Revolution

Southwestern Shifters #7

by Bailey Bradford

Jameson and Luuk have been on the run for their lives, but they’ve been running from more than their enemies.

Three years running for their lives has brought Luuk and Jameson to the point of desperation. A close call that almost ends in their deaths makes it clear to Luuk that he must stop running and find a way to take back his position as the European Alpha Anax, leader of all wolf shifters in Europe. To do so, he must defeat the man who ambushed him and has been trying to kill him and Jameson.

Jameson didn’t know when he fell for Luuk that he was Luuk’s mate. He didn’t know shifters existed, but he learned fast and hard. Three years on the run in the wild have left him too close to an edge that, if he falls over, he fears he’ll be lost. The darkness in his mind is threatening his life as much as those who hunt him.

As Luuk and Jameson take their stand, they find they have allies in places they never suspected, and Jameson hasn’t been forgotten by everyone he left behind, not at all.

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

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 20, 2013

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

[Meags]

3.5 Stars

Another nice little addition to the series as a whole, but I wish it had been executed differently.

The story dives right in, with Luuk and Jameson running for their lives in some random mountainous area in Central Europe. They’ve been living on the run for three years, since Luuk’s traitorous half-brother usurped the position of European Alpha Anax from Luuk during a violent coup.

All of this knowledge had been pre-established in earlier books (mainly Resilience), but until now we had never meet either Luuk or Jameson on page. Therefore, I was expecting this story to begin with a retelling of events through Luuk and Jameson’s POV’s, in order to show us how they met and the dangers they encountered upon their return to Europe three years ago -- but that never happened. We don’t even get flashbacks of their time together. This really bummed me out. I wanted to connect with the characters and their plight, but we were thrown so quickly into (what is obviously) a well-established relationship, that some of the spark in this story seemed to be missing. I enjoy witnessing how book couples meet and fall in love, so I had some issues just being tossed into their relationship, seemingly mid-story.

To be fair, Luuk and Jameson are really likeable characters as they are, but I just wanted more backstory and I didn’t get it. Bummer!

Then there was more of that ongoing issue I have with the over-abundance of on-page sex.

"Part of being a shifter is the ramped up sex-drive. It’s definitely a bonus, but it can distract us sometimes when we need to deal with other things.”

Yeah, no shit! I’m still getting over that time that Gabe and Mika decided it was more important to have sex immediately, than to solve the mystery of who had beaten the shit out of Todd.

…Nathan nodded. “Yeah, I’ve known mates who have fucked even when one of them was seriously injured. Just had to be with each other.”

Umm, yeah, ALL of you have done that!! Throughout the course of this series, all 7 mated pairs have had some sort of inappropriate/inconveniently timed sexy touching when one or both men were seriously injured. You’ve been shot and poisoned and almost died from it…sex. You’ve just come out of a coma…sex. You’ve been beaten to within an inch of your life…sex. Sheesh!

Although I clearly have an issue with the sheer magnitude and iffy timing of many of the sex scenes in this series, there are still many scenes that are smokin’ hot and/or deliciously sweet. So, I guess if I have to put up with the former in order to experience the latter, then I will.

Onwards, to Ryder and Maarten’s story!!! *squeeee*

[Shannon]

This one started out so heartbreaking with Luuk and Jameson one the run only shifting to human once in while, starving and being attacked constantly. Then they get to a town and go to the church and their whole world starts to get a little better. After that we get our American gang coming to help save them and we get to meet back up with all our favorites. Lots of sex, even when they really shouldn't be thinking about sex, and lots of love. Fun series.

[Serena Yates]

In the ongoing story line of the 'Southwestern Shifters', I had been wondering about Jameson's fate after he left to Europe with Luuk, the European Alpha Anax and Marcus Criswell's counterpart. This whole idea of an international wolf shifter power structure is quite interesting and this book finally gave me the details and insight I wanted. Not that it was what I had expected, and it turned out to be a pretty gruesome struggle, but it explained Jameson's long silence. This is a story about heartbreak and suffering, persecution, and a struggle for freedom that touched my heart. The final 'revolution' is what may be in the air the whole time, yet the actual details take quite a while to get into place. Which, of course, makes for a lot of suspense and a great story!

Jameson, Adam's best friend from book five, almost broke my heart. He is a human who fell for Luuk without knowing he was his mate, and with no idea he'd have to be turned into a werewolf, painfully, if he wanted a chance to survive. Three years in the wild, a lack of food, and almost no human contact have worn him down to the point of exhaustion both physically and mentally. His love for Luuk is the only thing that keeps him going, and he would (and does) do anything to try to protect Luuk from the forces that are after them.

Luuk knows he has to find a way to take back his position as leader, but the man who kicked him out, so to speak, is viciously and brutally holding on and will not be easy to defeat. Luuk has no idea whom to trust, and that may explain why it takes him so long until he finally understands he has no choice but to ask for help. I think Jameson's suffering plays a large part in that, since Luuk loves him totally and completely and cannot bear to see him suffer any longer.

What I really liked about this book was the total dedication of both mates to each other and the way they puled together under pressure. They learned how to rely on each other, and, in the end, both need to work together to improve their lives. Neither one of them could have done it by themselves, as hard as that may be to accept for an alpha wolf like Luuk.

If you like international pack politics, if you want to know more about what's been going on in the European wolf shifter world and how that connects with the packs in North America, and if you're looking for a read that will give you adventure, heartbreaking love, and some very 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.

[Heather♥]

2.5 stars.

I hate to say it, but this was by far my least favorite book in the series. And mostly it was because I was just bored. The first half of the book was nothing but dealing with guilty feelings by both Luuk and Jameson. Luuk, for putting his mate in danger, being forced to be on the run for 3 years under harsh conditions and wishing he had taken a stand to reclaim his position sooner, and Jameson for feeling like he should be handling the situation better, instead of feeling depressed and missing his best friend Adam so much. When they weren't feeling guilty and trying to reassure each other, there was apparently nothing else to do other than have constant sex. At weird times, even when starving and/or injured. It quickly got repetitive so I skimmed over a lot of it. Since Luuk and Jameson were basically new characters, I was hoping we'd learn a lot more about them individually and what their pasts entailed. But we didn't really get that, and it felt like a missed opportunity while all that other inner reflection of guilt was going on. So by the time Adam, Todd, Marcus, Nathan, Gabe and Mika showed up, I was ready for the whole ordeal to be over with. I was grateful the North American shifters provided humor in the second half of the book, but the big battle for Luuk to get his Alpha Anax position back was very anti-climactic and the book simply ended with yet another sex scene. Felt like mostly filler material because we didn't learn anything new or advance any other storylines, so for me this was pretty disappointing. :(

[Eva Millien]

At the point of desperation, Luuk and Jameson decide it’s time to take a stand against Luuk’s brother and find they have allies in places they never expected in this captivating m/m shifter romance. There was never a dull moment in this story and it provided a different setting and introduced some new intriguing characters to the Southwestern Shifters and I can’t wait to read the next one.

See my full review at:

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

[Julie scott]

Revolution (Southwestern Shifters Series Book 7)

This was great too I'm glad he got his place back as Alpha Anax this was another awesome book...And I can't wait to read the next book...

[☔️ Stormy Day Reader]

When I realized this was yet another book with the European shifters I almost skipped it. I’m so glad I didn’t. It was so good! I was hooked from start to finish. And most of the characters from previous books were there by the end so that kinda made up for it.

[Kelly (Maybedog)]

Wow. That first part was hard and heavy but good. I really felt the despair.

I like how they respond to each other's internal thoughts telepathically. It was done in a way that it felt they were as closely and intimately bonded as mates pairs are supposed to be.

Funny and realistic that they had to wait for tons of updates before they could use the new computer.

Anyone would be depressed with their situation but it's so cool talking about true depression and mental illness in an otherwise perfect shifter hero.

A good leader would not stand around saying out loud he didn't know what to do, whether he should go or stay or do whatever when people who cared for him are in danger. He should be able to make decisions quickly on battle and this was a far more minor situation.

WAY too much sex as usual, more than the last couple of books, but it's interesting and varied.

The pack of hooligans from the other book drive me crazy. They're behavior would be fun in short bursts but the constant immaturity and incredibly inappropriate times, the lack of boundaries and respect for other people's privacy is just obnoxious. Not everyone would handle that well and it wouldn't make someone a horrible person to be put out. I could roll with it but several of my friends and family would be beyond uncomfortable--they would hate Gabe--and they're still good people.

For example, Someone's laying there having just won a major battle, close to passing out from blood loss and pain, his mate is crying. A momentous change has just occurred, a coup over a dictator, and they walk up and start their three Stooges routine like there isn't a dead man lying there and his killer lying in his own blood. Then two of them wander off to have sex because they're so turned on by the ribald humor.

So this serious book felt like a bit of Animal House got thrown into it. And it makes no sense given that they're shifters in a life and death situation. They don't act like powerful leaders.

Which brings me to the biggest problem I have with this story. These are big bad confrontational wolves he's leading. He ran and hid for three years while his people were being butchered. He wasn't amassing an army or planning something spectacular. He wasn't being held captive like what happened with Marcus. Luuk just one day decided he'd had it. I don't think everyone would be hung go about him. I think they'd appreciate getting a new leader but I question his ability to get everyone to follow and trust him. Given how the shifters are described, I think there are plenty who'd think he was a coward as well as too weak to lead. It doesn't help that there's not going to be a big coup, that's he's going to waltz right up and say he wants his realm back. Why didn't he do that before? People would be angry he didn't trust them to come to his side among all the other things. They hint that pack after pack turned out to be loyal to Luther and tried to kill him and he thinks he can now just waltz back in and everyone will be back on his side? The whole thing started because he went and spent several months abroad "courting his mate" instead of running his territory. I know the whole situation and I wouldn't feel sure about him being a multinational leader.



Luther is just strolling around town on his own without guards? Yeah right. No tyrannical leader in this day and age goes around without guards. It just takes one sniper who is willing to die for the cause if he gets caught.

Hey a woman captain of the guard!

That was anti climactic.

The book started out with such deep emotion and strife and from one page to the next it was just back to the usual frivolous shifter fare. What the hell happened??

3.5 stars

[Angela Goodrich]

In Revolution we learn the fate of Adam’s best friend Jameson and his mate Luuk. This proved to be quite the interesting read as the author had to balance out the depressing and harrowing effects of three years spent on the run after a cowardly ousting with the love between Jameson and Luuk, with the joy of Jameson’s eventual reunion with Adam, and with Luuk’s hope that he finally had allies and could successfully retake his position as the European Alpha Anax. That’s a lot to juggle, yet Bradford does an impressive job of pulling it off and adding some seriously hot shifter sex to the mix.

Having first learned of Jameson in Resilience, I was excited to read his and Luuk’s story. Admittedly I wasn’t prepared for just how hard their lives have been since Luuk’s half-brother attempted to murder them three years ago. The author does a great job of communicating Jameson’s depression, anger, hopelessness, and love that I felt it all. And my heart broke for him when he was forced to let his wolf take control after yet another assassination attempt. It’s also what made the following scene at the church so emotionally distressing – to think you have finally found sanctuary and then worry that it’s not as safe as it appears certainly wreaked havoc on my nerves on Jameson’s behalf. So I was probably as relieved as Jameson and Luuk were when days later they found themselves safely ensconced with supporters and help on the way. Understandably, there is quite a bit of tension in this installment but it’s done well and without being dragged out unnecessarily. And the challenge scene at the end … oh my, good stuff.

While the focus of Revolution is on the relationship between Jameson and Luuk and all that they endure, the book actually made me fall in love with Marcus even more. His actions in the book show just how committed he is to the success of all shifters and not just those in his North American packs. It is true that part of his excuse for getting involved was through Gabe’s relationship with Todd (Adam’s mate), but this was merely what brought the situation to his attention. What I find exciting is that Marcus’s concern doesn’t end with the reinstatement of the proper Alpha Anax in Europe. Nope, he’s also looking at the brutality being inflicted by the Alpha Anax of South America and this paves the way for even more stories in the Southwestern Shifters series. As I am thoroughly enjoying the series, this makes me quite happy as I am not looking for it to end anytime soon. Needless to say I am quite excited that Revenge is already loaded on my Kindle and I can’t wait to read Ryder’s story.

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

[Thomaidha Papa]

2.5
http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/

This book started very promising. Luuk and Jamie are on the run and their situation is that of near despair. Yeah I liked the dark side of this and I was fooled for a moment to think this book had an actual lore, or substance, or I don’t know, some real fight in it. The first quarter was great actually. And the part where the pair nearly dies was perhaps the highlight of the story with Jamie allowing his feral side take over. I was thrilled to see such a scene, ecstatic even, and that side of Jamie was stunning, I was really starting to think of him as a “damsel in distress”.
And that was that. The whole guilt involved, the amounts of it, the constant mentioning of how much they loved each other, the “I would die without you” part got very tiresome really fast. Yes the “Mating Bond” is a fact, yes we understand that bonded mates will die if the other does, yes we understand that in a bond, love if very powerful, must you dear author say so in every page again and again and again all over?
Another thing that truly bothered me was the amount of sexual/love scenes between… well everyone involved. We only got to witness Luuk and Jamie of course, but that was too much. The only scene that I felt was good was the one when the pair were on the run, and the need to comfort each other was great, but from that moment on it felt that they were all over each other no matter the situation. They could be amidst friends or foes or wherever and still think, talk and have sex. At the great meeting with the “friends” of power they suddenly found I was expecting some kind of strategy, some serious talk of impending battle, after all it was the regaining the position of the great Alpha Anax, but no. The strategy talk was about one quarter and the rest was all… yeah, sex. Very, very tiresome and in the end the feelings weren’t there. I did not manage to get in the scenes at all. A shame really because the feral part of the mates should have made it an experience.
But, as much as I hate to admit it, all the above would probably not wave so much if the end was satisfying. As it was though I was utterly disappointed by it. No epic battle took place for the great Alpha Anax taking his place back, no great fight to the death took place to make up for all the dullness of the book. Oh yeah, there were death, but not nearly impressive as it should be, and oh God, all the expectations we gained from the supporters of Luuk and their army, gone to the wind…
Bottom end, I did not like this book and the rating it got was only for the beginning that truly deceived me into reading it.

[Book Junky Girls]

When Adam found out his missing best friend had also become a part of the shifter world he and Todd insisted on going to Europe to try and find him. What happened there changed him and Todd but how have things been for Jameson and Luuk all this time?

They've been on the run for three years living in the wild in the mountains barely surviving and threats around every corner. It's been hard on them both but now they they've caught hint of an unexpected ally can the luck finally be changing?

Jameson might not have known about the shifter world all his life but he's wholeheartly accepted it and his mate Luuk. He's surviving and while he wishes things were different he's doesn't ever think he'd be better off if he'd never met Luuk and that right there shows just how much he loves him.

Luuk wasn't as strong of a leader as he could have been before but throughout the story you see where he's learned from his mistakes and become stronger because of it. His desire to do everything he can not only for Jameson, but also the other shifters in Europe show how right he is for the leadership role.

It's not an easy journey for either of them, but the end result is their freedom and happiness together and their stronger than ever before.

[Hc]

While I enjoyed the story, don't really see how it should be part of the Southwestern Shifters series since its about the European AA!!

Luuk has been on the run for 3 years and is finally ready to return to his life and take back his position. The simple fact that its taken him this long to get to this point makes him seem unworthy to be the Alpha Anex since he should have been stronger and at peak condition closer to when this all went down with his brother Luther. Jamie battles a darkness inside of himself on and off that turns out to be depression (so we're told later) but if it really is, I don't see how being turned into a wolf (thanks for undoing the good from the previous dick biting shift with this version of events) would help in any way keep that under wraps. And with them constantly running for their lives it would be tough to keep your spirits up.

If this had been the start of the series I would have finished the book but choose not to continue the series. Too many little things bug me on this one.

[Andrea Goodell]

I love Luuk and Jamie’s story. So sad that they have been on the run for three plus years, losing everything they know and people they love. Only having each other while running across Europe, hiding from the very shifters that want to kill them.
These two are so brilliantly written, you can feel the anguish that they are feeling when they think they are the direct cause of someone else pain. The joy when they can stay in human form for a few days. The nervousness when they reach out to old friends for the first time in years. And when they finally meet up with the friends, wonderful stuff.
I think what I enjoyed most was this book really let us have time with these two, before they brought in Marcus, Nathan, Adam and the rest. To help fight the bad guys and help secure Luuk place back as Europe’s AA.
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review by Chrystal Many reviews

[Melanie~~]

Well, I'm sorry to say that I'm glad that's over. This was one of the Southwestern Shifter stories that had so much potential for plot. Instead, we have many, long sex scenes momentarily broken up by plot. By two-thirds of the way through the book, I was seriously dreading the end of plot scenes because it meant another long sex scene that wasn't significantly different than the previous one, two, or six.

This is really a 2 or 2.5 star read for me, but I've enjoyed the series so it gets a rating boost. I just hope the next is either more plotty or shorter if it's going to just be about the sex.

[blub]

2.5 stars

The climax of the story for this one wasn't as an exciting read as the others in the series. I liked that somf of the MC's from the previous books showed up in this one and we got to see how they were, it was pretty much the highlight of the book for me. As for Jameson and Luuk, they didn't really make too big of an impact on me. I didn't expect Luuk to be portrayed as he was... he just didn't match up to how I thought he would be for the AA of Europe. I also felt like the issue with depression was brought up but also kind of brushed off.

[Nichole]

This series is a must buy for me. Bailey rarely disappoints. So, I was really excited to meet another Alpha Anax and branch out the series to new lands. I think the intent is to give us a new cast of characters for future books. While I liked the couple, Luuk, as an AA, just didn't measure up to Marcus IMO. Jamie, however, was super likeable. The story had a decent plot and the sex scenes were hot, as usual. If you're a fan of the series, this is a definite read.

[Rachel Emily]

I didn't love this one as much as others in the series. I just felt like there was a lot of telling and summarizing, and it lacked a major climax of action when Luuk and everyone went to take back over his position. Also, there was just so much sex...which, I expect with this series and author, but c'mon!

[Donna]

Ok...this one drug on and on and on......whew...I finally finished it!!! May have been my fault...I have been very busy and I went into this book with no emotional attachments to either MC...so I guess all in all it went well!!!!

[Ericka Walden]

Not what I'd been hoping for.... Kind of dragged in a few places. Still enjoy Bailey's book though. Looking forward to her next one.

[Dante]

Wish my OCD would let me leave a series.

[Wende]

Not my favorite book by Baily Bradford. I missed the action that was in the others. This one was boring.

[Nikko]

This one is my most favourite.. Gabe is getting annoying..

[Tala]

3.5 Stars

[Dena]

3.5*

[Jean-Remi]

The reunion between Adam and his BFF Jameson was just heart melting... It was also exciting when Luke and Jameson read the mail sent by Adam.

[Séphora]

It's a 3.7 for me.

[DaCon]

2016 Re-read

[Claudia]

good for the storyline but the pairing was only ok for me

[Maria]

Review Under BookJunkyGirls