Review: Stripped Bear - Kate Baxter

Get lost in the powerful, sexy novella by Kate Baxter where one alpha shifter will do whatever it takes to claim the woman he can *bearly* resist...

Caden Mitchell is the ultimate alpha. Known to most as a smoldering hot billionaire, his secret weapon- the ability to shapeshift into a strong and deadly bear- allows him to be the most ruthless enforcer of the Sortiari, a paranormal organization tasked with keeping the course of Fate on the right track. But when the ailing health of his grandmother leads him back home, the luscious curves of his childhood nemesis will be too much to resist...

Leah Ridgeway never expected Caden to give her the time of day. With his abs cut from stone and powerful, strong arms, she knows there's no chance he's interested in her handful of curves. But Caden is tormented by thoughts of her beautiful body. And when evil threatens Leah's very life, Caden will stop at nothing to keep her safe...and claim her as his mate...in Stripped Bear.

Last True Vampire Series:
Stripped Bear (Novella)
The Last True Vampire
The Warrior Vampire
The Dark Vampire

Visit Kate Baxter's website for more information.

Review:
It's been sixteen years since Caden last saw Leah and he broke her heart then by walking away from her after she told him she loved him. To be fair she was only 14 at the time and since he was 21 there's no doubt he made the correct decision but he could have been a bit nicer in the way he handled things. The two are thrown back together now because Caden's grandmother has decided to do a little meddling, she's always known the two would make a perfect couple and since Leah is now engaged to someone else she's decided to act before it's too late. The moment they meet again Caden realises that Leah is his destined mate but since she doesn't even know that he's a shapeshifter he's going to have a lot of explaining to do before she accepts it.

I've already read the first three books in Kate Baxter's Last True Vampire series but for some reason I seem to have skipped over the prequel novella, something that's not like me at all since I'm usually a stickler for reading series in order. Anyway, I thought it was about time I fixed my mistake so I'm completely up to date before the next book releases. I have to admit I was a little confused when I saw who the main characters were, I could be wrong but I don't remember either of them making an appearance in the books I've read so they seemed a weird place to start the series, especially since most of the character's we've had contact with so far have been vampires. I always love a good shifter story though so it didn't put me off reading.

I know this is a novella and things have to happen quite quickly but I never managed to connect with either of the characters as much as I hoped to. They had great chemistry and we do learn about their history but I never felt as invested in them as I should have and that made the novella fall a little flat. There was nothing particularly wrong with their romance but it just wasn't all that memorable either. Another disappointment was the lack of world building, I'm obviously familiar with the world but one thing I was really hoping for was more information on the Sortiari since Caden works for them as an enforcer and they've always been a bit of a shadowy organisation in the rest of the series.

I guess was just looking for some extra background information or something to tie this story to the other books but I didn't get it so the whole novella feels a bit superfluous. I'm really enjoying the series as a whole though so if you weren't the biggest fan of Stripped Bear don't let that put you off continuing the series, if you did enjoy this story then you're bound to love the full length books even more.

Source: Purchased

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Review: The Dark Vampire - Kate Baxter

Centuries ago, the vampire race was almost destroyed. Now, salvation rests upon one - the last true vampire.

For centuries, Jenner has been plagued by the shadows of his past. Now a newly turned vampire, he stalks the night like a wild predator, unable to satisfy his desires. Until a beautiful vampire sets his soul on fire . . .

Bria is pure innocence, hidden her whole life from a merciless enemy determined to hunt her down. When things become perilous, safety comes in the form of a fearsome bodyguard - Jenner.

Bria and Jenner's fates are shaken for ever when a blazing connection is sparked. But surrendering to the powerful call of passion means breaking free from the shackles of their pasts. And, with the war against the slayers more savage than ever, they must fight to survive. For the vampire race depends on it.

Enter the world of the last true vampire . . .

Last True Vampire Series:
Stripped Bear (Novella)
The Last True Vampire
The Warrior Vampire
The Dark Vampire

Visit Kate Baxter's website for more information.

Review:
This series is going from strength to strength and I now have a new favourite hero in Jenner. If you like your heroes dark and brooding with a side of protective alpha and incredible skills in the bedroom you're going to fall for him just as hard as I did. We've all seen in the previous book that Jenner is a vampire with large appetites, he is fighting for control and coming close to losing it so he is absolutely terrified of getting close to Bria in case he hurts her. From the moment he sees her she tempts him more than any other and even the return of his soul, thanks to their tether, isn't enough to make him trust himself to keep her safe. Jenner sees Bria as everything that he isn't, she's from a privileged background and led a very sheltered upbringing so he is sure he'll never be able to give her what she needs.

What he doesn't realise is that Bria is sick of being treated like a prized possession by her family and she has no intention of letting her mate do exactly the same thing. She may have been sheltered but she knows exactly what she wants and needs and that's the freedom to be herself and to explore the world around her, she spent her whole life trapped in a gilded cage by her uncle and she never wants to feel that way again. What she wants from her mate is a man she can share love and passion with but also someone who will treat her like an equal in every way. She is sick of being seen as weak and she's determined to stand on her own two feet for once. I really liked how strong Bria was, she stands up to Jenner when she needs to and she won't let him intimidate her with his caveman routine.

These two make a great couple, Jenner has very good reasons for being worried about hurting Bria but she knows him better than he knows himself. She can see exactly what he needs and she's not afraid to let him have it. Jenner was the right amount of protective alpha mixed with attentive and adoring lover, it took Bria a long time to break through his walls but once she did there was no stopping him! This was definitely the hottest book of the series so far but I love that Kate Baxter really takes time to develop the emotional connection between the couple alongside the physical one.

I'm really enjoying seeing where this series is going, it has similarities with several other popular paranormal romance series but enough differences to stand out from the crowd in it's own right. I'm a little nervous that the next book might end up being about Siobhan and Christian but I'm hoping I'll be proved wrong on that since I'm not much of a fan of either of their characters. I really want to see more of Chelle, Lucas and Saeed though so I'm hoping we'll get on of their stories next and Siobhan can continue to have her story told in the background of each book. Either way I'll definitely be continuing this series, I'm enjoying the world and I want to see what happens to the characters I already love as well as the ones we're only just being introduced to.

Source: Received from Headline Eternal in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
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Guest Post: Damaged Goods – The Appeal of Tortured Heroes by Kate Baxter (The Dark Vampire Blog Tour)

I'm thrilled to be taking part in the UK blog tour to celebrate the release of the third book in Kate Baxter's Last True Vampire series, The Dark Vampire. If you're a fan of J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood or Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series who hasn't discovered this series yet you are definitely missing out so what are you waiting for?

I have a fabulous guest post from Kate Baxter to share with you today but before we get to that let me give you a little more information about The Dark Vampire:

Centuries ago, the vampire race was almost destroyed. Now, salvation rests upon one - the last true vampire.

For centuries, Jenner has been plagued by the shadows of his past. Now a newly turned vampire, he stalks the night like a wild predator, unable to satisfy his desires. Until a beautiful vampire sets his soul on fire . . .

Bria is pure innocence, hidden her whole life from a merciless enemy determined to hunt her down. When things become perilous, safety comes in the form of a fearsome bodyguard - Jenner.

Bria and Jenner's fates are shaken for ever when a blazing connection is sparked. But surrendering to the powerful call of passion means breaking free from the shackles of their pasts. And, with the war against the slayers more savage than ever, they must fight to survive. For the vampire race depends on it.

Enter the world of the last true vampire . . .

Last True Vampire Series:
Stripped Bear (Novella)
The Last True Vampire
The Warrior Vampire
The Dark Vampire

Visit Kate Baxter's website for more information.

Now I'm thrilled to share this post from Kate Baxter all about the appeal of damaged heroes and all the reasons why you need to read Jenner's story!

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Damaged Goods – The Appeal of Tortured Heroes

By Kate Baxter

The tortured hero is a romance staple. The more wounded, the better. Let him ooze angst and we’re on board! Maybe it’s because the feminine instinct urges us to be nurturers and fixers. To want to take that damaged soul and mend it. And there’s a certain smug satisfaction in knowing that of all the others who tried, you were the only one who could make him whole. I’m a sucker for a tortured hero as well which is why I had no choice but to slap the label of “damaged goods” on Jenner in THE DARK VAMPIRE.

Jenner’s damage is 100% psychological. He’s an emotional mess. His self-worth is in the gutter and he’s spent centuries convincing himself that he isn’t worthy of love or tenderness. He embraces his anger, his violent tendencies, the dark side of his personality because it helps to build a wall between him and anything or anyone who might try to get close. It’s a trait that we all can relate to. You can’t be hurt if you keep everyone at arms’ length and refuse to let anyone see your vulnerabilities.

How is that appealing, though? Wouldn’t confidence be more alluring? Or strength? Shouldn’t we be more attracted to the hero who has his shit together and knows what he brings to the table? Not in this case. I think it’s the juxtaposition that tugs at our heartstrings. The tall, muscular, seemingly herculean male who’s as fragile as a hatchling on the inside.

As readers—and nurturers—we want to coddle this hero and make all of his angsty woes disappear. It isn’t that easy, though. The damaged hero can’t be fixed simply because the heroine cups his baby bird emotions in her palms. In romance, just like real life, opposites attract. We look for partners who possess qualities that we lack. The damaged hero needs a little tough love. He needs a partner who sees past his insecurities and gives him a swift kick in the ass. We root for the heroine, though, because even though she exercises that tough love, she sees past the image of unworthiness that the hero projects. She sees all of the wonderful things about him that he doesn’t. And through her acceptance of his broken bits and pieces, he finds peace.

That’s the true appeal of the tortured hero. Not the fact that he can be “fixed,” but the fact that through love, he can find self-acceptance. Because that’s what we all want. Acceptance.

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Thanks for a fab guest post Kate! I can definitely attest to Jenner's worthiness as a tortured hero :o) You ladies out there are going to love him (but just you try and steal him from my book boyfriend harem, just you try!!). Keep an eye out for my review which will be posted later today but in the meantime you can also check out the rest of the stops on The Dark Vampire Blog Tour here:

Review: The Warrior Vampire - Kate Baxter

Centuries ago, the vampire race was almost destroyed. Now, salvation rests upon one - the last true vampire.

For hundreds of years, Ronan Daly has hungered to be turned into a vampire. Now his time has come, he's ready to serve his king and resurrect the vampire race to glory.

Naya Morales is no ordinary mortal, but part of a secret tribe dedicated to hunting down stolen magic. One fateful night she's led to Rowan - a thief set to change the course of her fate forever.

Ancient law orders Naya to kill her prisoner, but she can't ignore the formidable vampire's pull on her soul. And once they surrender to desire, a torrent of addictive passion is unleashed. But dark magical forces are at play and, with the bloodthirsty wrath of Naya's tribe to contend with, their love faces a deadly battle . . .

Enter the world of the last true vampire . . .

Last True Vampire Series:
Stripped Bear (Novella)
The Last True Vampire
The Warrior Vampire
The Dark Vampire

Visit Kate Baxter's website for more information.

Review:
Ronan has waited centuries for Michael to turn him into a vampire and now all he wants is the chance to help his king rebuild their race. When his twin sister Chelle calls asking for his help with an ancient vampire relic that she has finally uncovered he drops everything to go to her aid. Unfortunately for him he wakes up almost 2 weeks later with absolutely no memory of where he has been or what has happened to his sister. Naya is a powerful witch with the ability to sense stolen and corrupted magic, her tribe's sacred duty is to track that magic and to kill those who have been damaged by trying to use it. She is drawn to Ronan because she can sense the dangerous magic inside him but at the same time there is something about him that resonates with the very heart of her and she can't bring herself to hurt him. Unfortunately someone or something has left Ronan's magic corrupted and unless Naya can find a way to remove it before it turns him into a monster she might be forced to kill him before he can destroy the people she cares about most.

Although I liked the first book in this series I did have a few problems with both of the main characters, the world was interesting enough that I was willing to give it another try though and I'm very happy to say that Kate Baxter has definitely upped the ante in The Vampire Warrior. Not only has she expanded her world building to include witches and shapeshifters alongside the vampires and dhampirs but she also gave us two main characters who were likeable from the beginning. Naya is a powerful woman in her own right but she is sick of being treated like a possession by the male members of her tribe.

The Bororo culture is very male orientated even though it's only women who have the skills to detect and reclaim magic like Naya does. The males instead have the ability to shift into jaguars which makes them powerful in a different way and they hold this power over the women's heads. Naya is one of the few females left with her abilities and because of that her tribe want to see her mated as quickly as possible so that she can start giving birth to a new generation of witches. Unfortunately for Naya they aren't happy about her independent streak but she is equally unhappy about the idea of being forced into mating a man she doesn't love and having to give up her hunting duties.

Ronan never expected to find his mate but he becomes tethered the moment he sets eyes on Naya and that proves she is the only woman for him. Unfortunately, he was so convinced that he wouldn't find his mate that he has already made a blood vow to another woman and now if he acts on his feelings for Naya it could be the death of him. Now Ronan not only has to figure out a way to handle the dark and dangerous magic inside him, he also has to track down his missing sister and find a way to get Siobhan to release him from his vow. Naya has a lot of trouble accepting that Ronan is her mate, she is reluctant to escape one forced mating by being pulled into another and she is determined to fight Ronan every step of the way. She does agree to help him find Chelle along with a way to get rid of the magic though, especially since it quickly becomes clear everything is linked to a surge in magical demons in the area.

I really enjoyed the push and pull between these two. It can be hard to pull off a romance when characters are fated mates with an immediate bond but I thought the way things progressed by Ronan and Naya were believable. I understood her reluctance but enjoyed the seeing her come around to the idea as she spent more time with Ronan and realised that he was proud to fight at her side and didn't want to lock her away in cotton wool. Ronan was the right amount of possessive and growly alpha without veering too far into controlling and over the top territory. He was protective of Naya but in a way that didn't stifle her and he appreciated the strength he could see in her.

My slight complaints about the story were that it was a little too easy to guess who the mastermind behind everything was. I also could do without seeing the hero from the next book screwing around with women that aren't his mate. We had to watch Ronan with Siobhan in The Last Vampire (in scenes that quite frankly turned my stomach!) and in this book we got to watch Jenner (the hero of The Dark Vampire) working his way through a whole bevy of dhampirs. I like getting to know future characters but would rather do it outside of the bedroom please. I also thought the plot with Ronan's blood vow to Siobhan fell a little flat, I would have loved to see her character brought down a peg or two since she's been such a nasty piece of work since the beginning of the series and I didn't like the way they gave her such a brilliant gift for his freedom. I had been looking forward to seeing Naya go in there, prove that she was much more powerful and make Siobhan back off so that was a little disappointing.

Overall I enjoyed this book much more than the first though, this series is really starting to come into it's own and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

Source: Received from Headline Eternal in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle:

Review: The Last True Vampire - Kate Baxter

Centuries ago, the vampire race was almost destroyed. Now, salvation rests upon one - the last true vampire.

He is the last of his race. King of the vampires. Michael Aristov roams the nightclubs of LA after dark, haunted by his past and driven by hunger. The sole Ancient One to survive the slayers' obliteration, only he can resurrect the vampire race. But he's unable to reclaim his world without the woman who can return his soul . . .

Claire Thompson is mortal, yet her intoxicating blood draws Michael like a moth to the flame. Sassy and seductive, only she can satisfy his insatiable cravings, their first fiery kiss igniting an irrevocable passion.

With the future of the vampire race now at stake, Claire has the power to seal Michael's fate - forever.

Last True Vampire Series:
Stripped Bear (Novella)
The Last True Vampire
The Warrior Vampire
The Dark Vampire

Visit Kate Baxter's website for more information.

Review:
Michael is the last of his kind, the only ancient vampire to survive the slayers who set out to eliminate his race. He survived their torture but has never forgiven himself for the deaths of his brethren and he has been punishing himself ever since by refusing to feed as much as he required and by keeping himself apart from the dhampirs who think of him as their king. Michael is the only one who can repopulate the vampire race and he can only do that if he finds his true mate, the one woman who will return his soul and give him the strength to start turning dhampirs. After searching for centuries he's pretty much given up hope but all his prayers are answered when he stumbles upon Claire in a nightclub. Her blood draws him like no other but it takes him a while to realise how important she is to him and she gets away before he can stop her. Now the race is on to track her down before his enemies can harm her.

I had incredibly high expectations when I picked up The Last True Vampire, let's face it when a book is compared to works by four of your favourite authors (Nalini Singh, Lara Adrian, Larissa Ione and J.R. Ward) you're going to be looking for greatness. Unfortunately I think that did this book a disservice because it was almost bound to be a disappointment. It's actually a pretty solid start and I have high hopes that Kate Baxter will build on these foundations to create a wonderful series but there were issues with this first instalment that meant I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.

Let's start with the positive. The author has managed to put her own twist on vampire mythology, you can tell the series has been inspired by some of the author's mentioned previously but it stands on it's own enough for that not to be a problem. I'm intrigued by the connection between the vampires and dhampirs although I'm still not 100% sure I understand it fully and am hoping we'll get more information about that as the series continues. Usually the vampire society is well established at the start of a series so I'm definitely interested to see how Michael will go about rebuilding an entire race and I think seeing things from the ground up will add an interesting element to these books.

One of the things I missed the most was having a solid group of core characters who are going to be central to the series though. When we first meet Michael he very much keeps himself to himself and there is only really one dhampir who he trusts. I did enjoy the bond he had with Ronan and it looks like Ronan has a group of warriors he trusts so the cast is bound to expand thanks to him but since Michael is supposed to be the king I felt he should have been the core member of the group and the one that everyone relied on.

I actually had a lot of issues with Michael to begin with, the way he treated Claire in the beginning was despicable and a complete turn off, he constantly left her in the dark and refused to answer any of her questions so it was no wonder she found it hard to trust him. At one point he used mind control to put her to sleep for THREE WHOLE DAYS just so he didn't have to deal with her - he didn't even wake her up to feed or drink so it's a wonder she even survived! After everything he puts her through I struggled to believe the romance that develops between them even after he realised his mistakes and worked hard to turn things around. Claire was an interesting character, she starts out strong and street smart but it did seem like her connection to Michael effectively removed her brain and she started making more and more stupid decisions the longer she'd known him. To be fair they both turned things around eventually and I was happy with the way things turned out but I could have enjoyed the whole book much more if they hadn't been such idiots. I don't mind the whole fated mates thing in paranormal romance but I do like to feel that there is more than just a physical attraction between them and I'd have liked more of a slow build into a full on relationship.

In spite of the problems I had with this book I definitely want to carry on reading the series. Ronan was my favourite character all along, although I have to admit the side story with him and another dhampir Siobhan actually turned my stomach, so I was excited to find out he will be the hero of the next book. I'm kind of nervous to see how it plays out because of his connection to Siobhan but since I know she isn't going to be the heroine I'm hoping we won't have to see too much of her. If Kate Baxter can build on the positives and avoid some of the issues then I think I could really fall in love with this series so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed when I pick up a copy of The Warrior Vampire.

Source: Received from Headline Eternal in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Paperback / Kindle: