Joy Lynn Fielding

A pack of outcasts and misfits? An alpha who doesn’t really want to lead? A shifter who has no idea how to recognize pack territory nor any knowledge of sifter history? Sounds like a recipe for disaster, but I have to say I ended up really liking the story. Partly because the characters were great, each with their own little quirk (or two), and partly because I just like stories with a mysterious history and a group of men who have to fight for their right to exist.

Jesse is not just an amazing survivor, he also has a great sense of humor and doesn’t obey just anyone’s orders. I couldn’t help but feel for him – he’s a shifter who was found wandering the streets when he was seven, didn’t remember where he was from or who his family was, and didn’t find out he was a shifter until he was fourteen and shifted accidentally. Then his foster parents kicked him out and he’s been running ever since. Now he feels this strong attraction to Matt yet he wants to keep his independence. Yep, sparks fly all over the place, for many reasons, as soon as Jesse appears somewhere. But the internal fight with himself and what he never admitted to himself before – that he wants to belong – is the hardest on him.

Matt may be an alpha, but he never envisaged leading his own pack. I loved how he tries to establish law and order at home, just like in his job as town sheriff. But with a bunch of individualists that is a tall order. Still, he does an admirable job until Jesse comes along and derails all of them. Matt doesn’t want a mate, having lost the man he loved years ago, but there is not much he can do. Attraction is attraction, and his struggle as he tries to resist is a lost battle from the start, Not that he minds very much once he gets used to the idea – and the sheet-melting activities Jesse and him get up to.

If you like shifter stories with deep, dark secrets and a villain out to rule the world, or at least all the shifters in it, if you like reading about strong and stubborn men who battle it out before they get together, and if you’re looking for a light read that is as entertaining as it is hot, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
… (meer)

The pack of outcasts and misfits in Elk Ridge, Colorado is back, and this time the focus is on Jason, the guy who works in the diner and cooks for the pack, and Riley, a stranger from out of town. Apparently, rumors of a supposedly extinct Argent of the royal wolf-shifter line being a pack member have reached the outside world. The idea of someone uncovering what Matt and the others have just discovered and begun to deal with in book one had me as worried as the shifters were. The royal line brings a lot of political power in this shifter world, so anyone uncovering their secret would bring a lot of political wrangling from power-hungry shifters to the pack. Not what any of them want or are ready for.

Riley is in trouble, and not just because his job as a journalist is on the line. He has already failed at numerous other professions he has tried, and the idea of disappointing his father yet again is too much. Riley desperately wants to belong, but ever since he came out to his father, the man has ignored him. Still, Riley wants to please him so badly it clouds Riley’s judgment to the point where he loses track of morals, his principles, and the pain he will cause Jason if he does go public with his story.

Jason is shy, hasn’t ever had a relationship, and wants so badly to have a partner he can love. Riley seems to be all those things, except for the fact he will leave town again once he finishes his travel guide, or so Jason thinks. Just when Jason begins to admit how deeply he is already in love, the sh*t hits the fan as he finds out it was all a lie. The depth of his pain and disappointment is palpable, and I was ready to wring Riley’s neck for what he did. I truly doubted they’d ever be able to put this behind them, but luckily, fate (and the author) had different ideas.

If you like shifter stories with men who fall for each other before they really know who the other person is, then have to deal with the consequences, if you like reading about broken trust and the hard road back to a true relationship, and if you’re looking for a light read that is as emotional as it is hot, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.… (meer)

Shifter stories where one of the men comes from an enemy pack, and the lovers-to-be meet under questionable or stressful, or both, circumstances fascinate me. I guess it’s the tension between the men which comes from not knowing exactly whether they can trust each other. In ‘Red Moon Rising’, which is Tristan and Colby’s story, it is also the tension coming from the other men in Tristan’s pack. They have far less reason to trust Colby, since their emotions aren’t clouded by feelings, and the way Tristan deals with that is very interesting. And so very like Tristan! Add to that the continuing threat from the Wolf Council finding out about Jesse being an Argent from the “lost” royal line, and this becomes an action-packed, tense read.

Tristan is the youngest member of the pack, taken in years ago when his home life became unbearable. He has just started college, and has his whole life ahead of him (as Bryce, his main mentor puts it), when Cale’s pack kidnaps him. Colby is the only one who is willing to help, and he pays dearly for his kindness. But once they escape and make it to Tristan’s pack, nobody else is wiling to give Colby the benefit of the doubt – at least not without a lot of convincing from Tristan. As Tristan wrestles with his own emotions as well as the pack’s only gradually decreasing animosity, he realizes how much of an uphill fight he faces. At least he is an optimist and carries enough idealism for three men!

Colby may be a member of Cale’s pack, but he is not there voluntarily. Yes, he joined them willingly, but he has suffered a lot of emotional ad physical abuse, just because he has a lack of self-confidence and desperately wants to belong. He has no way out until he realizes he is the only one who can create an opportunity to free himself. My heart broke for him as he gradually adjusted to the very different way Matt Urban runs his pack, as Colby slowly understands things really are different and that he can determine his own fate.

If you like shifter stories with men who aren’t “supposed” to fall for each other yet are undeniably mates, if you want to read about enemies who need to learn how to trust not just each other but a whole pack, and if you’re looking for a somewhat tense read that is as emotional as it is hot, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
… (meer)

‘Shifting Sands’ is a very apt title for this story – it has more twits and turns, political shenanigans, and changes in perspectives and alliances than some books twice its size! The background story of a mythical Argent having been found alive and well, the one that has been brewing in the background ever since Jesse was recognized as a member of the royal wolf-shifter line, is coming into full bloom in this fourth volume. It features Bryce, the Elk Ridge pack beta, and one of the political aides from the National Wolf Council as main characters, and both of them are right in the middle of the explosive series of events that will change the future of all shifters.

Bryce is the Elk Ridge pack beta, loyal to a fault, and unwilling to even entertain the idea of commitment. I had to smile at his attempts to ignore and dismiss the growing intimacy between the three new couples, thinking “he doth protest too much” the whole time. He may give in to the physical attraction he feels toward Tom, but he is determined that is all it is. Bryce does not believe in mates, worse, he actively despises the idea of having a partner chosen by fate or genetics or whatever the heck it is that determines who his mate is. So when he realizes Tom is his mate? He denies it all, rejects Tom and hurts him deeply.

Tom has just come out of a long-term relationship with a partner who belittled him, and told him he is boring. It destroyed his self-confidence, so when he runs into Bryce, begins to fall for him, only to be cruelly rejected, Tom takes it harder than he might have otherwise. He still does the right thing to help protect Matt and Jesse’s pact, and even the deadly danger he faces cannot stop him. But when Bryce comes after him and the situation gets out of hand, both he and Bryce realize a few truths about their relationship that mean they may need to reconsider he whole “mate thing”.

If you like shifter stories with men who fall for each other despite their best efforts, if you want to read about pack politics and national shifter interests, and if you’re looking for a read that is deeply emotional as well as an action/adventure that will keep you in suspense, then you will probably like this novella. Personally, I cannot wait for the next installment.


NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
… (meer)