Yessi Smith

I meant to have this review up a while ago, since I was lucky enough to snag an ARC of it, but life conspired against me (as is so often the case) and alas, I can only get it out now. But a review! Woo! First review of 2018!

I'll be completely upfront and say that I'm generally a little iffy on shifter books. (I'm not sure I actually knew this was properly a shifter book until after I got the ARC.) As has always been my lot, I'm willing to give anything a few fair shots, just because the genres are so varied that it's not fair to judge them all off of only one or two books. I'd seen a lot of good things about Logan Keys, one of the co-authors, and so I figured this was a safe one to start with.

The basic premise reminds me a little of the Hawksong series I read years ago. Two shifter cultures to focus on: wolves and lions. (I'll admit, I haven't seen many lions mentioned around! I was pretty intrigued.) All the usual tropes exist: factions of people, broken up by animal; memories of war; humans are a myth; you get the picture. The book starts out establishing that our lead male is Not All He Ought To Be, but it's not the way I've seen often--or at least it's not presented in the same way.

So we have our rogue element Noble, prince of wolves with a Terrible Secret. Said rogue element stumbles upon our leading lady, Liana. She is, of course, a lion. Chaos ensues. As the description of the book says: "Murderous plots. Forced marriages. Lines drawn. Who can they trust?" And that's about the sum of it.

The lions have a really fascinating culture, and I'm not sure if it's based on actual lion behavior or not, but I like it. Anything to shake up the norms a little, because most of the book is nothing if not predictable. Our semi-reluctant star-crossed lovers, a jealous third corner for the triangle, and a buttload of angst and strife in the middle. It's the bits of culture we get to see both from the lions and the wolves that really make the book keep trundling along.

It also does a good job of not beating you about the head and shoulders with the fact that they're shifters. It's just a thing, a piece of them. There's no dramatic werewolf style change scene, no drawn out soliloquy of torment as the animal takes over. Yes, there's a small bit of Jekyll and Hyde with Noble and his rogue nature, but it's handled nicely. It suffers the usual "wave the magic wand" romance plot, in that I have absolutely no idea why these two fall for each other other than Plot Reasons. There doesn't really seem to even be a moment where the tables turn; it simply goes from "KILL THE BEAST" to "no wait this is the love of my life don't touch him/her." Again though, this is essentially a romance. I'm not looking at that too hard.

Is it the best book ever? Nah. But it's a thoroughly enjoyable read, and the characters have stayed with me even after a week or two away. I'm interested to see where the story goes, and what happens as the plot continues to unfold. And yes if you've read this far you're probably going "but it sounds like you just panned the book; how are you excited about it now" and I understand your confusion. But just because a book doesn't necessarily bring anything new and exciting to the table doesn't mean I can't still genuinely enjoy the book and give it my thumbs up. Solid storytelling, good character development, interesting premise. Yessi Smith and Logan Keys do nice work, and I'll be looking forward to the next installment.

Rating: **** (Recommended)… (meer)

I received an ARC at no cost to authors. I feel privileged to be able to contribute to this cause. I will break down the review and try to be as brief as possible.

The Realtor and the Rock Star

We meet Kennedy who is trying to by a house for herself for the very first time in her life due to her success as a rockstar. She ends up meeting Ryan in the elevator and he was instantly attracted and was going to blow his appointment with her (which he was unaware at the time) to take her out. As they start looking as the houses he picked out, they decide to act on attraction..Now we need to wait to see what happens next..

The Right Direction

Rockstar Roman is sitting in jail waiting to be bailed out, he was there because a paparazzi asked him a secret that he longed to keep and he attacked. The only woman he ever truly loved he planned on keeping her and the tragedy they had by not telling the world, but of course he could not keep it quiet. Joslyn ends up being his lawyer, and everything they ever felt was still there, but she never wanted the spot light. Ryan plans on doing whatever he can to rekindle their love, making sure he never loses her again..Can't wait for the rest.

Rebel

Libby has always waited for Maxon after his concert in the bar she works in, even though she always told him she wouldn’t for him. As Maxon is playing and staring at her the whole time he is angry because he has not been able to speak to her for months and he doesn't know why. Libby is heartbroken and wants nothing to do with him, but Maxon is determined to find out what happened for this turn around..

Rocking the Racer

Milan and Cruz had a quick hook-up the before, and they each haven't forgotten each other or their chemistry. I now need to know what will happen with them...It is another quick novella..

Play Me
We meet Maddox and Reagan and they are instantly attracted to each other and it is combustible. God, I am going to count down to find out how this story ends, because your are hooked from the beginning with the way they meet.

What About Us?
Brandon ends up rescuing Maria's brother from making a bad decision, he ends up recognizing the woman he was instantly drawn to. The story was funny and sweet and gain wets your appetite for more..

The Song
You know Rachel is always going to give you something good..so if you like the Seaside Pictures series then you will be happy. We get Saylor and Gabe that's is all I am going to tell you...

To Feel Loved
We have Brandon and Savannah who have a sweet romance, and these guys belong together. We have a little conflict with the families, but it will not stop them.

Cardinal Sins
Second chance story, and I love them. There is some hurt feeling for Jaya and Cardinal, and as we read they are trying to overcome it. These rest you need to find out on your own...Enjoy!!!… (meer)

A moving story of tragedy, heart ache growth and love. Erin is a young college student who in the blink of an eye is not only trying to cope with losing her best friend and feeling to blame for it, but also learning she has a little sister that has been dealt the same ugly hand of being the child of an abusive addict and is now her responsibility.

The story is very honest and it allows you to feel the pain of not just Erin but her sweet innocent little sister as well. In the midst of all the ugly they endured at the hands of their mother it brought them together and created they family they both needed.

In addition to all the family mess and losing her best friend to a terrible accident, Erin gets her heart broke due to all her trusts issues...but with any good love story, that too changes her life.

This was a sweet story of two sisters overcoming incredible odds and creating something amazing...a family.… (meer)

A moving story of tragedy, heart ache growth and love. Erin is a young college student who in the blink of an eye is not only trying to cope with losing her best friend and feeling to blame for it, but also learning she has a little sister that has been dealt the same ugly hand of being the child of an abusive addict and is now her responsibility.

The story is very honest and it allows you to feel the pain of not just Erin but her sweet innocent little sister as well. In the midst of all the ugly they endured at the hands of their mother it brought them together and created they family they both needed.

In addition to all the family mess and losing her best friend to a terrible accident, Erin gets her heart broke due to all her trusts issues...but with any good love story, that too changes her life.

This was a sweet story of two sisters overcoming incredible odds and creating something amazing...a family.… (meer)