Author: Katie Reus

Review: Ancient Warrior by Katie Reus

Posted May 15, 2023 by Casee in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Ancient Warrior by Katie ReusReviewer: Casee
Ancient Warrior by Katie Reus
Series: Ancients Rising #8
Also in this series: Ancient Vengeance, Ancient Sentinel
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: April 11, 2023
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 246
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The last time she saw him…
Long before The Fall, before the world changed forever, tiger shifter Harlow worked in Black Ops for the safety of all shifters. She excelled at her job, loved everything about it, until the male she loved tried to kill her. So she was forced to kill him first.
She killed him.
Now Aodh is back. And this fierce, dominant dragon shifter won’t stop until he gets answers. But things aren’t what they seem and now he has more than a battle with Harlow on his hands. If they want a chance at a future, they’ll have to take down an ancient enemy who has targeted not only them, but their friends—and it’s going to take uniting all their skills to survive.
Author note: Each book in the series can be read as a stand-alone, complete with HEA and no cliffhanger.

Harlow has always been a character that I was curious about. She was such a badass from the moment she appeared. I was really looking forward to seeing who the hero would be that could deal with her dominant personality.

Long before The Fall, Harlow & Aodh worked on a Black Ops team. They were responsible for policing the supernatural. When Aodh turned against Harlow, she was forced to kill him. Or so she thinks. Even after all the years that have passed, Harlow still feels the loss of her would-be mate. Now Aodh is back and wants revenge on Harlow & the rest of the team for deserting him. The only problem with that is that he loves Harlow deeply & could never hurt her. He has no idea why she or the rest of his team abandoned him, but he does know that he won’t let her go so easily.

When Aodh returns, Harlow knows that something went terribly wrong. The man that she thought she killed was not Aodh. It was a witch that wanted Aodh for the dragon inside him. After draining him of his powers for decades, Aodh is finally free. Now Harlow & Aodh have to work together with the rest of their pack to find the witch that destroyed both their worlds.

I loved both Harlow & Aodh. While it was hard for both of them to forgive the other one, they realized that they would have to work together to bring down the witch responsible for so much pain & suffering in their lives. I enjoyed Harlow immensely. She was a great heroine. Aodh wasn’t bad himself, but it was really Harlow that shined on the pages. My only complaint was that the book was way too short.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5.

Ancients Rising

four-stars

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Review: Ancient Sentinel by Katie Reus

Posted April 10, 2023 by Casee in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Ancient Sentinel by Katie ReusReviewer: Casee
Ancient Sentinel by Katie Reus
Series: Ancients Rising #7
Also in this series: Ancient Vengeance, Ancient Warrior
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: January 24, 2023
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 137
Add It: Goodreads
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three-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

He never expected her…
Jaguar shifter Ren never expected to fall for anyone again—not after the last woman he opened his heart to tried to cut it out. Literally. But the moment he met Grace, he fell fast and hard for the sweet human. Except she’s made it clear she’s only looking for friendship, and he wants it all.
But he’ll do anything to claim her heart.
Grace officially has a crush on her friend—a quiet jaguar shifter with kind eyes and deadly skills. However, he hasn’t given any indication he wants more than friendship. So she vows to move on—until they’re given an assignment by their Alpha. When they’re stuck together under the same roof, sharing one bed, it becomes impossible to hide her attraction. But then an unknown threat surfaces, putting Grace’s life in danger, and Ren will stop at nothing to protect the woman he knows is his mate.

Grace has had a crush on Ren for quite some time. At the beginning of the book, she decides that she’s going to lay it all out there. She’s going to go for it & tell Ren exactly how she feels about him. Her plans are derailed when she heads to his home & finds him hugging a woman. Her hopes & dreams of being with Ren are instantly dashed. It seems that all they will ever be is friends. Ren wants Grace with a fierceness that surprises even him, especially after what he’s gone through in the past.

This is a rather short review because it was a rather short book. I would say that it is more a novella than a full-length book. I didn’t really connect with either Ren or Grace. There was no backstory into Ren’s past. They got together fairly quickly, then the book just ended. It wasn’t a bad book, it just wasn’t my favorite in the series.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Ancients Rising

three-stars

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Review: Ancient Vengeance by Katie Reus

Posted February 6, 2023 by Casee in Reviews | 2 Comments

Review: Ancient Vengeance by Katie ReusReviewer: Casee
Ancient Vengeance by Katie Reus
Series: Ancients Rising #6
Also in this series: Ancient Sentinel, Ancient Warrior
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: December 27, 2022
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 300
Add It: Goodreads
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four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

She’s been sheltered her entire life…
Stella is from a fierce and ancient dragon line, but when her kingdom was invaded and half her family slaughtered, everything changed. She’s been taught to fight, to protect herself, but now that one of her sisters is back after being thought dead, she realizes it’s time to make some changes. After years of being smothered, she needs freedom, to spread her dragon wings and experience life. So when her grandmother tasks her with a job in New Orleans, she jumps at the chance to strike out on her own and prove herself.
He's never met anyone like her…
Dragon shifter Rhodes is a killer. An assassin. And he’s been ordered to kidnap the dragon princess Stella as vengeance against her clan. He’s always finished his contracts—until he meets her. Now he’ll do anything to keep her safe. To claim her forever as his mate. But first they’ll have to overcome the danger stalking her—and then he’ll have to figure out how to get her to forgive him for betraying her.

I love dragon shifter books. Other than reading Thea Harrison’s Elder Races series, I haven’t really read dragon books. Katie Reus is one of my favorite new-to-me authors & favorite authors in general. She writes such an amazing story & really brings the characters to life. As a reader than has gotten pickier as the years pass, I really appreciate her even more.

Rhodes has been hired by the fae to kidnap Princess Stella of the Nova realm. Except he knows she didn’t do the things that the fae are accusing her of doing. After following her around for weeks (i.e. stalking) her, he decides that he has to protect her. When she heads out of the realm on a mission to New Orleans, Rhodes barely stops her from being taken by the Fae.

Stella wants to prove to herself & her family that she is more than just an ornamental princess. After being sheltered her entire life, Stella is ready to spread her dragon wings. She wants to prove that she can be an asset to her clan & her people. When Rhodes arrives right when she is poisoned by the fae, she immediately (& incorrectly) assumes that he is a bodyguard sent by her family. Rhodes doesn’t correct her. To do so would mean she would be unprotected as she would certainly never forgive him for lying to her.

Stella is on a mission to find a crown that someone stole from her clan. Although she knows that the fae are a problem, she won’t stop looking for the crown. She feels it’s her only chance at proving herself. Both Stella & Rhodes are drawn into the new world in New Orleans where clubs are only open twice a week & payment goods are traded for services. It is quite a post-apocalyptic world that Reus has created here. I love it.

Rhodes knows that Stella is his mate, but her mating manifestation isn’t appearing which is pretty devastating to him. He doesn’t even consider the fact that the poison could have affected her in that way. Which is weird, because even I guessed that is why. Overall, I loved this book. I thought Stella & Rhodes were both amazing characters & a great team. I’m so excited that these books are being released almost back-to-back. Yay for dragons!

Rating: 4.25 out of 5.

Ancients Rising

four-half-stars

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Guest Review: Claimed by the Warrior by Savannah Stuart

Posted October 16, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Claimed by the Warrior by Savannah StuartReviewer: Tracy
Claimed by the WarriorSeries: Lumineta #3
Also in this series: Claiming Her Warriors (Lumineta, #2)

Publication Date: September 10, 2015
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Held captive against her will…

When Leilani travels to the mountain region of her new planet, Lumineta, she discovers the remote mountain clan has a law stating that any unmated female in their sector can be forced to live there for one moon cycle. At first she’s livid—until she realizes that being held captive means that the warriors bring her gifts and simply try to impress her as part of their courting rituals. But she’s not interested in anyone except the sexy leader—and living under his roof makes her feel nothing like a captive. He has her rethinking everything she thought she knew about Luminet males.

The last thing he needs in his life is a complicated human female…

Con has never thought much about taking a mate. As leader of his clan, he’s too busy and females are too complicated—especially those mysterious humans. But the longer he’s around Leilani, the more he realizes she’s worth fighting for. Despite his planet’s tradition that says two males mate with one female, he has no intention of sharing—or ever letting her go.

Leilani isn’t from the planet Lumineta. She was rescued from a dying planet (we never know what the name of the planet is but it sounds a lot like Earth) and brought to Lumineta along with many other women from the same planet. On Lumineta the men outnumber the women so most women take 2 mates – seems to work for them. Leilani’s not sure how she feels about it so she hasn’t chosen a mate – or mates – yet. The two female friends she made on the transport on the way to the planet have both claimed mates and are deeply in love. She knows that the Lumineta men are beautiful and respectful of women but it’s a bit daunting being around men who are constantly trying to mate her. She works at an architectural firm who is currently doing a job for a clan in the mountain regions and heads there to discuss plans with them. Unfortunately she’s not familiar with their laws and once she gets there one of their men enacts one of their primitive laws and Leilani is stuck in the region for the next moon cycle (a month).

She stays at the house of the clan leader, Con, and though she finds him incredibly attractive she’s pissed that she’s basically being held against her will. Fortunately Con, who also finds Leilani attractive, makes an effort to put her at ease and soon the pair are in bed together. Although they each say that it’s just for fun til she leaves they each discover that being apart isn’t what they want after all.

I received this book and immediately started reading. I then stopped and bought books 1 & 2 in the series. No, you don’t need to read them to enjoy this book but it does give you a good foundation of the world to work with while reading. (I also hate reading things out of order but that’s all my issue.) The men that I had gotten used to in books 1 & 2 were quite different then the men in book 3. These men were mountain men – strong, gritty, more primitive – but still honorable men and respectful of Leilani. They enacted the law just so she wouldn’t leave and they could try and court her which is incredibly strange but I guess they thought there was no other way they were gonna get a woman out in the snow otherwise! lol.

Anyway, I liked the men a lot, especially Con. He had been hurt by his mother when she had walked away from her mates and her children and didn’t think love was for him. Then he met Leilani and that changed. Yes, they fell in love quickly but Con was such a sweet man how could she not fall in love with him?

Leilani was an independent woman who didn’t want to be tied down, at least that’s what she told herself. I wouldn’t have liked to have been held against me will either but she I thought she acted a tad childish at first. Luckily she got over that. 🙂

There was another subplot that involved Leilani as well but I won’t get in to that as it’s best discovered on your own. I thought the story was good and I really enjoyed reading the story. As I said before – there’s no need to read books 1 & 2 first but they’re good so why not?

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

This title is available from KR Press, LLC. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

three-half-stars

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Guest Review: Hunter Reborn by Katie Reus

Posted January 30, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Hunter Reborn by Katie ReusReviewer: Tracy
Hunter Reborn by Katie Reus
Series: Moon Shifter #5
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: February 3rd 2015
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Losing her was the hardest thing he’d ever endured....
Warrior shifter Aiden’s investigation of the trafficking of vampire blood leads to a startling discovery: the beautiful vampire bondmate he thought was dead. Decades ago, they’d defied their powerful families to be together, but then Larissa disappeared without a trace. When their mating link broke, it nearly destroyed Aiden. Now she’s back with no memory of where she’s been. Even more shattering—Larissa claims she has no idea who Aiden is.
Now she’s back....
It’s a race against time to bring down an operation more evil than his pack ever suspected, and Aiden finds himself working side by side with a mate who no longer trusts him—and she wants out. But he lost her once, and he won’t let her go again. Unfortunately, Larissa’s blood is the key to a powerful monster’s dangerous plan—and he’ll stop at nothing to destroy her, sparking off a war between the supernaturals and humans that no one will win.

Tracy’s review of Hunter Reborn (Moon Shifter #5) by Katie Reus

It’s been 60 years that Aiden has been mourning the death of his bondmate, Larissa. He’s never gotten over her death and even after all of the years that have passed thinks of her daily. When he and his packmates are at a club looking into vamp blood dealing he sees a woman that looks like Larissa. Even though he knows it’s not her he follows her and the closer he gets the more stunned he is to see his mate alive.

Larissa isn’t so thrilled to see Aiden as she can’t remember much about her life and was told that her parents were killed by a shifter named Aiden. She tries to flee but Aiden soon makes Larissa see that they were meant to be together and he’s not letting her go again. Dealing with the new technology in the world and all other new and strange things, Larissa has a bit of a hard time adjusting. That doesn’t stop her from being by Aiden’s side while they look for the witch who told her about Aiden and then the master that the witch was working for. Together the mates will find the ones that are after Larissa (along with his packmates) and then they can be together forever.

This was a really great addition to the Moon Shifter series. I loved that there really wasn’t a whole lot of angst between Aiden and Larissa and she pretty much, after her initial belief about Aiden, just went with the flow. She was open to him and his packmates and fit in quite well. The majority of the story was taken with finding the person who was after Larissa and bringing them down.

There is a bit of side story between Teresa and Ryan as well as with Natalia and another new character that comes on the scene. It was good to see Teresa and Ryan finally working out their issues, that’s for sure. With Natalia and the new guy it was a bit odd. Not much is said about him and I found that odd that his part in the story was skimmed over. I have no doubt we’ll get more in future books but I would have liked just a little bit more info on him in this story.

Overall it was a good story about fated mates finding each other after an incredibly long absence. Reus made the reunion exciting as well as heart warming and emotional. Good job.

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

This title is available from Signet Eclipse. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

four-stars

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