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Monday, December 12, 2016

Double Book Review: Fever (Blood Moon Rising Werewolf Rising #1) by Lola Taylor

Fever (Blood Moon Rising Werewolf Rising #1)
by Lola Taylor
February, 2014 (Fourth Edition, October, 2016)
Genre: Werewolf PNR 
Publisher: Indigo Dreamer Press
ASIN: B00ING5PN0
Number of pages: 114
Word Count: 33k
When the Blood Moon rises, the wolves come out to play… and find their mates.

Danica has about given up on love. In a last-ditch attempt at finding “the one,” she agrees to a blind date through an online dating service. But instead of finding roses and romance, she finds someone intent on killing her. That is, until the mysterious, brooding Gage shows up to save her….

Gage is running out of time to find a mate. If the Blood Moon sets before he can find her, he’ll lose the rank of packmaster—and the peace within the pack he’s worked so hard to obtain. When he saves a luscious blonde in the parking lot of a bar, he has no idea she is his mate—until he Marks her with his touch.

Determined to keep her safe at any cost, Gage whisks Danica away into a hidden world full of lust, unlikely love, and treachery. Someone’s put a hit on his mate, and he’s hell-bent on finding out who, all while the Blood Moon looms closer, threatening to destroy his chances at true love forever. That is, if something—or someone—doesn’t kill the woman he’s falling for first. 





Review: Bianca Greenwood
Three Sheep
Gage Johnson, Moonstruck Pack Alpha, is facing a deadline. With the blood mood on the horizon, mere days away, he must find his destined mate to cement his newly acquired alpha status. Danica Williams has been unlucky in love and life, until a chance meeting in a dive bar leads her straight to Gage. The attraction is immediate.

Fever features steamy romance set against brewing pack politics and paranormal espionage. It’s an engaging, quick read. The plot moves exceedingly fast though, resulting in a story that’s underdeveloped. I never felt fully connected to the characters, their development reliant on standard types. Rapid romance development doesn’t bother me -- much. However, things sync a little too quickly for these two. Early in the book, Danica, completely new to the world of paranormal, is facing a life and death situation. She runs for her life all the while reconciling her potential new relationship with Gage. The incongruity between real suspense and personal reflection had me scratching my head. Taylor excels at creating a sensual, erotic scene. Such scenes were book highlights. Fever also generates interest for future series installments. Ominous threats remain at the end of the book and this creates traction for the rest of the series.

Fever, originally published in 2014, is the first in Lola Taylor’s Blood Moon Rising series. The series includes six installments, each detailing love and life entanglements of the Moonstruck werewolf pack. Currently, Fever is free on the author’s website.




Review: Adria Reyes
Two Sheep
Lola Taylor’s Fever starts off with Danica looking to meet her online date at a bar. She’s practically given up on love and is kind of desperate to find a guy to date. When her date doesn’t show up she leaves only to be cornered outside of the bar and almost killed. That’s when the hottie she spotted back in the bar saves her, and then things turn really weird. For wolf shifter Gage, the Blood Moon means he’s almost out of time to find a mate so that he can stay in charge of his pack but that doesn’t stop him from saving the woman about to be murdered. Then he finds out that Danica is his mate and that someone put a hit out on her. Without question he takes Danica under his protection while he tries to find out who is trying to kill her and why.

So, this is my first time reading Lola Taylor and honestly, there was a lot of important stuff missing. It wasn’t that Gage and Danica weren’t likable, they were, but maybe it was because I didn’t fully connect with them as characters. There’s no real growth as individuals and I could honestly say that as a couple I needed them to connect more rather than just accept that they were mates. I wanted more than just sex between them. Sometimes there were moments in Fever where it seemed like they were really getting to know each other and bonding on a more emotional level but then something or someone would interrupt and it was back to finding out how to stop the Big Bad. The romance was just not believable. Aside from happening super quick, by the end I felt that Gage and Danica still didn’t know enough about each other.

I think the author tried to cram in too much into a small amount of pages so everything felt halfway done and very rushed. Fever introduced the wolves but then there were witches too, and oh wait there were more things to talk about and then they were overlooked. Why bring them up in the first place if there wasn’t enough time to explain anything?

Bottom line, this paranormal romance missed the mark. It had a lot going for it but just when I thought it was going to hit the big checks on my checklist, it didn’t. And then it was over and I was like What? That’s it? Lola Taylor has the right idea with Fever but it could definitely use some more development and believability between the main couple.

CHAPTER 1
All right, it was official—her date had stood her up.

Honestly, it shouldn’t surprise her. Seriously, who took someone on their first date to a bar?

And not even a nice bar. Howl was anything but swanky. With wooden floors that looked like they hadn’t seen polish—or a broom—in a decade, posters of couples in crude positions all over the walls, and the stench of sweat, beer, and sex in the smoky air, it looked like a gigantic version of a man cave.

Speaking of men, there were entirely too many rough-looking individuals here. Admittedly, it made her pause when she drove up and discovered there were more motorcycles than cars parked outside. She loved chrome and fast wheels as much as the next girl, but all the, er, “decorations”—animal skulls, hides, etc.—adorning said motorcycles gave her the heebie-jeebies.

She took another long sip of her beer. What the hell had she been thinking, agreeing to meet a total stranger at a place like this?

Because you’ve been lonely since Seth broke up with you and moved away.

Being the only person left in her high school town, the only one in her old circle of friends who hadn’t gone to college or gotten married, Danica had started to feel pretty damn unwanted. That definitely showed in the extra pounds she’d packed on since the “Epic Breakup.” Since the only people left in the small town of Moonstruck, Arkansas, were either the young or the old, it was sparse pickings for friends, and even slimmer prospects for dating. And since her empty bank account said moving was not an option, she’d turned to online dating.

“They worked,” the advertisements said. Countless people on the commercials preached, “I met my soul mate online, and we got married, like, instantly.”

In hindsight, she should have known better. If history had taught her anything, it was “Karma isn’t going to make it easy for you.”

She smiled wryly. “Karma, fifty, Danica, zero.”

Taking another swig of her nearly empty beer, she looked around. For the most part, the men had watched her with curiosity, but they hadn’t come over yet. People seemed to be keeping their distance, which she found odd. She thought she looked damn cute in her tight jeggings, black ankle boots, and a black see-through tunic that showed off her black lace bra. The bra alone should have at least earned her a “get-to-know-you” beer from somebody. But alas, here she was, sitting by herself at a bar, waiting for a date that obviously was never going to come.

Shouting erupted from across the room as one burly man threw down his pool stick and shoved another man, nearly spilling beer all over the pool table.

From the dais near the table, a tall man stood from the shadows, his silhouette suggesting broad shoulders and a lean torso. The dim lighting revealed dark jeans, a button-down shirt, and a dinner jacket—not the typical biker bar garb the other men wore.

He also wasn’t nearly as stacked as the two guys about to go at it in front of him, yet they took one look at the man and instantly backed down.

Huh. This place was getting weirder by the second.

Danica felt her arms prickle with the sensation of being watched. She looked up to find the mystery man had stepped into the light—and was looking right at her.

Her breath caught.

Holy. Hell.

Okay, the lighting in here sucked, but she could definitely see a defined jawline, a straight nose, and light brown hair that had been styled with a bit of gel. Despite his Adonis looks and more fashionable wardrobe, he didn’t look any less masculine for it. If anything, it made him look sexier.

Danica sighed, feeling heat building below her navel.

She blinked. Wow, this was an all-time record for her. She’d gone from falling head over heels for a man in a few weeks—i.e. Seth, who’d been a jerk—to lusting for one at first sight. She blamed the fact she hadn’t had sex in six months.

But she wasn’t about to bring a man home with her tonight. She didn’t want a one-night stand. She wanted romance, flowers. She wanted “the fairy tale” as Julia Roberts had said.

And something told her she wasn’t going to get that with any of the guys here. Might as well cut her losses and bail.

She’d started to take another sip of her beer with the intent to finish it when that pleasant tingling sensation went up her spine. Unable to stop herself, she turned around.

The handsome stranger smiled at her.

And dammit if she didn’t smile back.

***



Gage’s inner wolf grinned as the luscious blonde tried covering the smile she’d flashed him. Normally, human women didn’t do it for him, but this one had a sense of spirit about her that was incredibly alluring. The fact her top left little to the imagination in regards to her plump breasts only made him harder.

God, he was so freaking horny. Ever since the mating heat had taken hold of him at the beginning of the month, his cock sprang to life at the mere sight of a little cleavage. It was like going through puberty all over again, a hell he never wished to relive. The heat had only intensified as the month drew to a close. In exactly one week, the Blood Moon would rise, sealing him forever with his mate the first time they made love.

Now, if only he could find his mate.

His best friend and bodyguard—as if he needed one—came up beside him. He was also his brother. The slightly older wolf wasn’t wearing as much metal tonight as he usually did. His ears were only partially lined with studs, and he’d taken his tongue piercing out. Ink crawled up the wolf’s massive arms, which he showed off in a black tank top, despite the chilly autumn weather. Since werewolves ran hotter than humans, due to their animal nature—and especially during mating season—they rarely worried about the change of temperature.

His bodyguard, Nikolas, nodded in the direction of the bar. “You’ve been eyeing that female since she walked through the door.”

“And?” Gage raised a brow in challenge.

Nik shrugged. “And I can’t blame ya. She’s hot for a human. Got soft curves too. Wouldn’t be like banging one of our she-wolves, all hard muscle and bones.”

Gage’s cock throbbed with desire at the thought of feeling the woman below him, of his hands moving over her soft, smooth skin. He’d never been with a human before. He wasn’t the type to hold back during sex, and the she-wolves were tough by nature. Humans were fragile. Breakable. He’d feel guilty if he injured a woman during love-making.

Yet the thought of making her dizzy with pleasure never left his mind as he watched the woman down the rest of her beer and snag the bartender to cash out her tab.

Nik chewed on his lip ring. “So I take it you’ve had no luck with the last were-princess I brought you, Your Highness?”

Gage scowled. He knew Nik was aware he hated being called that, which was exactly why Nik did it. Sometimes, he was as childish as a pup. “I’ve… met with all the princesses you’ve brought me, but alas, I have yet to mark any of them.” Saying it aloud like that, voicing the possibility he might lose his pack because of some stupid law, turned his blood to ice.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat.

Nik studied him, then elbowed him lightly. “Think nothing of it. You’ll find your mate before this month’s Blood Moon sets.”

“I have to,” Gage muttered darkly. An unmated packmaster was not worthy of calling himself a King of Wolves. After at last claiming the position of Alpha over Malachite (a.k.a. “that sadistic son of a bitch”) only this past month, Gage couldn’t afford to be demoted for the sheer fact he couldn’t find a worthy female to be his mate. But he didn’t get to choose—the magic in his blood did.

His attention snapped forward as the woman, casting him one last look, donned her jacket and purse, then started walking toward the exit. His blue eyes trailed her, unblinking, his heart speeding up. He took a step forward, and Nik grasped his arm.

“Best let that fish return to the sea,” he said. “Your efforts are better spent on courting other royal she-wolves going through their Fevers, considering the circumstances.”

“I know.”

Still, he found himself leaning toward the woman, wanting to go with her.

What was the matter with him?

A dark figure moved within the shadows, detaching itself from the wall and following the woman out the door.

Gage’s hackles rose. “Excuse me,” he said, shoving Nik’s hand aside as he stepped off the dais and toward the door.

Nik swore then rubbed his temples. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Following a gut instinct and feeling half-mad for it, Gage continued his deliberate pace toward the exit, senses wired for danger.

Then he heard her scream.

About the Author:
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“Lola Taylor” is a pen name created for the romances I can’t show my grandma without blushing. My favorite genre to write is romantic suspense, usually involving hot werewolves, warlocks, or any other type of paranormal creature. Keep the action hot and the romance hotter—that’s my motto! I’m a horror film junkie, I still love Halloween as an adult (seriously, I think I get more excited for it than some kids do), and what precious spare time I have is spent with my family, reading (everything from sci fi to middle grade), playing the flute, painting pretty pictures, or screwing around on Pinterest or Etsy. Hailing from the South, I currently live in the Midwest with five fur babies and my hubby.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for having me! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

    ReplyDelete