Bailey Bradford

It’s been a while since I’ve read the previous book in the ‘Spotless’ series, and it was good to return to the world of the “spotless” leopard and half leopard shifters. There are quite a few of the formerly-abused children of the evil leopard shifter Bashuan left whose story has not been told yet. This time it is Erdwin’s turn, though a lot has happened since his oldest brother Solomon, who basically raised his younger siblings, joined Bobby and Sully’s pack. It made for a show more fascinating story from a psychological point of view, as well as a suspenseful adventure that had me eagerly turning the pages.

Erdwin is no longer the man he was born as. Over many years of not fitting in his skin, of trying to be someone he isn’t, he has finally accepted who he really is: Edie, a beautiful young woman. Edie has been through the self-doubt, the questioning, and the final admission that she is female at her core, but there is one thing she can never do. I’ve never thought about it, but a shifter’s body, due to the fact how quickly it heals, cannot be surgically altered. So gender reassignment is not possible for Edie, and that makes everything even more difficult for her. She has had to learn to live with her body as it is, and that took a while, but she has done it. Not that she expects her life to be easy, but at least she is at peace with herself, and her pack has accepted her as well. Then the one thing she never expected to happen does, and finding a mate who accepts her makes her life a whole lot less lonely.

Rolly has known Erdwin is his mate for a decade, but the boy was only thirteen when they first met, so Rolly had to keep his distance. It’s been hard for him, but when he finally feels the time is right he makes his way back to find – Edie. Rolly doesn’t even blink – his mate is his mate, and that is all he needs to know. I loved how the mate bond is shown to literally go deeper than skin here, and the point is that Rolly loves the person Edie is, never mind what she looks like physically. But they don’t get a lot of time to enjoy newly mated bliss before a mysterious threat endangers the entire pack. Rolly needs all his shamanic powers and the help of his powerful shaman father to even begin to unravel who is behind the newest plans to destroy everyone he loves.

If you like supernatural mysteries and enemies who attack out of nowhere, if you’re curious how two mates who have waited forever to be together manage to find each other despite some pretty significant changes, and if you’re looking for a read that is as touching and emotional as it I suspenseful and hot, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. show less

I wanted to like this one more than I did - it's a story that I felt could have been incredible, but it just didn't seem to come together that way for me. The characters of Jesse and Caden are both complex and have a lot of great backstory that I felt got lost in the whole 'insta-love' story line that at time was almost bordering on creepy on Jesse's part. I would have liked to see that complexity play into the relationship and relationship-building a bit more but it seemed like the author show more knew where she wanted this to go and it was headed there full-speed ahead (even with an ending that just seemed a bit flat to me, too).

That said, I didn't dislike the story (despite my criticisms above) and think it would definitely be enjoyed by someone who really likes m/m romances where one partner is seen as helping the other get over past trauma (however authentic this particular telling might actually be). show less

In this fifth book of the Southwestern Shifters series, it is finally time for Adam and Todd's story. The vet and sheriff's deputy first appeared in the very first book, and I've been waiting for more details ever since. While some pieces of the puzzle that surrounds this group of shifters fell into place (filling the "gaps" left from book one), this volume also takes the story further. With everyone from the first three books now united, and a new danger discovered, the tension mounts quite show more quickly as they trace the threat across the world. Firmly at the center of it all are Todd and Adam and their developing and deepening relationship, adding a very nice romantic touch and a layer of emotions that only made the story more compelling.

Todd has already suffered a lot, what with the bigoted parents and their emotional abuse, but he figures out how to stand up for himself and never looks back. Finding out Adam loves him as much as he loves the vet is just the icing on the cake. But then a whole load of new trouble emerges when Todd, once he is sheriff, decides to find out what happened to Adam's best friend, Jameson. The discovery that Todd's best friend Gabe and his partner Mika are not just humans, but wolf shifters, is just the tip of the iceberg. Dark conspiracies try to pull him and Adam under, and Todd needs all his considerable wits about him if he wants to stand a chance at getting out of their predicament with his life, and that of his shifter friends, intact.

Adam is a vet looking for the quiet county life when he moves to Shasta. He is trying to get over his best friend Jameson finding love and vanishing, but never expects to find love himself. When he and Todd get together, he couldn’t be happier, and does his best to help Todd through recovering from his father's vicious attack. For a while things are quiet, but then everything almost falls apart when they go looking for Jameson. Adam is as determined to be strong as any of the shifters he suddenly finds himself surrounded by. And one thing is certain: he will fight for Todd no matter who threatens him.

I loved the many twists and turns the story took. As for the final ending? More than a surprise, and a great finishing touch for Adam and Todd, while leaving the door wide open for many more stories in this series. With only some of the questions about the shifters' power games answered here, I certainly hope more is to follow.

If you like shifter stories, pack politics, and human-shifter interaction, if you have enjoyed the books so far, and if you're looking for a read that will give you adventure, conspiracies, and hot man-on-man action, then you will probably like this novel as much as I did.


NOTE: This book was provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. show less

Continuing the story of the members of the various packs of the Southwestern Shifters series and focusing on the North American continent for now, this sixth book contains the tale of Harley, one of Joshua Dobson's victims, and Val, one of the Alpha Anax's guards who was injured in a previous book and is the only known wolf shifter to have ended up in a coma. With two men wounded externally and internally, emotions run high in this book, and I became immediately and deeply involved in show more Harley's and Val's plight. They had so much going against them, and yet, both seemed to feel they belong together from the start. But with Harley denying it and Val not sure because his wolf is "asleep" after the coma, their road is not an easy one.

Harley hates wolf shifters with a vengeance. After what Joshua Dobson did to him, he believes all wolf shifters are cruel beasts, and his fear almost paralyzes him. Even though Nathan and Marcus take him into their home and try to show him not all shifters are bad, Harley is so stuck in his beliefs they eventually let him go back to his apartment. Not even the man in a coma, who attracts Harley's attention just before he leaves, can change that. Harley is emotional, impulsive, and not exactly open-minded even after he has physically recovered from his ordeal. It's the mental and emotional healing which is far more difficult, and part of what this story is really about. His learning curve, once he meets Val and understands he is a shifter as well, is steep and painful. Luckily, Harley is a survivor and a lot stronger than he thinks.

My heart went out to Val from the very beginning. He is a freak among wolf shifters: so deeply wounded that even the almost-magical shifter healing powers don’t help, he is left blind in one eye and with a heavy limp due to a badly-healed wound in one leg. And worst of all, his wolf has "gone to sleep", as he calls it, refusing to come out. He faces the prospect of never being able to shift again. In a society where physical strength is valued above all else, he can't possibly fit. No matter that his Alpha Anax and highest commander thinks differently, Val will need to experience this for himself if he wants to truly heal.

As with the other books in this series, I loved the many twists and turns, the continuing larger story about the shifters' power games, and the secondary characters from previous books returning for an "update" or two. If you like shifter stories and complicated human-shifter interaction, if you have enjoyed the books so far, and if you're looking for a read that will give you deep emotions, devotion between mates before they even know they're fated to be together, and hot man-on-man action, then you will probably like this novel as much as I did.


NOTE: This book was provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. show less