Samantha's dying grandmother explains to her about their family and the wolf part of it. She urges Samantha to go to Harmony, Washington and spend time getting to know the wolf families that they are connected to. Since she is not full wolf, she is able to smell who is but they cannot smell her. The five McAllister Brothers believe she is to be their mate. They recognize her but how do they get her to realize the same thing? And what about Gabe that is making him cautious when it comes to Samantha? Does he believe or not?

I enjoyed this book. It is excellent world building and the story it hard to put down. I like the characters. I loved Samantha and the 4 younger brothers are a hoot. It is Gabe that we need to get to know better as it is his actions that tell what will happen. It takes him a while but he finally sees what his brothers see. Samantha loves the brothers and the sex but can she handle the forever part? She then sees it from their point of view and understands the importance of their commitment. I liked that. I also liked the different points of view of the story. I knew what each was thinking and I loved knowing all their thoughts because then I could figure out which choices would be made.

I liked Diane Leyne's writing. I plan on reading more of her.

It was okay.  I was expecting a little more than just okay, I have to admit, as it was recced to me by a couple of long-time friends, but it just goes to prove that you never know for sure.  :)

Anyway, it's a shifter book and I'm not huge on shifters - except for my avian shifters by Kim Dare.  This is a wolf shifter tale - as if you couldn't tell.  *LOL*  Anyway, there wasn't a whole lot of shifting done but there sure was a lot of sniffing!

One main character, Cooper, is human and the other, Oliver is the wolf shifter. Cooper is also a BSI agent, Bureau of Special Investigations, a sort of secret branch of the FBI.  Oliver is an agent of The Trust, a werewolf governing organization, who is suddenly partnered with Cooper.  I liked the world-building.  It was interesting and I wish we'd had more of it. 

There are missing people, dead and mauled bodies, suspicious folk all in this small town in Maine - I think it's Maine - that reminded me a heckuva lot of the town I see on North Woods Law. There is a alot of investigating that goes on and the case/mystery is engrossing enough, especially for a romance novel.  Cooper and Oliver are thrown into close contact over and over again, of course.  What we see of Oliver that tells us he's a wolf shifter is that he uses his sense of smell a LOT, his eyes glow golden upon occasion, and he's graceful.  Cooper, to me anyway, comes across as a bit of a newbie whose smarts are hidden beneath a layer of dumb. The story is told from Cooper's POV and we spend a lot of time in his head as he asks himself the same questions about the mystery, the relationship, his past, over and over and over again.  Oliver, of course, is hiding something, but what?  I don't know if we ever really find out the extent of his secrets.  It's a series featuring the same couple, so I expect the author is holding stuff in reserve for future books. 

I found myself alternately liking both main characters and being impatient with them - Cooper especially, I guess because it's his POV.  The relationship works for the most part.  Will I continue reading the series?  Probably, but it's not an urgent need.  I think my friends told me it gets better in Book 2, so it's on my radar. 

Juliet Dante, daughter of the notorious Simon Dante, comes to the rescue of an English envoy ship about to be blown to smithereens by the Spanish. On board is the twelfth duke of Harrow, Varian St. Clare, who saves Juliet's life and then gets knocked unconscious by a blast...Only to wake up on board of Juliet's ship, the Iron Rose and bound for the secret island where the pirate wolf reigns...


I liked this one. The story flew nicely, the tempo was spot-on, increasing with each and every chapter, the action sequences were gripping, the sea battles intense (especially the heart-wrenching last one), and it was nice seeing old friends again and learning of their life beyond their story.

The only major problem this book had were the two leads. There was a glaring imbalance of power between the two from the beginning. He was injured and then spent chapter upon chapter coming across as a weak, spoiled English aristocrat, while she, unlike her mother, spent the majority of the book in full bitch mode.
I like my heroines strong and spunky, yet Juliet's bravado and obstinacy truly grated on my nerves. There's a difference between a strong, self-assured and resilient woman and a pig-headed, obstinate, unbending bitch.
I didn't like her, and I especially didn't like the imbalance of power between the two in their "romance", as the hero was forced to do all the work, while she kicked and spat almost the entire way.
I wished there was an apology scene or some grovelling thrown into the mix in the end.

Granted, I didn't care much about the two protagonists or the romance aspect of the story, but the rest more than made up for it. I'm also looking forward to Juliet's brother's stories.

P.S. Something else pricked me in this story—the glaring continuity error of Lucifer, the hulking black, scimitar and loincloth loving behemoth Simon Dante rescued all those years ago. In Across a Moonlit Sea Lucifer communicated through sign language and grunts, since, according to Simon, the Spanish had cut out his tongue. In this book, the man spoke without problems. Which one is it? Was the tongue thing a lie? Or is the speaking part in this book a mistake?

The Mountain Wolf Protectors is a continuing story, divided between four books. Each book does resolve the immediate conflict, but there is a looming threat that continues through each book until the conclusion of the last book. Nova and Amara's story did hold my interest throughout the series and the story is full of action and a building tension with a rival pack. The action scenes are exciting and fast-paced with plenty of detail to draw the reader in. I did wonder why the big bad wasn't dealt with when the opportunity arose, rather than that part of this tale continuing for so long and Amara's stalker, while creepy, was pretty obvious.
Amara and Nova are completely devoted to each other and the author shows this quite well in their fierce determination to defend each other. However, the intimate scenes between them felt a bit rushed and almost gratuitous.
There are a few grammatical errors scattered throughout the books, but not so many as to be a big distraction. Overall, the story is an interesting read and kept me turning pages to see where Nova and Amara's romance would go.

A plague spreads through Edge City. Certain the Four Horsemen are behind it, Aleric tracks the plague to a restaurant in the middle of the city. With the possibility of an apocalypse hanging by a thread, Aleric has to confront each of the Horsemen to end the threat to the city he loves. Still dealing with pain from the Archdemon’s wound, Aleric is pitted against gorgons, a vampiress, and limited time to find what Death is looking for and return the Four Horsemen to the fae world. 

#Fantasy, #Paranormal, #Urban