Conquered Betrayal

Goldenlach Ridge Shifters #3

by J.E. McDonald

Betrayal tore them apart. Now more than their hearts are at stake. Under her brother’s control for far too long, Jolyn Mahn is determined to sabotage his evil agenda regarding shifters and take down his twisted empire. But just when she thinks she’s making progress, her past comes back to haunt her—the only man she’s ever loved turns up at the worst possible moment. She has no time for the skeletons in her closet, especially ones over six feet tall and wrapped in an expensive suit. He can only spell disaster. Landon Urick has two things on his find his missing friend and figure out how the lost love of his life is involved. Between flying bullets and high-speed chases, their lives become intertwined once more. He tells himself he only wants answers, but the bear inside him clamors to claim this feisty human, a woman who hurt him like no other. But Jolyn doesn’t know he’s a shifter, one of the very people her brother is bent on destroying—and a species she fears more than any other. With an obsessed megalomaniac on their heels, and their survival hanging in the balance, can they find trust in one another, or will their past deceptions mean death for them both? The Goldenlach Ridge Shifters is a completed paranormal romance trilogy.

282 pages, Paperback

Published May 18, 2023

About the author

J.E. McDonald was born and raised in Saskatchewan, Canada, The Land of the Living Skies. As a child, she was either searching the clouds for identifiable shapes, or star-gazing way past her bedtime. She’s an anti-morning person who wakes up at 5am to write. Needless to say, coffee is a morning requirement. She cut her teeth watching Star Trek, James Bond movies, and reading the Harlequin novels her mother left in the bathroom—which resulted in an extremely skewed sense of sex education by age eleven. All of these factors contribute to her love of writing paranormal romance with humor, mystery, and lots of spice. J.E. resides in Saskatchewan with her husband and three daughters.

Reviews

[Marcia - itsabookthing2021 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conquered Betrayal is book 3 in the Goldenlach Ridge Shifters series and boy what a book!

First up I absolutely love this series, it's thrilling, dangerous and whole lot of sexy! Each book had me hooked and I love how each one features each character. So this book is Landon and Jolyn pov but still includes all of our favourite people.

J.E. McDonald has a wonderful way of writing a novel that drags you into the storyline and doesn't let you go. She creates characters that you actually have emotions for, whether that's love or hate for them.
I felt I was on one epic ride reading this novel and my emotions were that of a rollercoaster.

This novel is perfect and I felt like I got a satisfying ending and a lot of answers to the questions provided in the first two books. The ending to Conquered Betrayal gave me all the feels and I was left with a strong sense of satisfaction.

I just love Goldenlach Ridge Shifters.

[Cody Marie Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

This being the last book in the Goldenlach Ridge Shifters Series, we get answers to all of our questions, making this a great conclusion to the series. Landon finally gets his story, and his mate Jolyn is a hot mess, but fierce. She has a saying that is hilarious, but not one to be shared. The characters were wonderful, and the story was solid and well thought out!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book three of the Goldenlach Ridge Shifters series and the mina characters are Jolyn Mahn and Landon Urick. Jolyn has lived in fear under her brother Emerson’s cruel control since she was a young child. He has a sick plot to get vengeance against those he holds responsible for their mother’s accident which left her in a vegetative state and in a wheelchair, after hitting an animal in her car. Age seventeen, Jolyn was following her crush Kane Baird, who was with his best friends Landon Urick and Walker Hayles, when they all heard a woman and then a man scream. Racing toward the screams, they find a bear had attacked a couple and Jolyn is shocked to see Kane and Walker change into animals! She raced back to her home and told her brother what she saw, thinking he would call her a liar, but for once he believed her! It turns out he has been able to sense all those who were shifters and their town of Goldenlach Ridge was half shifter, half human. Emerson continues with his father’s company, Mahn BioIndustries (MBI) and forces Jolyn to follow a certain path into business, against her wishes. He then pushes her to apply for a job at Urick Enterprises and to get to know Landon well, wanting her to find out about his friends and where they are, plus any information and secrets she can find out about his business. Whilst working there, the two fall in love and move in together in his condo.

After a year together, he wanted to ask her to marry him, but still hadn’t found the right way to tell her what he really is, a bear shifter. He had always been able to tell how attracted to her she was, but there was also an undercurrent of fear in her scent. He never knew why and shortly afterwards she just disappeared and he found out she had stolen some secrets about his shifter research. Which he was doing to try and force rogue shifters to shift and stop them going feral. He later found out she had joined the military, another action forced upon her by her brother, for some four years and then disappeared again. All these years later, his best friend Walker goes missing and he finds out he was being kept prisoner in a facility in Alaska, along with other shifters and non-shifter animals, Emerson and his goons had collected from all around. Emerson was using the data he collected from experimenting on these shifters, with tech Jolyn stole from Landon, to control them. After her time in the military, she managed to separate herself from her brother’s evil agenda and is now trying to break up his evil empire, with the help of her friends Alina and Marley. Landon blames himself for Walker being captured, having set him up to try and find Jolyn, who he still hasn’t managed to forget.

When he follows his own clues, he comes across her in disguise outside her brother’s company HQ in Detroit. His appearance messes with her plans and soon sees the two of them being chased across the city and bullets flying everywhere. That is just the beginning of their troubles as they get mixed up in trying to take down Emerson and BMI. Jolyn still doesn’t know what he is and he isn’t sure what she feels about shifters, which she has always called beasts or monsters. After what she saw in Alaska, she knows they are people as well, but still has the fear from her childhood to try and overcome. Jolyn blames herself for a betrayal she made as a child and then compounded under her brother’s orders, not knowing any better. The finale of this story brings you to the arena, like the Roman colosseum, where there will be a fight to the death and only one side will come out of it victorious! So much more going on all at the same time that needs to be stopped and the timeline is getting shorter and shorter to achieve it. Lots of action and some heartrending occasions to witness, but also great friendship and fated mates. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of this book above.

[Dcw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed getting into Conquered Betrayal. It’s the third book of the Goldenlach Ridge Shifters trilogy. The first two, Captive Wilderness and Caged Fury, were great and this follows in intensity. Landon is the head of a mega-business and creator of a collar that helps control shifters who may become too unmanageable. It was created for their protection and for those around them. Jolyn’s brother took the collar and used it for cruel and unusual hunting and torture as he abhorred all shifters and wanted to eliminate them. Jolyn was dominated by her brother but worked to help stop him and bring down his empire. Landon was unaware of her activities and believed Jolyn to be helping her brother instead. When the truth finally comes out, they work together with other friends to reach the same goal. I enjoyed seeing the main and supporting characters from the two earlier books. This is a very well done conclusion to the series.

[Kristen Lewendon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Landon: is he a shark in a suit or just a great big teddy bear? I think this book proves he’s a little of both and totally book boyfriend material, too. Jolyn is what I hope all the heroines I read can be. She may be a bit battered; life had definitely knocked her down but there’s fight left in her and she’s not about to give up until the bad guy pays for his atrocities. Since I’m a sucker for a second chance, I was invested in their story before I even cracked open the covers, and it was everything I hoped it would be. This was the perfect ending, but I’m kind of hoping that the author isn’t completely finished with these characters yet because I want to keep coming back to them for more stories in the future. Besides, there’s now this lovely, shadowy shifter agency I’m desperate to learn more about.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through Booksprout.

[Bookish Mom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great ending to the series! I like how this book was more of a friends to enemies to lovers vibe and that Landon and Jolyn have some real history together. There is a huge buildup and the ending doesn’t disappoint. I like how the last chapters and epilogue give you a lot of information on what happens to all the couples as well as the villain’s conglomerate. There is good tension and chemistry between Landon and Jolyn. I love the side characters and seeing precious heroes and heroines together. Thrilling storyline and great writing! Very exciting and wrapped up nicely. I would definitely read more on Goldenlach and the shifters. I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving a free copy.

[Heather McCorkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jolyn has been through so much, growing up with a controlling, abusive brother who feeds her fear of shifters and twists it to use against her. But when she joins the military, she finally finds the strength to break out from under his thumb and start inevestigating his company to take him down once and for all. Yes, this is an extremely steamy shifter love story about rekindling flames, but it is also one full of heart, depth, and incredible world-building. You will want to scream at her and Landon, cry for them, and cheer for them. This is an absolute must read if you enjoy paranormal romance.

[Shana W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is action packed, exciting and suspenseful, with romance and some humour as a bonus. The main characters are very likable and have a little mystery surrounding them. I liked the secondary characters just as much. The story is fast paced and easy to read. I highly recommend this fabulous book.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many questions left unanswered about this group of friends. So many loose ends you're expected to just ignore but it really left the end of the series very disastisfying.

Also, I took off 2 stars for the super inappropriate mating. Was it sexy? No. It was cringe-worthy that after the events in the arena that they decided to mate there. I

[Amy Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and of course the author for gifting me this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The third book in the Goldenlach Ridge Shifters series. The ending definitely tied in some loose endings from the previous 2 books and had an epic end overall. Very spicy and I loved that this book was from Landon and Jolyn's POV.

[lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable

Very good read, I really didn't expect to enjoy these three stories, but they keep you riveted, action packed, very well written

[Amy Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and of course the author for gifting me this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The third book in the Goldenlach Ridge Shifters series. The ending definitely tied in some loose endings from the previous 2 books and had an epic end overall. Very spicy and I loved that this book was from Landon and Jolyn's POV.