Author: Marisa ChenerySeries Connection: Wulf DenISBN: 978-1-59578-422-3Genre: Werewolf/ Shapeshift/ Urban Legend/ ParanormalPublisher: Liquid Silver BooksYYYYYI'm on one of my series reading binges again. While reading Marisa Chenery's Jinx and Her Werewolf I started checking out Marisa's website (http://www.marisachenery.com) and found a series that looked interesting. The Wulf Den series features five books, plus one the author started as a spin off series.
After seeing Marisa's website I realized I actually purchased a couple of the books from the series a while back, but never got a chance to read the book. (Yes I do that a lot more than I should. I have a box and a computer full of books I haven't had a chance to read.) What originally sparked my interest in Beowulf and Roxie, the first book in the series, was the title and that the story held the theme of the 1,400 year old story of Beowulf and Grendel. Most will remember the story from high school readings. At the time I purchased Beowulf and Roxie my son was doing a report on the original story of Beowulf poem.
In this version of the ancient story, Marisa has created two long, and I mean long, time rivals. Beowulf and Gren. Both characters are immortal and have lived through the centuries evenly matched and hating each other. As in the original poem, Grendel hates Beowulf because Beowulf killed Grendel's mother. Aside from reveling that Beowulf and Grendel are one and the same from the original characters in the favorite poem, there really is no other similarities.
This Beowulf and Gren are werewolves. Beowulf owns a night club in San Francisco called Wulf Den. One night Beowulf's mortal mate steps into his club. Roxie is everything he wants in a mate and falls instantly in love with her. Gren sees this as a chance to get even with Beowulf and decides to go after Roxie. But Roxie has a few surprises of her own.
So far the first book has sparked my interest in this series. I liked both Roxie and Beowulf's characters. Roxie certainly shows she can be a kick butt, take no prisoners kind of girl.
The next book in the series is: Taryn's Wolf. I'll be getting to it shortly, but as usual there are other books I'm plugging my way through first.
Description:When Roxie and her friend, Candice, decided on a girls' night out she didn't realize the Wulf's Den would be more than she had anticipated. But Roxie soon learned to expect anything. The presence of a super-abundance of super good looking men surprised her and when the best of the bunch stared at her as if he wanted to devour her, surprise turned to amazement.Beouwlf recognized her as his mate the instant she crossed his path and her scent filled his lungs. But he had to overcome one hurdle. She was not one of his kind--a werewolf. He had waited for years to find his mate and he would claim her even if she was a mortal. He would soon teach her all about werewolves.Roxie is caught up in strange events. Archaic markings appear on her wrist, and strong forces threaten to tear her away from her love as two other male werewolves try to claim her as their own. Would Roxie and Beowulf be able to keep the bond love had forged or would they lose each other forever?
Author: Belinda McBrideISBN: 978-1-60521-345-3Genre: Shapeshifters/ Christmas/ Seasonal Themes/ ElvesPublisher: Changeling PressYYYYYCute short novel about a shapeshifter and a fairy who share a Christmas birthday. The story is short, sweet and erotic. It will certainly will get you in the holiday spirit. Description:Merry Miller is a mail carrier at the only post office in town. After the deliveries are finished on Christmas Eve, all she wants to do is go to bed and sleep late on Christmas morning. But it's the week of the full moon, and between the moonlight and the new neighbor's off-pitch singing, she just can't get any rest!Noel Hollis has just moved to Arcada, and while the young teacher loves his new home, he's a bit lonely and would like to get to know his neighbor better. So on Christmas Eve, he invites the sexy letter-carrier to dinner. Can he convince her to stop being angry at his off-key serenades and dance under the moon with him?Furry meets Fairy on the most magical night of the year.About the author from the back of her book:Belinda lives in the wilderness of the Siskiyou Mountains and at night, she runs naked with a pack of wolves…Uhh…Belinda lives near the Siskiyou Mountains and shares her home with a pack of Siberian Huskies who like to pretend they’re wolves. And she usually keeps her clothing on when she goes outside.Belinda loves to travel, collect rare gemstones, make soap and spend precious time with her daughters. Her degree is in History with a Cultural Anthropology minor. On weekends, you will often find Belinda ringside at a dog show, comb and spray bottle in hand.
Author: Sara Taney HumphreySeries Connection: The Amoveo Series, Book 1ISBN-13: 978-1554872770Genre: Paranormal/ Shape-shiftersYYYYYThe first time Sam met her grandmother's arrogant neighbor, Malcolm, she felt an instant connection. She hadn't had much luck with men in the past but decided to follow her heart and see where it lead her. She had no idea it would lead her into uncovering secrets that had died with her parents when she was born. Malcolm is a shape-shifting golden eagle. He is part of the shape-shifting group call the Amoveo. Their existence has been kept a secret since the beginning of time except for one human family--the Caedos. The Amoveo have been at war with the Caedo family for years. The Caedo were even reported as being responsible for killing Sam's parents 30 years ago, as well as others. Now they are back and want to kill Malcolm and Sam before they have a chance to mate. Malcolm wants nothing then to protect Sam from harm, but Sam isn't to sure about all of this shape-shifting, mind reading and Amoveo business. It may take her until it is too late to figure the whole situation out.The Amoveo Legacy is a well written action packed love story featuring two very strong characters. I really liked that Malcolm, as arrogant as his personality was, wanted to be fair to Sam and let her get used to everything at her own speed. Sam, was also a great feisty character.Shape-shifter books usually come in three categories. 1. they completely ignore the human element and pretend the humans don't exist. 2. The humans know they exist and don't see a problem with them being shifters. 3. The humans find out about shifters and try to kill them all because they aren't humans.I prefer the books where they try to go for a little realism like this one did. There may be people out there that accept shape-shifters if they heard about them, but lets be real. More humans would want to kill them and single them out because they were different. And yes the government would want to dissect them and find out what makes them tick. All and all Amoveo Legacy is a great start for this actress turned writer. I can't wait to see the rest of the series.Description:What if everything you knew turned out to be a lie? You find out that you aren’t even human—at least not entirely. What if, one day, you realize your world will never be the same again? These are the questions that Samantha Logan must face in “The Amoveo Legacy”. A dream on her thirtieth birthday compels her to leave her artists loft in New York City and move back to the beach with her Grandmother, Nonie. However, the instant Samantha steps foot on the salty shores of her childhood home, she realizes the landscape has changed.The moment she encounters the mysterious, arrogant neighbor Malcolm Drew, her life is never the same. Through a seductive courtship, he introduces her to the magical mystical world of the Amoveo. The dream walking, telepathic, shape shifters that he claims are her true heritage. However, Malcolm holds back a secret that could destroy them both. Will he be able to protect Samantha and convince her of the secret legacy buried deep inside of her?About the Author from the back of her book:The Amoveo Legacy is Sara’s first published novel and the first book in The Amoveo Series. Sara is a graduate of Marist College, with a B.A. Degree in English Literature & Theater. Her initial career path after college was as a professional actress.Some of her television credits include, “A&E Biography”, “Guiding Light”, “Another World”,“As the World Turns” and “Rescue Me”. For the past several years Sara has been a professionalPublic Speaker and Speaker Trainer. Her speaking career began with Monster’s “Making It Count” programs, speaking in High Schools and Colleges around the United States to thousands of students.She has been a lover of both the paranormal and romance novels for years. Her scifi/ fantasy/ romance obsession began with the TV Series STAR TREK and an enormous crush on Captain Kirk. That sci-fi obsession soon evolved into the love of all types of fantasy/paranormal;vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and of course shape shifters. Sara lives in New York with herhusband of 15 years, their 4 boys, 1 dopey dog and an extremely loud cockatiel. Life is busy but never dull.
Author: Maya BanksSeries Connection: EyesISBN: 978-1-59632-640-8Genre: Paranormal/shapeshifterYYYYYGenerally I'm open to reading any kind of romance genre, but I'd have to say my favorite is paranormal novels, especially shapeshifters. I can tell from a writer's perspective this must be very difficult to write. Especially for those who are very literal minded. There are just some people who can't step out of the box and want to over analysis everything.As a reader, I like to put myself in the position of the characters, whether they are male or female. In this case, here is a local small town sheriff in the middle of nowhere Colorado. There is little trouble in his community aside from rowdy hunters and a few poachers ever now and then. When calls start to come in about sightings of mysterious wild animals that shouldn't be in his part of the world, Sheriff Duncan Kennedy goes out for a look see. He doesn't expect to see anything but a mountain lion, but when he comes upon a cheetah he takes pause. If that isn't bad enough when he gets the cheetah to a protected area and leaves it alone for just a few minutes and comes back and sees a woman where he left the cheetah, what is a guy suppose to think?At this point some readers might say, please that would never happen and close the book. My active imagination wants to keep reading to see what the guy will do next. Maya Banks does a great job presenting her characters in "Golden Eyes". The opening scene where the sheriff first approaches the cheetah is excellent. Later the sheriff can do nothing but believe what he sees and as the protector of all that he is, he keeps the shapeshifters secret.Aliyah Carver, our cheetah shapeshifter, can't trust anyone. How can she help but fall in love with Duncan who shows her an incredible amount of compassion. Oh yeah and did I mention the sex scenes? Get out the fans readers because this book will make you hot, hot, hot. As always Maya Banks is a master when she writes erotic romance. This book takes her abilities to new heights.For those who like paranormal stories with some really outrageous love scenes and some nice action as our sheriff hunts down some nasty poachers, this is the story for you. Keep an eye out for the next Maya Banks review—"Amber Eyes", book 2 in the Eyes series—coming soon.Description:When Sheriff Duncan Kennedy finds an injured cheetah in his mountains, he brings it home, determined to find out how she got there and stop the poachers who were hunting her. When he later checks on the cheetah and instead finds a gorgeous, naked woman with an arrow in her leg, he's completely flabbergasted.For six months, Aliyah Carver has been trapped in cheetah form. Taken by poachers who import exotic animals to illegally hunt, she stayed in animal form to avoid detection. She escapes the hunters, but now she faces another problem. A devastatingly sexy sheriff who now knows her secret.
Author: Marisa Chenery
