Judith’s review of Falke’s Peak (Puma Nights #1)by Anna Leigh Keaton & Madison Layle.
She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Stressed out ad-exec Dakota wandered into Catamount Outfitters in search of a guide for a wilderness excursion. She didn’t expect to be greeted by not one, but five of the most ruggedly delicious-looking men she’d ever seen. Not to mention a live cougar guarding the shop.
The Falke brothers have more than just good looks in their genes.
Eldest brother Axel agrees to guide Dakota on her mountain trek. In cougar form, Axel’s twin, Gunnar, was there as a protection from predators—but he had his eye on the sexy client instead.
Into the wild…
While the rule with clients was “paws-off,” both Axel and Gunnar couldn’t resist Dakota’s seductive Native American beauty and determination. As cold days led to hot nights in the cabin, Axel and Gunnar wondered if they’d finally found a woman strong enough to tame them.
This writing team have an impressive portfolio of published works that have delighted romance fans for years. Now they have launched a new series about a family of pumas living in the Pacific Northwest in a small town that has become accustomed to seeing a tame puma accompanying members of this family. Comprised of two fathers, an artist-mother, a set of quadruplets and a set of twins, this family of “catamounts” have established themselves as mountain and wilderness guides of note. Filled with family camaraderie and brotherly sparring, this novel engages the interest of the reader from page one. The authors capture the imagination and introduce the sexual tension that will persist throughout the story as Dakota, a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, enters “Catamount Outfitters” and spots a full-grown puma lazily watching her as the oldest of the brothers greets her, hears her desire for a guide, and decides that he and his brother Gunnar (the puma) will be the ones to capture the interest of this succulent miss.
While this novel is steamy with more than its of sex, the deeper tension between Dakota and the brothers comes to light when she firmly insists that she has no intention of coming to Washington state to live. Any relationship she begins with them is temporary. Not to hear the brothers tell it. But Dakota is a woman who knows her own mind and while she is more than receptive to their advances, she can’t see her way clear upending her life. After all, how does one “marry” two men?
This novel is fun, a wonderful paranormal romance full of friendship and family, and it sizzles on every page. I really liked Dakota–a woman whose ethnic background has opened her to the world of the mystical, possibly far more than those where the spirit world is not a strong component of the society. She has also held her own in the corporate world, so she is a woman who has become comfortable with her own strength. Yet she struggles with the overwhelming attraction between her and these two shifters, their overwhelming presence, and her sub-conscious fear of being taken over by them. They have their work cut out convincing her that they can all prosper in a long-term relationship.
I have long appreciated the writing of this team of authors and recognized the consistent quality and standards they bring to the writing task. Even in the context of a paranormal romance, they still give a realism to their characters that makes it completely believable to have any of the brothers become a cougar and back to human. All the brothers are just a little bit kinky, and Keaton/Layle have brought kink into most of their stories to one degree or the other. Yet it is always in a safe, sane, and consensual context.
This series is off to a very good start. I look forward to reading the coming books from this writing team.
I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Carina Press. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
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