Rating: 4🌈
How to Tame a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls #3) by Shannon Mae continues this fated mates series with the next couple, two damaged people, Atlas the Hellhound who’s mostly feral, and Aiden, the human being who is still recovering from his ordeal from his time as a prisoner and kidnap victim.
Shannon Mae, an author who’s written many of the series I have reviewed and highly recommended, writes here about some very disturbing and very sensitive topics with genuine compassion and respect. She does it well and I think within a therapeutic framework. FYI for those readers who should look at TW going forward.
Fluffy and Aiden’s growing relationship started in the previous books, with Aiden going on walks in the woods and dog-like Atlas as his companion, Fluffy. Aiden not yet understanding who or what Fluffy really is, a mostly feral Atlas who’s found his mate in the wounded Aiden.
Mae has always done a good job in presenting the Hellhounds, or a section of them, as truly otherworldly beings lacking the necessary social knowledge or understanding that allows humans to interact with others and interpret their behavior.
So the scenes and dialogue between the Hellhounds and their mates or SO’s are humorous but serve a better purpose to underscore their own Otherworldly ignorance. It works here really well.
Aiden and Atlas’s personal experiences with trauma and pain help them to find their own way through to a deeper relationship. It makes sense to us as readers.
The author has multiple storylines included here, ones that are still playing out for the next book.
It’s a highly emotional, suspense filled and satisfying story.
I was so happy for Atlas and Aiden to get their HEA.
Paradise Falls is Shannon Mae’s favorite location to play in. Can’t wait to see what happens next here.
A definite recommendation!
Hellhounds of Paradise Falls:
How To Flirt With A Hellhound #1
How To Hack A Hellhound #2
How To Tame A Hellhound #3
How To Trust A Hellhound #4 – Oct 4,2025
What else takes place in Paradise Falls?
Demonic Disasters and Afterlife Adventures (8 book series)
Buy link
How to Tame a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls Book 3)
Blurb
Aiden
Apparently, the trauma from being kidnapped doesn’t end when you’re rescued, although I’m doing better. I have a roommate who has become family, and we’ve been adopted by a pack of otherworldly creatures who protect us. I’m still a little jumpy, and most people make me uncomfortable, but baking, therapy, and my daily walks are all helping. The sweet guard dog who follows me around in the woods helps, too. I can tell him anything I want—even how scared I am of my own family. I’m afraid to bring trouble to my new family’s doorstep, but I can’t end up caged again.
Atlas (aka Fluffy)
I have never belonged. I never knew my parents, and I grew up with a pack of wolves. (Yes, I was literally raised by wolves. Believe me, I see the humor in that too.) Wilder found me and adopted me, and I have a pack and a good life. People still make me uncomfortable, though, unless I’m torturing and killing them (only hellbound people—I’m not just some random serial killer). I just like solitude. But there’s something about Aiden that calls to my hellhound, and I can’t help wanting to protect the sweet human. I’ll even put up with being nicknamed Fluffy so long as I get to stay close to him. When I find out he’s in danger, I know I can’t sit back any longer. The only problem? How will my traumatized human react to finding out I’m not just a guard dog?
Tags: Both characters have tragic backstories and need lots of comfort; Aiden loves cuddles and Fluffy is totally cuddle material; Atlas kind of likes being called Fluffy by his human, but he’ll maim anyone else who tries it; there’s torture and death (but only of really bad people); hellhounds have tails, and they know how to use them.
- Publication date: May 1, 2025
- Language: English
- Print length: 234 pages
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 