Julia Talbot’s Full Moon Dating Series

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Book 1  Aiden and Ben

aiden benBlurb

When Aiden goes to Wyoming on the dime of the Full Moon Dating service, he doesn’t really think he and country wolf Ben will be right for each other. He just wants some time off from city life.

Ben knows better right away. He and Aiden are meant to be together, despite Aiden’s city ways and cluelessness about being a werewolf. Can he convince Aiden to stay with him, or will Ben, and Full Moon Dating have to write this one off as a mistake?

Review

This is the first book in the series, so we get to meet not only the two MCs Aiden and Ben, but Harve, Stone and Ades – the folks at the service who match these unlikely men.

Ben is a tough, Alpha, strong wolf from the country. Aiden is a small, arty, city wolf who is not in touch with his animal side as much.

When Aiden and Ben meet, the mating instinct is strong, but Aiden doesn’t know how to handle all the new feelings – so he runs. Ben always catches him and helps him to understand – and in the end they get their HEA.

**

One of the things I really like about Julia Talbot’s shifter series is that her shifters are so animalistic at times. Not in a crude or sexy way, but in how they view the world. It’s awesome! So many shifter stories use the animal side to say “Mine!” and that’s the extent of it. So when Aiden runs away because he’s frightened, Ben doesn’t get all emo about it, he just goes to him like an older animal schooling a younger and soothes him, understanding his anxiety without human ego getting in the way.

What I didn’t like was all the spanking. I wish there wasn’t so much spanking in these books. But… the rest was awesome!

3.5 of 5 hearts

3.5

Book 2 Evgeny and Feng

ev and fengBlurb

Tiger shifter Evgeny worries that he’ll never find a lover who can stand up to his sheer size and strength. He’s scared off more than one man, which is why he turns to Harve and Stone at Full Moon Dating. He wants someone who can deal with his tiger self and not run away.

Acrobat and snow leopard Feng is all over Ev’s physicality. He’s used to working without a net, so he’s not afraid of anything Ev can dish out. Especially since Feng finds Ev far gentler than anyone would expect. They’re determined to make a two-city love affair work, so when Feng disappears, Ev will move heaven and earth to find him.

Review

This is tied for my favorite in the series! Feng is an acrobat and Ev is an artist. Ev has a hard time meeting men who can stand up to his fierce Tiger, even other shifters.

Feng is hyper and needs someone to ground him. Together they find they are perfect matches.

Most of this book is fun exploration of Santa Fe and sex, but there is a brief moment of angst when Feng is hurt and Ev must find him… so scary! But a very HEA.

What I liked most was how much fun these guys had together and NO SPANKING! Yay!

4.5 of 5 hearts

4.5

Book 3 Coy and Denver

coy denverBlurb

Coy is a big city werewolf who heads to mountain Colorado on the word of the team at Full Moon Dating, a paranormal dating service. He’s not sure Denver Allen is the vamp for him, but it can’t hurt to take a vacation and get a little hot loving in the process.

Denver knows Coy is the one for him when they meet, but there’s the whole issue of who the ultimate predator is between them. There’s also the problem of all that biting. Can Denver and Coy work out their troubles before it’s too late for both of them?

Review

Denver gets signed up by his butler for the dating service and is very skeptical at first that anything positive will come from the date.  Coy, once he meets Denver, pretty much agrees, two more different people couldn’t possibly exist.

But of course, our team at Full Moon Dating has it right and pretty soon Denver and Coy are biting and sexing it up with the best of them.

When Coy accidentally ingests too much of Denver’s blood and begins to burn up inside, experts are called in to see if it can be fixed and a surprising result ends in a HEA.

**

I loved this book as much as Ev and Feng’s story.  It’s terribly sweet under all the raunchy sex and the ending is wonderful.

4.5 of 5 hearts

4.5

Book 4 Gage and Hamish

gage hamishBlurb

Cat shifter Gage is an impossible bottom. No one has ever been able to tame him, even if he wants them to. He’s willing to keep trying, though, and when he finds out about the paranormal dating site Full Moon Dating, he puts himself in their hands. He longs for someone who will take him in hand and make him like it.

Hamish is a bear shifter who plays too rough for most subs. Gage sounds like just what he needs, so when Full Moon matches them up, he’s happy to see how they get along. Can he convince Gage that he’s the one to make the man toe the line?

Review

Gage is a slinky, bratty cat shifter who wants to be dominated but only after he fights for it. Hamish looks like a big softie but he likes to be the dominator.

There is a lot of spanking and the two realize they are a great match, but only after Gage runs several times and Hamish has to “punish him” to make him feel wanted.

**

This was my least favorite in the series. It was too short to feel connected to the MCs and had far too much BDSM in it for my personal taste.

On the upside I loved seeing more about Harve and Stone (the guys behind the scene), they are absolutely adorable!

2.5 of 5 hearts

2.5

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Yellowbelly Hero by Susan Laine

Dreamspinner Presents

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6700

YellowbellyHeroBlurb

Heroes at Heart: Book One

Yancy Bell was bullied in high school for being a yellowbelly, not because of any cowardice, but because of his nervous bladder condition. It’s Yancy’s first year in college, and he’s hoping to make a fresh start.

Three days before Christmas, the campus is empty. Having to pee on a midwinter night leads Yancy to meet Curt Donovan huddled in a dark shower stall. Curt’s a troubled jock whose coming out went badly, so he plans to end it all.

But Yancy adamantly refuses to let Curt go through with his irrevocable plan. With just one dark night to talk Curt around, Yancy has to win the trust of a stranger who only sees one way out.

Review

This is a short story (and I think most of my objections to this book stem from that aspect) about a boy who finds another guy in the communal bathroom in the middle of the night, acting strangely.

Yancy goes to the bathroom frequently due to a condition he has (nervous bladder) and so it’s not strange that he’s there at 2 am. What is strange is there is someone hiding in the shower stall. (For whatever reason or instinct) Yancy is compelled to ask after the guy until he proves that “he’s okay”.

The guy isn’t okay. He’s contemplating suicide since his father has disowned him for being gay.

He and Yancy end up bonding then making out and things are looking up for both of them by the end.

**

I really liked the premise of this. I think that suicide in young adults has to be something so difficult to deal with and I really appreciated the comments Yancy made. Something to the effect that making these kids feel guilty for wanting to end their pain wasn’t a very helpful motivation.

I know that short stories have to do a lot with few words, but there were some plot holes that just kept me from being fully invested in this story.

First, why did the admittedly not brave Yancy persist in investigating the guy in the shower?

Second, without a lot of explanation, why did Curt allow himself to flip so far out in the first place, recover so quickly, then immediately jump into dating? I didn’t get a good feel for Curt but he’s sort of reticent in demeanor but his actions are all over the map. I think if he’d been more of a drama queen his actions would have fit better since he was so quick to bounce from thing to thing to thing.

I think with a few modifications those plot holes could have been explained away and even with a short story the emotions the author were trying to portray could have worked.

The writing was good and the idea compelling but the end result wasn’t as satisfying as I’d have wanted it. Perhaps making this into longer could give it more depth and make it a more plausible story.

3 of 5 hearts

3

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