Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

When a self described homophobic asshole vampire meets his beloved, a man who is still recovering from a gay bashing a couple of years ago, can the men work through their pasts to get to their happily ever after?

Aleksei Kuznetsov decided to stay in Europe instead of following his family’s coven when they moved to America.  It was bad enough when his brother Tullion found his beloved in a male.  But his older brother and coven leader Borscht then found his beloved in the form of a male fruit bat shifter.  Missing his family/coven, he decides that a trip stateside was in order.  Having come so far, Aleksei begins to leave the bar to see his family when a man using a cane enters the bar.  He is alarmed when he recognizes that this man might actually be his beloved.

Remy Smithson is out with his friends.  After attending the trial that put the man who beat him to within an inch of his death, they decide to commemorate the guilty verdict.  However, his leg that was severely smashed in the incident is acting up on him.  So, he decides to get away from the dance floor and go to a local pub.  A strange man with a foreign accent chats him up while he is sitting at the bar.  Remy explains that he is in pain due to a gay bashing incident a couple of years back and that he and is friends were out celebrating the end of the basher’s trail and guilty verdict.  When this handsome stranger finds this out, it appears that the stranger cannot leave fast enough.  When Remy relays what has happened at the bar, they suggest that they could set him up with one of Tullion’s single brothers.   So they arrange a party to do just that.

At the party, Remy is introduced to Vadim, one of the Kuznetsov brothers.  They seem to be hitting it off when Aleksei comes over and informs them that he believes that Remy is his beloved.  Remy does not know how to react finding out that he is the fated mate of a man who has shown homophobic tendencies in the short time he has know Aleksei. Aleksei must wrap his head around that just like Borscht and Tullion, his mate is male.  To complicate matters further, Remy has been receiving harassing letters saying that next time he will die.  Can both men move beyond their pasts to prevent Remy from being hurt again?

In this thirty-second book in the Wolves of Stone Ridge series, Ms. Richards brings some history in the series back to the present.  The bashing that is referenced in this book actually occurred twenty books ago in this series.  I have always enjoyed the author’s ability to bring in new characters to this series and tie then to others that have been mention maybe two or three years previously.  It is another enjoyable story in the series.

The cover art by Angel Waters depicts our vampire Aleksei standing in front of a forest filled with fall foliage.  It is a good solid cover for an autumn book.

Sales Links:  Extasy Books  |Amazon | Buy It Here

Book details

EBook 108 pages

Published November 15, 2015 by eXtasy Books

ISBN:  978-1-4874-0552-6

Edition Language:  English

Series:  Wolves of Stone Ridge

https://www.goodreads.com/series/63445-wolves-of-stone-ridge