Shift Out of Luck
by Abigail Owen
Published by Entangled Publishing LLC: Amara
Book #2 in the Brimstone Inc. Series
The Montagues and Capulets have nothing on the Canis and Banes wolf packs.
The two have been feuding for ages. The brutal murder of the Banes’ alpha only added fuel to the fire. And now there’s only one way to bring peace—the current alphas of each pack, Marrok and Tala, need a mating of convenience.
Tala has her doubts. A thousand of them.
Never mind that Marrok drives her body to levels of desire her vibrator has trouble keeping up with. If she can’t get her inner wolf—or her people—on board, forget peace, because she'll lose the tenuous control she has over the Canis pack. Her new mate is just so damn alpha. He’d better learn to play nice or Tala will have to show him who’s boss.
But Marrok has plans of his own, and nothing and no one, not even Tala herself, can resist an alpha...
This novella was previously self published as The Worse for Were but has undergone a complete re-edit. Scenes were added, things were changed, but the kissing still remains!
Genre:
Triggers:
Violence, Death
I would like to thank Entangled Publishing for sending me an #ARC for Shift Out of Luck by Abigail Owen, via #NetGalley , in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Shift Out of Luck is the second novella in the the Brimstone Inc. series. I didn't realize this was a book in a series when I got it, so I was hesitant to read it. The books have very little to do with each other though. In Shift Out of Luck, the story centers around two Alpha wolves, Tala and Marrok, who are married for convenience, and bring their two feuding packs together.
I wasn't personally crazy over the story. It wasn't bad really. Just wasn't my favorite. It wasn't until the last 25% of the book did I find it interesting. Despite the story not being the best, the story is unique in it's genre, which is rare to come across these days, and the story had a nice flow throughout.
The characters were generally okay. Most supernatural novels I have read, weres, or in this case, wolf shifters, are generally more human than beast, and live among humans. It was different to encounter characters that seemed more animal, and caved in to their beasts more easily, and they lived in their own communities. I liked Marrok, because while still an Alpha, he was always caring, and kind. It was hard for me to like Tala. I liked her the night of their mating ceremony, and 6 months afterward, when she claims Marrok and secures their bond. I love a kick ass female character ... and no doubt Tala is kick ass. But she isn't very vulnerable, and easy to anger, which was hard to like in the end.
In the end, it was an okay, very short read (I had it done in a few hours). I am not fully convinced if I will read the first book and continue with the series though. The writing is well done. If you like supernatural romances, you will like this one, but I am hesitant to say love it, mostly because the female lead is very hard to like. If she was a little softer, I think I would have liked it more.
Tala: "You want me, alpha? Then come and claim me."
Astra: "I'm almost in pain standing this close to you. In fact, I'm thinking I might go see if that tall drink of yummy across the way wants to play."
Marrok: "You don't want to mess with Rafe."
Astra: "I'm not going to mess with him, brother dear, I'm going to play with him."
Marrok: "He doesn't play nice."
Astra: "Goody."
Marrok covered his mouth with his hand to smother a laugh.
Marrok: "You've been warned."
Tala: "Scared of poor little me?"
Marrok: "Damn straight."
Tala: "You love me?"
Marrok: "I thought that was obvious."
Tala: "I love you, too."
Marrok: "I know."
Check out the rest of the Brimstone Inc. Series