Vikings Untamed - 5 Stars

**I received an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review**

WARNING - I highly recommend reading while in front of a fan. This is an anthology by various authors, each with a viking/norse mythology theme. I highly recommend.

-Viking Desire Crystal Jordan 5 Stars

Sif and Thor have been married for centuries, but have been separated for several hundred years. After an attack, Sif and Thor escape together, but will they finally be able to put aside their bitterness and clear up misunderstandings?

This was a great read. It was quick but you get a full story with plenty of hotness. I’ve not really read much Norse Myth-based stories, but this one wanted me to find more.

-Bound by the Viking Anne Marsh 5 Stars

Colden is a warrior that shifts into a bear when he goes berserk. When he is temporarily put in charge of a wolf pack, he can’t help but come to Bera’s rescue. When the new pack leader offers her up as his mate, Colden can’t resist. Now he must convince Bera to stay with him.

This was another full story that moved really quickly and made me want more. The author did a great job in giving a full and satisfying story. Highly recommend

-A Viking's Bride Zoe York 5 Stars

Aldric knows that Navena is The One for him, but convincing her to give him more than just friends is easier said than done. When he rescues her from a prison, the only way to do it is marriage. Now he must convince her to be his bride for real.

Great read, even for a space story. Normally I’m not crazy for space stories but this was was really great and kept moving. Highly recommend.

-The Wild Fen Dayna Hart 5 Stars

Thora is an unsuspecting daughter of Thor. On the cusp of when she will either gain powers or continue to be an unsuspecting human, her boss asks her brother Fen to keep an eye on  her. Fen is the son of Loki and a shape shifter. As soon as he sees Thora, he is drawn to her. The question is whether or not he’ll get to keep her.

This was a nice combination of Norse Mythology and an MC ran by a demi-god who helps victims. It moved really quickly and gave a great overall story. I highly recommend.

-A Most Wanted Viking Sela Carsen

-Didn’t read. The storyline didn’t interest me.

- Vikings Pride Holly Trent 3

This is a story of the Afotama. Erin is quiet and a loner. She has a crush on a man named Jody and when she sees him in a compromising position, she goes to leave and runs into Will, the former boy next door. Will knows Erin is meant to be his, even though he hasn’t seen her in many years. Now he has to figure out a way to get her to accept him.

This story was ok. There were some inconsistencies that I didn’t really care for, but overall not a bad story.

- Viking Claimed Kate Pierce 3

Aki is a viking warrior who was frozen in ice for over 4,000 years. He was recently thawed out and is having problems adjusting to life in outer space and with foreign planets. When he sees  Elli for the first time, he starts to see what is appealing to his twin brother about having a mate. A chance meeting leads Aki to Morek, a man who tells him he’s been waiting for him for 10 years. Now all he has to do is get Elli to accept him.

This was a decent story. Like the others, it was pretty fast paced. There was a full story. I didn’t get a full emotional connection with these characters like the others did. All in all, still worth the read.

In Paranormal, Fantasy, and Science Fiction Romance the world and action of the plot tend to get more attention that a character's backstory. 

These set of Romances in these genres have heroes who have been widowed and these losses give thier characters marvelous complexity.

My lists are never in any particular order. Enjoy! 

1. What A Dragon Should Know by G.A. Aiken

Only for those I love would I traipse into the merciless Northlands to risk life, limb, and my exquisite beauty. But do they appreciate it? Do they say, "Gwenvael the Handsome, you are the best among us--the most loved of all dragons?" No! For centuries my family has refused to acknowledge my magnificence as well as my innate humility. Yet for them, and because I am so chivalrous, I will brave the worst this land has to offer.

So here I stand, waiting to broker an alliance with the one the Northlanders call The Beast. A being so fearful, the greatest warriors will only whisper its name. Yet I, Gwenvael, will courageously face down this terrifying. . .woman? It turns out the Beast, a.k.a. Dagmar Reinholdt, is a woman--one with steel-gray eyes and a shocking disregard for my good looks. Beneath her plain robes and prim spectacles lies a sensual creature waiting to be unleashed. Who better than a dragon to thaw out that icy demeanor? 

And who better than a beast to finally tame a mighty dragon's heart?

2. Heart Duel by Robin D. Owens

Healer Lark Collinson hates the street dueling that is a way of life among the noble families on Celta--it was just such a skirmish that killed her Healer husband and left her a grieving widow. The last thing she wants is to love a man to whom fighting is a way of life--a man like the brashly confident Holm Holly.

All it takes is one brief touch for Holm to know that Lark is his HeartMate, though wooing her will be his greatest challenge. For not only does she despise everything he represents, but the long-standing feud between their families has exploded into even greater violence. Their destiny has been revealed...but at what cost to their own hearts?

3. Moonglow by Kristen Callihan

Once the seeds of desire are sown . . . 
Finally free of her suffocating marriage, widow Daisy Ellis Craigmore is ready to embrace the pleasures of life that have long been denied her. Yet her new-found freedom is short lived. A string of unexplained murders has brought danger to Daisy's door, forcing her to turn to the most unlikely of saviors . . . 

Their growing passion knows no bounds . . . 
Ian Ranulf, the Marquis of Northrup, has spent lifetimes hiding his primal nature from London society. But now a vicious killer threatens to expose his secrets. Ian must step out of the shadows and protect the beautiful, fearless Daisy, who awakens in him desires he thought long dead. As their quest to unmask the villain draws them closer together, Daisy has no choice but to reveal her own startling secret, and Ian must face the undeniable truth: Losing his heart to Daisy may be the only way to save his soul. 

4. The Outlaw Viking by Sandra Hill

As tall and striking as the Valkyries of legend, Dr. Rain Jordan is proud of her Norse ancestors despite their warlike ways. But she can't believe her eyes when a blow to her head transports her to a nightmarish battlefield of yore—and there standing before her is the barbarian of her dreams.

A wild-eyed berserker, Selik can slay a dozen Saxons with a single swing of his deadly sword—yet he can't control a saucy wench from the future. In his eyes, Rain is a prisoner and he'd dearly love to avail himself of her medical skills—not to mention her considerable knowledge of the male anatomy. But the infuriating woman has ideas of her own. If Selik isn't careful, the stunning siren might very well capture his savage heart and make a warrior of love out of . . . The Outlaw Viking

5. Escape Velocity by Jess Anastasi

Ilari, Brannon System, 2436

At first, Dr. Sacha Dalton is simply curious about the prisoner of war admitted to her med-lab...until she sees who it is. For Commander Kai Yang--the commander of the battleship Valiant Knox--has long been thought dead. Killed in action. But after almost a year and half, he's returned home. Returned to her.

Kai is recovering from his ordeal and under the watchful care of Sacha, his childhood friend and the widow of his best friend. Only now, their friendship has grown and deepened into something far deeper, and far more complicated. Yet as Kai's body recovers, his psyche remains broken. How could he ever be the man he was, and the man Sacha deserves? But an intergalactic war has a way of forcing a man to be the hero he was always meant to be...

6. Dark Vow by Shona Husk

Jaines Cord plans to kill the man who murdered her husband, even though killing a Bounty Hunter is said to be impossible. One bullet took away her livelihood, her home and her love. One bullet made by her. Fired from the gun she completed for the Arcane Bounty Hunter. 

Obsidian wears the scars of disobeying the powerful Arcane Union. He barely escaped with his life and now lives quietly, in a town the lawmen forgot. When Jaines arrives asking too many questions, he's faced with a decision. Help her or run…again. Obsidian knows that if he flees he'll always be looking over his shoulder. His name is one of the first on the Bounty Hunter's death list. 

Yet when Obsidian is offered an opportunity to stop the stone taking over his body in exchange for retrieving the gun, he asks Jaines for her help. Now Jaines must choose: a dead man's vengeance or a living man's hope?

7. Spellbound Falls by Janet Chapman

Maximilian Oceanus arrives in Spellbound Falls just in time to save Olivia Baldwin from an overly aggressive suitor, only to find himself attracted to the beautiful, if rather aloof, widow. And although Mac has come to Inglenook to get a handle on fatherhood, his newly discovered six-year-old son has set his sights on finding his father a wife.

Olivia, however, is busy getting Inglenook ready for its new season, so she doesn’t have time to deal with her growing attraction to the dangerously seductive Mac. Besides, weird stuff seems to happen all around him. Take the fact that her seatbelt keeps getting stuck in his presence, or locks magically open for him without keys, and that he seems to have a talent for sensing things. Never mind the three lost albatrosses walking down the road in the middle of the night. Since when are there albatrosses in Maine?

But despite Olivia’s resistance to falling under the sexy man’s spell, Olivia is having trouble fighting her longing. Because she knows Mac is just the man to unlock the powerful passion deep within her….

8. Wanton by Crystal Jordan

Two years after her lover died, Lynx Jenise finally feels ready to indulge the consuming urge to mate at the shifter gathering known as the Wild. Though her very human heart was broken, her animal instincts can no longer be suppressed.

But even as she finds the rough pleasure she craves with other Lynxes, another instinct haunts Jenise—the feeling that another mate is near….

9. The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter

Keeper of the demon of Secrets, Amun can manipulate the darkest thoughts of anyone nearby. But when the immortal warrior is chained and isolated to protect those he loves, death is his only hope of release—until he meets Haidee, a fellow prisoner whose beauty and hidden vulnerability draw him into a reckless test of his loyalty….

Haidee is a demon-assassin, raised to despise Amun's kind. Yet how can she hate the man whose touch sets her aflame? But to save him, she must give herself body and soul…and face the wrath of a powerful adversary sworn to destroy her.

10. Rocky by Bianca D'Arc

On the run from her husband's killers, there is only one man who can help her now... her Rock. 

Maggie is on the run from those who killed her husband nine months ago. She knows the only one who can help her is Rocco, a grizzly shifter she knew in her youth. She arrives on his doorstep in labor with twins. Magical, shapeshifting, bear cub twins destined to lead the next generation of werecreatures in North America. 

Rocky is devastated by the news of his Clan brother's death, but he cannot deny the attraction that has never waned for the small human woman who stole his heart a long time ago. Rocky absented himself from her life when she chose to marry his childhood friend, but the years haven't changed the way he feels for her. 

And now there are two young lives to protect. Rocky will do everything in his power to end the threat to the small family and claim them for himself. He knows he is the perfect Alpha to teach the cubs as they grow into their power... if their mother will let him love her as he has always longed to do. 

Have any recommendations? Let me know! Vote for the best of best on my Goodreads list: Veil: Widows in Paranormal Romance Novels 

According to Wiki (oh fabled holder of knowledge), "A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any Panthera species." The Panthera species includes tiger, lion, leopard and jaguar. All these big cats can roar.

I love the word melanistic which means dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or its appendages and is the opposite of albinism. 

Here are some great melanistic cat shifters in Romance. My lists are never in any particular order.  

1. Radar Deception by Mandy M. Roth

Dr. Thaddeus Green survived a werepanther attack long ago, leaving him immortal and a member of the I-Ops team. He’s dedicated his life to genetics and to serving his country. After his mutated DNA led to the death of his loved ones, he vowed to never let anyone close to his heart again. Try as he might, Green is unable to stop the mystical pull to the tall, leggy blonde with a sharp tongue and an even worse bite. Thinking Melanie is suffering from mating withdraw, Green is prepared to do what he must to assure her survival, even if it means claiming her for himself, regardless of his need to protect his heart. Little does Green know that fate has been preparing him for Melanie Daly all his unnaturally long life.

When ghosts from the past resurface, in ways he never dreamt possible, the normally mild-mannered scientist finds himself drawing on his inner beast and rage to assure his mate and their future are protected. But even Green can’t fight all of Melanie’s battles for her. Some she has no choice but to face on her own. Can their bond stand the test of time?

2. Kinked by Thea Harrison

As a harpy, Sentinel Aryal is accustomed to dealing with hate, but Sentinel Quentin Caeravorn manages to inspire in her a burning ire unlike anything she’s ever known. Aryal believes the new Sentinel to be a criminal, and vows to take him out as soon as the opportunity arises. But the harpy’s incessant wrath has pushed Quentin to the limit, and forces him to make a deadly vow of his own.
 
To put an end to the conflict, Dragos, Lord of the Wyr, sends them on a reconnaissance mission to the Elven land of Numenlaur. Forced to work together, Aryal and Quentin’s mutual antagonism escalates. Each fight draws forth more passion—culminating in an explosively sexual confrontation. But when their quest reveals real danger, Aryal and Quentin must resolve their differences in ways beyond the physical, before the entire Wyr is threatened.

3. Marking Melody by R.E. Butler

All were-mountain-lion Melody Marx ever wanted was to find her mate and start a family. After being rescued from her own people by two mountain lions, she knows that she’s found not just one mate, but two. She goes with them to their old home in Pennsylvania, but finds an even chillier reception than she found in Ashland.

Tristan and Micah Harrison would do anything to keep Melody safe, even if it means walking away from the Ashland Pride and their own family forever. When problems arise in their hometown of King, Pennsylvania, it turns out that the males aren’t the only ones who don’t approve of their mating.

4. His Purrfect Mate (by Georgette St. Clair

Chloe Novak may be the world’s clumsiest cat shifter; in fact, she’s the only panther she’s ever heard of that doesn’t land on its feet. She may hide her looks behind her glasses, lumpy cardigans, and stacks of books. However, she’s got her beautifully creaky old house and her university job, and she’s content…until billionaire panther shifter Kenneth Chamberlin strides through her office door with an offer she literally can’t refuse, if she ever wants to see her grandmother alive again. The problem is, the Chamberlin family are the ones who ruined her family’s life and reputation – and the sinfully handsome Kenneth makes her tingle in all the right places. How can she work with him in close quarters and keep her heart and her sanity intact?

5. Magic Dreams by Ilona Andrews

Alpha Pack leader Jim Shrapshire has always been the strong, silent type. But something has come over him--a magic force currently residing in one of the Pack's headquarters. Were-tigress Dali Harimau has always wished she could get Jim's attention--but now he needs her help.

Stricken with a magic-sickness, Jim needs Dali's flair for magic. And to save him, she must challenge a powerful, dark being to a battle of wits.

6. Eat Prey Love by Kerrelyn Sparks

Wanted: Bride. Must love children. Mortals need not apply.

Carlos Panterra is looking for a mate, a woman who will love and care for the young orphans he's recently taken under his wing (or paw, as the case may be). When the shape shifter spies the beautiful Caitlyn, it's like sunshine amidst the darkness. At last, he's found the perfect woman, except . . .

Caitlyn Whelan is mortal. Worse, her father is the head of a CIA agency bent on hunting the undead. Still, Caitlyn knows that Carlos is the man for her, shape shifter or not. So she jumps at the chance when her sister offers her a job to work with him, determined to show Carlos their attraction is more than just animal magnetism. But danger lurks in the night, and their unleashed, untamed passion might just get them both killed . . .

7. The Catalyst by Zoe Winters

Kidnapping is not an appropriate way to acquire a babysitter. Ah, screw it. Desperate times...

Panthers don’t do responsibility. They don’t do long-term relationships. They definitely don’t raise kids. But when Z discovers a young werewolf in the forest, he takes him in, unaware of the powerful beings hunting the pup.

Fiona is a witch who can’t leave her house; the birds have told her something bad will happen. The mailbox is as far as she’ll go, but even that may provide more danger than she’s bargained for. When a wolf pup stumbles into her garden, her safe, wrapped-up world heads for a free fall, especially when a sexy panther shifter kidnaps her to help him look after the pup.

8. Homecoming by Cecilia Robert

Five years ago, twenty-three-year-old panther shifter Sera Czedar left her home and her newly mated groom in a humiliating position after a mating ceremony gone wrong. She built a new life for herself in Varselles, the City of Outcasts where shifters exiled from their clans in the Seven Kingdoms can go for sanctuary.

Five years ago, panther shifter Levian Grayson was abandoned on the bonding bed by his bride, Sera. After years of tracking her, he arrives in Varselles, intent on staking his claim on her once and for all, even if it means hauling her over his shoulder just to make sure that happens.

Sera has always known her homecoming would eventually catch up with her one day. The one thing she can’t bear to do is hurt Levian, which will happen as soon as he finds out the reason she left him. Is she ready to take that path? Most of all, will Levian still want her when the truth comes out?

9. Black Cat Fever by Desiree Holt

10. On The Prowl by Crystal Jordan

Meet the Cruz brothers. They look human--except for the golden sheen their eyes take when they're aroused beyond control...and the way their claws come out when it's time to play rough. They're Panthers, ancient shapeshifters, and their survival depends on mating to bring out their wild sides...

Undeniable

When Antonio, the strong, sexy new leader of the Panther pride, meets luscious Solana in a dark alleyway, their passion lights up the night. But she's an outcast, an impossible mate--and her touch makes him lose all control...

Irresistible

Ex-model and businesswoman Andrea doesn't need anyone--until she meets Miguel, who tempts her mind with daring games and teases her body with dark, forbidden pleasure she can't resist...

Indescribable

Wild twins Ricardo and Diego do everything together--and their women appreciate the teamwork. Until shy Isabel takes refuge in their pride, and both want to claim her. Of course, sometimes two mates are better than one...

Did I miss your favorite? Let me know! Click to Vote: Panther Shifters in Romance. 

This was just okay for me.  There weren't any surprises or anything particular different about this story.

Some teachers go to Las Vegas for Spring Break.  Meg is the heroine.  She is reluctant to take the vacation.  She'd rather stay at home, but her friend Anne convinces her.  Anne convinces Meg to go because the hero, Finn, asks Anne to help him get Meg there.  Finn has liked Meg for some time.  He asked her on a date about a year ago and she refused.  Meg is attracted to Finn, but she has a "no dating fellow teachers" rule thanks for a previous experience.  Finn thinks if he can get Meg away from school and out of her comfort zone, he might have a chance with her.

Finn and Meg hook up in Vegas.  Meg puts a stipulation on it that it's for that one week only and they have to be discreet so their fellow teachers on the trip don't catch on.  Finn thinks he can convince Meg that they should be together for the long haul.

That's it in a nutshell.  There was a lot of sex, but nothing extraordinary and I actually found myself skipping over some of it (unusual for me).

Long time, no post. I've been so crazy busy I haven't had much time for reading or the internet, but these deals are too good to pass up.

The Duchess War

Douglas

Vegas Vacation