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Into the Arena
He will fight for the one he loves, no matter what it takes.
Cesare Bianco is a shifter without a pride. Exiled from his home town of Padua after losing a leadership fight to his corrupt, self-serving uncle, he travels to Rome in search of a new beginning. A chance meeting sees him taking a job on the catering crew of a Hollywood blockbuster. When he meets the movie’s handsome lead actor, Hayden, he knows he’s in the presence of his mate. But Hayden is human. Even though he offers the possibility of lasting love, Cesare must fight all his instincts to make it happen.
Hayden Skarz is on the verge of the big time. Landing the lead in sci-fi adventure Thrown to the Lions has put him on the road to stardom. Filming in Rome is a difficult new challenge for him, though being around Cesare, the hunk who works in the catering truck, makes his job much sweeter. Sex between them is passionate and wildly inventive. But Hayden has a stalker, who’s tired of being ignored in favor of other men. When what started as a crush turns into murderous obsession, can Cesare help Hayden make it off the film set alive?
Pride Under Fire
Will their passion burn out of control?
Connor Wabsik’s career as a firefighter is on the line after he punched out his commanding officer. Redemption is possible in the form of a move to a sleepy California mountain town, but it will mean leaving his old life behind. What he doesn’t know is that his destiny waits for him in Riesgo. Fate has paired him with a human mate, Andy McGuire—a man with secrets of his own. Connor is fighting to protect the town from a dangerous firestarter. When Andy’s life is threatened, will Connor be able to keep him safe, too?
Detective Andy McGuire is unlucky in love, but when he meets Connor, the handsome new recruit to the Riesgo Fire Service, things start looking up. How can he stop a serial arsonist from destroying everything he holds dear? And as passion threatens to burn out of control between him and Connor, what will happen when Andy learns that the man he loves might not be what he seems?
Animal Passions
He’s destined to meet his mate on a killer vacation.
Horror author Mason Wells is having a midlife crisis. He’s burned out as a writer and he keeps falling for guys who are way too young for him. So when his agent, Nora, arranges a birthday getaway for him and a few close friends in the Spanish Sierra Nevada, it’s just the break he needs—until Nora is found drowned in the hotel swimming pool. It seems like someone has a hit list of victims, and Mason’s on it. Can the hotel’s gorgeous owner, Xavi, step in and keep Mason safe?
Lion shifter Xavi Bianco loves the peace and solitude of his boutique hotel in the mountains. It’s a shame the place still holds the memory of his ex, Ramón. When the group of brash Americans arrives for a vacation, he doesn’t expect to find himself falling for one of them. But everything tells him Mason Wells is his destined mate, bizarre as it may be, and when Mason’s friends fall victim to a series of horrific attacks, Xavi knows he must do everything to protect Mason, even if it means risking his own life…
4 out of 5 (very good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
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
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 **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
I am Rotherham’s foremost (okay, only) writer of quality erotica and erotic romance. Though I’m now based in London, family and football take me back North on a regular basis. Indeed, if you’re ever at a Rotherham United match (I know, what are the chances?) and you spot a small blonde with a large ‘London Millers’ flag, that’ll be me. For twenty years, I worked on the UK edition of Forum magazine, for most of those years as editor. In that time, I built up the fiction side of the magazine, and was responsible for publishing the first stories by lots of now well-known and established erotic authors – most notably Portia da Costa and Lindsay Gordon, who was until recently Black Lace’s series editor. However, I love writing even more than I love editing, and I’ve finally taken the plunge to write full-time. I’ve had stories published by Black Lace, Xcite Books, Cleis Press, Circlet Press, Mammoth, Ravenous Romance, Total-e-bound and more, and my collection of three gay erotic novellas, Wild Rides, will be coming out as a print book from Xcite in 2012. And I’m happy in my work…