Also known as a Lost Shifter binge. I was a bit behind on these so I went on a binge and read them all in one fell swoop.
eXtasy Books
I put off reading this for a long time because I knew it would be difficult. It is part 2 of the last book, where Trevor, psycho leopard Shane's mate was kidnapped by the cobra bad guy. Shane's going insane trying to find him. This however combines a couple of other stories, or beginnings of such. Riley is an eagle shifter, probably the only one in the world, and he is afraid of heights and is under hawk Colin's tutelage. It seems all Colin does is yell at him and tell him how shitty he is. When Riley finally makes a move, Colin tells him no, but is then stunned when Riley has sex with hawk twins. (I know some people had issues with this, but I was fine and it all makes sense nest book.) As well, when on the search when Trevor they find Dalton a young captive who was near Trevor before he was sold to some other snakes and thinks the sun rises and sets on Shane because of Trevor's stories. Dalton ends up kind of like their foster son. I love Shane. I know he's a psycho assassin, but he's adorable. LOL I loved how everyone was so confused by Dalton's hero worship and it still kind of annoys me that they are happy to have Shane kill someone for them, but don't want to be around him much. However he and Trevor are cute as a bug in a rug.
eXtasy Books
Riley's life is rough. Since his little escapade with the twins he's being picked on by some of the hawks, Colin is meaner than ever and he's practically a captive because he would be so valuable to the slavers. He tries escaping and you know something happened to him before that his friends helped him through but you don't know much. After another run in with nasty hawks, you find out the truth about Riley. He's a cutter. He uses it to escape the pain and goes a bit too far. Luckily when Colin goes to get him, he finds him in the nick of time and saves him and finally realizes he loves him. He overhears the friends talking about what has been happening with Riley, both currently and before, and they finally tell him about Riley. It seems Riley is a bi-polar cutter which is odd because traditionally shifters don't suffer mental illness, except for eagles. They get him some help but it's a bit nasty at times. My heart broke a little for Riley and I may have sniffled. I thought Stephani did a good job of bringing up some issues that aren't touched on much in romance (m/m or any other version). I was also glad Riley's friends stood up for him when no one else would. I really enjoyed this one.
Ranger's Folly by Stephani Hecht (122 pages)eXtasy Books
Ranger has noticed someone following Riley. When he finally confronts the stalker, he discovers it's another eagle. The twin they suspected surprised the murder of their family by their mother. However Xavier freaks and tasers Ranger and escapes. Xavier was raised by ravens who lived in isolation, largely because their daughter has mental disabilities and the ravens ordered her killed. So Xavier considers Dulla and her brother Chance are his siblings as they were raised together. Xavier falls ill from using a special spray which hides your scent, however Ranger manages to track them down just in time. Every agrees that the ravens are not dangerous, and they allow them to come to the compound. Ranger knows that Xavier is his mate and helps him recover. It was pretty typical, although dealing with the handicap of their sister was nice and also to see that not all ravens are evil icky things. I did find though that considering Xavier was raised in total isolation he didn't seem quite as naive about the world as I expected. It opened up some possible other couplings.
I really think the author should make up the equivalent of a family tree for all these people. I sometimes forget who was whose brother/roommate/friend. If I was more enthusiastic I'd do it myself. LOL I find it hard to remember who was in book 3 when I'm on book 12.
7 comments:
A family tree would be a great idea for each of Stephani's series, actually! :)
I really liked Riley's Regret - and I love the cover.
We'll have to get her working on that Chris. ;-)
Yes, I thought Riley's story was very touching and it is one of the nicer covers.
*sigh*
I'll come back when you review something I might want to read. Vampire books, for example ;).
And we'll just ignore the fact that I've read at least 3 shifter books/stories fairly recently :).
There haven't been many vamps lately Jen. Some publishers need to get on that. :-)
*scratches head* I could try to draw a family tree. I'm not much of an artist, though. I can't even sketch a decent stick man LOL
I love these books. I haven't read Ranger's Folly yet, but it's coming up in line soon.
I think Word has an org chart add-in Stephani. Family tree, org chart, same thing. :-)
It's a good one too Eyre. Touches on some more serious topics but doesn't overdo it.
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