Megan Crane: The Reconing

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/240402427-the-reckoning

Book Blurb: 

Life among the pack isn’t easy for a rebellious woman fated to be the wolf king’s mate in an apocalyptically thrilling paranormal romance from USA Today bestselling author Megan Crane.

On a full-moon night, fate takes what it wants. That’s you, Maddox Hemming.

It was known before I was born what destiny had in store. It’s in my blood. I am the fated mate of Ty Ceridwen. The alpha and king of the Western Wolves. The bane of my existence. And whether in skin or fur, the love of my life.

He wants the ritual that will bind us forever. All I want is more time—but unfortunately that’s running out. Ty needs me in line for what’s coming.

The Wolf Moon is rising, and if the gruesome sacrifices in the woods are any indication, an ancient foe has Vinča, the goddess of filth and death, who is driven to wipe out the world as we know it.

Not to mention my mated destiny with Ty.

Defeating Vinča would certainly make for a happy ending…if we can just survive long enough to see it come true.

Tropes:

*Netgalley ALC 12/12  *Romantasy  *Fated mates *Shifter Romance  *age gap *spice

*strong willed Independant FMC  *Touch her and 💀 *State Challenge Oregon (repeat)

*large cast of paranormal characters (wolf shifters, vampires, oracle, trolls/goblins etc..)

*Magical world *Mystery *Betrayal

Thoughts:

To start with I didn't realize this was the second book in this series, I didn't read the first in the series but was able to catch up fairly quickly to what happened in the first book as they went over some of the things during this second book.

Maddox (FMC) is a strong willed woman who is the fated mate to the Wolf king Ty (king of the Western Wolves) even though she knows it is her fate (haha) to be with Ty and she can't stay away from him she also month after month during the full moon doesn't let him claim her like he needs to to complete their bond.  

I'm going to be honest here... I almost DNF this book a few times in the beginning because the first 5 or 6 chapters seemed to be the FMC complaining about her lot in life about how things needed to move forward to being more modern and she didn't want to just roll over and "Do her job" of giving birth to the kings offspring... I get it and that stinks that you feel that you're in that position but he seemed to be pretty leniant for a king over 100 years old he was open minded and treated her as his equal so the one that was being stubborn at this point about any changes was her... it was getting pretty repetitive.

Maddox lives seperately from her pack in a cottage nearby and has made friends with a few different people a human Oracle (who is with a Vampire king), a fae, and a sorceress, they have interactions throughout the book but we never get to know any of them all that well.

There are a few main plot points throughout this book times are changing and the wolf kings and their packs are coming for a gathering... if Maddox doesn't finish the ritual soon it will be seen badly in their culture and that could cause more threats to head their way... but she still has time (the girl thinks she has all the time in the world... she doesn't).

Second plot point is that from the first book there was an ancient goddess that was sealed away... only there are indications that maybe she wasn't sealed away as well as they thought... could she have gotten out so soon?  And if so are they strong enough to take care of this threat for good?  Someone close to them is betraying them and leaving creepy messages/offerings but who?  

I liked Ty he had been waiting for his fated mate to be his queen for a very long time, even though Maddox was brought to him when she was younger he allowed her the time away from him to grow, find herself and go to college (per her request) with the promise that she would come to him when she was ready... he's really been quite patient with this whole process.

While I appreciated that Maddox wanted to move the packs way of thinking into the future instead of staying in the male rules everything past... I feel this took up so much of the storyline that some things that should have had more time to grow and some things ended feeling more rushed.

In this second book we are told that what happened in the first book ended with the humans being in "safe zones" and everyone else (vampires, wolves, trolls, fae etc...) are out living life more freely so at some point I might go back and read the first book to see what happened to lead to that, but might wait awhile since I got the cliffs notes of what happened in this second book.  

I'm glad I ended up staying with the book as I began to enjoy it more as it went on and think the narrator did a good job with the storyline.  Thank you to the author and netgalley for this ALC 

Dove Soleil: Flight Risk

  Birdie (FMC) goes about her business as regular when she picks up a pigeon covered in glitter... or he picks her up since he walks into her crate she puts him into her van next thing you know Gray shifts into a full grown, very handsome, man over 6 feet tall and now he is injured since the cage wires got him when he transformed.

Birdie brings home Gray and stitches him up... Birdie is having quite the day which gets more interesting when he tells her that she is his mate.  

Birdie at first resists Gray's attentions (this does not last long)... very soon after meeting Birdie is giving Gray lessons on Human etiquette and bedroom activities and Gray is happy to please Birdie in every way possible.  

Birdie plans to just help Gray settle in for a short while but the longer she's with Gray the more she can't help but think maybe he's right and her "mate" might just be this man who was very recently a pigeon... and they will be spending a lot more time with him since she accidently told her family that he is her boyfriend and he is now her date to her sister's upcoming wedding.

When Gray's past comes into the picture will this break them apart or bring them closer together?  

*2026  *Shifter Romance  *Pigeon MMC Shifter *Golden Retriever MMC  *animal technician FMC

*curvy FMC  *Green Flags MMC  *spice *fated mates  *fake dating  *strangers --> more 

*Insta lust/love 

Thoughts:

This is a unique take on the shifter romance genre where the MMC is a Pigeon Shifter.

Gray is a super sweet, Green flag MMC you can't help but fall for him and his is set on making sure Birdie (FMC) is comfortable at all times with everything going on.  Birdie teaches Gray how to be more human all while coming to terms that maybe her true love is in fact someone who was a Pigeon covered in glitter recently.

This has some comedic elements and I did find myself laughing throughout several parts of this book.  

Dislikes:

The story really pulls on the "insta Love" trope Birdie tries to "Evade" the fact that they are fated mates for a few minutes... but begins giving him lessons in the bed room the first day they meet and throughout the rest of the book... there is so much spice you don't get to know either character that well.

While I wasn't expecting a super in depth plot I was hoping to get a bit more back story on Gray and we just don't get much on his life before meeting Birdie.. instead we get a bunch of human lessons on etiquette and lessons on the bump and grind.

Ultimately I thought this story was just ok for me there really wasn't much in the way of plot and the spice over powered the story that was there... the part of the story with Gray's past catching up with him just fizzled out before it even started.  

I would recommend if you want something super light, fast paced and fluffy with some humor.

Reina Everhart: Kissed on Christmas

ARC read 2025 --> Book Sirens

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/243384811-kissed-on-christmas

Josie is a librarian she loves the holidays and is a ray of sunshine on the outside everyone sees her that way but inside she is a little bit lonely she lives above the library and doesn't have anyone "special" in her life.  

Wanting to get away for a bit of holiday fun she goes up to a mountain cabin with some family then the first day they get there they decide to go on a hike to see a frozen waterfall where they get separated in a sudden snow storm.  Josie gets brought back to a cabin by a stranger who at first doesn't even want her to know his name he has hidden secrets and has enjoyed his solitude for too long she shouldn't be up here with her warmth and holiday cheer.

Weylan Frost is grumpy and he also isn't fully human he is a guardian of the mountain and keeps the cold from consuming the town below... Josie's town.  In his "guardian" form he is some kind of Yeti/abominable snowman and used to many being frightened by him is surprised that Josie is not only not frightened by him... she continues to want to get closer to him while he spends a good portion of the book trying to keep walls up around his icy heart and her at a distance.

Weylan worries about Josie becoming too comfortable in his home... she can't stay it's not her place and he doesn't want anyone to be stuck in his current position as a guardian (which he's been for an unknown amount of time but it's been hundreds of years (?)) he has watched everyone he loved come and go and he remains it's better to be by himself watching over the town from a distance... but what if she wants to stay?  How would that even look for this guarded guardian with the heart of gold?  He did go out into the storm to save Josie after all    --> it's almost like he was drawn to her before he even met her.    

This is a sweet romance that has holiday magic along with paranormal/mythological elements and shows that sometimes you just need to let a little love in to warm your frosty heart.  This is part of a series but this is the only one that I've read so far and found it to be fine as a stand alone.  

I did find myself confused at times during the book I felt that I might have missed something  our characters would be in the cabin then they would all of a sudden be talking about walking around outside... when did they go outside?  they were in the cabin then no transition.  There is a lot of mentions about the glowing boundaries and the wards etc... but it doesn't give much back story about how Weylan got into this position or how long he's been doing this, I would have liked more information on that.

I had no sense really of how much time was passing in the story throughout most of the book and Josie doesn't seem to be all that concerned about if the family she went up the mountain with got to safety while staying in the cabin with Weylan it's not brought up she seems more concerned about making the cabin they are in more festive for the holiday season.  Also questions popped up for me about how well stocked with food his cabin was it seemed at one point they were just drinking cocoa but then he had supplies to make sugar cookies with sprinkles... does he go to the grocery store in town regularly (?) are they eating anything else?  Or are they just eating cookies and drinking cocoa?

The characters were likeable but sometimes the storyline felt a bit choppy I did receive an advanced copy and some of these issues may be worked out of the final book.  --> the couple is in bed maybe in the middle of some sort of spicy times when the book talks about the FMC's brother's being in the room or on the porch... later in the book she tells him that her family will love him... so were the brothers not there at the cabin earlier?  

*Grumpy/Sunshine  *Yeti/shifter romance  *Mountain Guardian  *Age Gap ;) *Holiday magic

*some spice  *Strangers -->  More  *Fated Mates  *cozy quick holiday read  *forced proximity

*ARC Read  *Book Sirens  

Lola Glass: Never Feed a Dragon

 Read in 2025

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/214388228-never-feed-a-dragon

This is the third book in the Mate Mountain series this book focuses on August and Jasper's other brother Eli (all 3 have made appearances in the previous two books of the series) from the moment Eli meets Vi there is something brewing... for him he had known the instant he saw her that she was going to be his mate... she was on the other end of the spectrum as they continued their verbal sparring every time they got together.

Feeling lonely and wanting someone to go home with after her sister's wedding Vi enlists Eli to help her find a guy to take home for a "one night stand"... he already has the perfect guy in mind, himself no one else is going to go home with her when he knows she should be his.

Vi knows that she is now going to have Eli in her life whether she wants him there or not since her new brother in law is his brother she decides on the day of her sisters wedding to make him spaghetti as a peace offering... little did she know this would be the start of a series of events that would change her life forever.  

While Vi doesn't know this Eli has been trying to set off a mate bond with her ever since he first saw her... he has tried drinking from her drink (which is what worked for Jasper when drank from Randa's drink in the second book), he has flirted with Vi, flirted with other women in front of Vi, verbally sparred with Vi at every opportunity so when she agrees to take him back to her place he is a little surprised that what actually starts their magical mate bond known as heat is during the actual deed... but now it's too late because that is what seals their bond.  

Unlike the first two books in the series where the couple basically locks themselves in a cabin/ or mountain home they go on vacation... which I felt was an expensive way to just stay in a room mostly since they were still in the middle of their "heat" and uncomfortable so they couldn't go out much doing tourists stuff.  

Vi is very hung up on an old relationship where she was treated poorly and the guy ended up cheating on her, because of this she never wants to try having another relationship again... I felt this got a bit old since Eli was going out of his way to prove that he wasn't like that and wanted to be with her he was very open with his love and support.  A lot of discussions about how their relationship is going to go and deciding it doesn't all need to be decided immediately... I began to wonder if Vi was ever going to come around to realize she is with this guy forever and should make some kind of an effort.     

If you are looking for series that has a well thought out plot and world building this is not that type of book series, if you are looking for a fun light read that's entertaining with a bunch of spice... this has a hot dragon shifter + magical heat process started with the woman he has been dreaming of for years = fireworks (basically spicy hot dragon shifter romance with many happy endings).

Have you read anything by this author?  Which series is your favorite?

*Romantasy  *Shifter romance (Dragon)  *virgin MMC  *fated mates  *enemies --> lovers  

*possessive MMC  *golden retriever MMC  *MMC gave FMC nickname "Spaghetti"

*lots of spice  *fluffy light read  *paranormal romance  *Happy ending  

Lola Glass: Never Flirt With a Dragon

 Mate Mountain Book 2

This book picks up where book 1 left off at Elodie & August's (our first couple) wedding.  Randa (Elodie's friend) is getting tired of being the third wheel between her twin sister Vi and Eli (August's brother) they have been bickering all night and asking for her to get in the middle of their argument... You know what sounds good going over to sit by Jasper (August's other brother and leader of the dragon clan) no one is bothering him and he's hot... of course he is all dragons are.

Randa goes over to sit with Jasper and he continues to not pay much attention to her (although she's wrong... he's been watching her all night probably too closely he doesn't want to get close to a female as an unmated dragon this would be devastating if a mate bond formed).  Taking a drink from Randa's drink (accidently) triggers "heat" which leads to the magical need for them to seal their bond or attempt to get through it without sealing it over the next 2-4 weeks.

From here while I didn't necessarily dislike the characters or the story, as with the first book there wasn't much of a story it was small amount of plot plus some steamy scenes where they are fighting their urge to make things official and seal their mate bond.  Elodie and August put their honeymoon on hold to help provide Randa with some information on how to get through the month without becoming a bonded pair she does this mainly through text messages from Elodie and it becomes a bit of a struggle for Randa to keep secrets from her twin sister.  Ultimately Elodie doesn't feel it will be easy for Randa to fight the heat since she has a lower pain tolerance and the magic will make Randa be in more pain pushing her and Jasper closer together to make their bond official.

Jasper is a sweet and respectful guy who only knows how to make pancakes but is willing to learn how to make other things for Randa.  Randa doesn't know how to cook either as her twin sister was usually the one to make things and they had been living together until she was flown up to mate mountain away from her home and family to live with a handsome dragon shifter for the next month.

Randa is an artist who can work from anywhere (and her boss is really understanding about her current situation).  Randa knows she will struggle to be so far away from her family, friends and everything she has ever known.  Does Jasper even want to be with her? this is a common question she faces throughout the book since she knows from Elodie that dragon's are highly against trying to actually find a mate as it would be restrictive to their freedom as once they are mated a dragon can't fly without their partner.

Randa and Jasper have some big decisions to make if they do become a mated pair where will they live?  Jasper is the leader of the dragon clan that guards the prison and needs to stay up on Mate Mountain for the majority of the time that's part of his role as the leader.  How will Randa cope with living so far away from her twin sister, Elodie and her parents she knows that Jasper would probably be willing to fly her places... but it takes away from her freedom to go when she wants to as she's now dependent on him for a lift, also the first time was super scary it was a bumpy flight and what if she falls off?  

Some more drama occurs when Jasper meets Randa's parents, Randa's mother is kind of judgmental and doesn't understand why Randa would even consider being mated to someone she barely knows.

There is a happy ending to this and the couple were easy going it just made for a story that dragged a bit, parts of this were very similar to the first storyline just in a different location (instead of decorating a cabin they are decorating his parents old apartment (now his apartment as the leader) on the mountain), they are in "heat" fighting their urges, they don't leave the place for days and spend a lot of time in bed.  

I plan on reading the next in the series and would read other books by this author it was an entertaining easy light read and made me laugh a few times.  

pretty much the same tropes I wrote last time--> 

*spice  *Protective MMC  *Dragon shifter (male) *MMC Virgin   

*light read, not much of a plot  *mates  *slow burn *forced proximity  *fantasy *paranormal romance

*happy ending  *Insta lust

Lola Glass: Never fall for a dragon

 Mate Mountain Book 1  -->  I guess I'll just say up front this whole review might be a spoiler for the book: 

Elodie (a human female) interrupts an argument between August and his sister outside of a cafe... only problem is August is a dragon shifter and once he catches Elodie's smell  this starts the mating process known as "heat."  

Male dragons like to stay away from the human female population, they want to remain bachelors and  the "heat" process could start at any point if they catch the smell of a human female that could potentially be their mate and their dragons fire begins to burns thru the woman's body (I think?).  The "heat" process is painful for the female and lasts for 2-4 weeks where the "dragon magic" is trying to push the couple closer together (basically a month of high passion where they have to touch more and more).  Very few couples make it through the "heat" without sealing their bond, basically it lasts for 2 weeks if they seal the bond and 4 if they don't but very little is known about how to make it through the month without giving in to their desires to "seal" their bond and become a couple there has only been 1 known couple in history to do this and they didn't give up their secret.    

The argument between the siblings is due to August needing to report for his six month stay in prison soon.  Made even more dangerous with all the other supernatural beings there and the fact that Dragons are more rare and essentially the police force for this world he might not make it out of prison alive if he goes, but if he doesn't go he will be banished from the dragon clan on top of the mountain and they are his family even if he doesn't always agree with their old fashioned rules (which are never really explained).  A lot of things in the dragons world are "very secretive" and "dragon stuff" 

The beginning of the book feels like I missed part of the story as there are things going on without much explanation at all and continues to not be explained later in the book either.  Elodie once starting this heat process with August is placed in a car and driven to his cabin where she is basically given no choice in the matter she  has to put her life on hold while this process is happening, she was in her last semester at college and her friends and family are going to worry about her, but she is allowed phone calls and minimal contact with her friends (due to her not being allowed to smell like anyone else) but has to give vague details of what is going on because of the "secrets".  

**to help with reading the book if you decide to**  all dragons are male, they can bond with human females through the heat process which starts if a male comes close enough to smell a human female that could be a potential mate, the "heat" process starts as a painful need to seal the bond by having sex (lots of it), once a dragon is in a bonded pair they can't fly without their female on their back so most dragons want the freedom to fly on their own and avoid human females like the plague.  Human females do not become dragons after they are mated to a dragon shifter but do obtain some of their mates dragon magic and continue to go into heat once a month (only for shorter periods of time) once bonded**  I think this is the just of it please feel free to let me know if I missed anything if you have read the series.  

Elodie and August are very attracted to each other and at first touching helps with the pain Elodie experiences but then the "magic" makes it more painful until they have to get closer together and have spicy times they do this all over the cabin (which had been quickly furnished by his dragon friends sister and brothers) due to the pending prison sentence August doesn't want to subject Elodie to his fate too as once dragons are a mated pair their mate has to be incarcerated too, he isn't sure he will make it out alive and he can't put her through it as well she won't survive and he won't be able to protect her well.

August is spared having to go to the prison during the month they are together to wait out the "heat" process but they have constant guards outside of the home.  A lot of the book involves thinking about sex, wanting sex or thinking about how they can do everything but have sex... this is a major plot point as it is part of the magical "heat" process that has started pushing them closer together.  They also eat a lot because being this horny all the time makes you hungry.      

Pages are spent just sitting around the house with Elodie doing homework and him rubbing her feet, they watch some movies, they eat a lot she takes many showers to wash off other scents and he keeps the house clean.  If they work on really getting to know each other better during their time together it's not really on the pages.  Can they get through the heat without becoming a mated pair?  how will they survive in prison if they have to go together?  Could they really make a lasting relationship work after what started as a mistake of wrong place at the wrong time?  

Forced proximity at the cabin has them both growing closer together, even though they fight off their "urges" the best they can how are they supposed to hold back forever every day it's growing harder and harder to not just do what the magic... and maybe their hearts now want which is to seal their bond.  

If you are looking for a book with detailed back story, detailed world building and well thought out explanations for what is happening this is not that book.  If you are looking for a light read with lots of spice and a lot of things explained away as just being a "dragon secret" or "unknown" this is what you are going to get. many things in the book are built up to be a big deal but not really explained why they are a big deal (August has to go to prison for making a deal with different supernatural species to protect his sister... what was after her? and why were the dragons so mad that he was trying to protect her? not explained).  I knew what I was getting into when I started this book so I wasn't disappointed, but it's the type of book you really have to be in the mood for to start. 

I found it to be a quick read, and it was entertaining, I plan to read the rest of the series.  

Have you read anything by this author?  what would you recommend?

*spice  *Protective MMC  *Dragon shifter (male) *MMC Virgin  *strangers --> more  

*light read, not much of a plot  *mates  *slow burn *forced proximity  *fantasy *paranormal romance

*happy ending  *Insta love/lust

Trigger warnings:  Brief mentions throughout the book of a vampire ex who was no good and ended up putting her in the hospital (DV) 

Savanna Golden: stealing Squatch

 Silver Ridge Shifters book 2  

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/227752466-stealing-squatch

This is the second book in this series but I read this out of order and I wish I hadn't after finishing the book because many of the things from the first book are brought up in this one, it is advertised as a stand alone but I would suggest reading them in order.  I will go back and read the first one but might wait a bit between.

Our leading lady Kai is a shifter (wolf) and has been found to have a fated mate he's a really sweet guy Alder he is also a shifter (sasquatch).  Kai while she doesn't dislike Alder... she dislikes the whole "fated mates" situation since her parents were always at each other and fighting due to this she never wanted that for herself and turns away from Alder trying her best to avoid him.  

Kai is part of a pack that her best friend (Finley) is now the leader of, she is second in command and in charge of security for the group.  Their pack has recently become inclusive to other species including Alder and his best friend Xan who is a warlock (and Finley's fated mate).

Alder even though Kai continues to avoid him is determined to win over his mate he wants a love match and knows that they could have true happiness if she would just give him the time of day... his latest plan is to make their own space away from the rest of the group while out getting supplies for their home and breakfast (a man/squatch) has to eat!  Anyways while out he runs into an evil witch from out of town and falls under her spell next thing you know Alder and this new woman are going to be "mates"... not on Kai's watch Alder is her squatch, get back witch!  

This book had drama, action, love, friendship and heart!  If I were a shifter I would want to be part of this pack they really care about each other. 

This was a cute quick read that happened over a short period of time and swapped POV's regularly.  While I kind of wished there was more focus on our lead characters relationship and less jumping around between everyone I did enjoy the story and liked seeing our couple finally find each other and their happy ending.  

have you read anything by this author?  have you read this book?  

*multiple POV  *some spice (lighter)  *fated mates  *cinnamon roll MMC  *shifter romance  

*found family *happy ending  *Indie author