A MelanieM Review: Heart of the Warrior (The Tameness of the Wolf #4) by Kendall McKenna

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

heart-of-a-warrior-by-kendall-mckenna Terrell Hubbard, decorated Marine sergeant, proudly serves as Beta wolf to his True Alpha and Dominant. During a mission, he meets Staff Sergeant Kai Thayer, Pack Leader of the Camp Fallujah sippe. Terrell is thrown completely off balance by the strength of their mutual attraction and the intensity of their passion. His entire world felt perfect though, each time they came together to mark and claim one another.

In the chaos of a surprise attack Kai shows poor judgement, driving a wedge between Terrell and him, and landing Kai on the True Alpha’s bad side. Terrell is torn between his ferocious loyalty to his True Alpha, and his new but powerful feelings for Kai. In the battle’s aftermath, Terrell and Kai are drawn together in passion, hoping it’s not the final chance to mark their claims.

First off let me say that I love this series and its author Kendall McKenna. The first story was one of those novels that combined all sorts of unusual elements (the Marines, Afghanistan, deployment, a unique shifter mate bond) and pulled them all together in a powerful story and beginning of a first series. I adored it and so did tons of other readers. I’ve followed it through the sequels and the love affair has continued. Then came Heart of the Warrior and I have no idea what’s happened here.

Heart of the Warrior (The Tameness of the Wolf #4) by Kendall McKenna is really only a third to a half of a story and a fractured one at that. Its the story/romance meeting of Terrell Hubbard, Marine sergeant and Staff Sergeant Kai Thayer, Pack Leader of the Camp Fallujah sippe (both characters we have meet in previous stories). As with the other stories, a sniff sets the pair into motion but here its a flawed usage. We get little feel for the characters. I think we are supposed to remember them more than we do but its been a while since the last story. While Terrell is the strongest (in every way) MC in Heart of the Warrior and couple, Kai suffers from lack of time as a character present in the story here other than as a bed partner. His character seems to shift from one personality to another or maybe because its just that we don’t know him that well. Anyway the bond we feel towards the fleeting couple is limited because of the treatment he gets here. He’s supposed to be an important Pack Leader of the Camp but we get no indication of that here, a flaw in the story that’s carried forward in the relationship.

Also this tale slides around, jumping ahead over apparently key scenes from previous stories you are supposed to have remembered if you’ve read the other stories. If not you are completely out of luck and totally confused. The battle scenes we drop in and out of? Have no idea what’s going on. Its one big mess. And that’s unusual for this series. Its as though scenes from other novels were used here. In fact, parts of this book feel more scrapped together than intentionally written.

The ending is perhaps the worse. It just abruptly ends. As if it was just a chapter in a much larger story. But here it goes no further.

There’s not to say I didn’t enjoy parts of this story. I did. It holds promise as does this couple. But you have to put the pieces together from a jumbled mess of a story.

Who should read this book? I suppose those who are addicted to this series and need a fix. You will get glimpses of your favorites couples. But if you are new to this author and series. Give this story a pass. It does justice to neither.

I like the cover for the story. Its terrific. Wish I could say the same about the novel.

Sales Links

MLR Press

Book Details:

ebook
Published August 19th 2016 by MLR Press
Edition LanguageEnglish

Series: The Tameness of the Wolf – add to your Goodreads shelf here

Paul’s 2016 New Year’s Paranormal Portfolio

Paul’s New Year’s Paranormal Portfolio

A couple of weeks ago, Melanie told us that the full moon and Christmas coincided this year. She also shared her favorite werewolf series and commented that I might want to share some of mine. So I am devoting this edition of PPP to my favorite werewolf shifter series. I will be focusing on series where the primary focus is on werewolf shifters, though other paranormal beings might be featured.

I would like to start off by echoing Melanie’s suggestions. I found the With and Without You by JL Langley series enjoyable. Whenever I have a few minutes to spare, I pull up a book in either the Mates or Tameness of the Wolf series by Kendall McKenna and reread them to pass the time. Both offer unique takes on the werewolf genre.

The Southwestern Shifter series by Bailey Bradford starts off with a veterinarian helping out an injured wolf on the road. What follows is a battle to assert the rightful claim of leadership of werewolves. The main group of characters travels to Europe and South America to help restore order to those parts of the world. In this series, the process of being turned into a werewolf is painful but sometimes necessary in order to stay alive.

One of my favorite authors is Kaje Harper. Her Hidden Wolves series is one of the reasons why. Again, it starts with an injured dog being rescued by a vet. But Paul soon learns that this is not a dog but a wolf and a shifter in fact. In this world, being a gay wolf is taboo and telling anybody about shifters is punishable by death. But these wolves have not met someone as spunky and outspoken as Paul. Soon, this pack becomes a refuge for unwanted gay werewolves.

What is better than a series about werewolves? How about werewolves who are assassins? Yes, I am talking about Sandrine Gasq-Dion’s popular Assassin-Shifter series. What started out as a contract hit on a successful business owner turns into a fight against rogue werewolves that want to convert all werewolves to their rabid ways. My favorites in the story actually do not do any fighting yet. I am talking about the young Kane and Matty, the future leaders of werewolves when they grow older,

One last series I would like to mention for now is Charlie Richard’s Wolves of Stone Ridge series. This series started with one of the Stone Ridge werewolves sold to a local zoo by a group of hunters and expanded into a worldwide conspiracy of evil scientists who have been doing experiments on shifters for almost 200 years. And yes, another vet is in the first book. (Do I see a pattern?) This series spun off three other series all set in the same universe, which feature non-wolf shifters, vampires, and gargoyles.

This is by no means a complete list of my favorites. I will include more in a future edition of the Portfolio. I hope everybody has a healthy and prosperous New Year.

You can find all the books at the series pages below:

Kendall McKenna’s The Tameness of the Wolf Series at her website
J.L. Langley’s With or Without You series at her website or Goodreads
Kaje Harper’s Hidden Wolves Series at Goodreads
Sandrine Gasq-Dion’s Assassin-Shifter Series at Goodreads
Charlie Richard’s Wolves of Stone Ridge series at Goodreads

A MelanieM Review: A Gentle Kind of Strength by Kendall McKenna

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

A police K9 handler believes he’s lucky when a romance starts with the local veterinarian, but then his canine partner is injured in the line of duty.

Sergeant Ray Lerner is a veteran sheriff’s department K9 handler. Damien Federov is the veterinarian caring for Harley, Ray’s canine partner. When taking a man as a lover, Ray’s always been confident. Around Damien, Ray becomes uncharacteristically shy and tongue-tied. When Damien begins their romance, Ray knows he’s lucky.

His obsession with a past tragedy blinds Ray to everything he has with Damien. When Harley is injured on duty, his life is in Damien’s hands. As Ray sits vigil, he has one final chance to allow Damien in all the way, or risk losing everything important, in a single night.

In A Gentle Kind of Strength Kendall McKenna once again demonstrates her knowledge and ability to bring a former soldier realistically to life on a page. This time its not a alternate universe of werewolves and marines but Ray Lerner, a dog handler in the Army and now a K9 police handler in San Diego. Although its not completely apparent here, if you have read her other series, The Tameness of the Wolf, her descriptions of battle and her understanding of the military on display in those stories give Ray Lerner a sense of depth and grit that comes through in the story. Its in the ring of isolation Ray has created around himself, one that only his canine partner, Harley, is allowed inside of, and its apparent in Ray’s obliviousness to the effect he has on those around him, a sort of closed off aloofness born of self protection. While the reader doesn’t yet pinpoint the source, we know it has to do with his past and the emotional scars he still carries from his tour as a soldier.

Another beautiful element here? Ray’s love of his job as a K-9 officer and his deep connection to his partner, Harley. That relationship is so strong and powerful, even when seen through stories being told about previous missions, the bond and love between man and dog is beautiful and believable. McKenna also has done her homework in the instructions and teamwork a K-9 officer and his partner are trained in and work through. Its exactly right that Harley should be front and center on the cover of the story. He shines here as a major moving character, one the reader commits to immediately and with love.

Damien Federov, Doctor D as his patients call him is also a believable character. I found him realistic as a vet, loved the camaraderie with the other officers and kept waiting for the magic to happen between Ray and Damien, for this book to start to click, the only missing element for me here.

Unfortunately, that never happened, for me at least. I never felt the spark between the characters, a spark I know McKenna can write. There was a realistic friendship, an authentic professionalism to Damien’s efforts as a vet, and several scenes that were raw and painful, but romantic and loving? Not really. And there are lots of sex scenes, still I just didn’t feel a “connection” between them. I just felt that the most believable relationship here was the one between Ray and Harley, not the romantic one between Ray and Damien. But so many of the other elements are so strong, so moving that it almost made me want to overlook the rest.

But then again maybe its me and other readers will find Ray and Damien work just perfectly together. For me I need that spark! Read it and decide for yourself.

Cover art by Jared Rackler is perfection. That is Harley in the middle. I couldn’t ask for more. Great job.

Sales Links: MLR Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 182 pages
Published by MLR Press
ISBN139781608209958
other editions (1)
A Gentle Kind of Strength

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Paul’s New Year’s Paranormal Portfolio

You can find all the books at the series pages below:

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