Sunday Statements

I, Omega by Kari Gregg 4*
BLURB: After one mind-shattering night with a stranger at a local leather bar leaves him forever changed, Gabriel lives on the streets as a vagrant to elude the master who hunts him, but the were-shifter is a fierce, stubborn predator who reclaims him soon enough. Gabriel is carried away to the pack’s home territory where his instruction on what it means to be the pet of an alpha begins. Gabriel isn’t just any pet, though. He is the rarest among their kind: a human omega.
Treasured? Or cursed?
As Gabriel’s father, the Distinguished Gentleman from Pennsylvania and stalwart of the conservative party, pushes the considerable resources at his disposal to locate his missing son, Gabriel explores who and what he is under his master’s careful protection. Gabriel falls for the shifter who is lover and destroyer, owner and...friend?

My Review: This book is not for everyone - the beginning is quite brutal in a way and I almost gave up on it. However the character of Gabriel got me hooked and I couldn't wait to find out what was going on and how he was going to deal with the strangeness all around him. I also started feeling in sympathy with Gabriel's Master (who's name we do eventually learn) and his character added a whole new dimension to the story for me. Without giving anything away about the story I can only say it gets better than it's rather hardcore start and is worth reading if you like m/m and shifters.

Damaged (Planet Alpha #6) by Erin M. Leaf 4*
BLURB: Cori knows her Xyran captivity has damaged her ability to trust, but when she meets Reiyn, desire flares despite her fear. He’s clearly hiding something, but when a distress call sends them into space together, passion takes over.
Cori enflames Reiyn like no other female ever has. She threatens his control over his hidden Xyran heritage, but he can’t fight his instincts. When his true nature is exposed during the daring rescue of a dying Xyran captain, will Cori forgive him, or will he continue his life’s work alone?
Captain Kyuk welcomes death when his ship is destroyed. He doesn’t expect to survive, but when Cori and Reiyn find him, instinct pushes him to live. He’s spent years smuggling slaves to freedom—can he now give up his own liberty to bond with Cori and Reiyn? Or is he too damaged to build that kind of emotional connection?

My Review: Luckily for me these can all be read as standalones as I am not reading them in order. This one was as good as the previous ones I've read with a short but intense story about a woman meeting her alien mates.

***
I took a small break from the Love's Landscape stories and only read these two:

Kiss of Truth by Ash Jay 3*

Triskellion by Jana Denardo 5*

And because I have done a lot of crocheting (See Here for more info on that) I also listened to these audiobooks:

Audiobook: The Pack or the Panther (Tales of the Harker Pack, #1) by Tara Lain Narrated by: Max Lehnen Narration: 4 Story: 5

Audiobook: A Wolf In Gucci Loafers (Tales of the Harker Pack, #2) by Tara Lain Narrated by: Max Lehnen Narration: 4 Story: 5

Wallowing in Werewolves

I've just binged on four werewolf stories and they were just what the reading doctor ordered.
First up were two short stories by Calandra Hunter which I won't bother giving a full review to. They were Night with the Werewolf (Gay Paranormal Erotica) by Calandra Hunter and Caged Wolf (Gay Paranormal Erotica) by Calandra Hunter and they were just what I would have expected from the fact that they are billed as gay paranormal erotica. Suffice to say I rate them both at 3*.

Next up was

Trials of Tam (The Larson Legacy #1) by Amber Kell 5*
BLURB: Tam's genius IQ has let him have his way in most everything in life. That all comes to a halt when his family petitions to join a new pack and the Alpha's price of admission is a chance to call Tam his own.
Tam is willing to play by the Alpha's rules, but he won't be pushed. Valko has some strong opinions about who's in charge. And it's not Tam.
Not about to roll over and show his belly for any man, Tam soon learns he might be the smartest person in the pack, but sometimes it's the sneakiest wolf who wins in the end.
My Review: I love stories like this one were the paranormal is out and in the open in the human world. With stories by Amber Kell I know I am also, more than likely, going to want the rest of the series sooner rather than later and yet again this is the case. I adored Tam and really, really want to read more about both his brothers and some of the other members of their new pack.

and finally:

Pretty Poison by Kari Gregg 4*
BLURB: Deadly poison…or exquisite cure?
Noah fell from an eighth story balcony as a toddler, cracking open his skull and shattering his body. The accident would’ve killed a human, but even shifter blood can’t heal some damage. After the pack recommended a mercy killing, Noah’s family ran. But there’s no outrunning the mating pact formed before Noah’s birth.
Wade, the new alpha, chooses an adult Noah to fulfill the pact. Wade believes the previous alpha was a fool to reject Noah as a weak and inferior wolf, but Noah’s family was wrong to hide him and starve his wolf, too. Human doctors with human medicines are poison to shifter physiology. Now that Noah is fully grown, halting his shift to retain the pins, plates, and bars holding him together hurts rather than helps him, and for Wade, more than Noah’s recovery is at stake.
Noah’s family sacrificed everything to keep him alive. Noah will do whatever it takes to save them—including mate with the alpha who is determined to correct past mistakes and defeat old prejudices contaminating the shifter community.
Too bad some still believe Noah is the true poison…and should be culled from the pack for good.a
My Review: This one ticked a lot of my favourite themes - Disabled hero, redhaired hero (not at all normal, that), family loyalty, mating bonds and lots of pretty good sex scenes- so it isn't a surprise that I liked it. That said I think I would have liked it anyway as the author has a clever way with words. I haven't read any of Kari Gregg stuff before but I really hope to read more from her in the future.