Author: Kiwi

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The Choosing (Princes of Nilan’dane 1) Violet Joicey-Cowen 

Publisher: Siren BookStrand 

BLURB: Thinking his duty and heart lead in different directions, what will Prince Korin of Nilan’dane decide to do? A letter arrives from Korin’s father, summoning him home for the Choosing after a year’s freedom in the desert, and Korin must face the fact that he is deeply in love with his best friend, the captain of his guard, Ansen. Ansen has known for years that he loves Korin but never spoke of his feelings because he knew the duty Korin must perform, marrying and producing an heir for the kingdom. He never dared hope Korin would not only return those feelings, but actually be able to choose him. Their brief happiness is ripped apart through the machinations of the twisted brother of one of Korin’s other suitors, and they must fight to hold on to the hope that they will see each other, and the baby Korin was carrying, again. 

  
REVIEW: I will admit that I was not a fan of the medieval type fantasy world and didn’t give this book a second glance when it was first published. It was suggested by a friend that I give it a try. I decided that I would take the time to read this because this particular author has written other books that I’ve enjoyed. That combined with an Mpreg in the storyline really helped pique my interest. I am so glad that I made the decision to read it because I truly enjoyed this book.

Prince Korin is summoned by his father , the King return home to Nilan’dane after spending the year in the desert. It was time for him and his brothers to choose makes that they can live with so that they can produce heirs. It was in the desert that Korin and his guard and childhood best friend Ansen realize their feelings for each other went beyond friendship but They felt they couldn’t be together because of the prince’s obligation to the kingdom. Korin realizes at the last minute that he and Ansen could in fact be together and Korin chooses his best friend and the man he loves, Ansen to be his consort. 
Korin becomes pregnant and just when he and Ansen are about to become a family and live their lives, the prince is kidnapped and held captive by the brother of a rejected suitor. I must say that this story was a delightful surprise. As usual this author puts her clean writing style on display for us. She is able to, and quite successfully I might add, to write multiple characters with multiple points of views and do it as such a way as to not confuse the reader. She transitions perfectly from one character to the next. This is made easier by alerting the reader at the beginning of each chapter exactly which character we are reading about. The author brilliantly created a cast of characters that held my attention from the first word on the first page to the last. I would definitely recommend this book and I am excited to see how these wonderful characters play out.

             

RATING: ❤️❤️❤️❤️

PURCHASE:

Amazon:

Siren BookStrand 

  

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Rescuing Jack (A Forever Home #1) by Catlin Ricci

Dreamspinner Press, LLC

Blurb:

Werewolves are real. Marius enjoys the irony that everyone calls him a dog whisperer, not just because he’s a werewolf, but for his work at the local animal shelter. He has a unique talent for pairing families with their perfect pets upon first meeting them. But he’s still looking for acceptance and a forever family of his own. Then Jack comes into the rescue looking for a big, mean dog. To prevent Jack from making the wrong choice, Marius convinces him to adopt a needy spaniel mix instead. But when Marius learns Jack is tormented by horrible memories while at his apartment, he opens his home to the sweet, scared man. As their relationship grows, Jack feels comfortable telling Marius about the horrors he suffered. Marius hopes his steady presence, protection, and love can help Jack reclaim the pieces of himself broken on that terrible night. 

  

Review:

I really liked this book and I absolutely adored Marius. Marius is the sexy, sweet, dependable, and kind werewolf who runs an animal rescue shelter. He has a great group of friends, the community (most of them anyway) loves him and he has a gift of making people feel good and pairing them with the perfect pet. 

Jack wanders into his pet store one day looking for a dog. The man is quiet seems odd but all is not what it appears to be with Jack, Marius feels it. Jack doesn’t adopt right then but when he returns, Marius is determined to pair him with the pet that is best for him, a traumatized spaniel. Something about Marius allows Jack to trust him enough to open up a little to get to know him. 

Marius knows that something is wrong, terribly wrong with Jack but he just can’t figure out what it is. Marius inadvertently discovers the horror that Jack endured in his apartment. He finally understands and does everything in his power to heal Jack, rescue him from the pain and terror of what happened to him. 

This book was heartbreaking in to read. You’re able to piece together what happened to Jack with the pieces of information provided. I think that the author’s made a wise decision not to describe what happened to Jack in detail. Marius was patient and sweet and kind and understanding with Jack and that made me love Marius’s character that much more.

This book has a low heat index but was appropriate due to the circumstances surrounding what happened to Jack. These men are right for each other, no doubt about that but I really would’ve liked to read about Jack seeking outside help as well in the form of therapy. Jack has come a long way but still has quite a way to go and I think that outside professional help would help him heal even more.

The best thing about this story is that the author didn’t give the readers a HEA ending that would’ve felt forced and unrealistic considering what happened to Jack. The HFN ending she left us with was quite appropriate and you were left with a sense of hope for them both. 

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️.5

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press, LLC


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Of Monsters and Men (A Forever Home #2) by Caitlin Ricci

Dreamspinner Press, LLC

Blurb:

Seth’s life looks idyllic on the surface. He has a great job at the pet rescue with a fantastic boss, who happens to be a werewolf. He is getting his degree at the local university and has a best friend who understands that the most intimate thing for Seth is a kiss. But when it comes to relationships, Seth’s perfect life is a jumbled mess. No guy stays around because eventually, they always want more than Seth, who is asexual, is able to give. Seth wants love and a relationship, but not the sex that everyone puts so much value on.
Seth tries for something more with the man he has a crush on, but when that ends Seth feels like he’s back to square one. So when his boss’s brother, Jeremy, pushes his way into Seth’s life, insisting that he won’t press for more than Seth is comfortable sharing, Seth is wary. All of Seth’s experience says it won’t last long. But Jeremy is one werewolf who is used to getting his way, and might just be patient enough to wait for Seth to see he means what he says. 

  

Review:

I liked really liked Seth’s character from the first book so when I saw this sequel, I immediately went for it without reading the blurb because I really wanted to know more about sex character. As I’m reading the book I realized that Seth was asexual. When I realized that I will admit that my enthusiasm for reading the story tapered quite a bit.  I am not a fan of books with sexual MCs but I decided to give it a chance since I liked the first book so much. 

First let me start off by saying that the writing wasn’t bad at all.  I just found Seth to be kind of irritating, confusing and kind of unlikeable. Seth had a crush on Peter but ran when Peter kisses him and starts touching him. When he finally calmed down, he tells Peter that he’s asexual. Okay, now that the asexual thing is out, Seth then became upset when Peter became slightly sexual with him on their second encounter and said something he didn’t like. It wasn’t an offensive or crude sexual comment or anything like that but Seth completely overreacted to it and used it to 86 the man. Seth’s reactions, or overreactions to virtually everything irritated me to no end. He’s hypersensitive, quick tempered, sulks like a little boy and stews before he finally decides to talk about whatever it is that is bothering him. Then there is his aversion to nudity which is completely bizarre considering the make out cuddle sessions he has with Marius’s brother.

This brings us to Jeremy. Marius’s older brother, self and Seth proclaimed asshole. I liked Jeremy. I felt that his hard and gruff exterior hid a soft and caring interior. The thing with Jeremy, I felt came from out of nowhere. Yes, Seth thought that Jeremy was kinda cute but that’s about it as he didn’t really know Jeremy all that well, at least that’s what it appeared to me. So these two get together and have these cuddle, kissing and make out sessions.  And that’s it. That. Is. All.

I tried to like this book. I wanted to like this book, I truly did but I just couldn’t get into it. I wanted to try to gain a better understanding of how relationships with someone who identified as asexual worked. This is the second book that I’ve read which featured an asexual MC and I must say that this is not my cup of tea, hot or cold.  It’s not so much the lack of sex in the book that I found disappointing, I could’ve worked with that. It was just that the storyline was not strong enough to support, carry or compensate for the lack of of it and there wasn’t anything else in its place to make up for it. I’m sorry, but it is what it is. 

Rating: ❤️❤️

Buy Links: 

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press, LLC 

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