I was gifted my copy of this book direct from the author, that I write a review was not required. This landed in my queue at JUST the right time! I had just finished a heavy long book, and the one after this was gonna be a hard read too so, finding this little gem in the middle of those two books was perfect! Dalton is in town to "sort out the crime problem" which eans sort out the town bully who thinks he can run roughshod over everyone and everything, even a brand new rail road track! He's done this sort of thing before, he knows how it will end. Lacy works in the hotel, and Dalton catches her eye on his first ride through town. Sparks fly, even across the road from each other, but Dalton has a job to do, and will be leaving town, so Lacy can't get close. Can she? Like I said, this landed right where I needed it to, and I really enjoyed it! It's a bit vague on an exact timeline, but after the Civil War in the States, so maybe very late 18oo/early 1900s but that's neither here or there, you can piece together a rough idea, from the information given, or at least I did. Dalton and Lacy both have a say, and their attraction to each other is powerful, right from the start. It is, however, fairly clean because of the time it's set and all the rules and regulations regarding young ladies and how they should behave. There is, though, plenty steam and passion! The bully is dealt with in a way that was fairly inevitable but with just enough surprises to make it a bit of a shocker too. It was fun watching these two fall for each other, and the way they resloved Dalton's inability to settle and Lacy;s desire to travel was just perfect. A absolute please to read, thank you, Ms Camp, for my copy. 4 solid stars **same worded review will appear elesewhere**

Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of these books. Into The Arena Cesare has been banished from his pride after his uncle cheated in a leadership fight. Finding work on a food truck headed from a for set seemed too good to be true. Finding Hayden as the star AND his fated mate, made Cesare think that maybe he wasn't supposed to win the fight at all. But Hayden has a stalker, and things turn deadly. Can Cesare keep his human mate safe, and will Hayden accept Cesare's lion half? This is book 4 in the Lionhearts series and I have not read the other books. I did not feel I was missing anything, and so will say these are stand alones, with interconnecting characters, rather than a follow on series. I liked this one. It did not blow me away, but right now, personally, this was JUST what I needed to read. It's well told, with both Cesare and Hayden having a say. There is enough history for each of them, but not enough to be overwhelming in a short book. Well, I say SHORT, but it's still 176 pages! Didn't feel like it though! I loved that we got some of the stalker too! They have their say in a couple of places, and I do love getting into the mind of the baddie! Did NOT see who that might have been, or rather, I had an idea, but was way off base. It's quite sexy. There is a scene with Hayden getting down and dirty with his boyfriend BEFORE he and Cesare meet. Then Hayden and Cesare get down to it really quickly after meeting! Not sure how I feel about the first, but loved the second. Nice easy read, and just the thing to pass a wet sunday afternoon, while nursing a very real hangover! 4 solid stars **same worded review will appear elsewhere** Pride Under Fire Book 5 in the Lionheart series, and there is a pop up from Cesare and Hayden (book 4) which was nice! Connor punched his commanding officer, and is shifted out to a town in the middle of nowhere, that needs a full time fire fighter. Andy is a detective in said town. Andy is human, Connor is not. Can Connor keep his mate safe, while the town burns around them? Again, an easy read, that was just what I needed! Connor knows he did wrong, punching his superior, but he won't apologise. Being shipped out was probably the best thing that happened to him, since he meets his mate. But Andy is human and lions don't mate with humans, do they?When there are several fires in town, in abandoned buildings, both Connor and Andy have to investigate. Then the bodies start piling up, and they know the arsonist has to be stopped , and soon. There were several throw away comments that made me put the clues together for who the arsonist was very early on, and it was great to see it unfold the way I thought it would. Again, the guys get down and dirty very early on, and I did like that here. BUT The general way the story goes is almost identical to book 4, Into The Arena. It's very VERY similar in that the human half gets taken, and the lion half comes to the rescue, mostly in the same way too! Still, I did enjoy this as much as book 4, and I did read them back to back. 4 stars Animal Passions This is book 6 and for ME, the weakest of the three I've read. Here's why: It follows an almost identical plot line to the other two. Human half has sex with *someone* then goes off and meets mate. Mate and human get down and dirty right quick (did not like that here!) danger threatens human, lion reveals himself. human is taken by *stalker/arsonist/psycho editor assistant* and lion comes to the rescue. the end. So, I'm sorry, but no, this one did not work for me. I only gave it 3 stars because I DID finish it, and it was touch and go for a while. Maybe if I had NOT read them back to back, this one would have worked better, but I did read them back to back, and this is how I feel. And I'm all about the book feelings. Sorry! 3 stars **same worded review will appear elsewhere**

Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book. Eric isn't having to best start to the college year. His mum showed up to live with him, and he's gotta share his office at work with the new guy in the English department. Now his mum wants Eric to immerse himself in all the Christmas traditions that she did as a child. But Eric is not a holiday person, Eric likes order and peace and calm so to appease his mother, and to get to know Mike, he invites Mike to dinner. His mum will be happy, Mike can talk to her in her native German, and Eric will have his peace and calm. So why does it feel like a storm is brewing inside him, one that might break his heart? Too stinking cute and warm and fuzzies all wrapped up in some 70 odd pages and I rather enjoyed this! It's very well told, from both Eric and Mike's point of view, and they both have distinctive voices, mostly due to their earlier experiences in life. Eric's life has been handed to him on a platter, but Mike had a difficult childhood. Sending your child across the world because you prefer your drug dealer is bad enough but what happened to Mike as a teenager is truly shocking. The attraction between Mike and Eric grows steadily and they come together just the once, which is why I gave it the contemporary tag I did but it's a sexy book! I'm not usually one for the holiday stories but while this one is set around Christmas, it's not shoved in your face on every page! I'm a bit of a Scrooge really! This is only the second book I've read of Speyer and they've both been on the short side. I'd like to read something longer, something with more bite. She can write a lot into a few pages, so I'm curious what would happen in a longer book. 4 solid stars **same worded review will appear elsewhere**

Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book. A magpie is hired to steal from a dragon's hoard. What could possibly go wrong?? Short! So very VERY short! That's my overwhelming thought on finishing this book, I wish it were longer. It's told mostly from Chester, the magpie's point of view, but Michal, the dragon who hires Chester, gets some say, just not enough for my liking! It's not overly complicated, nor is it explicit nor violent. It's well told, and well delivered. Some more could have been made of the feud between Michal and his brother James. It was just too bloody short! BUT!!! I DID enjoy it, spending an hour sitting out in the sun on my day off. It's the first I've read of this author, but now she is firmly on my radar, my wish list is a little longer and hopefully I'll be able to read more soon. Because I LIKED the way she tells her tales, and I LIKED that we get a magpie shifter, because I have never read a magpie shifter! And ya'll know I love them different! So, because I found it too short ( I did NOT know it was a short going in!) and because I wanted more Michal... 4 shiny stars (because magpies love shiny things!) **same worded review will appear elsewhere**

Independent reviewer for Divine Magazine, I was gifted my copy of this book direct for the author, that I write a review was not required. Hayden meets Neal at a university fund raiser and the chemistry burns hot and bright. But then Neal turns up at the coffee shop that Hayden works at, and assumes Hayden is an owner of said coffee shop. Every time Hayden tries to tell Neal otherwise, something gets in the way. Then the coffee shop goes bust, and a vindictive woman threatens to tell Hayden's secrets. So Hayden runs. But Neal has other ideas! Cute! Real cute. I've read Ms Noble's Vampire Guard series, and loved those. So when asked to read this one, naturally, I said yes! Its a great read, flows well, and while I saw that maybe Neal already knew that Hayden wasn't who he thought he was, it was kinda fun watching it all unravel. Loved that Neal, while extremely wealthy, was too obnoxious with it. All too often these billionaire characters are not nice people! But I loved Neal, his family though? Not so much. Hayden's family?? Loved them! Not overly explicit, but the heat level does creep up as the relationship between Neal and Hayden moves along. Nicely written. BUT!!! Only Hayden has a say. (and that's all I am gonna say about that!