CLAIMED BY THE MATE: Volume 1 (BBW Werewolf Menage 2 in 1 romance) by Kate Douglas and AC Arthur-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date September 15, 2015

FERAL PASSIONS (A Feral Passions Novel) by Kate Douglas

Welcome to Feral Passions, a luxurious private resort nestled in a preserve and staffed by dangerously sexy men, making it a haven for women who want to get away from it all. But Feral Passions is a front for a deeper, sexier secret-it’s a hunting ground for these men. Men focused on meeting each woman’s every need. Men who are also the beautiful wolves running wild…and who are looking for mates.

Chereza Dubios is more comfortable solving math equations than she is with her voluptuous body and meeting men. But when her younger sister and best friend trick her into vacationing at Feral Passions, Cherry finds herself attracted and torn between two men who find her curvy body and intelligent mind irresistible. Two men who share a secret-they want to share her.

But that takes trust-can Cherry open herself to love with two sensual and powerful werewolves?

REVIEW: FERAL PASSIONS is the first installment in Kate Douglas’s new, contemporary adult Feral Passions erotic, paranormal romance series. Feral Passions focuses on the Feral Passions exclusive resort owned and operated by a pack of male wolf shifters looking for mates. This is wolf shifters, best friends and lovers Cain and Brad, and human female Chereza (Cherry) Dubios’s storyline.

NOTE: FERAL PASSIONS is a ménage romance with graphic depictions of MM, MFM, and MMF sexual situations.

Cherry is a woman whose self esteem and self confidence has been low for a number of years due to her size and a horrific, sexual experience and bullying in high school. Along with her sister Christa, and Christa’s best friend Steph, the three women have booked a week’s stay at Feral Passions Resort where each will meet their future but not necessarily what each had expected. The storyline follows the building relationship between Cherry, Brad and Cain, as well as getting a glimpse into Christa’s new found relationship with Steph and two other wolf shifters (Wils and Ronan) who believe they have found their future mates. Cherry is a strong, independent woman who loves to read paranormal romance storylines, and in this Cherry begins to suspect that the men of Feral Passions are not what they appear to be.

FERAL PASSIONS is an entertaining and easy read; an erotic, paranormal storyline with a little bit of humor, passion, $ex and a happily ever after with very little conflict or angst-in fact, the conflict(or misunderstanding) was but a blip on the radar and for all intents and purposes was unnecessary and quick to resolve.

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THE ALPHA’S WOMAN (A Wolf Mates Novel) by A.C. Arthur

Kira Radney is all delicious curves and strong will and has no desire to be a subservient mate. When a member of her father’s pack attempts to make her his mate by force, Kira has no choice but to flee. The last thing she wants is to submit to any male and their pack. But when her escape attempt leads her straight into the arms of an alpha wolf-a sexy, dangerous, protective alpha-Kira must fight against her need to be free, and her secret desire to be controlled…

REVIEW: THE ALPHA’S WOMAN is the first installment in A.C.Arthur’s WOLF MATES paranormal romance series. This is Blaez and Kira’s storyline- a tale steeped in mythology, a hierarchal society, and a history that goes back hundreds if not thousands of years. The storyline does not focus on shifter wolves but a hybrid species with supernatural powers, increased speed and special abilities.

Kira is an alpha female who is on the run in the hopes of staying one step ahead of her father and his pack. With the recent ‘accidental death’ of her mother, Kira’s future is now in the hands of the males of her father’s pack-a father who is aware of his only child’s potential for great power and rule. Finding herself a ‘virtual’ prisoner of an enemy pack, Kira knows that to escape would mean years on the run ending with her death or imprisonment by the very people with whom she was raised. What ensues, is a slow building relationship between Kira and Blaez, and the revelation that Kira’s future and fate lies in the hands of the wolf with whom she is falling in love.

THE ALPHA’S WOMAN is a slow building storyline wherein Kira’s past, present and future are revealed a little at a time, and Blaez’s true nature and power is not revealed until the very end. There are hints and clues that point at the potential for greatness for both of our leading characters; and the storyline is awash in mythology, wolf lore, and the inception of shifters in a world run by gods and hybrids, wolves and humans. The $ex scenes are aggressive and erotic; consent is dubious on a couple of occasions.

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CLAIMED BY THE MATE is a two part paranormal, romance anthology with pluses and minus that affected my enjoyment or lack there of. Each author and storyline is different in voice, content, structure and writing style. The BBW aspect is addressed in FERAL PASSIONS wherein the heroine’s self esteem and lack of confidence is measured by her size and perceived lack of beauty and attraction by the opposite sex. THE ALPHA’S WOMAN barely touches upon the BBW except to offer up a derogatory comment by the heroine’s pack members who are disgusted by the size of her hips and a$$. In both storylines the big and beautiful woman is the object of ridicule and derision before eventually finding someone who accepts the heroine for all of her perceived faults and extra pounds. I am not a big fan of the BBW storylines as the attitudes about size and beauty add fuel to the perceived notion of fat shaming in modern society regardless of the inevitable happily ever after at the end-it is the path towards happiness that is doused in shame and self deprecation. And if a size 16 is considered too big to be loved, then we all have bigger issues at hand.

FERAL PASSIONS is more fluff than substance focusing on the erotic nature of the ménage love affair; THE ALPHA’S WOMAN is not a ménage storyline but a story steeped in tradition and lore, and finding the one woman ‘selected’ to be the other half of your soul.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy