Tuesday 2 October 2018

REVIEW - IN THE MOOD FUR LOVE ANTHOLOGY BY EVE LANGLAIS, MILLY TAIDEN & KATE BAXTER

Title: In The Mood Fur Love
Series: Fur Bk2
Authors: Eve Langlais, Milly Taiden & Kate Baxter
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Publisher: St Martins Griffin
Release Date: 2nd October 2018

BLURB from Goodreads:
Three hot stories about sexy shifters from a trio of today's hottest paranormal romance authors, headlined by bestselling authors Eve Langlais and Milly Taiden!


Bearing His Touch by Eve Langlais
When Becka manages to escape her kidnapper, she finds herself asking help of the man with the nice brown eyes. Stavros can’t say no, not when he knows Becka is his mate, but he does have one dilemma when it comes to claiming her. He'll have to find a way for her to bear his touch.


Fake Mated to the Wolf by Milly Taiden
Looking for a mate to bring to a party? Wedding? Holiday gathering? Mates Fur Hire is right for you? But what happens when your fake mate ends up being your real one, from New York Times bestselling author Milly Taiden!


The Witch, The Werewolf and The Waitress by Kate Baxter
For centuries, Lowman, Idaho has been Ellie Curtis's prison. A vengeful witch cursed her with immortality and locked her within the confines of Lowman's borders, sealing Ellie off from most of civilization for eternity. She's learned to make the most of it. But when she meets a cocky werewolf who's part of the elite supernatural law enforcement group, all bets are off...
Colin instantly knew that Ellie was his mate, but when he discovers her secret, he's determined to help set her free. But in doing so, he might just lose the one thing he knows he can't live without...


PURCHASE LINKS

REVIEW
As I had already read and loved a couple of novella anthologies The Big Alpha In Town and Thanks Fur Last Night Bk1 of the Fur Series by the same three authors Eve Langlais, Milly Taiden and Kate Baxter I was eagerly awaiting for more from these authors. As soon as I heard about this it went straight on my "must read" list. As I had enjoyed Thanks Fur Last Night so much I did have high expectations for this novella. Having never read anything by these authors prior to The Big Alpha In Town I have quickly became a an of their work. I am adding some of the novels by the individual authors to my WTRWL (want to read wishlist).

The cover has tones of orange and yellow on it giving it a dappled daylight feel. The two main prominent features of the cover are the large bear that appears to look in the direction of the couple getting rather close to each other. I love the title and love the ply on words. The substitution of the word for being Fur works really well and I am sure will help to make the book stand out and you'll instantly know which series it belongs to as Fur will appear in every anthology title.

The genre listings for this anthology are Paranormal, Fantasy & Romance which it perfectly and give you a general idea of what the novellas will be about. I would also add shape-shifter, bear shifter


BEARING HIS TOUCH
by
EVE LANGLAIS

The first novella is called Bearing His Touch and is written by Eve Langlais. The main character Becka has been kidnapped, though no one is looking for her as her last living relative was killed by her kidnappers. Becka is subjected to abuse everyday, forced to sleep on the floor, not permitted out where she could be seen and spoken to alone, so she is unable to ask for any outside help. When she is allowed out she has to use clothes and make up to hid and disguise her bruises and injuries. So when she gets the chance to flee when her kidnappers are attacked she takes it without thinking of what to do next. It seems two sets of people want her, her kidnappers of course want her back, then there is the group all dressed in black and bike helmets covering their identities appear to want her back too. She doesn't know where to go or what to do until she meets Stavros a bear shifter who's mate instinct kicks in the minute he sees Becka. Now all he has to do is keep her safe and convince her they are meant to be together.

I became fond of Becka and her naivete and the fact she doesn't want to put Stavros or his family in danger. However once she meets the rest of her protector, Stavros' family they will not take no for an answer and insist on protecting her. Stavros repeatedly reassures Becka that he can hold his own in a fight and he is tougher than he looks. I adored the romance between Stavros and Becka. I also loved the scenes between Becka and Poppa. I found the scenes between Stavros and his sisters amusing as they wheedle, persuade, and order him around.

I have always loved werewolf shifter stories but have now discovered other types of shifters and have to say I am becoming partial to bear shifters. 

FAKE MATED TO THE WOLF
by
MILLY TAIDEN

The next novella is Fake Mated To The Wolf by Milly Taiden. In this novells we revisit the setting of  Owned By The Lion In The Big Alpha In Town, and Bought By The Bear. I have grown fond of the characters in these three novella's. The main focus in this novella is Shawna who is working, in fact more or less running the Mates Fur Hire part of the larger business. Shawna is working all the hours she can to send money to pay off a family debt and then help her mother and her step brothers free. Shawna has moved into a cheaper apartment in a not so great area. There is an old homeless guy called Robbie who watches out for Shawna and also her friends when they visit by escorting them from the car park to the apartment and back. Shawna is upset at work as her immediate boss Clark is very chauvinistic and sexist. He has been putting more and more pressure on Shawna to do more work. He actually times her toilet breaks and notes down how many she has during each day. Clark loves to write Shawna up and give her warnings, then one day he finally sacks her. Shawna determinedly hides her emotions and actually feels a sense of freedom initially, then it hits her how will she send money to her mother now? In act how will she afford to pay for her apartment in the dodgy area of town. 

When the Mates Fur Hire business stops getting the good matches and its success figures dramatically drop its time for Hawke to investigate. In fact he thinks it will kill two birds with one stone as he might get to see the hot woman he met at a party about a month ago. He has been pondering how to approach her, he doesn't want to come across stalkery he had felt something sort of click and he wanted to get to know her more. In fact it turns out she is his true mate but he cannot come out and say this as he realises she probably wouldn't believe him.

Hawke gets his first "date" by hiring Shawna to be his "fake date" or a business party. We catch up with some characters from the other installments in this series, Keir, Xander, Josie, Ally and the two tough females at the head of the families and business, Bess and Julia. When Hawke learns of her mother and step brothers he vows to help her free them. 

This one is a great catch up with some of the fantastic characters from the previous novellas as well as introducing some new characters such as Henry and Robbie. I loved the way when Robbie thinks Hawke is the source and cause of Shawna's upset he stands up to a bigger fitter man. When danger strikes Robbie shows how much he cares for Shawna and is ready to literally lay down his life or her if needed. This novella felt like visiting old friends, I truly adore the setting of this novella and the previous ones in The Big Alpha In Town and Thanks Fur Last Night.


THE WITCH, THE WEREWOLF AND THE WAITRESS
by
KATE BAXTER

The final installment in this anthology is called The Witch, The Werewolf And The Waitress by Kate Baxter.  The central male character is Colin Courtney who is a werewolf shifter and is fairly new to the area. He has rather reluctantly moved to this little place that feels like it is in the middle of nowhere. Colin, along with the rest of his pack were not impressed with their Alpha, Liam. Colin is peeved, its okay or Liam, he has his mate. Colin feels its highly unlikely he will ever find a mate here in nothing town in the middle of nowhere. That is until he is on his way to a job interview and calls in the sourdough and sets eyes of the waitress there. Ellie is the waitress working at the Sourdough, shes worked there for a couple of years now and knows all the locals and their requirements and foibles. So when Colin takes the first cinnamon roll and actually dares to eat it, Ellie loses the plot shouting and scowling. Her boss and owner of the Sourdough tells her to calm down and apologise. After Colin leaves he tells Ellie's she needs to take a few days off work. Ellie is truly fed up o living in this area but is unable to leave as she was cursed by a witch to stay within certain borders she has enchanted. 

Colin isn't bothered in the least about the hostility Ellie gives him because when he looks at her he just knows. . . .knows she is his mate. So Colin thinks things are looking up. A mate, and the possibility of his dream job. However things go rapidly downhill when the job is offered to him on the condition that his Alpha, Liam is okay with the arrangement. As for Ellie when he learns of her curse he vows to help her break it despite the fact if they break it she will be free and can travel wherever she wishes. Colin wants her to become his mate and live in Stanley with him and his pack. Despite the dangers of literally dying of a broken heart if when freed Ellie takes off and leaves him behind. There is also the chance that when all the boundary enchantments are broken Ellie will lose her immortality and die. Both Ellie and Colin face tough decisions. They discuss, argue and contemplate their options before finally coming to a mutual decision.

I would love to revisit this book setting that Kate Baxter has created, perhaps learning more about Liam, the Alpha or the pack, or maybe following another shifter finding his/her mate.

ANTHOLOGY AS A WHOLE

So as a whole the Anthology of novella's was a great read for me, a real winner. I will definitely be looking for more like this. This anthology featured three similar stories in that they have the true mate theme running through them, as well as the romancing of a possible reluctant mate. 

I was immediately pulled in and hooked to Bearing His Touch by Eve Langlais, the whole abuse/violence aspect of the book is done well. I loved the idea of the protector, Stavros and the closeness of his bear clan family. I think I'd say this had less detailed intimate scenes which I enjoyed.

I adored revisiting the same "world/setting" in Fake Mated To The Werewolf so fell straight back into that world very easily. This book was a bit more steamy than the other novella/anthologies I have read by Milly Taiden but the intimate scenes were well within the plot of the book and not just or the sake of them. The one thing that irritated me was the name of the central male character Hawke Hawke! Apart from that I loved every part especially the fact Clark got his comeuppance! 

I admit that it took me a little while longer to fall into the setting and plot of The Witch, The Werewolf And The Waitress. Though once I persevered I did enjoy it.

I loved the epilogues at the end of the first novella's, Bearing His Touch and Mates Fur Hire they answered the "I wonder how this/that worked out" scenarios you have after the initial story. The Witch, The Werewolf And The Waitress did not have an epilogue which was a tad disappointing though I guess Kate Baxter was leaving the "what happened after" to the readers imagination.

So when can I expect the next novella anthology please? These anthologies are the perfect length to read one a night, though I couldn't resist reading it in just two halves. I honestly didn't want to put it down.


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