Category: Shifters, Weres

A PaulB Review: Wolf Whistle (Werewolves of Manhattan #7) by A.C. Katt

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

wolf-whistle-2I always eagerly await the next book in the Werewolves of Manhattan series.  And with this seventh edition, I am not disappointed.

The board members of Garou Industries are celebrating the mating and wedding of Etienne Daurensbourg and Julio Reyes in suburban Chicago.  As a wedding present to Julio, Etienne has found Julio’s childhood friend Richard Kerrigan who is living in Chicago.  The two have not seen each other in over ten years, when Julio was placed in foster care after the death of his parents.  Richard’s family was not able to take Julio in because of state regulations and was not given any further information on him.  Richard jumps at the chance to reunite with his friend.

Richard has been living in Chicago for the past few years to take care of his sick mother.  While going through this, he is fired from his job as an engineer after blowing the whistle on shoddy parts in military vehicles.  The company effectively blackballs him from any other engineering company in Chicagoland.  Richard is unable to move after paying for his mother’s medical and funeral expenses.  Working at a local bar, a local Serbian mobster takes an interest in him.  Knowing that sooner or later, the mobster will make his move on him resulting in unwanted sexual encounters or worse, he takes the offer of a job at Garou, which Etienne has helped arrange.  He is to be mentored by Julien Bellaire, who happens to be Richard’s mate.  Arrangements are made so that Richard can leave with Julio and the board of Garou the next morning.

As usual, the mating of a board member does not go off as planned.  The Serbian mobster will not let Richard go that easily.  He tracks him down to New York in order to get him back.  There is also the fact that Richard must be told that he is Julien’s mate and that the board members of Garou are all wolf shifters.  Julien hopes that through Julio’s friendship and Colin’s book that the transition is not as traumatic as the others have been.  Now all Julien has to do is ensure that Richard is alive by the time they travel to Oregon for the mating ceremony.

As the characters in the book point out, the mates and matings all seem to follow a pattern.  But the author makes each one unique and then starts to change the script on the reader.  As with the previous two novels, we are introduced to the next potential mate at the end of the book.  This mate seems to shatter the mold completely.  I liked the introduction of Don Ferone’s gay stepson.  He wants his stepfather to change his ways but is isolated from most of the family business because of his thoughts.  I am pretty sure he will be a go between for the two powerful forces in New York.  Please hurry with book eight, Ms. Katt.

Winterheart Designs’ cover art is another winner.  The red headed Richard and brunette Julien are above a New York bridge skyline with a wolf howling against the backdrop of the moon above. 

Sales Links

MLR Press

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Book Details

EBook, 201 pages

Edition Language:  English

Published January 20, 2017 by MLR Press

ISBN:  978-1-944700-44-0

Series:  Werewolves of Manhattan

His Omega (Werewolves of Manhattan #1)

Remy’s Painter (Werewolves of Manhattan #2)

Scarred Mate (Werewolves of Manhattan #3)

Marking Kane (Werewolves of Manhattan #4)

Alexi’s Mouse (Werewolves of Manhattan #5)

Julio’s Wolf (Werewolves of Manhattan #6)

Wolf Whistle (Werewolves of Manhattan #7)

A Paul B Release Day Review: Wolfmanny by Julia Talbot

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

wolfmannyJack McMillian is about to get away to Mexico for a vacation when his boss summons him to his office.  When the boss, a lion shifter, asks Jack to do him a favor, you know it must be big.  He wants Jack to go to Colorado to take on the job of manny to five wolf shifter pups ranging from age fifteen to twin three year olds.  It appears the young fifteen year old she-wolf bit their previous nanny, an ostrich shifter.  The head of the household, the children’s uncle, is CEO of a major computer company and known as a good alpha.  Deciding Vail was an alternative to Mexico, Jack decides to take the job, at least temporarily.

Kenneth Marcon has been raising his sister’s children for the past couple of years.  The children’s father dropped them off shortly after his wife’s death, unable to cope with the five children, two of which were infant twins.  He has help running both his company and his household from Miles.  Miles has had a thing for Ken but never acted upon it as Ken was both his boss and his alpha.  Things start to change when the new manny arrives.  When Jack begins to take interest in Miles, Ken starts to assert his feelings not only for his assistant but for the new manny as well.  Just as the three are forming their bond, Ken is called away to London to complete a business deal for his software company.  While Ken skypes with his family, it’s not enough for Jack or Miles and they see that Ken is not dealing well with being away either.  Can the men convince Ken to balance his work and home life better as seven people need him also?

This was a slightly different take on a shifter story for me.  When Ken is introduced as an alpha, I thought that there would be a big pack under his control.  Instead it seems that the pack is actually his family and those he employs for his household and company.  There is talk about sentries patrolling but I was not sure if it was just his estate or pack lands they were patrolling.  The mink shifters were a unique twist to what one would think would make a good bodyguard for the children.  Each of the children had their own personalities.  Simone is just beginning to shift again and doesn’t understand why she is different than her friends.  Tommy yearns for a male role model.  Ginny is the tom boy who is beginning to get interested in more feminine things.  And twins Jim and Joe just changed from wolf pups to their human form so they are exploring the world in their other form.  Personally, I thought the last couple of chapters would have been better as the start of a sequel to this book.  And I’m sure it will be a jumping off point for any such book.  I am waiting for more adventures of this family.

I absolutely adore the cover by Christine Griffin.  It has three wolf paw prints within a heart on a wood surface.  This is perfect for the book.

Sales Links

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Book Details

ebook, 216 pages
Expected publication: February 6th 2017 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1635332877 (ISBN13: 9781635332872)
Edition LanguageEnglish

An Alisa Review: American Telepath (Dragons Schooled #2) by Emily Carrington

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

american-telepathJames is a water dragon who fell in love with a human. Rather than expose that human to a dangerous magical world, James abandons Henry.

 

Five years later, they meet again—and it’s like they were never separated. Except Henry refuses—beyond the occasional bang—to have anything to do with James.

 

When Henry is punished for upsetting a powerful magical creature, James follows him into imprisonment. Together they struggle, with impromptu sex and in spite of discoveries, to overcome the past.

 

I am not quite sure how to describe this story.  James and Henry dated in high school and James deeply hurt Henry when he left without a word.  James is surprised when he meets Henry again at Searchlight Academy, but they don’t start out again on a good foot.

 

We get to see both characters’ points of view which helps understand both of their struggles and feelings.  This story mainly focuses on how dangerous dragons and other magical creatures are, which seemed a bit strange to me as I didn’t get that feeling about them in the first book in the series.  I had a hard time connecting with James and Henry as they both kept trying to keep secrets or wall themselves off from the other and acting totally opposite of their thoughts, it just didn’t jive for me.  Some of their problems stem from their earlier relationship, but also from how they have been hurt by others however little and unacknowledged it was.  I did like how James finally learns to stand up for himself in order to keep Henry safe.

 

Cover art by Fiona Jayde is nice and shows the safe house and a visual of James.

 

Sales Links: Loose Id | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 75 pages

Published: December 21, 2016 by Loose Id

ISBN: 9781682522332

Edition Language: English

Series: Dragons Schooled #2

In the Spotlight: Victoria Sue with a New Release – The Alpha King (Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway)

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The Alpha King by Victoria Sue
Published January 26, 2017

Available for Purchase at

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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Victoria Sue and her new release, The Alpha King.  The author has brought along an exclusive excerpt and a giveaway for everyone to enter.  Enjoy!

Blurb

The Kingdom of Askara has been torn apart by conflict for centuries, where humans exist as subservient beings to their werewolf masters. Legend says it will only be able to heal itself when an Alpha King and a pure omega are mated and crowned together, but a pure omega hasn’t been born in over a thousand years.

Luca is an Alpha-heir eagerly awaiting the choosing ceremony on his twenty-fifth birthday and the gifts granted by whichever omega he mates. His small pack is destitute due to the decisions of its ruling council, but being only an Alpha-heir, he has no authority to challenge them. Not until now—this moment he has waited a long time for.

Kit grew up as a street-rat, an unlicensed human who would never be more than a slave for whichever master owns him. Then one day he came across a young Alpha-heir, attacked and dying of poison, and found out their fates were suddenly entwined.

Luca needs to take over his pack and save his people. He cannot afford to be distracted. But when he meets Kit, he develops abilities indicating he is not just a pack Alpha, but the King his world has needed for a thousand years.

Is Kit really the cause of Luca’s newfound power, the true mate he needs? How is it possible when the young man isn’t even a werewolf, and as merely a human, a mating is not only forbidden, but for Kit, a sentence of death?

Exclusive excerpt

Kit was warm and before he marveled at the unusual occurrence, he snuggled further into heat…and arms that tightened automatically when he moved. He instantly knew. Luca. My mate. The Alpha King destined to heal a fractured Askara, and me, Kit, a guttersnipe bastard orphan destined to help him.

Human children were illegal in Askara without a license, and that would only be given to valued guards or those who had a trade. The Alphas remained terrified that because humans bred so easily, humans would become unmanageable in number and therefore a threat to the smaller wolf population, she-wolves only went into heat once every three years, and even then, pups were no guarantee to any except a breeder.

Kit’s mother had always told him he should never have been born. Pleasure-slaves were barred from procreating because their very profession meant that there was no guarantee the father’s identity would be known, and, what was even worse, the father might be a wolf. Any attempt to breed hybrids was a sentence of death for the mother and child.

Pleasure slaves were so careful not to become pregnant. Herbs were mixed and potions were regularly drunk, and then if those methods ever failed, the birth would be induced quickly so the baby would never survive. Kit never knew how his mother had managed to hide her pregnancy. If any of the gammas had seen her, she would have been forced into labor, and if the child survived then its throat would have been slit.

His earliest memories were of being told to be quiet. Silent. Never to cry. Never to complain of being cold or being hungry, and never ever to make a noise when he was locked away in the cupboard. He could even beg silently, fix his mother with pleading eyes as she locked him away night after night so when the men came no one would ever know she kept an illegal child.

Kit shivered and Luca’s arms tightened again. Light was just creeping into the room and he knew he had slept a long time, been helped when his own hands shook too much to hold a cup of water, been carried to the bathroom when he needed to empty his bladder; been soothed when the night terrors had woken him. Kit never slept deeply. He didn’t dare. He would stay awake as much as he could until exhaustion claimed him and he was too tired to stop the dreams and the memories.

Memories of the last night with his mother crept into him. He’d been sick. He’d begged that day as usual, and gleefully found some kitchen scraps. He was used to eating food that others threw away, but something he had eaten that day had made him sick, a belly ache that tore at his insides until he had to stuff a rag in his mouth to quiet the whimpers. He must have slept until in his fevered imagination he could feel unseen arms pulling at him, making it seem he was no longer alone in the small cupboard when he woke. Heat drenched him, and chills stripped him of his control. Of his silence. He cried. He thought his whispered entreaties wouldn’t be heard but suddenly the cupboard door was ripped open and the half-naked gamma that was bedding his mother bellowed in anger and summoned the guards. He had been yanked from the cupboard just as the gamma’s knife had flashed into his hand.

Then his dreams always turned red. Deep crimson rivers seemed to drown his mother’s cries as they covered her body. She had stepped in front of him as the gamma had gone to slit his throat and the knife had slashed her chest. Covered in his mother’s blood, he had run far, far away, and in the confusion, no one had stopped him. He had many hungry days after that. Unscrupulous wolves who were willing to overlook an unlicensed human child meant they simply hid that human away when any visitors arrived. Unlicensed humans, grateful for anything they could get, simply had to endure. Kit whimpered and blinked to force the images away. He felt the arms move around him as he took a shuddering breath to calm down. The hot puff of air brushed his cheek as Luca moved even closer.

“What is it?” Luca’s deep voice seeped into Kit’s skin and soothed his frantically pounding heart. Luca moved his palm across Kit’s chest and rested it there. It was so warm. “It beats as if it wants to escape, but I can’t have that,” Luca said quietly. “It belongs to me.”

Kit let the gentle finger tilt his chin until he was looking into Luca’s deep gray eyes. Kit took a deep breath. “Bad dreams, Sire,” he whispered unwilling to give them voice.

Kit closed his eyes as Luca bent and kissed his forehead. “I’m here. I won’t let you have any more bad dreams.”

“Because you said so?” Kit teased.

Luca shuffled onto his back and drew Kit down so he was resting on Luca’s chest. The heavy thump of Luca’s heart was the best thing he had ever heard. Solid, real. “Well apparently, I’m the King so I hereby decree no more nightmares.”

Kit smiled at the amusement in Luca’s tone. He took another deep breath and snaked a hand across Luca’s chest. He heard the approving rumble.

“I decided you were a dream, you know.”

“A nightmare?” Kit offered.

Luca brushed a tender kiss on Kit’s head as if to dismiss the suggestion. “I have heard the legends, obviously, but I didn’t know an omega could be human.”

“You have questions,” Kit said quietly.

“Did you know? All those years ago? And if so, why didn’t you stay with me? I could have protected you.”

Kit closed his eyes briefly. The pain and frustration was as raw in Luca’s voice as his back had been yesterday. “I dreamed other things. I knew you were going to be Alpha King, but not until I touched you, and I also knew that it wasn’t the time for us to be together. If you had shown signs of your gifts because of me, it would have put your life at risk, and you needed to be safe until you were twenty-five. There are many who do not want to return to the days of the Alpha Kings.”

“But you suffered.”

Kit swallowed. The horror in Luca’s voice was real. Suddenly, he realized every day had been worth it. Every nightmare, every day he had slaved too cold and too hungry. Every night he had longed for Luca’s voice, his touch, but he had remained without it. It simply wasn’t worth the risk it would bring to Luca.

“I would have been careful,” Luca promised.

Kit raised his head and gazed into the gray eyes that were fixed on him. “You would have been unable to let any injustice slide—the same as yesterday—and I had to get you to this point. Yes, I needed you, but Askara needs you more, my King.”

“Luca, please,” Luca said as he clasped Kit’s hand, pressing the words into his palm.

“In private, then,” Kit conceded carefully.

He knew appearances were important and he was already battling what many wolves would see as wrong. He had loved Luca for so long, so terrified that what he imagined his strong, fearless, but gentle wolf would be like might not match up to the reality. He had always been convinced of Luca’s integrity. He had dreamed of what Askara could become, what their lives would be like. He was just never sure of what his life would be like. Would he be kept close? Would he be treasured, protected? Or would Luca bow to the traditions of his people, no matter how Kit may wish for more?

Luca laid back down and tucked Kit close. Kit took a sharp breath.

Luca peered at him. “Are you still hurting?”

Kit loved the concern that layered his words, but he shook his head shyly. He was terrified to truly believe that things would be this simple. Kit smiled softly. Simple? It would be anything but. A human omega was going to be bad enough for Luca’s people to accept. He simply couldn’t think about how much worse it could actually get.

About the Author

Victoria Sue

Wrote her first book on a dare from her hubby two years ago and he says he has regretted it every day since. Loves writing about gorgeous boys loving each other the best, and especially with either a paranormal or a historical twist. Had a try at writing contemporary but failed spectacularly when it grew four legs and a tail. Loves her wolves!

Is an English northern lass but is currently serving twenty to life in Florida – unfortunately, she spends more time chained at her computer than on a beach.

Loves to hear from her readers and can be found most days lurking on facebook.

www.victoriasue.com

@vickysuewrites

https://www.facebook.com/victoriasueauthor/– sign up for my newsletter and download a free story The Wrong Alpha

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Giveaway

To one lucky reader, your  choice of an ebook from Victoria Sue’s backlist.  Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Please leave your name and email address where you can be reached if chosen along with a comment for Victoria Sue.  Contest ends midnight February 4th.