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Stray
Stray by Erin Lark
Being human isn't easy, but being a wolf is even worse.
For Alyssa, life as a stray has never been easy. And finding a shifter-friendly Dom is close to impossible, especially after the hell she went through with the last one. Beaten and scarred, she's determined to take her life back, one skin at a time. Even if it means falling for Dylan--one of the best alphas in the region--who'd much rather prepare her for another Dom than keep her for himself.
The last time Dylan gave his heart to another, the bitch promptly threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Subs be damned if he's going to let it happen again. But when Alyssa--a redhead who's just as fiery in person as she is in bed--steps into his life, he'll do whatever he can to keep her safe. Even if that means falling in love with her.
Can Alyssa learn to trust another Dom and accept her skin as a wolf? Or will Dylan lose her to the scars from her past?
Being human isn't easy, but being a wolf is even worse.
For Alyssa, life as a stray has never been easy. And finding a shifter-friendly Dom is close to impossible, especially after the hell she went through with the last one. Beaten and scarred, she's determined to take her life back, one skin at a time. Even if it means falling for Dylan--one of the best alphas in the region--who'd much rather prepare her for another Dom than keep her for himself.
The last time Dylan gave his heart to another, the bitch promptly threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Subs be damned if he's going to let it happen again. But when Alyssa--a redhead who's just as fiery in person as she is in bed--steps into his life, he'll do whatever he can to keep her safe. Even if that means falling in love with her.
Can Alyssa learn to trust another Dom and accept her skin as a wolf? Or will Dylan lose her to the scars from her past?
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 10, 2013
10 people want to read
About the author
Erin Lark
36 books23 followersI’m a huge fan of second chances and all things paranormal. But when it comes to writing, my real passion lies in heroes that aren’t too over the top and feisty heroines able to hold their own.
If I’m not writing, chances are I’m either out hiking, binge watching an entire series on Netflix, or playing video games with my husband.
If I’m not writing, chances are I’m either out hiking, binge watching an entire series on Netflix, or playing video games with my husband.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 26, 2013
It's a werewolf, BDSM lite story. Oddly enough, for being based around shapeshifters, I found that the shifting didn't come off as the central point--the author was always very focused on the characters, which was something I appreciated. Too many authors stumble down that path of resorting to werewolf politics and ridiculous levels of aggression to keep the story rolling. It was nice to see the softer side. I thought the werewolf culture she introduced us to was interesting, which is getting hard to do nowadays.
Now, I lost my patience for female subs a long time ago--to many I wanted to slap myself. Alyssa, the sub in this book, didn't make me swear and wish I had a print copy so I could throw it at the wall. Right from the word go, I got that she enjoyed this, that it was what made her happy. There is mention of a previous relationship that had been pretty abusive, but, again, the author made it very clear that Alyssa had been in that one because of ignorance, not stupidity or lack of self-esteem.
What I liked best about this is that she was smart about her recovery from the ex. She went looking for someone to bring her back into the scene, someone who had a good reputation, someone she knew, that she had worked with before. She thought it all out, and was aware of how her previous experiences had warped her own perceptions. And she questioned and thought about everything. The author also made it very clear that Alyssa was making the choice to get back into the scene because she enjoyed it, a courtesy on the author's part that I greatly appreciated.
Dylan, our male main character, seemed pretty well visualized. He was caring and smart and not in the least selfish, which is what a proper Dom or Domme should be. Not the traditional cold, overbearing, "I'm the Dom and I'm always right because I'm so wonderful and smarter than you" kind of Dom.
As storylines go, the pacing was uneven at times, but not significantly. I thought Dylan seemed to have kind of shaky control for someone who supposedly practiced being in control, but then again, Alyssa needed someone who could accept her wholeheartedly, so it comes down to showing who the character is right from the beginning. It worked, once I got used to it and was actually rather charming. The dialogue between them at the beginning was often overformal for what was going on at that point in the story, but settled into something more natural around chapter 5. I actually heard Dylan speaking in a British accent for most of it, because of the word choice and sentence structure. Although, maybe that comes from TEB being a British publisher? Hmmmm...
I was occasionally jolted out of the story as I questioned choices, dialogue and behaviours that seemed just slightly out of tune with my sense of the character, but I also know that I'm really sensitive to those things, so it might not be something that would even hit the radar for someone else. Besides, they seemed to settle down in that last part of the book, as if the author had become more comfortable with the characters herself, or they with her.
All in all, many more positives than negatives in this book.
Now, I lost my patience for female subs a long time ago--to many I wanted to slap myself. Alyssa, the sub in this book, didn't make me swear and wish I had a print copy so I could throw it at the wall. Right from the word go, I got that she enjoyed this, that it was what made her happy. There is mention of a previous relationship that had been pretty abusive, but, again, the author made it very clear that Alyssa had been in that one because of ignorance, not stupidity or lack of self-esteem.
What I liked best about this is that she was smart about her recovery from the ex. She went looking for someone to bring her back into the scene, someone who had a good reputation, someone she knew, that she had worked with before. She thought it all out, and was aware of how her previous experiences had warped her own perceptions. And she questioned and thought about everything. The author also made it very clear that Alyssa was making the choice to get back into the scene because she enjoyed it, a courtesy on the author's part that I greatly appreciated.
Dylan, our male main character, seemed pretty well visualized. He was caring and smart and not in the least selfish, which is what a proper Dom or Domme should be. Not the traditional cold, overbearing, "I'm the Dom and I'm always right because I'm so wonderful and smarter than you" kind of Dom.
As storylines go, the pacing was uneven at times, but not significantly. I thought Dylan seemed to have kind of shaky control for someone who supposedly practiced being in control, but then again, Alyssa needed someone who could accept her wholeheartedly, so it comes down to showing who the character is right from the beginning. It worked, once I got used to it and was actually rather charming. The dialogue between them at the beginning was often overformal for what was going on at that point in the story, but settled into something more natural around chapter 5. I actually heard Dylan speaking in a British accent for most of it, because of the word choice and sentence structure. Although, maybe that comes from TEB being a British publisher? Hmmmm...
I was occasionally jolted out of the story as I questioned choices, dialogue and behaviours that seemed just slightly out of tune with my sense of the character, but I also know that I'm really sensitive to those things, so it might not be something that would even hit the radar for someone else. Besides, they seemed to settle down in that last part of the book, as if the author had become more comfortable with the characters herself, or they with her.
All in all, many more positives than negatives in this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review