Tuesday, 15 August 2017

Review: Horde - Ann Aguirre

The epic conclusion to Ann Aguirre's USA Today-bestselling Razorland trilogy.

The horde is coming.

Salvation is surrounded, monsters at the gates, and this time, they're not going away. When Deuce, Fade, Stalker, and Tegan set out, the odds are against them. But the odds have been stacked against Deuce from the moment she was born. She might not be a Huntress anymore, but she doesn't run. With her knives in hand and her companions at her side, she will not falter, whether fighting for her life or Fade's love.

Ahead, the battle of a lifetime awaits. Freaks are everywhere, attacking settlements, setting up scouts, perimeters, and patrols. There hasn't been a war like this in centuries, and humans have forgotten how to stand and fight. Unless Deuce can lead them.

This time, however, more than the fate of a single enclave or outpost hangs in the balance. This time, Deuce carries the banner for the survival of all humanity.

Razorland Series:
Foundation (Free short story on the Tor website)
Enclave
Endurance (Novella)
Outpost
Restoration (Free short story on the MacMillan website)
Horde
Vanguard

Visit Ann Aguirre's website for more information

Review:
With the Horde camped all around Salvation and everyone Deuce has come to care about once again in danger she has set out with Fade, Tegan and Stalker to try and get help from the nearest settlements. The number of Freaks they're up against leave them facing almost impossible odds but Deuce and her friends are determined and as they gradually gain the respect of other settlements their army starts to grow. They're going to need a miracle if they have any chance of winning though and the assistance they badly need comes from a very unexpected quarter.

This book was fantastic, it's fast paced, full of action and pretty bloody and brutal. I think it's probably the darkest book in the series but there were moments of lightness that stopped it being too dark. I love that Ann Aguirre doesn't try to sugarcoat things though, this is a war, the stakes are high and every victory they have is going to cost them. Sometimes the price is almost too much to bear but giving in isn't an option so Deuce just has to find a way to keep pushing on. She's come such a long way since the first book and now she's such a wonderful young woman, she's not perfect and she makes mistakes but she has the heart of a lion and she is determined to make a positive difference with her life. The relationship between her and Fade has been great, they've been through so much together and Fade is in a bad place at the start of this book but Deuce never gives up on him and they fight to find their way back to each other.

Horde had some brilliant twists to it and there were a few shock moments that I definitely wasn't expecting. In fact one thing upset me far more than I would have expected it to. We're introduced to some great new characters along the way and there are a few familiar faces from Deuce's past that I was really happy to see. It was interesting to see how each different settlement lived and how they went about protecting themselves in this new world. Travel between the settlements was treacherous so each group had to be pretty self sufficient but some of the towns and villages they came across were more dangerous than others.

I know Horde was originally meant to be the final book in this trilogy and as such it's actually a pretty great ending that ties up all the major threads that have been running through the series. I'm glad that Ann Aguirre decided to give fans another story set in this world though, I love Tegan and am looking forward to spending more time with her but more than anything I'm curious to see how the world goes about rebuilding after the major battle in this book.

Source: Purchased

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Review: Restoration - Ann Aguirre

If you wondered why Fade retreated from Deuce at the end of Outpost, find out in his own words.

Short Story that can be read for free on the MacMillan website.

Razorland Series:
Foundation (Free short story on the Tor website)
Enclave
Endurance (Novella)
Outpost
Restoration (Free short story on the MacMillan website)
Horde
Vanguard

Visit Ann Aguirre's website for more information

Review:
Restoration is a free short story can be read on the MacMillan website. Please be aware that it contains spoilers for Outpost so I definitely don't recommend reading it until after that book!

This story is told from Fade's point of view and it shows us exactly what was going on in his head at the end of Outpost. It was heartbreaking to see how depressed he was and how worthless he was feeling and as much as I was annoyed by his actions when I was reading the book this explains a lot and you can't help but feel sorry for him.

Edmund gives Fade a brilliant "daughter's boyfriend" speech which I think should earn him the Dad of the Year title. I also liked Fade's little dig at Stalker towards the end, it was good to see he's still got some fight left in him & I think he's going to need it for the next book. Restoration was a great addition to the series and I'm definitely looking forward to the remaining books.

Source: Read for free on the MacMillan website

Other Reviews:
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Monday, 14 August 2017

Review: Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire

The world of faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival - but no secret can be kept forever, and when they fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October "Toby" Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the Fae world, retreating into a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas.

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the Fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby is forced to resume her old position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery . . . before the curse catches up with her.

October Daye Series:
In Little Stars (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Rosemary and Rue
A Local Habitation
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
Through This House (Short story in the Home Improvement: Undead Edition anthology)
One Salt Sea
In Sea-Salt Tears (Free short story available on Seanan's website)
Ashes of Honor
Rat-Catcher (Free short story available on the Lightspeed Magazine website)
No Sooner Met (Free short story available on Seanan's website)
Chimes at Midnight
Never Shines the Sun (Short story included in the print version of Chimes at Midnight)
Forbid the Sea (Free short story available on Seanan's website)
Stage of Fools (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Voice of Lions (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Act of Hares (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Instruments of Darkness (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
With Honest Trifles (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
In Deepest Consequence (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Jealous in Honor (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Quick in Quarrel (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Winter Long
Heaps of Pearl (Free short story available on Seanan's website)
Shore to Shore (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Write in Water (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Live in Brass (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Ambitious Ocean (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
And Thrice Again (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
The Fixed Stars (Free short story available on the Baen website)
A Red-Rose Chain
Full of Briars (Short story)
Once Broken Faith
Dreams and Slumbers (Short story included in Once Broken Faith)
The Brightest Fell
These Antique Fables (Short story available to purchase through Patreon)
Of Things Unknown (Short story included in The Brightest Fell)
Night and Silence
Suffer a Sea-Change (Short story included in Night and Silence)
The Unkindest Tide
Hope is Swift (Short story included in The Unkindest Tide)

Visit Seanan McGuire's website for more information

Review:
As a huge fan of Seanan McGuire's Incryptid series I had very high expectations for October Daye and I'm happy to say that Rosemary and Rue kicks things off to a very promising start. October (known as Toby) is a changeling - born to one human parent and one fae and never quite fitting into either world. Full fae look down on changelings because they're not as powerful as them but humans often sense something a little off about them and it can be hard having to constantly hide the power they do have. Toby had opted to live a more human life than most, she had a human fiancé and a young daughter but her job as a private investigator often involved working fae cases. It was when she was trying to locate her liege lord's missing wife and daughter that things went really wrong for her though. She was only meant to track the suspect and report back so that someone more powerful could be involved in the take down but unfortunately she walked right into a trap and suddenly found herself transformed into a koi fish.

It took 14 years for the curse to wear off - 14 years of living as a fish totally unable to interact with anyone or even remember that she was human! - and in that time her fiancé and daughter decided that she was just a deadbeat parent who had chosen to walk out on them. They didn't know anything about Toby's fae heritage or magic so they moved on with their lives and have no interest in letting Toby back in now. Toby is understandably bitter about everything that happened and she is determined to stay far away from the fae from now onwards, or she was until she received a message on her voice mail from an old friend. Countess Evening Winterrose knows she is about to die and she asks Toby to investigate and bring her killer to justice. Now Toby will have no option but to confront her past as she carries out her friend's dying wish.

Toby has lost everything that ever meant anything to her, the people she loves most want nothing to do with her and the only people who still want to know are from the life that caused all her pain. It's no wonder that when we meet her she's pretty down on life, she's depressed and she's pretty much given up so she's just doing the minimum to make ends meet and just survive. Evening's curse gives her something to focus on and that has the effect of slowly dragging her out of her pit of despair and making her interact with the world again. The further we get into the book the more interesting her character becomes as she finds the will to fight back against the people who wronged her. She's out of touch though and it is hard to know who is an ally and who might be plotting against her. The focus of this story is definitely on finding Evening's killer but I think we're going to learn more about Toby's past and what happened to her as the series continued and I'm really looking forward to her getting vengeance for everything that was done to her.

I find the fae fascinating and Seanan McGuire has created a detailed world populated with interesting characters and all kinds of fae lore, as this is the first book we're still only scratching the surface but we've already seen all kinds of interesting creatures (I love the rose goblin!) and characters I really want to spend more time with (I'm looking at you here Tybalt!). This series is very different to the Incryptid one, it's much darker for a start and there was less humour, but the writing is just as brilliant and I have a feeling I'm going to end up loving these characters as much or even more than the Price-Healey clan. There are lots of questions I still want answers to and I'm really hoping that Toby will get the chance to make amends with her daughter at some point but for now I'm just happy that I've got another 9 books sitting here waiting for me to dive straight into. I can feel a binge read coming on!

Source: Received from DAW Books in exchange for an honest review.

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Sunday, 13 August 2017

Review: Destined to Live - One Woman's War, Life, Loves Remembered - Sabina Wolanski & Diana Bagnall

Sabina van der Linden-Wolanski (1927-2011) was the only member of her family to survive the Holocaust in eastern Poland. After the war, she spent time in Silesia (now part of Poland) and Paris before emigrating to Australia in 1950. A diary and a few photographs were all she had left to remind her of her youth. Decades later, these unique items became part of the exhibition in the Information Centre of the Holocaust Memorial. Sabina gave a speech as a guest of honour at the inauguration on 10 May 2005. Her autobiography is a testament to the determination and the uncertainties of a young girl facing violence and murder, but also to the strength of character that enabled Sabina to make a new start on the other side of the world as a wife, mother and businesswoman.

This edition is available to purchase from The Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin.

Visit Jenny's blog Sabina Wolanski's Wikipedia Page for more information

Review:
If you follow my blog then you'll already know that I don't read or review much non fiction, especially not memoirs, but we read about some of Sabina Wolanski's story at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin and when we found out they had an English copy of her memoir for sale we immediately bought a copy. Sabina actually gave a speech at the opening of the memorial and we heard a recording of part of that speech while touring the museum and I found her words were both poignant and deeply meaningful considering the rise of prejudice and hatred that just seems to be building in the west over the last few years.
What have I learned from my bitter experience? I have learned that hatred begets hatred. I have learned that we must not remain silent and that each of us as an individual must fight the evil of racism, discrimination, prejudice, inhumanity.
This book isn't an easy read, it took me a long time to read because I kept getting so emotional and had to take a break and walk away. I cried buckets of tears while reading and I'm welling up again now as I write this review, but don't let that put you off picking up a copy because it's such an important story.

Sabina was just 12 years old when Nazis invaded her hometown of Boryslaw (at the time part of Poland but now within Ukraine boarders) and her world was turned upside down. She talks unflinchingly about the aktions she witnessed, the way people were rounded up and sent to death camps to be gassed like her mother or just shot in the head like her father and brother. She talks about her fears and how as a child she just couldn't understand the way she was suddenly no longer able to attend school or play with her non Jewish friends, she goes into detail about life in the ghettos created to house Jewish people and about her time spent hiding in underground shelters or people's basements trying to avoid detection.

Out of all the countries in Europe Poland suffered the largest losses of Jewish life under Hitler's regime, out of 3.5 million Jews before the war 3 million people were murdered. From a Jewish population of 15,000 in and around Boryslaw Sabina was one of an estimated 800 survivors. Those kind of numbers are just so hard to comprehend, it's a tragedy on a scale that I can't wrap my head around it but that's why books like this one are so incredibly important. Sabina puts a human face to just one of those stories while so many more have been forgotten and will never be told. This book should be required reading for everyone and if you ever go to Berlin then the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is also a must visit.

This isn't only about Sabina's live during the war though, it's also about her life after she escapes Europe and emigrates to Australia. You can see the way the events she witness shaped her whole life but she fought against all odds to survive and even travelled back to Germany to be a witness at the trial of the man who ordered the murders of her father and brother. Sabina's story is one of survival against the darkest odds, it's about the people who were willing to risk their lives to help her along the way and it's about good triumphing over evil. The most important message is that we must never forget this tragedy and we must never allow it to happen again.
I understood that while anti-Semitism had been my particular burden to bear, prejudice and hatred in any form, whether it be against blacks, or Asians, or Muslims, or women, demeaned humanity and contained within it the seeds of evil. I understood, and wanted future generations to understand, that those who remained silent in the face of prejudice and hatred gave prejudice and hatred permission not only to exist but to flourish.
Source: Purchased

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Saturday, 12 August 2017

Review: The Epic Crush of Genie Lo - F.C. Yee

The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes fifteen 15-year-old Genie's every waking thought. But when she discovers she s an immortal who s powerful enough to bash through the gates of Heaven with her fists, her perfectionist existence is shattered.

Enter Quentin, a transfer student from China whose tone-deaf assertiveness beguiles Genie to the brink of madness. Quentin nurtures Genie s bodacious transformation sometimes gently, sometimes aggressively as her sleepy Bay-area suburb in the Bay area comes under siege from Hell-spawn.

This epic YA debut draws from Chinese mythology, features a larger-than-life heroine, and perfectly balances the realities of Genie s grounded, Oakland life with the absurd supernatural world she finds herself commanding.

The Genie Lo Series:
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo
The Iron Will of Genie Lo (January 2020)

Visit F.C. Yee's website for more information

Review:
Genie Lo's biggest problem has always been living up to her mother's very high expectations, making sure she's at the top of her very competitive class and her goal to earn herself a spot in a top college but that all changes when new student Quentin transfers into her school. At first Quentin's claims that he is the Monkey King, and that Genie is the human reincarnation of his most powerful weapon, are easy to laugh off but as she finds herself facing off against creatures straight out of her childhood storybooks Genie starts to realise that there is more than a little truth to them. The question is can they stop the demon horde before it takes over the city?

I had so much fun reading this novel, The Epic Crush of Genie Lo is a fantastic, fast paced debut and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. We've seen so many books full of Greek and Roman mythology but hardly any about Chinese folklore so it's something I know very little about and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the monkey king and some of the other Chinese gods and demons.

Genie is a brilliant character too, she's a hard worker who has her entire future mapped out in her head, all she has to do is get top grades and get a place in a great college, hopefully with a scholarship to help pay the way, and she can escape from her hometown, get out from under her mother's thumb and live her life the way she wants to. She will do whatever it takes to achieve her goals and she's not afraid of putting in the many, many hours of studying needed to be a success story. Quentin throws her completely for a loop, she has no idea how to deal with demons and she'd really much rather be left to her studies but when she starts to realise the danger her friends, family and even strangers, are in then she steps up to make things better.

If I had one complaint I thought Genie learned to use her powers a little too easily, there was a bit of a learning curve but I think I'd have liked to see more of her training sessions and for her to have found it harder to get to grips with all of Quentin's revelations, however I was having so much fun watching the pair of them fighting all different kinds of demons that it didn't bother me for long. Genie is like an Asian version of Buffy who is fighting Chinese monsters rather than vampires, the story zooms along at a fantastic pace and I was gripped from the very beginning. I really hope that this is going to be the start of a new series and I'm definitely going to be watching out for whatever F.C. Yee writes next!

Source: Received from Abrams Chronicle in exchange for an honest review

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Friday, 11 August 2017

Review: Tamed by a Tiger - Felicity Heaton

A snow leopard shifter in the prime of his life, the last thing on August’s mind is tying himself to one female. He welcomes a different one to his bed each night, or at least he had until five months ago when he became alpha. The duties and pressures of running his pride have his libido dead on arrival—until a trip to London to discuss business with the former alpha lands him in the path of a beautiful, bewitching tigress who awakens a passion in him that flares white hot and a need of her that consumes his every moment.

Promised at birth to a male she has never met, Maya has left her pride behind to go to the tiger alpha who is to be her mate, but she can’t leave without saying goodbye to her older brother, Talon. A stop in London at Underworld to see him one last time turns out far different, and far more dangerous, than how she had imagined it when she sets eyes on an alluring crimson-haired stranger who stirs new, unbidden feelings in her, desires that rouse her fiercest and most frightening instincts and demand she stake a claim on him—her fated mate.

Will Maya be strong enough to place her pride and her family’s safety before the desires of her own heart? And will August unravel his feelings for the black-haired beauty before it’s too late and he loses her forever?

Eternal Mates Series:
(This series is set in the same world as the Vampire Erotic Theatre series but can be read completely separately)
Kissed by a Dark Prince
Claimed by a Demon King
Tempted by a Rogue Prince
Hunted by a Jaguar
Craved by an Alpha
Bitten by a Hellcat
Taken by a Dragon
Marked by an Assassin
Possessed by a Dark Warrior
Awakened by a Demoness
Haunted by the King of Death
Tuned by a Tiger
Tamed by a Tiger
Treasured by a Tiger
Unchained by a Forbidden Love
Avenged by an Angel
Seduced by a Demon King

Vampire Erotic Theatre Series:
Covet
Crave
Seduce
Enslave
Bewitch
Unleash

Cougar Creek Mates Series:
(Set in the same world as Vampire Erotic Theatre & Eternal Mates series but can be read completely separately)
Claimed by her Cougar
Captured by her Cougar
Courted by her Cougar
Craved by her Cougar

Black Ridge Bears Series:
(Set in the same world as Vampire Erotic Theatre, Eternal Mates & Cougar Creek Mates series but can be read completely separately)

Visit Felicity Heaton's website for more information

Review:
August took over as Alpha of his pride when his cousin Cavanaugh abdicated to be with his mate Eloise. The responsibility weighs heavy on his shoulders and with upcoming trade negotiations August has come to Underworld to ask for Cavanaugh's advice. Maya is a tiger shifter who was promised to the alpha of another pack at birth, the last thing she really wants is to move away from her home to be with a man she's never met but she feels she owes it to her pack and to her parent's memory to do what they planned for her. Travelling with her brother Grey to Siberia for her wedding they stop in at Underworld to visit their other brother Talon so she can say goodbye. The last thing she expects is to find her fated mate, especially not in the form of a snow leopard alpha. As much as she longs to be with August she knows a future between them is impossible and she fears backing out of her arranged marriage would put her pack in danger but can they find a way to be together against all the odds?

I really enjoyed Tamed by a Tiger, this series has always been a favourite of mine but I've been enjoying getting to know this family of tiger shifters and I'm really hoping that Grey's book might be next! Maya is in a really difficult position, her oldest brother who is the pack alpha, has ordered her to go ahead with the marriage her parents arranged for her but her two other brothers are dead set against the idea. They've both heard terrible rumours about her future husband but that only makes her more fearful that if she doesn't go through with it her fiancé will attack everyone she loves and attempt to destroy her whole pack. As much as she longs for a different future she knows what needs to be done but she wants to claim one powerful memory of her own to see her through the difficult future that lies ahead of her.

August is drowning in a responsibility he never asked for since he took over as alpha, it's a position he has very little experience for but he's determined to do a good job and keep his people safe. He's immediately drawn to Maya but being a foolish man he doesn't recognise the signs that she is his fated one. He is so blind to the possibility that he almost loses her forever but luckily he comes to his senses in time. The snow leopards have a lot of stupid traditions about mating within a strict hierarchy so even when Cavanaugh found his fated mate they wouldn't accept the match because she wasn't high born enough. That means that they'll never accept an outsider as their alpha's mate but August has had just about enough of a useless tradition that is only hurting the people he cares about so he's determined to change the way things work.

I don't want to say too much more but I really enjoyed the romance between Maya and August, things happen very quickly between couples in this series - that whole fated mates thing means emotions become involved very quickly - but somehow it just works for me every time. I guess because I know what I'm getting going in and Felicity Heaton always does such a brilliant job of creating a connection between her characters that goes beyond the physical. This was another great instalment to a series that is still going strong and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Source: Received from the author in exchange for an honest review

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Blog Tour: Tamed by a Tiger - Felicity Heaton




Felicity Heaton

A snow leopard shifter in the prime of his life, the last thing on August's mind is tying himself to one female. He welcomes a different one to his bed each night, or at least he had until five months ago when he became alpha. The duties and pressures of running his pride have his libido dead on arrival - until a trip to London to discuss business with the former alpha lands him in the path of a beautiful, bewitching tigress who awakens a passion in him that flares white hot and a need of her that consumes his every moment.

Promised at birth to a male she has never met, Maya has left her pride behind to go to the tiger alpha who is to be her mate, but she can't leave without saying goodbye to her older brother, Talon. A stop in London at Underworld to see him one last time turns out far different, and far more dangerous, than how she had imagined it when she sets eyes on an alluring crimson-haired stranger who stirs new, unbidden feelings in her, desires that rouse her fiercest and most frightening instincts and demand she stake a claim on him - her fated mate.

Will Maya be strong enough to place her pride and her family's safety before the desires of her own heart? And will August unravel his feelings for the black-haired beauty before it's too late and he loses her forever?




Enter the grand tour-wide giveaway to win a $25, $50 or $75 Amazon Gift Card at the Tamed by a Tiger book page. This giveaway is international and open to everyone, and ends at midnight on August 20th.

Enter now: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/tamed-by-a-tiger-shapeshifter-romance-book.php



August was finding it impossible to concentrate on anything Cavanaugh was saying about prides and appropriate greetings that should happen at the start of a meeting with one.

He had been doing just fine, scribbling notes like a damn school kid in the pad opened on the round white plastic table in front of him, until forty-three minutes ago, when he had been talking to Cavanaugh about his failing sex life and waxing lyrical about all the females he had bedded in those halcyon days before he had become alpha.

He had caught the most bewitching scent he had ever smelled, an intoxicating blend of cinnamon and snow, spicy but soothing, and had turned his head in time to see the black-haired female from last night standing in the entrance of the kitchen.

Her striking amber eyes had been as round as twin suns as she had stared at him.

The big male who had been with her last night, a wall of muscle and menace with silver hair and icy eyes, had been swift to usher her away, and August had heard him mutter about finding somewhere else.

Ever since then, he had been wondering where this somewhere else was that he had taken her.

"Earth calling August."

He blinked himself back to Cavanaugh, who sighed as he stood, the legs of his chair scraping on the tiles as he pushed it back.

"You need some coffee?" His cousin crossed the small distance between the table and the basic kitchen to August's right, plucked the jug from the machine and frowned as he lifted it. It was almost empty. His dark grey eyes shifted back to August. "I can make a fresh pot."

August didn't think coffee was going to save him.

He had tried concentrating. Really tried. He looked down at the pad and grimaced at the doodles all over it. His fingers had obviously wandered as much as his mind. He hadn't taken in anything Cavanaugh had told him.

"I think I need some air." What he really needed to do was clear his head and evict the dark beauty from it, but that probably wasn't going to happen.

Something about her had him fired up.

Which was a monumental fucking achievement given the recent death of his libido.

He pushed his chair back, stood, and scrubbed a hand across his tired eyes.

"Give me fifteen?" He looked to Cavanaugh, hoping his cousin would be alright with the break, because he wasn't going to be much use to him if he couldn't find his focus again.

Cavanaugh shrugged. "Go for it. I'll check on Eloise."

August wanted to pick him up on his choice of words. Check on Eloise? It was pretty crap code for fooling around with his mate. He couldn't hold it against Cavanaugh though. His cousin should have been in bed, enjoying sleeping with his mate, but here he was teaching August the ABCs of running a pride. If Cavanaugh wanted to use the break to make out with Eloise, that was fine with him.

He nodded and walked out of the room, his feet heavy as he tried to figure out where to go and tried not to think about where Cavanaugh was going.

Five months without sex.

Hadn't even thought about it.

Not a single urge.

He turned right and followed the corridor, intending to head up the smaller staircase to the roof.

The scent of cinnamon and snow teased his senses.

August followed it through the building, unable to stop himself from tracking her. It led him to the stairs and then downwards, towards the ground floor of the nightclub. Heat bloomed in his blood and his pulse quickened, his senses sharpening as he focused on her scent, homed in on it and ignored everything else.

Hunted her.

Five months, and now he couldn't think of anything else.

Gods, he wanted her.

He had wanted her the moment he had set eyes on her.

It was just the sudden release from the pressure of being an alpha. That was all. Cavanaugh was right and being away from the pride was doing him good. He felt free again, energised, and back to his old self.

A player again at last.

That was the only reason he wanted the beautiful female who smelled of cinnamon and snow, who set his blood on fire and had his heart beating faster whenever he saw her, and a deep urge to seize her blazing through him.

Hell, if he headed into the club tonight, he would probably want any number of the females who lined the bar, could scratch this itch with his choice of them and be done with it.

Maybe he would scratch the itch a few times.

Make the most out of being away from the pride.

His libido was bound to take a hit again the moment he returned.

He might as well enjoy it.

His feet carried him downwards.

Towards her.

Did she belong to the male he had seen her with? The two were close, and the silver-haired male guarded her as if she was precious to him. It would be just his luck if she was. The first female he had wanted in months, and she belonged to someone else.

A door opened and closed off to his left as the large white room came into view and he glanced there.

The male.

He slowed his pace as the male approached, and nodded as he jogged up the stairs towards him.

The male suddenly stopped. "Have you seen Talon? We were looking for him but we can't find him or Sherry."

August had met Talon once, shortly after he had arrived. "The only time I've seen Talon, he was on the roof, sunbathing with the pretty bartender."

The male snarled at him. "That bartender is my brother's mate."

Brother. Interesting.

He looked the male up and down, seeing the family resemblance. The male shared Talon's features, smelled similar in a way, but the scent of the female lingered on him. He wanted to growl at that.

He held himself together, clamped down on that need, and said, "Did you bring your mate to meet your brother?"

The male's silvery eyebrows rose high on his forehead and then dropped, a crinkle forming between them and a flicker of confusion crossing his pale blue eyes. "Mate?"

"The black-haired female I saw you with." August tried to say that as casually as he could while the need to rip the male apart warred with a sudden bout of nerves that the male might see right through him and rip him apart instead.

His eyes turned a shade darker blue but shone a little brighter around his pupils. "My sister. We're just stopping by to see Talon on our way through London."

Through London?

"Where are you going?" August regretted that question the second it left his lips.

The tiger's face darkened, his eyes narrowing as he frowned at August, and his voice became a low growl. "That's none of your business."

August stood his ground, unwilling to let the tiger intimidate him. The male stepped up to him, his eyes on August's the whole time, and then huffed and moved on, heading up the stairs.

Moody son of a bitch.

It didn't stop August from wanting to know where they were going.

He wasn't sure why he needed to know.

Maybe it was just that itch to fuck she had ignited in him.

He wanted to know her schedule so he knew whether he had time to win her over and bed her.

He looked down to his left.

At a door in the white wall.

A door that would lead to her.

He kept his eyes locked on it as he took the last few steps, as he turned, and as he walked towards it, drawn to it, and to her.

He needed to see her again.

Needed her.

He reached out and gripped the steel handle, and paused, breathed through a sudden rush of feelings, a collision of fear and desire that was foreign and unsettling. Five months without sex wasn't long enough to dampen his charm, and definitely wasn't long enough to make him forget all the right moves to make, the ones that would ensure she fell into his arms and into his bed for one wild night with no strings attached.

So why the hell was he on the verge of having a panic attack?

It was just sex. That was all he wanted from her. All he wanted from anyone.

He shoved the door open.

Froze.

Gods.

She was beautiful.

The tiger standing opposite him in the makeshift gym lifted her head and stared at him through bright amber eyes, her pupils dilating as she spotted him.

That feeling ignited again, fiercer than before, sending a hot shiver over his skin.

She dropped the barrel she had been attacking in the middle of the large space and growled at him.

Fired every damn instinct he had and triggered a need to dominate her, to drive her into submission.

August bared his emerging fangs and growled right back at her.

He wasn't sure whether she would understand the message that he wasn't going to submit to her.

She was going to submit to him.

She went deathly still, not a single muscle twitching, her eyes locked on him.

His heart accelerated, his breath coming quicker as he waited.

Waited.

Maybe this was going to be easier than he had thought and she was just going to roll over for him.

Two hundred pounds of tiger suddenly leaped at him.

Maybe not.



Book 1: Kissed by a Dark Prince (Only 99c at all retailers!)
Book 2: Claimed by a Demon King
Book 3: Tempted by a Rogue Prince
Book 4: Hunted by a Jaguar
Book 5: Craved by an Alpha
Book 6: Bitten by a Hellcat
Book 7: Taken by a Dragon
Book 8: Marked by an Assassin
Book 9: Possessed by a Dark Warrior
Book 10: Awakened by a Demoness
Book 11: Haunted by the King of Death
Book 12: Turned by a Tiger
Book 13: Tamed by a Tiger
Book 14: Treasured by a Tiger - Pre-order Now!


Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you’re a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.

If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you're looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.

If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:

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