THE WOODS FAMILY series of novels by Mandy Harbin

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SURROUNDED BY DEATH (Woods Family Prequel 0.5) by Mandy Harbin

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Released September 2012

His family speaks of his death as a tragic example of why it’s too dangerous for the Woods men to be around available women.

Eric Woods is now dead, but was his last night as a living, breathing mountain lion shifter as horrible as his family has always believed?

Experience Eric’s last night with Simone–a woman whose need for carnal pleasures for exceeds all rational thought

REVIEW: Surrounded by Death is the prequel novella in Mandy Harbin’s erotic paranormal ‘Woods Family’ series.

The Wood’s family is a family of all male mountain lion shifters who know what it is to lose control. To keep themselves and the female population protected from harm and the Woods’ males, Eric and the others have secluded themselves on the family tree farm. But when Eric’s best friend’s wife announces their divorce, Eric’s lion sees only one thing-mate. And the ensuing battle to claim the female results in the death of two former best friends.

Surrounded By Death is a very quick read-basically one short chapter in length but explains some of the background about the lion shifter’s need to mate. The premise focuses on the male mountain lion shifter’s inability to control his mating instinct and is willing to mate with every available female. To keep the women safe, the men have secluded themselves from the human population. Mandy Harbin pulls no punches with the sexual and graphic nature of her storylines, introducing the reader to her writing style within the first few sentences.

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SURROUNDED BY WOODS (Woods Family #1) by Mandy Harbin

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REVIEW: SURROUNDED by WOODS is the first storyline in Mandy Harbin’s Woods Family series focusing on a family of mountain lion shifter males. The short story premise builds on the need of the male lion to find a mate-an unclaimed/unmated female. With this in mind, no unmated/single females are allowed on the Woods property. The baser animal instinct in the male lion demands to mate-and no single female is safe.

Such is the case of Mikaela Patterson-the legal representative sent to rewrite the family wills. Thinking Mikaela would be safe because she had a fiance, the family patriarch allows Mikaela onto the family estate only to learn that his eldest son had become fixated to the point of obsession. It was only when they learned she was no longer engaged did the lion family feud threatens everyone including Mikaela Patterson.

The sexual allure and tension between Josh and Mikaela is immediate. Josh’s lion wanted Mikael regardless of her relationship status. The sex is hot and steamy, and once again, Mandy Harbin pulls no punches with the erotic genre storyline. Accompany it with the paranormal shapeshifting feline and my baser animal side wants to roar.

Surrounded by Woods is a short story that introduces the Woods Family and its family of shape shifting lions fighting their feral side. With three remaining brothers yet to be mated, fans of Mandy Harbin will be looking forward to several more storylines.. Let’s hope the patriarch will find love again. A word of caution: These story lines are sexually aggressive and graphic

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SURROUNDED BY PLEASURE (Woods Family #2) by Mandy Harbin

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SURROUNDED BY PLEASURE is the second short story (third storyline) in Mandy Harbin’s Woods Family series focusing on a family of mountain lion shifters. Surrounded by Pleasure is Toby and Krista’s story.

The author takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery. Krista is a woman with no sexual experience and is thrown into a family of sexual charged and highly aggressive males-all wanting to claim her for their own. To keep Krista’s availability undercover and to hide the fact that all of the males are shape shifting mountain lions, her fellow attorney and co-worker Mikaela devises a plan to ensure that the mountain lions keep their distance. But Toby Woods is a shifter whose mountain lion persona knows only one thing-that Krista is his mate to claim.

Mandy Harbin writes another interesting storyline of shape shifters and their need to mate. The Woods family is once again brought together as they war with each other and their inner beast. The world building continues with each successive story line. The mating and conclusion to this particular story was a little rushed, as though the author couldn’t wait to finish and the heroine’s abrupt change from innocent virgin to vixen without so much as considering the consequences was questionable. Overall, if you love a story of sexually charged shape-shifters, the Woods Family series is the purrrrrrfect series for you.

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SURROUNDED BY TEMPTATION (Woods Family #3) Released October 2012

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REVIEW: Surrounded by Temptation is the third storyline in the Woods Family series by Mandy Harbin. Like the previous storylines, the Woods are a family of mountain lion shifters-all male- who are not in control of their animal side whenever an unmated female is present.

Surrounded by Temptation focuses on Rob Woods and Ariel-Krista’s sister-and a research scientist. On the request of her sister, Ariel has agreed to develop a serum that will help the male shifter control the aggression and their baser instincts to mate. But things go horribly wrong when Ariel is asked to focus on one brother more than the other. When the brothers struggle for power and control, it will be Ariel who loses-both her heart and her pride.

This particular storyline was different from the previous in that the heroine was aggressive to the point of domination and sadistic-all in the name of research-in this, I did not feel the connection between the couple-it was too clinical and too forced. There was no relationship building to speak-everything was justified as part of the experiment. As well, I did not relate to Ariel’s research methods-as far as I was concerned she was cruel and overstepped her position. I like to put myself into the story line and I could not make a connection-I did not understand or agree with her justifications (all in the name of research) and this too, had me hoping for a different direction in the storyline. This series is an erotic romance look at shifter life, but I found nothing erotic or romantic. And in the end, everyone involved lost a little piece of themselves and the family dynamics fractured because of one woman’s need for control. The story also ended on a cliffhanger and one that I had guessed back in the early stages of book one.

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SURROUNDED BY SECRETS (Woods Family #4) by Mandy Harbin

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Released January 11, 2013

REVIEW: SURROUNDED BY SECRETS is the fourth storyline in Mandy Harbin’s Woods Family series focusing on a family of mountain lion shape-shifters and their need to mate. When unmated and single females enter the property, the male shifter only knows one thing-mate.

Jack Woods is the most ‘unstable and aggressive’ of the Woods brothers and with that comes the guilt and shame of previous transgression against his brother’s mates. When he willingly volunteered for the research program everyone was unclear as to how successful the treatment would be for Jack. Keeping his distance from his family was the only option with which Jack felt most comfortable, but when the family bought the neighboring land, the owner’s daughter came along with the package-she was going to be working side by side with Jack and his brothers. To Jack’s amazement and astonishment, the feisty female was more than willing to fall into bed.-but Jack’s lion side decided Lillian was its mate.

The storyline follows the aftermath of Jack’s mating with Lillian. We watch as a flurry of mixed emotions throws the couple into situations and accusations that cannot be easily taken back when spoken in anger. Pain at what he had done shamed Jack but his lion knew that Lillian was his mate. Convincing Lillian was another matter.

There is more to this storyline than the sex and mating of mountain lion shifters. Mandy Harbin finally reveals the story behind the Woods family heritage and what the future holds in store for the next generation. I enjoyed this particular storyline because it had more depth and background history. The family patriarch had been closed mouthed for too long and in Surrounded by Secrets-the secret to the Woods family shifting will finally be revealed.

Copies supplied by author/publicist.

Reviewed by Sandy