Resilience

Southwestern Shifters #5

by Bailey Bradford

Todd Benson almost died for the freedom to love Adam Soames. Now they face obstacles that once again place both of them in danger.

Todd Benson had figured he’d be alone forever. He had the best friend any guy could want in Gabe Staley, and Gabe’s partner Mika was okay, too. But a personal life and any kind of true happiness was out of the question. With Todd’s bigoted and violent parents, and the Sheriff he worked for trying to torture animals and Gabe, Todd knew he’d do well just to survive his job as a deputy in the small town of Shasta, Texas.

Adam Soames needed to get away from the big city. His best friend had found his perfect man and moved away, and Adam felt lost in the city. The opportunity to have his own veterinary practice in a small town sounded perfect. He didn’t know he’d soon be living a life he’d only dreamed of—or the cost he and the man he loved would have to pay.

Together Todd and Adam face seemingly insurmountable odds, from Todd’s recovery from a vicious attack to the prejudices and trials many couples have. Then there’s the big shocker of finding out Gabe and Mika aren’t humans, exactly, but wolf shifters instead, and a whole new door is opened and trouble soon comes barrelling through it.


Reader Advisory: This book is best read in sequence as part of a series and there is reference to past sexual assault and violence in this book.

Genres: Shapeshifters, M M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Gay, M M Paranormal, M M Shapeshifters

263 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 16, 2012

About the author

A few things about me...

I am a married mom of four who spends most of the day writing, either on stories or at the blog. I love to write as much as I love to read. I am generally quiet and laid back, choosing to let things slide off me rather than stick and irritate me.

And it's really hard trying to think of descriptives for myself, so I'll just let y'all e-mail me or comment at the blog if there's something specific you'd like to know, and spare you from reading a boring bio:D

Reviews

[Aղցela W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was book five in the Southwestern shifters series this story started before book one of the series. Todd Benson thought that he would be alone forever his best friend Gabe found a mate Mika. With his parents being violent and bigots and the sheriff that he works for torturing animals he knew that he it was best to just do his job and not worry about having a personal life. Adam Soames needed to get away from the big city. His best friend had found his perfect man and moved away, and Adam felt lost in the city. The opportunity to have his own veterinary practice in a small town sounded perfect. Todd that was physically and mentally abused by his parents despite being an adult and bullied by his boss. I thought that it was odd that Gabe didn't know that Todd was gay until Adam came along. Adam moved to Shasta he had no intention of getting into a relationship he finds himself attracted to Todd almost immediately. This was a really good book with a lot of emotions that Todd had to deal with being afraid of his parents and his boss. Adam was patient with Todd has he realized that he has no experience with other men. This book was well written like the rest of the book in this series with no errors in spelling or grammar. I am looking forward to reading the next in this series.

[Meags · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

This is easily my favourite book of the series (and I doubt that will change with continued reading).

This is the full story of Todd and Adam, who were secondary characters in the first Southwestern Shifter story (Rescued). From the onset of this series, regardless of their positions as side characters, these two were always my favourite couple. From the tiny moments we glimpsed in Rescued of their developing relationship, I knew I wanted more – I wanted a story focused solely on their beautiful relationship. I didn’t quite contemplate how this could be achieved, seeing as the series is about Shifters, and Todd and Adam are very much human and completely unaware of the supernatural around them. I was clearly unimaginative because this story went places I never could have dreamed up myself, and I loved every second of it.

This story is split into three parts. Each part almost felt like a new story, each with a significantly different theme and feel. Many reviewers have commented on the disjointed feel, but I really enjoyed the constant change of pace. It kept me interested, but I understand how it could very well have the opposite effect.

In brief, part one is a retelling of the events of Rescued, but through Todd and Adam’s perspective. You see the beginning of their hidden love for one another – and it was epically beautiful to read in its entirety. Part two, jumps to “current time” within the series as a whole. It showcases how the relationships (of several of our favourite couples) are progressing. Adam and Todd also become “in the know” as a necessity for the events of part three Part three, I shall not mention. Too much happens and any explanation would require major spoiler points.

I should state that I have rated this book solely on my enjoyment of the story and love for the two MC’s and their relationship. However, there are many glaringly obvious grammatical errors throughout this book (and the series as a whole), which truly need a re-edit. Words are often missing and at two points in this book wrong character names were used at extremely inconvenient times. In fact, one character (Luuk) was referenced early in the story by Adam, but then later in the story Todd and Adam are referring to the same character as Dirk and discuss how he must be using an alias, and therefore, they don’t learn that his real name is Luuk until much later. That’s a pretty big plot hole.

Speaking of plot holes (or general inconsistencies), I noticed a few. Seeing as I’ve read these books in quick succession, and not spread out over years as they’ve been released, it’s all extremely fresh in my mind and there are things that don’t add up – particularly in relation to this story being a recap of the events in Rescued. Some of the differing versions of events that I noticed, include:

1) In the first book, it mentioned that Adam had been in town for almost 2 years at the point where Mika arrived and Todd was beaten. In this book, Adam says it’s been only 6 months since he moved to town when all of that happens.

2) In the first book, towards the end events, Gabe asks Adam whether he and Todd had been together prior to the beating, to which Adam replies that he had seen Todd earlier that evening and they’d kissed (and only ever kissed – or so I assumed at the time) and then he left after they “had an argument”…. Turns out NONE of this happens, quite in this fashion, in this book. Here, after a day of not seeing each other, Adam goes to see Todd at Gabe’s house (while Gabe and Mika are away) and that’s when he finds Todd beaten and unconscious. No prior (potential) lovers spat as mentioned in the first book!

3) As mentioned above, book #1 suggested that Todd and Adam had only ever kissed once by the point of the beating. In this book, they have most certainly done more than kiss.

4) Adam knew the identity of the person who bashed Todd, but in the first story it was sort of a whodunit plot. If Adam knew the whole time why didn’t he tell Gabe and Mika?! This blew my mind.

All of this may simply be my misunderstanding, but I have a pretty solid memory and it just didn’t sit right with me. Granted, I’d rather the events of book #1 change, than anything in this book. I loved the way the relationship unfolded here, so any supposed inconsistencies were technically improvements to the storytelling. But still, don’t change past events! It pisses me off!

As a whole though, I adore this series and its characters! More please…

[Meggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This part was truly weird, partly a summary of Gabe & Mika story, but here the same story is told from Todd & Adam point of view. I did enjoy first 40% of the story, but everything else is a bit of drag though. I didn't like it.

[Jo * Smut-Dickted * · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much liked the story of Todd and Adam. It was hot. It was explosive and it was really intense. Just the way I like it. The author did a wonderful job weaving the past and the present together here since we already knew what happened to Todd from an earlier book. Very masterfully done. We get a lot of holes filled here in our knowledge. However I felt like this was two books. Once the hunt for Luuk and Jameson started it was a different book. It felt like a different book. I almost think it should have been a shorter entry that was it's own little novella book (for like 99 cents or something) because it didn't really feel at home here. It needed set up - but I'm wondering if it would have been better to have it at the beginning of Luuk's book - though I haven't had that yet. I was actually very intrigued more with Maarten and really want his story (actually more than Jamesons!)

[BooksBooksandmoreBooks69 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved Todd and Adam since the beginning.
I read the blog that Bailey did.
The feelings were intense, loving and so HOT.
I wait to hear what happens next.
I highly recommend this series. Just gets better and better.

[Heather♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed reading this series so far, and a book about Todd and Adam just made it even better for me. We were introduced to them in book 1 and the way things were left at the end of that book had me really hoping we'd hear more. I'm so glad we did. The first third of this book showed us how they met and then fought the attraction between them because Todd didn't want to come out of the closet and Adam didn't want a relationship. But Todd was so sweet and shy, and Adam was feeling so lonely and abandoned by his best friend that it was only a matter of time before they gave in to their feelings. And then tragedy. It was interesting to hear about the events surrounding Todd's vicious attack from a different perspective (instead of Gabe's in the first book). There were a few continuity issues, however, that threw me off a little bit (and since Todd's attack was already discussed/resolved in book 1, hopefully my comments here won't be spoilers for anyone reading this). In book 1, Adam said he left after he had an argument with Todd over Todd not coming out of the closet and when he came back he found Todd bloody and beaten on the ground. Gabe, Mika and Adam wondered who did it (suspecting the sheriff) and were waiting for Todd to wake up and tell them more details. Adam also said Todd's parents came by the hospital and made a scene. It was only after Gabe checked Todd's phone that they suspected Todd might have finally come out to his parents (and Todd later confirmed that was indeed why his dad beat him). But in this book, there was no argument with Adam, he simply got held up at work and then found Todd bloody and beaten when he got there. Adam immediately knew it was Todd's father who did it (which made me wonder why the old bastard wasn't arrested and was still able to later come back and attack Mika and Gabe). Adam assumed Todd's secret was finally out, but at that point Todd's father still didn't know Todd was gay. He said he was punishing Todd for dishonoring and disrespecting his parents. Todd was only outed because Adam camped out at the hospital and took him home with him to recover. So I guess I was hoping we'd hear more about the arrest/trial of Todd's father and how Todd dealt with it, but it was kind of glossed over and the town's rampant homophobia seemed to magically disappear as well. The second part of the story mostly dealt with how well things were going for Todd and Adam, as well as detailing the numerous sexual encounters between them (which I have to admit were pretty hot). The final part of the story was the most interesting for me though because the shifter secret was finally revealed to Todd and Adam and there was also the mystery of where Adam's best friend Jameson had disappeared to. I hope the next book continues with that plot because due to special circumstances, Todd and Adam had to abandon the search (but what good circumstances they turned out to be). It was amazing to see the difference in Todd and Adam at the end of the story from the men they were in the beginning. Todd went from being scared and regularly beaten by his father to taking charge of every aspect of his life and Adam finally let other people in his heart, which gave him not only a supportive circle of friends but his soul mate and the love of his life. It was beautiful how Todd and Adam connected on so many levels. I really enjoyed having Gabe, Mika, Aiden, Zane, Marcus and Nathan play such a big part in this story too. Gabe's snarkiness had me cracking up a lot (poor Mika) and I hope we get to hear from all of them again in future books.

[For those who might be troubled with name inconsistencies from book 1 to this one (like yours truly - I just can't help it), there were a few. Mostly minor like the name of Adam's vet assistant, the deputy sheriff, and even Todd's last name. But the confusing one for me was the name of Jameson's mate. Adam knew him and that his name was Luuk Visser (from Amsterdam) but for some reason Todd referred to him as Dirk Govind when he was trying to dig up information on him. Say what? *shrugs*]

[Serena Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 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.

[Jae Moran · Rating 2 out of 5]

%sigh% I was so looking forward to this book. I have loved the series but I didn't like this book. The characters we've come to know and love, particularly Gabe & Mika are unrecognizable. The scene where Gabe comes clean about their secret was particularly troubling in that regard. In the end the jumbled plot resolves nothing except Todd & Adam are together which anyone who has read the earlier books already knew. Resilience felt more like a bridge between the earlier books in the series and the ones she really wants to write which is obviously about the European shifters.

Be forewarned -- This is in no way a stand-alone book. If you haven't read the earlier Southwester Shifters books, you are going to be totally lost once the shifter part of the story starts up.

Other Issues

1) The idea that Todd overcomes a lifetime of abuse just by falling in love with Adam is ridiculous. That kind of prolonged abuse leaves more than physical scars especially on a closeted gay man in Texas. That sort of journey would have made a much more interesting story than the one we are given. I'm not saying finding "true love" wouldn't help, but it's not enough on its own.

2) Todd bringing a handgun into the Netherlands is also ludicrous. Handguns are practically banned in most of Western Europe. There is no way an American sheriff would get permission to carry one even if he were on official business. In any case, even if you are the Grand Poobah, you aren't getting a gun on an international flight, even a private one.

3) Southwestern Shifters mythology thus far has been that there were only three ways to become a shifter... birth, ceremony, or unpleasant sexual contact with your mate. All of a sudden in this book, you can also be converted by a magical potion... really. I understand the author wanted Adam to be accidentally made a shifter but I still don't understand why Adam & Todd needed to be shifters at all. It was pointless except to be able to write about the unpleasant sexual contact with your mate that was used to convert Todd.

At the end of the day, Resilience was good enough for me to finish, but it probably won't see the light of day again. Even so, I look forward to the next book in the series and I will still read almost everything that Bailey Bradford writes. This was simply a misstep in a great series by an author I really like.

[Melanie~~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story. A lot of action and a lot of plot. Ultimately, I liked this tale. It had its tough moments with the abuse that Todd had to endure but was strng because if it. There was a lot (A LOT) of sex scenes. Overall a pretty solid escape story for me.

Too many glaring, careless mistakes. I have to wonder who is proofing and editing these stories for Ms. Bradford. There were a couple of missing words, but the biggest problems lay with names. (A problem that seems to be plaguing Ms. Bradford's Leopard's Spots series.) There was at least one incident of using the wrong character's name, and then there was the mystery of Adam's friend Jameson's lover's name. This spoiler is a note I made in my ebook. Of course you can't find anything on Jameson's lover. That's the wrong name. This is actually the third name that seems to be associated with Jameson's lover: Steve, Luuk Visser, and Dirk Govind. (Turns out that Luuk was the second name mentioned but the final one used.)

[Hc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I totally enjoyed reading about HOW Todd and Adam gave in to each other. After reading some of the other reviews I have to agree (even thou i really enjoyed this book) that the abuse angle Todd when through definitely wouldn't have been overcome with no lasting effects normally. But hey, its a book and paranormal at that! I did think it was weird to now suddenly have a 'new' form of transformation but I actually liked that the 'unwanted' form of transformation was 'shown'. I really think the author went in the wrong direction with the bite the bits thing thou. I've read at least a few vamp books where the penis biting was in actuality a pleasurable thing between mates.. I would have preferred it to be more like that, even if the men involved didn't think it would be like that until it actually happened. I look forward to the next possible book in the series and really wondering where the author is going next.

[☔️ Stormy Day Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so annoyed when I realized this book wasn’t continuing the storyline the series has been following to this point. It actually starts before the first book time wise with characters that we already know how they got together and even a plot we’re already familiar with. I can’t see any reason to hash out Todd’s abuse other than filler for the book length. The whole first third of the book was pointless rehashing of things we knew just in more detail.

The second third started after Gabe’s turning which at least was new but still not interesting. Truly seeing the other characters through Adam and Todd’s eyes in this part made them all seem like jerks.

That left the third part which I’ll admit was better but also weird as hell. I am just left confused over the author’s intentions here. It feels like the whole book was a way to introduce the European wolves. Which worries me that the storyline will somehow switch over to there... but it’s Southwestern Shifters so uh, I dunno?

[CB]

Should read the rest of this series once I get KU again.

I have the first 4 books on BN

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes:

Tell tell tell tell tell.

Doesn't this series already have a character that stutters? Or is that a different one. They're all running together. No, I'm sure it's this one. There are plenty of other physical disabilities someone could have, even a shifter. I'd love to see a shifter with Tourette's.

Poor grammar. "Got" instead of "gotten" twice in one paragraph.

Great quote:

Or he tried to, but sometimes he was so lonely he hurt with it, like a physical pain that made him curl up and hold himself. His were the only arms he’d felt around him in months, his the only voice he’d heard that really knew him, and Adam sometimes felt he was straining at the edges, ready to come unraveled because he wanted yet loathed to be alone.

Beginnings of their attraction were so sweet and tender, I nearly cried

How do you put your thumb in the outside of your own cock when it's so erect it's painful? I guess you could, but not very natural.

Robbed! I was robbed of my peril! I had the discovery of the near dead love of his life but no hospital scene or recovery. We went from getting into the ambulance to a week later. Argh!!

Since this was a different perspective from something that happened in the first book, I went back and reread that section in the first book, and things were very different in that book than here. There they'd been fighting about remaining in the closet and then almost started fucking, but then one gave the other an ultimatum before taking off. If someone is going to write a story from someone else's perspective, the facts should still be the same, especially if the author is going to leave out all the stuff that's plot related so the reader has to go back and reread the first book.

Nipples are not tits! Teats yes but not tits.

Sweet quote:

"I know that you’re hurting, and I’m sorry, Adam. But asking me to hurt you, for me to give you enough physical pain to distract you from the other, I can’t do that.”
Adam’s breath hitched into something close to a sob. Todd leaned over him and nuzzled beneath his ear. “But loving you, making you feel so good the pain ebbs for a while, that I can do."

Way too much sex. When a chapter ends at the beginning of a sex scene, it should be fade to black, not open to a new chapter with another ten pages of sex.

End of part 2 slow moving.

What? When? They've been together for years?

Cool that the shifters heal fast but not ridiculously so, and that the humans remain battered the next day.

All of these guys are way too sex crazed.

I still get Gabe and Zane confused.

Like that all the Amsterdam folks have appropriate sounding names.

The MCs love is very evident and tangible.

Wait, they were in Amsterdam and suddenly in Santa Fe where there were there for dinner and sex. Would have liked a little segue including what they were actually there for.

They came back early? They were in Amsterdam for days while Adam was hurt, then Todd was hurt, then they went to Santa Fe and they still came home several days early? How and why?

What ever happened to the weird feeling about Manny? And who was the person who leaked where there were?

I'm glad they did the change to being a wolf the intimate way. The other didn't work for me.

The sex is nice and varied.

Sweet. I really liked the reinforcement of their love and why. It wasn't just they were mates. I wish that at the end it was solidified that as wolves they were destined mates too, although I suppose the agony to be separated when both were hurting was clear enough.

I don't know what it was--my mood wasn't great so I wasn't that interested in doing much of anything--but I just couldn't stay focused. It was too long with way too much sex for a plot that was never even really tackled let alone completed. And that fact was never even brought up. I love the couple in this one, much more than any so far, and I'm glad the parade of characters from previous installments was relatively brief. Them having close friends with the pair of shifters is great. Them suddenly involved with the entire pack despite different living locations is a bit much for me. The names run together after a while. This book helped me distinguish Gabe and Zane better by giving more of Gabe's background and how someone not his mate or himself sees him.

3.85 stars

[Angela Goodrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike the previous books in the Southwestern Shifters series, Resilience does not pick up where Rendered left off and continue the series’ storyline. Instead it goes back to before Gabe met Mika in the first book of the series, Rescued, and we meet the Todd that was physically and mentally abused by his parents despite being an adult and bullied by his boss – the town sheriff that Gabe was trying to keep from killing strays by rescuing them. As painful as it was to see what Todd endured, it helped put some of his behaviors in perspective. There’s enough history provided that you understand why Gabe was so important to Todd, why Mika’s sudden appearance in Gabe’s life unsettled Todd, and why he had such a hard time interacting with Adam when the new vet moved to town and set up shop. While the timeline of Resilience overlaps with all of the previous books, its focus is on Todd, Adam, and their relationship so it’s not a replay of the other books.

The history that Bradford crafted for Todd is heartbreaking. I hated seeing the little bits and pieces that played out in the book because it was awful knowing that the abuse he was subjected to growing up was even worse. I was surprised to learn that Todd hadn’t confided in Gabe as to his own homosexuality and it wasn’t until Adam moved to town that Gabe finally broached the subject. Although we aren’t provided as much of Adam’s background as we are Todd’s, it becomes obvious rather quickly that Adam has his own baggage. Although Adam moved to Shasta with the intention of becoming a bit of a spinster (for lack of a better term), he finds himself attracted to Todd almost immediately. There are times when each man’s apprehension and caution are amusing, but I was relieved when Adam became aware of Todd’s inexperience and exercised patience and understanding as he helped Todd find his way. The attraction between the two men is almost immediate but because of their respective pasts and the (seemingly) bigoted nature of Shasta, they are very slow to act upon it and attempt to go the friend route first. But when they do finally get together, they are scorching hot and their subsequent couplings are increasingly so as the book progresses.

There is a TON of stuff that occurs in this book that I simply can’t discuss because of spoiler issues, but I will say that the action is far more intense than I expected for Todd and Adam’s book. I was glad to see that Todd’s father and boss both got what they deserved and it’s a shame that Todd’s mother didn’t as well. I loved seeing the town rally behind Todd and Adam and it was as heartwarming to see as watching Todd and Adam fall in love. It’s not often that I comment on a book’s cover, but I must say that I was surprised by the cover for Resilience as both Todd and Adam are human. It’s not until almost 80% into the book before the wolf on the cover is explained and I must admit that it was AWESOME! I really didn’t see that coming, but I shouldn’t have doubted Bradford. Resilience was an excellent addition to the Southwestern Shifters series and I’m looking forward to reading Reverence next.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

[Pixie Mmgoodbookreviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Hearts

First published at MM Good Book Reviews

http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.co...

This story is part of a series and I recommend reading the series in order, as nearly all the characters from previous books have roles in this one. We met them in the very first story and now they have a story of their very own, sweet, sexy Todd and caring, hunky Adam. This story begins before Rescued when Adam first moves to the town; you see the developing friendship between Adam and Todd and their story as they face the town together after events with Todd’s father. Next they discover the secrets that Gabe has kept hidden, and which leads to the discovery that Marcus might have some information on Adam’s missing friend. We then go on an adventure with Adam, Todd and their friends as they hunt for Jameson (Adam’s friend) and Todd and Adam end up with more than they bargained for.

Bailey Bradford has given us a wonderful conclusion to Todd and Adam’s romance. Yes, we knew they got together, but we never saw their story and now we have it in full with some surprises for us to enjoy. Todd has been bullied and beaten for most of his life, but for Adam he starts to stand up for himself. After Todd’s recovery, Todd and Adam find out just how much support they really have in town and they begin their life together. We get a lovely view of Todd and Adam sharing their life and with Todd accepting that he doesn’t want his past to affect him anymore and wanting to do something for Adam.

The story is in three parts and is split quite well, the first part is when Adam and Todd first get together, the second part is seeing their life together and where they discover they are shifters and the third is focused on finding Adam’s friend Jameson. We see Gabe, Mika, Aiden, Zane, Marcus and Nathan and they all play a part in this story and are quite involved in what is going on. The friendships between them all are great and Todd and Adam warm up to Aiden, Zane, Marcus and Nathan quite well, although it was a bit tense at first. Todd and Adam’s lives change forever with the discovery of shifters and when Adam is injured their lives are turned upside down in shocking circumstances.

This is a great story that has a wonderful relationship between two wonderful men. They love each other with passion, compassion and caring. They support each other through anything that is thrown at them and the sex between them is hot, loving, erotic and at times passionate. The storyline is great and opens the shifter world into a new branch as the Southwestern shifters look for Jameson in Amsterdam and we connect to the shifters there.

So, I will recommend this to those who love shifters, hot sexy men, hot loving, surprises and shocks, some danger, some laughs and giggles, with a great storyline and a happy ending.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another somewhat weak installation in the series. The first half of the book was all about the first couple of years of Adam and Todd's story. Some of this was already covered in other novels, so there was redundancy and unfortunately there was also a little bit of inconsistency. Not much, but it bothered me nonetheless. The second half of the book was much, much better, although the Luuk/Jameson story link was somewhat abandoned at the end, which really irritated me. After finishing this book, I looked at the synopses of future books in the series, and I see that this story line is picked up later. That made me feel a bit better...
As for the characters of Adam and Todd, in general, I love them. However, there were aspects of them that really annoyed me. Gabe, too. Todd wasn't as strong as he used to be, but mitigating factors made me okay with that. Adam - and especially Gabe - became far more "swishy" than their characters used to be, and I felt like they were straying into cliche territory. One of the initial strengths of this series was the avoidance of cliche, so I find this disappointing.
Finally, this native-Texan author continues to use British English. Annoying!
All in all - the first 50% of the book gets 2 stars. The second 50% gets 4.

[Chanty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading this series back to back. I am now suffering from a smut fest overload. I never thought I would get tired of smut, but this series is exhausting me. This book is divided in three part. Part one is about how Todd and Adam meet and start their relationship. Part two is them finding out about shifters and that a old friend of Adam is in danger. Part three is them looking for said friend, but getting hurt and turned into shifters. They have to abandon the search, but now live happily as mates back home. I liked part one the most, but also liked the ending where they both become shifters. In between there is a lot of smut. The downside to reading this series back to back is that all the smut seems alike. No variation. It could have been between any one of the previous couples. Also...because the smut is all the same you develop an indifference for it. That is not a place I want to go. I love smut. I don't want to become indifferent to it. So maybe I should not read the next book. But I just like this series so much. I like every couple and each story behind it. I'm doomed...

[Candice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this recapped way too much. I was so bored while reading the first 2 parts. Then the 3rd part was great until "it happened". WHY did Adam have to be changed?! I liked that there were humans in this series. Then he's changed without his consent and nobody does anything about it?! Are you kidding me? They are going to let that go? I was so very upset with that outcome. Then because Adam was changed that means Todd had to be too. While I get his reasoning, I still didn't like it.

Todd's abuse was too glossed over for my liking. Did falling in love with Adam really erase all those years of being a punching bag?

I also don't get why everything has to revolve around sex. It's kind of creepy that all the mated couples do is fuck. Really? You don't like spending time together other than having sex? It's what it seems like. Gabe and Mika could see how uncomfortable Todd was and yet they still talked about it like it was no big deal, when it WAS to Todd.

Overall, not sure when I'll be moving on with the series...if at all.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars-mainly because this was almost a DNF.
I am really enjoying this whole series. But this book was almost a DNF. Not because it was bad but because of the length. All the other books in the series are about the same length, but this book is almost twice as long as the rest. If the books following this one had also been longer it would have been a little easier to adjust, but they go back to the shorter length.
Length of a book usually doesn't bother me(I read anything from very short short to very long), but when one book in a series is so dramatically different than all the other books in the same series, either a lot shorter or a lot longer, it can affect how I feel about that off size story. In this case where the story was a lost longer I almost felt bored, because I was used to the stories in this series being one way and then the author changed things dramatically.

Okay. I've babbled enough trying to say what I wanted to and still don't think I got it quite right.

[Book Junky Girls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Todd was so far in the closet he was in a secret room behind it, even to get gay best friend he never addmited it outloud. And everything was fine, well not really with his asshole father, but when the new vet come into town he knew he was screwed.

All it took was one look and he knew Depuity Delish was his. Problem was in such a small town he couldn't be sure there was even mutual feelings, but as time goes on they both realize their interest and nothing can stop them from being together even Todds near death.

Their story starts at the same time as book 1 and shows what was really going on between the two men and how their relationship started. There more to the story than we ever saw before and there's more craziness than you can anticipate going on. I loved seeing their story and how they get sucked into the shifter world and all its insanity. We see the steamy moments and the tender and of course even more of our favorite guy Gabe and his awsomeness.

[Eva Millien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two men face insurmountable odds while trying to reach for the HEA in this riveting m/m shifter romance. The story is a little longer that the others and covers a larger span of time including lots of drama and passion along the way. Besides the excitement of living in Shasta, Texas, there is lots of excitement and drama that results from Gabe and Mika’s reveal, but since I don’t want to give away any spoilers, I’ll just give you a hint, with a few surprising twists and turns, they get to go on a mission to another country. While parts of this story seem to drag a little bit, those parts are mixed in with lots of excitement and drama and provide a deeper look into Todd and Adam’s life and lead to their rather unique HEA ending.

See my full review at:

http://www.thejeepdiva.com/review-res...

[Andrea Goodell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since book 1 I’ve been wondering when we would get back to Todd and Adam. And what a book for them!
This time because Todd and Adam are secondary charaters this one starts at the beginning, when Mika and Gabe meet, but that is kinda in the background. Because again this is not there story. But we do revisit that whole time period, bigoted sheriff and all. But we also find out what happens after that, how they finally came to terms with Todd’s coming out and Adams refusal of going in. And following along there journey was just amazing. the heartache, healing, love, pain.
And if that wasn’t enough, just as they start getting settled a crazy plot twist, that just so perfect happens and throws a wrench into every ones plans. And has them running off to Europe to well, you’ll just have to read.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review by Crystals Many reviews

[Ivka_s_knihou · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars... sometimes i just do stupid things like reading few books in series and then stop without any good reason. and later i forgot i wanted to continue because there is so many books i can't decide what to read next. and the same happened here. i love this shifter series. i love Mika and Gabe. i love Zane and Aiden. i love Marcus and Nathan. Alex and Sean and i don't know why i abbandoned this series. all through this books there were hints about Adam and Todd. i wanted to know their story. and this book satisfied my curiosity. but to tell the truth i think it was too long. there shouldn't be so many sex scenes. i could life without them and the book would be at least 50 pages shorter and that much gripping. al least for me. that's just my opinion.

[blub · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book and I didn't think I would since Todd and Adam never really stuck with me in the previous books. The reviews for this book are all over the place so it makes the book look a bit daunting. There are issues that are brought up that are rectified too easily and some events that are unfolding may seem too convenient but the storyline was great. The characters were very likable and if you're one of those readers who loves a lot of sex scenes this book is definitely for you. If you're not too into the sex scenes like me the budding relationship between Adam and Todd and what there is of the plot will be enough to keep you interested in the book.

[Janean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved being able to read Adam and Todd's story. I absolutely love this series and all of the characters involved. Even though Gabe is still my favorite, all of the characters that have been introduced are very memorable.

Adam and Todd's story is quite intense and I found it an interesting twist albeit frightening how they were brought into the "shifter" world. I just knew his long lost friend was going to be somehow connected to Gabe and Mika's "world".

I love all the twists and turns of the plots and look forward to more stories in this series.

[Rachel Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I felt like this book was just NOT going to end. There were 3 main parts, and I liked the first part a lot, but liked the second part less, and then the third part the least. Also, there was just a lot of sex scenes that I wound up skimming through. I enjoyed Todd and Adam at the beginning, but felt like there was just too much going on towards the end and it just dragged for me.

[Jean-Remi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well this book took me a bit longer to read since it had more words than usual, having the story of Toby before and after his confrontation with his abusive dad. I love Toby's character. So shy and so brave and he is just a sweet heart! Plus he became sheriff and described as totally sexy and hot! Adam is really a lucky guy.

[Finnegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Adam and Todd's story, told in three parts. Part one and two is about Adam and Todd meeting and the development of their relationship. Part three is more of a mystery and the action takes place in Amsterdam. If you are reading part 5 of the series, you know what to expect, and this book delivers more of the same. Enjoyable enough to make me read book 6.

[Frostina Frostina · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow, just WOW! :D
i LOVE Gabe, and i have to say it was wonderful to have so much of him again in a book.
lovely read, although NOW i am waiting for the next book even more eagerly than i was awaiting this one. lol.
in short: LOVED it! Can't wait for the next one! ;)

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was almost twice the length as other books in the series, which I really liked. There were a few minor spelling/grammar mistakes, and a few missing or incorrect words here and there, but all in all I reall enjoyed this one.