Review: Evan (The Wild Edges Book 2)

by Lark Taylor

Rating: 4.5🌈

Evan is the second in Taylor’s crossover series in her fabulous Reckless Damned universe. I’m highly fond of the foundation series and its sequel featuring Lucifer’s sons and their fated mates. Just incredible tales.

The Wild Edges contains characters from many of their stories and preceding events which have been woven into newer characters and their search for their own fated mates.

Evan and his clan are werewolves with ties to the original characters who are mentioned here. The dramatic storyline carries over from Finlay’s book and his tragic story, the ripples of which continue on centuries later.

There are trigger warnings associated with Reid story that are listed on Taylor’s website and I suggest that a reader should take the time to check them out. It includes DV, child abuse, and physical violence.

Reid suffers from his childhood trauma and the damage inflicted by his father and clan. He’s has untreated ADHD as well as a terrible self image issues from years of neglect and continual abuse. This includes his depression. All of which are handled throughout the storyline with sensitivity and a clear understanding of these issues by the author.

So although it’s titled Evan, the book is really about Reid, the human born into the jaguar clan. And how Evan, the werewolf, handles his involvement in Reid’s past and reappearance in Evan’s clan’s territory.

Because that’s as hurtful and traumatic to them, but especially to Reid.

I really enjoyed their romance and the entire storyline with multiple new characters, family members as well as some of my old favorites. Like Logan.

Taylor’s setting up several different couples for their fated mates storylines, all of which look intriguing. Calan’s next up. A glimpse of his is a bit of a cliffhanger.

I’m so looking forward to it.

Another winner.

Book cover design: BreathlessLit

The Wild Edges:

Finlay #1

Evan #2

Calan #3 – Dec 9,2026

Complete universe in the order it should be read:

▪️Reckless Damned Series ( the OG foundation series /Lucifer’s sons)

Devil’s Mark 1

Devil May Care 2

Deal With the Devil 3

Luck of the Devil 4

Damned Collections: Volume One

▪️Damned Connections Series – 2nd series:

Patience 1

Justice 2

Temperance 3

Humility 4

▪️Hopeless Blessed (crossover):

Conflicted 1

Devoted 2

Guarded 3

Enchanted 4

▪️The Wild Edges (crossover ):

Finlay 1

Evan 2

Calan 3

Buy link

Book 2 of 3: The Wild Edges

Blurb

Thirteen years ago, I made a terrible mistake.

One I’ll never repeat again.

When I first met Reid, I failed to see the signs that were right in front of me. He asked me to do one thing–take him away and keep him safe.

I turned my back on him.

Now I have to live with the guilt and shame of knowing I let him down. He can’t forgive me, and that’s okay.

Because I’ll never forgive myself.

When Reid’s family comes to take him away, I have a chance to redeem myself. I can keep him safe. But the more I watch him, the more I fall for the man who doesn’t see his self-worth.

Trouble is, can either of us forget the past in favour of the future? Or did my mistake all those years ago cost me any chance with the man of my dreams?

Either way, I’m not giving up until I find out.

Evan is a heartfelt hurt/comfort, M/M shifter x human romance. The second in the Wild Edges series, these books are best enjoyed in order. Each story follows a new couple, and always ends in a HEA.

Publisher

Lark Taylor

Publication date

January 2, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

466 pages

Book 2 of 3

The Wild Edges

▪️Reckless Damned Series ( the OG foundation series /Lucifer’s sons)

Devil’s Mark

Devil May Care

Deal With the Devil

Luck of the Devil

Damned Collections: Volume One

▪️Damned Connections Series – 2nd series:

Patience

Justice

Temperance

Humility

▪️Hopeless Blessed (crossover):

Conflicted

Devoted

Guarded

A Stella Review: How to Heal (Lovestrong #5) by Susan Hawke

RATING 3 out of 5 stars

Take one former bully, unable to forgive himself for the sins of his past…
Clark Danvers is a wild twenty-one year old who’s trying to prove he’s an adult. With a two-year degree in hand, he manages the family car dealership and seemingly parties by night. Given the amount of times he’s been pulled over for speeding by Deputy Rick Matthews, public opinion seems to be right. But what people don’t see are the scars he carries both inside and out. Scars from a past he can’t run away from and will never be able to atone for, no matter how many times he beats himself over it.

Add one no-nonsense cop who longs to be a Daddy for the right boy…
Jericho “Rick” Matthews never expects the bratty kid who gets on his last nerve to pull at his heartstrings. When he finds Clark battered and fighting for his life in a motel room, Rick’s Daddy mode is instantly engaged. Before he can think of anything else, he must first comfort this hurting boy.

To equal a pair of men who might just be what the other needs.
The two men who thought they couldn’t stand each other are drawn together after a date gone wrong. While Rick tenderly cares for Clark, he decides what this brat needs is a Daddy… someone to help him break free from the past and embrace the promise of many happy tomorrows.

This is the fifth book in the LOVESTRONG series about finding love and being yourself in a small town. Intended only for 18+ readers, this is an mm romance full of all the sweet feels you’d want from an S. Hawke book.

Note: Possible trigger warning for mentions of self-harm and a scene involving a man who’s consented to having himself tied up. What he didn’t agree to was being left that way for an entire weekend. This highly emotional scene is the catalyst to evoke “Daddy’s” protective mode in a tale filled with themes of hurt and comfort and the struggle of overcoming a difficult past.

I wasn’t sure how to rate How To Heal, at the end I settled with a 3 stars. First I have to say, please read the note at the end of the blurb, that scene was so hard for me to read, it broke my heart. Be aware of the trigger too.

Although a couple of things didn’t work with me, this new installment in the Lovestrong series was very well done, I enjoyed till the last chapter. Both Rick and Clark were men with a past, Clark’s one was a little heavier to accept and the young man so far didn’t make a good job at trying to forgive himself and the mistakes he made when he was fifteen years old. If you read the series and in particular How Not To Blend, you know what I’m talking about. Rick seemed to be the right person to be able to help Clark and build a future together. They were characters well defined, loveable, good at the heart.

That said, let’s talk about what didn’t work for me. Since this is part of a series, as often happens, I already met these characters, I ached for Clark because I saw how much he was abused too. I knew there was going to be some kind of redemption for him and I was happy to see some happy times were coming. I already met Rick too and then when I found him here in this new novel, I had trouble to recognise him, I felt him so different from what I already saw of him, it was almost like reading about a stranger-to-me character. Moreover, although I can understand the dynamic the author wanted to create, I think it was too much, too forced and to me it wasn’t ok at all. Clark was too childish, Rick too overbearing.

Still, I hope there will be more coming soon from Susan Hawke.

The cover art by Ana J Phoenix is simple, I can easily see Clark in the model, I like it.

Sales Links: Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

Kindle Edition, 277 pages

Published April 14th 2019

ASIN B07QRQFHSQ

Edition Language English

Series Lovestrong #5

A Caryn YA Release Day Review: Driven by MB Mulhall

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I found this book a frustrating combination of a nice spin on the hurt/comfort trope, but with frequent sections that bothered me: long boring inner monologues by the main character, Oliver, and moments of incredible stupidity that literally made me want to DNF the book several times. I persevered because I was reading it for this review, and in the end I was glad I did, but it was close! Oliver is a homeless young man who is brought out of the vicious cycle of his self-recrimination and loathing by the kindness of several people in the community. His love interest, Simon, is actually a rather small part of the group that ultimately makes Oliver believe that he can be loveable, and I thought that was pretty refreshing.

The book starts with a flash forward to a moment when it seems that Oliver is dying. He is thinking of all the people he will miss, and the story truly commences at the time when he first meets the main secondary characters in the book. Two kind old ladies offer him a place in their home on a provisional basis, with the expectation that he help them out around the house. In addition to food and shelter, they offer him respect and kindness, which he has a hard time accepting as he has come to think of himself as the worst kind of criminal. There are hints about an accident, and incarceration, though the details are not revealed (and then only sketchily so) until later in the book. Simon is the boy next door who also befriends the skittish Oliver and encourages him to stay and give the old ladies, and himself, a chance. In the end, of course, Oliver learns to believe in himself and have faith in others, and has a promising future – and that’s not really a spoiler, just the expected resolution of a hurt/comfort romance.

The tragic events in Oliver’s past life were only somewhat vaguely explained, and I didn’t truly follow the path from accident to jail to homelessness. It was all fueled by Oliver’s self-hate, but those endless monologues just made me think he was whiny rather than feeling compassionate for his suffering. He also several times got into situations that he responded to with “too stupid to live” actions that just made no sense, when he was otherwise supposed to be a pretty smart guy. Those seemed like gratuitous drama and angst to me, and completely turned me off. I think different writing could have made me believe that Oliver’s self-hate was justified, but I just didn’t feel it. I didn’t get what his art had to do with anything, it really felt superfluous to his personality and to the story. I never understood what kind of hold Marcus had (the bad guy) had over him. The book was also fairly long for the plot and action that occurred, which I blame on those long monologues, and that made the pace of the book slow, and I found myself putting it down frequently to pursue something more exciting – like doing laundry.

I guess, in the end, the blurb was everything I wanted the story to be, but the execution was kind of a swing and a miss for me.

Cover art by Anna Sikorska was very appropriate for the story, and the empty section of highway was good for the initial somber tone of the story.

Sales Links

Harmony Ink Press