Aspen Greystone is a young woman desperately trying to escape her past and the memory of the man who broke her heart. Shunned by the Were pack and abandoned by the man she loves, she leaves the only home she's ever known and begins a new life.
Roan Sabre is the Beta of the Spruce Hollow Were pack. Five long years have passed since he left his young mate due to circumstances beyond his control. But now he's back in town and nothing will stop him from claiming her. He's prepared to fight for his mate and move heaven and earth in order to make things right.
When Fate intervenes and tragedy strikes close to home, Aspen has no choice but to confront her past and return to the one place she'd vowed never to set foot in again.
But neither Roan nor Aspen are prepared for the intense anger, desperation and sexual desire that their unexpected reunion will bring.
And when Aspen meets up with a man from her past, her life is altered in ways no one could have predicted.
"What do you do when the one who broke your heart is the only one who can fix it?"
Seduction is the sequel to Temptation (Journal of the Wolves of Spruce Hollow) Book 1.
I am a Paranormal Romance author and blogger. My debut novel, Temptation(Journal of the Wolves of Spruce Hollow) Book 1 is now available on Amazon.com. I am constantly fascinated by the dichotomy of "Good" and "Evil" that lurks within the human psyche. I am philosophical, quirky and sometimes sarcastic and funny. Someone once called me a "tart", but I can only assume that's because I'm sweet and delicious :D
Well pffft... I was really pulling for Roan to get his act together, but he’s definitely not there yet. In his defense, Fate screwed him a bit with giving him Aspen. He needs an aggressive, bossy, bulldog of a mate not afraid to whoop his ass... like Angela from 90-day fiancé. She blew a gasket when Michael looked at another woman ... at a STRIP CLUB!! She’d have Roan in line in no time, but alas, Roan was given emotionally fragile, clingy Aspen, so this one’s much of the same, unfortunately. **please note** I think this was supposed to be a trilogy, and although it ends with our lovebirds happy enough... there’re still out-standing issues, and since this was published 6 years ago; I’m guessing this is it. I'm spoiler tagging the rest.
I wasn’t sure about the 2nd book in this series because I felt that there was an underlying ‘grooming’ element to the 1st book which left me feeling uncomfortable. I was really hoping that I was thinking too deeply (I’ve worked with both types of victims) but unfortunately, this book was worse than the 1st. If a reader has been traumatised by grooming or domestic abuse, I would advise that they steer clear of this series.
Although Roan’s character expresses remorse at his treatment of Aspen there are, nevertheless, strong similarities between his behaviour and the behaviour of a domestic abuser. Throughout the book, Roan’s abusive behaviour is justified by his friends and Alpha as being ‘for the good of the pack’ and that justification is very similar to the excuses made by abusive partners for their bad behaviour. It also echoes 'honour' based violence. At his hands, Aspen suffers from stalking, as well as psychological, emotional and sexual abuse and unfortunately the author has romanticised that abuse. When your mate drugs you in order to have sex with you, it is nothing other than rape! Aspen also suffers physical abuse at the hands of another Were. There is nothing romantic about tying up or handcuffing your mate to things to stop them from running away from you. If your partner is always trying to run away from you, then you are in a bad relationship.
This book takes up after 5 years have passed. Roan has left the pack to join the military. His departure has led to the pack shunning Aspen and she suffers serious bullying from the pack kids at school. She is also initially shunned by Roan’s best friends Calver and Griff leaving her to feel totally alone and isolated. Due to her abandonment issues from childhood, Aspen hasn’t really matured emotionally, but part of the reason for that is the fact that nothing has ever been explained to her about the fact that she is Roan’s true mate. As a result, as soon as she finishes High School, Aspen flees from the pack and makes a new life for herself. Her pain at her treatment is such that she refuses to return to Spruce Hollow, even when her adoptive mother is dying from cancer (I thought Weres almost never get sick?). In both books, Aspen is portrayed as being vulnerable and submissive and always the victim whilst Roan is a dominant, bullying Alpha. There are also serious issues with the editing…. I don’t think the book was proof read before it was released.
I love the Paranormal genre, especially werewolf romance/suspense stories with Alpha males and badass women, but unfortunately the books in this series has left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
Let me start off by saying that I LOVED the first book and thankfully only had to wait two days before reading "Seduction".
I was so excited to read the second instalment....... But it felt like a train wreck to me in all honesty.
I expected immaturity from Aspen in the first book, her inability to see reason with Roans decision making process, especially given she had no idea what was going on, he kept her completely at arms length and in the dark.
I expected that given the five year separation and the longing that both characters would've been wiser and more mature .... But no. It read like both characters hadn't aged at all, completely immature, BOTH of them! Roan was ten years her senior but you would never have guessed with his dialogue and decisions.
I find it difficult to believe that we would go through a forced separation, and the longing that goes with that, being back for a year and still stalking and watching Aspen, then knowing that Valerie had died and that Aspen was coming home for the funeral (she never visited while her adoptive mother was sick? Really?) Roan then leaves after the funeral to give Aspen time to grieve for a few days ..... And despite all these things, knowing that the object of our desire will be home soon....... We STILL take up with another girlfriend and STILL DONT break up with her until AFTER HES MATED WITH ASPEN!? Then takes her with him while he breaks up with her?!
Nothing about Roans actions reflects his true age or the fact that he's waited for her for fifteen years.
No wooing, no romance, nothing. Nothing but bullying and intimidation and control. Both characters were whiney, omg.
Almost a DNF for me. Don't think I'll read the next instalment either, despite the abrupt ending in this book.
So I sort of enjoyed the first book and was excited to start the second.......BUT ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!!!!! Roan is the biggest fucking jerk on the planet and I almost wish Aspen would have died just to teach him a lesson and watch him suffer and die too! Honestly, I love the whole cheating, dominant Alpha male but this is beyond that. He is just a class A asshole and I hope Jude kills him. Seriously hate him that much. I haven’t even gotten to the end but I have to step away for a bit. She is not being treated like his “mate” but like some tramp that he could give two shits about. This book makes me sick. I don’t see how there will ever be redemption for him. Not after the way he has ALWAYS treated her.
I will come back after I finish and update this review. At this point I wish I could give it a negative rating.
So I bit the bullet and finished. I can honestly say from the deepest part of my heart that I hated Roan more than any other H ever. He was utterly irredeemable and I wished Jude would have come and killed him. I honestly think she would have been better off with Jude. At least he saved her before she died and showed some sort of heart where as Roan just made her want to die. He NEVER said he was sorry for the way he treated her and just made her bend to his will, even going as far as “messing” with her memories/thoughts. Such a fucking asshole. Like I said, I wish there was a negative review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I loved the first book so much and was super excited for part two. By chapter five, I was feeling disappointed and hoping the book would get better. By chapter twenty, I hated it. The main character Aspen, who I felt for in book one drove me nuts in this book with her I hate Roan, I love Roan, I don’t want anything to do with Roan, I need Roan, I hate Roan. In addition, Roan is a complete asshole. They’re are reunited after five years and instead of Roan talking to Aspen and explaining things to her, he hog ties her, duck tapes her mouth, throws her on the bed and watches TV completely ignoring her. It just seemed to get worse from there. Book 1was a coming of age sad romance. Book 2 is more of a dark erotica. It seemed that this book was slapped together in hurry. Numerous Typos. Example; thing instead of think, for instead of four. Since when are wolves so much wiser than their humans, especially newly borne?
After reading the first book i was so excited to read the sequel. I bought this one as soon as it was available online.....BUT....this book was only an okay read for me as it was not what I expected. Where the heck was the seduction? Based on the build-up of the first book I expected Roan to be doing a lot of begging to win Aspen's love and trust again. Instead these two rush into a relationship without talking or dealing with any of the big issues between them. And it does not get better between them throughout the entire book. Roan just keeps making things worse and worse.... I liked the characters and the story was interesting, but i just didn't like the way the relationship with Roan or Aspen unfolded, and the ending left many things up in the air which to me felt like a cliffhanger of sorts.....
omg. This book sucked!!!!!! I HATE ROAN! HE IS AN EGOTISTICAL, MANGY PIECE OF SHIT! Happy ending my ass. There was an overload of drama that had me skimming most of the book. aspen was a freak to. She was so out there emotionally and flipped over everything. roan was a piece if shit because he basically raped her virginity from her, and then she was a love sick fool after. ugh.
I was really interested to read about Aspen and Ronan. I read the 1st book, and while I had some issues( mostly The maturity difference between Aspen and Roan) I was excited to read the 2nd.
Unfortunately I DNF'd at 30%. Don't read more if you don't want to read spoilers.
. It's just not something I as a reader can get over.
Update:
I finally managed to finish this book, and Im thinking, what really threw me with this book was the genre change. One reader pointed out the 1st book was like a sad coming of age romance, while this one reads like a dark erotic non-consent/ rape fantasy. The reader is just thrust from one scene to the next where the H emotionally destroys the h, then fucks her, then chains her up and starves her, then fucks her, chases her then fucks her, ducks tapes her then fucks her , I think you get the picture. The whole book,(seriously! The whole thing!) is one long struggle for dominance, where the H physically and mentally subdues the h until she has no will left of her own. At one point he realizes he's broken her too throughly and uses his wolf powers to simply alter her memories so she'll be happy again. I just wasn't prepared for the sequel of book one to be so outside of the genre of book one.
Way, way outside .. Like maybe this one needs it's own area code. O.o
Again, it took forever to tell the story. It just dragged. Nothing is yet resolved. Neither Aspen or Roan ever actually had real conversations concerning what was happening or how they were feeling. Especially Aspen the way she was shunned by the pack after Roan had joined the military to give Aspen time to grow up. She never once at any time he asked her why she didn't want to stay or why she was angry all the time did she EVER tell him. And the same goes with Roan, he NEVER once took the time to actually explain anything to Aspen about why he had to go or what was happening to her once she was changed. He just gave orders. Ummm yeah as much as I now would like to see Caver be given a run for his money with Sorcha, I can't read anymore. :(
So based on the synopsis I thought this book would be about something different. This author had as a warped mind. I almost didn't finish both books. Did this have beta readers? Typos and storyline was maddening... because it had so much potential The Hero is disgusting. The heroine was a doormat. Brave yourself for spoilers that's the only way I can explain. 1) I get she was young and he was young but the term mate means forever this is across the board, yes they hadn't physically done it but he knew she was his forever but he cheated and didn't care. Felt guilty but needed to get laid. I loathe double standard he couldn't allow her to have the same growing up??? Even though he had girlfriends to release himself from the same age. 2) He drugged her and forced her virginity from her did she care??? Nope what self respecting woman does that???? 3) He came back for her and hadn't severed time with his current trollop before the forced virginity taking and again she throws a small tantrum but starts loving him again.. 4) She had Were strength but couldn't bust a pair of handcuffs??? 5) The beginning of book two focuses on him leaving her when it should have focused on his betrayal and her broken heart that she seemed to forget about with her abandonment issues when she was leaving at book 1 because of his betrayal. No continuity.
The entire time I wanted her to grow a back bone and tell him to shove it or throw another man in his face to make him hurt. From the time she was 18 he could have had her but he started away till 21 and played with his little girlfriends. He stole her memories I wanted her to get them back and make him pay. He was the worst character ever and no one had an issue in his pack with anything he did. The plot could have been good it really had promise but these things were to hard to look over and that's why I have it two stars.
The zero was manipulative and abusive as fuck. WTH is wrong with this author? There’s already imbalance power between due to him being a beta and older, why add memory manipulation instead of making the pos work for forgiveness?
We left Aspen at age 16 and now she is 21. She has graduated, moved away, bought a car and an apartment. However, her mother has just died and she realises that she is all alone. Her world is crashing down around her ears for various reasons and then Roan casually saunters back into her life by sitting in the kitchen, drinking a beer. Now this by itself is guaranteed to make pretty much any woman turn into a spitfire but considering the history between these two then you can expect fireworks.
There is a lot of angst in this book, all of which builds up an amazing story. Did I like all of it? Not really, not on the surface of it. But if you stop and think for a moment then you feel more empathy towards the characters. For example, Aspen - she is completely emotional throughout the book and at times this just plain annoyed me. She seemed to embody all the frailness and weakness that women are so often accused of. But then you realise that everything I mentioned in the first paragraph has happened to her. Not only that but she is now a Were, with a blood-bonded mate. Put yourself in her shoes for just one moment and maybe you wouldn't be the strong, silent type either! As for Roan, God love him, but he's such an arse at times! You can see that he's completely tied up in knots over Aspen but really, whatever he's thinking of doing to or for Aspen, he really should do the opposite because he keeps on making matters worse. It is actually Griff's conversation with Aspen right at the end of the book that helped me view him in a more favourable light - and I was one sticking up for him in the last book ;) I'm really hoping that Roan will realise that Aspen has grown up a bit in the next book (I'm hoping she does anyway) as hearing Little Girl/Dirty Girl all the time.
This is a wonderful series that will keep you turning the pages. There are still loose ends to be tied up so I'm already looking forward to the next book.
Read book 1 and 2 tonight. Book 1 was fine. FMC is clearly young and high strung (to the nth degree), but I can deal with that.
I read a lot of dark romances. Non-cons, domination, yadda yadda. A lot. And I like em.
This was NOT that. This was a cheap hack job.
SPOILERS
FMC is a virgin. Our "hero" legit drugs her... twice.... with the intention of making her go along with sex for her first time. Cause he knows she absolutely would not consent. Her first experience is absolutely non-con in every sense of the word.
Funny though. This incredibly high strung chick, who will rage over any and everything.... does not take issue with this.
Next up! He tears her apart emotionally and mentally during his Were training. He never puts her back together. No no... instead.... he DIGS INTO HER BRAIN AND ALTERS HER MIND to make her happy and content in her relationship with him. All of her issues, poof! Resolved! Presto chango, he has his happy little mate. This is over the absolute top non-con. First physical rape, now mental? And we follow it up with everyone in her soon to be pack affirming his right to do this to her! And talk about a ridiculously cheap stunt by the author. Who has ever heard of a beta wolf able to mind control and change actual memories, permanently?
I mean, I personally wouldn't be friends with a chick that high strung, but.... JFC she was undeniably exploited and abused by her mate.
Super glad this is a one off, cause if the shifter genre was filled with this kind of love? I'd never pick up another one.
As the story develops I started feeling bad about Aspen because she is so ignorant. Roan whose job is to inform the new where's and to communicate everything sucks at it. He doesn't give out anything he rules it and gives out punishment. He is very extreme and he is confusing which doesn't help Aspen at all. When did it become her fault with the age difference.. When you think about it he should have been coming to grips with it instead of holding the anger and the resentment in. This turned into a very complicated story that made Roan out to be the bad guy when he is just a regular guy who doesn't know how to communicate properly.
Holy god, what a book! I liked the first book, Temptation, but this one was so much better. I don't even know where to start! The sex scenes were scorching hot. I liked Roan a lot better in this one too, he was easier to sympathize with. The writing was gut wrenching in some parts. The author writes with a lot of emotion.
I am happy all round. The book didn't go where I thought it was going to but the ride was exciting just the same. Please, please, please continue the story an write another one :)
i didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as the first. While i appreciate the fact that she didn't leave us with another continuation i almost wish that she would have. I thought there were a couple of places that were a copout on how he handled a situation (training camp, and then just ordering her to forget) and that the forgiveness at the end could have been handled better. But overall it was good. Looking forward to finding out about his friends and how they find their mates:)
Strong Alpha male hero, Weres, hot sex. What's not to like? I loved both main characters and thought this was a great next chapter in their story. I am hoping for more as the author left a few lose ends, presumably so she can revisit the story and write another book. I'll be waiting.
I just want to say one thing. I really liked reading this book, but Aspen is one FRUSTRATING girl. Half the time I just wanted to punch her to knock some sense into her. She's so thick headed and only believes what she wants to believe even when someone tells her otherwise
So much better then the first I loved that story is now unfolding can't wait for the next one . BTW couldn't find it on smash words but found it on amazon .