man. But he’s hiding something. He acts strangely in the moonlight. He won’t tell me anything about his life. And I caught him trying to destroy an important find. My body aches for him, but my heart tells me I’m not ready to make myself vulnerable again, especially not for a guy who isn’t being straight with me. If only …

Luke: Anna Sinclair – archaeologist, geek girl, totally and utterly delectable. I knew from the moment her intoxicating scent wafted across my wolf senses, she’s meant to be mine. And that knowledge is terrifying. The last thing I expected was to find my fated mate on an archaeological site. Whenever I’m near her, all I want to do is claim her. But she’s broken. The last thing she needs in her life is a werewolf out for revenge. I’m here to destroy the site, to keep my family’s past buried forever. If Anna finds out the truth, she’d never speak to me again. But I can’t deny the bond between us. I’ll do anything to make her mine.