Forever Love - Harmony Raines,Julia Mill... Book: Forever Love: Shifters in Love Romance Collection
Author: Harmony Raines, Julia Mills, V. Vaughn, J. K. Harper, Elianne Adams , Isadora Montrose , Michele Bardsley, Vivian Arend
Publication Date: 4/30/2017
Reviewed by: Tammy Payne- Book Nook Nuts
My Rating: 5 Stars

REVIEW

I have read one story in this set so far and I am leaving a review for that book
For the Love of her Dragon by Julia Mills

This is book #4 in the Dragon Guard Series and Julia Mills does not disappoint. I fell in love with Royce back in book #1. The big blue Dragon Guard with a heart of gold. Royce was always there to offer wonderful advice to others. Well in this book he has become a JERK. He knows who his life mate is and regardless of the other guards or even his brothers interference he wants nothing to do with her. Kyra is a white earth witch one of the most powerful of her kind. She fell victim to Andrew back in book #3 but in the end chose good. She has been a great aid to Rayne and the others. But does Royce see the good??? NO because he can not let go of the past. A past that was horrible yes but not done by the hands of Kyra.

Anything that could go bad does in this book. They are all yet again faced with Andrew the traitor and with Kyra’s help they join forces to yet again try to capture or kill him.

Kyra is rejected, humiliated and treated so badly by Royce .. Can she ever forgive him? Can he finally accept what the goddesses and fate decided long ago?
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Her Gingerbread Dragon by Elianne Adams (2 stars)
This one started really promising, then lost its way a little by slowing down (a lot), then got interesting again with the hole dragon-hating thing...That unfortunately didn't lead anywhere.
I guess that's for the full-length novels in the series (which I won't be reading anytime soon).


God of Nightmares by Calle J. Brookes (DNF)
I cringed at the blurb...And threw in the towel at the end of the first chapter. I guess I wasn't in the mood for so much "world-building".


Bringing Christmas to the Dragons by Rinelle Grey (DNF)
There's a limited amount of time to grab a reader's attention in a novella. For me, that's one chapter. If the first chapter leaves me cold, the rest won't be any better.
The first chapter in this one, was the equivalent of the Ice Age. Next!


Solstice Wolf by J.K. Harper (1 star)
Rather iffy, but manageable with a slightly PWP-ish "love" scene (no context and rather "cold" characters), and a heroine that didn't know what she wanted until she lost it, and didn't realize that what she thought she wanted turned out to be too good to be true. Lesson learned.


Mated By Christmas by Loribelle Hunt (DNF)
Yeah...No.


Claiming Their Christmas by Ellis Leigh (3 stars)
It was a little heartbreaking reading about Beast and his lingering feelings about Amber and her death. One one hand he felt guilty, because the witch died instead of him, on the other he still felt rage toward her for having manipulated him, and on the third a complete inability to comprehend just what Amber was supposed to mean to him.
It was a little heartbreaking, and a little angering, really, because I just didn't understand the reasoning behind everything. Why didn't he simply talk to his mate, talk it through with her, when he knew it was hurting her, when he knew he was hurting her. Why did it take him so long to just talk to her, why did it take everybody and their aunt to drum some sense into the guy? I loved his story so much, I loved the ending of Claiming His Desire, and he ruined everything, he even ruined Amber's sacrifice, in this short story.

Damn.


Desert Yule by Anna Lowe (DNF)
An obvious collection of Christmas-themed epilogues to previous stories in the series. Since I'm not familiar with either the series (the context) or the author, these snippets did nothing for me.


Claimed by Heart by Eris Sage (DNF)
Something was off with this one. Maybe the "older" h/H, maybe the fact they has children from previous relationships, maybe the very slow and uneventful start...Or maybe the bland character and zero chemistry between them.


A Beary Merry Christmas by Vivienne Savage (DNF)
It was rather disappointing that even such a short story didn't really grab my attention. There was just something off, maybe even the fact we're thrown into the story in the middle or after it already happened. The two already got their HEA, what's there more to tell?


Healing Christmas by Bethany Shaw (DNF)
Another one that didn't register on the radar. I didn't care what was the heroine's problem with Christmas, I didn't care how h/H might have gotten together (I didn't get to that part), I didn't care how the plot with the robbers would end...I simply didn't care.


Celebrate Me by Kristen Strassel (DNF)
I know it's a novella, but still, pacing is key. Even knowing when to slow down the story. If you rush things, you'll blow it. And insta-love is rushing things, simple as that. Add to it the fact I didn't understand nor feel the insta-love, and the Romeo-and-Juliet vibe with everybody trying to keep the two apart...I couldn't finish it.


Fascination by Elle Thorne (2 star)
It started well, but then went astray with the main conflict and the slightly silly attempts at arresting the burglar. Also, the connection between h/H didn't really click for me...And the whole panther-polar bear combo was a tad odd.


Maker by Holley Trent (DNF)
The narrative was juvenile, making the characters more young adult than new adult (or whatever the new category is). The style and voice made my teeth ache, the MCs left absolutely no impression and somewhere close to the middle, I stopped caring...And reading.


Furever Yours by Catherine Vale (DNF)
The surprise bun in the oven screamed Harlequin for me, and the fact it happened in a novella wasn't encouraging. To top it off, the narrative style and voice didn't work for me.


Snowbound at Solstice by Lori Whyte (DNF)
I don't share and don't really understand those that do. Fictional or not. Pass!

Stella was going to catch him this time if he wanted nothing to do with her he should release Stella. But Stella wanted him and really wanted him to want her. If Stella didn’t mate soon she would shift and never be in human form again. Stella’s body was making demands on her she wasn’t able to satisfy. All Stella had to do was sniff the man to know if he was meant for her. Brycen was his name and there was a human woman trying to claim him. When Stella caught his scent she knew he was her mate. Stella was determined to find Brycen and free herself. Brycen had tore Stella’s heart choosing a human over her and Stella knew she would never find anything as good as she and Brycen could have had together. Once this job  was over Brycen planned on going after  the she dragon and beginning her to forgive him. Luke had talked Brycen into going to the bar. Then Stella came in and Brycen caught her scent and knew he had to leave. Stella was the new singer for the bar. Stella had lost all her family and clans to dragon hunters about twelve years ago and Stella doesn’t really know everything about being a dragon. As humans and dragons now lived side by side. Dragons had been hunted to  a small amount compared to how many there had been in days of old.

I really liked this story it was fast paced and had: love, drama, compassion, humans, dragons, heartaches, and more. This story fit a lot into it for being a novella. This story had a different take in that if you didn’t find your mate in a certain amount of time you would remain a dragon forever. But there were times when things seemed rushed even for a novella. Also there should have been more of a back story on the characters especially Brycen and Stella even in something as simple as what they looked like. But I did like this story a lot and would have given a 4.5 if I could. I loved the ins and outs such as they were and I recommend.

I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.

I received an ARC of 'Torment' from Elianne Adams, in exchange for an honest review.

'Torment' was my first book by Elianne Adams, I have seen her name previously is boxsets & anthologies that I've read, but haven't actually read her work. So I jumped at the chance to advance read this, I'm so glad I did. 'Torment' is book 1 in Elianne's new series "Dark Wolves"... what an introduction.

Trying to find help after her packs alpha's have been killed, Delana races through the forest in search for the new pack, but the wolves that attacked her pack are chasing after her. Delana finds herself running into one of the wolves from the new pack, but will his pack help them??

There's so much information in this short story, getting little bits all throughout the book, allowing you to slowly learn whats going on, I'm pretty sure it's not everything, but it's more than enough to make me want more.

I received an ARC of 'More Wicked Alphas, Wilder Nights', in exchange for an honest review.
This review is for 'Hot Blooded Desert Nights' by Anna Lowe.

Hot Blooded Desert Nights (A Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch novella) by Anna Lowe....
This little novela is from a time from 'Desert Moon' book 2 of Anna's "The Wolves of Twin Moon Ranch" series, where there is a slight gap in the actual story, Anna has provided us with a glimpse into that week. A night where Heather wishes for Cody to show up, fearful for the nightmares that occur when he isn't there, wishing she can stay on the ranch that brings so much peace to her soul... along with the man who makes her feel protected. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED reading this.