Jaycee Manz has been on the run since her sixteenth birthday. After growing up fast and depending on no one, how is she supposed to handle three male werewolves who claim to be her mates? Can she learn to trust them or will she continue to run?
Dane Glassgo, alpha of his clan and a special ops commander, specializes in tracking. He’s waited for the past two years to claim his mate. Nothing or no one will stop him from claiming Jaycee, not even her fear…
Pierre LeBlathe, brother to Remi and bonded mate to Dane Glassgo, knows his time is limited with Jaycee. But he is bound and determined to stop anyone from hurting her…
Mark Glassgo shares alpha duties with his elder brother, but when Dane finds his mate, Jaycee, he is shocked to learn she is also his mate. What he didn’t count on was that he was also mate to Remi LeBlathe…
Alpha Remi LeBlathe, one of the most powerful weres in the country, has always protected what is his. When Jaycee comes into his life, mayhem erupts around them, but Remi is used to mayhem and uses it to his benefit. In seeking those who would harm his mate, Remi must learn how to listen to Jaycee’s needs and desires…
Together, all four try to find peace, and the most powerful alphas in the U.S., Remi, Dane and Mark , declare war on anyone who stands in their way of claiming their runaway mate. But can the independent Jaycee be claimed?
In this sizzling werewolf menage story, love, lust and power take center stage in the struggle for ultimate survival.
I really like shapeshifter stories and I like the fact that as individuals who possess both human and wolf qualities, they are able to perceive life in greater depth. It seems that wolf society also overcomes some of the loopholes in human relationships that seem to plague society in ever-increasing amounts. So here we have a young woman who is seeking to live a life free of abuse, one that will give her a sense of her own worth and power, and one that will give her a deep and much needed sense of safety. Raised by a mother who seemed to care far more for herself than for her daughter and abused by her stepfather–abuse known about and permitted by her mother–Jaycee now finds her mate and seeks to live this new life. But one of her overriding fears is that the man from from whom she now flees–her ex-husband–will bring his brand of harm and abuse into the life of her best friend and her brother, her mate Dane. (He allowed his friends to gang-rape her on their wedding night.) She has been accepted by Dane and Shelley’s family and their pack and she does not seek to repay their kindness with hurt. Dane refused to let her go, even when she found all kinds of ways to avoid his care and oversight and protection. She was so used to running that staying and trusting his protection was more than she could do.
Ultimately she accepts the protection of not one but three mates and as each had been trained by the military–Dane had been a Navy seal for six years–she felt safe and protected for the first time in her life. She slowly learns to trust in her own inner power as Alpha female of her pack, dealing with some of the other females who wish her harm because she has three and not just one mate. Yet in all of this there is something missing.
This is an interesting story about the difficulties that continue on when abuse is allowed to proliferate and when abusers are allowed to continue without being held responsible. I guess that is true in were-cpmmunities as much as it is with humans. But no matter how carefully one tries to protect one’s family, there must be a mutual exchange of respect–caring about the other’s feelings, living with the betterment of one’s spouse as the ultimate goal, and mutually deciding the course of the relationship. It would appear that some of this was not true in Jaycee’s relationships with her mates.
This is the first in a series of stories and while I appreciate and applaud writers who craft series, I was disappointed in the cliff-hanger quality of this story’s ending. It’s not like this is a weekly installment in a magazine series. So when do we find out the rest of the story? I think series novels can keep the energy flowing and the interest of the reader, even until the next book is released. But to make a novel “part A” and not to bring some kind of temporary conclusion to the tale was difficult for me. Otherwise, my only criticism of this novel was that I felt that the author sequed from one scene to the next in such a way that it was not always smooth. The disjointed nature of these bothered me somewhat–perhaps that is the old high school English creative writing teacher talking. I think the story has merit and much of it was very good. I think overall it is readable and I certainly didn’t have any difficulty staying interested. There are some important issues that drive this story and it seems that all Jaycee’s mates must learn some important lessons before the “course of love runs smooth.” I am looking for the next part in this novel–hopefully it will be soon.
I give this novel a rating of 3.75 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Ravenous Romance. You can buy it
here
or
here in e-format.
