Battle Within

Claimed #1

by Christina Mattingly

“This book is so well written and fast-paced, I devoured this story in a couple of sittings. If you’re a fan of SPICY paranormal romance this one is for you! -Mandy (Goodreads review)

He’s her brother’s best friend. She’s his wolf’s fated mate. But their love could destroy them both. Emma Rhodes, a powerful sound mage with a talent for stirring emotions, escapes her high-octane city life to visit her shifter brother in the quiet mountain town of Pinehurst. But one wrong bed on her first night changes everything.

That bed belongs to Ryder Marlow—her brother’s brooding, emotionally walled-off roommate. Their night together is electric, but Ryder makes one thing clear in the it was just sex. What Ryder doesn’t admit is that his wolf has other ideas. The moment they touched, his wolf imprinted on Emma, forging a mate bond that Ryder can’t control and refuses to accept. With a fractured connection to his wolf brought on by years of trauma,

Ryder’s fight for distance only draws them closer—especially as Emma’s magic begins to unravel the walls he’s so carefully built. But magic has a price, and Emma’s very presence could destroy Ryder. Her powers are dangerously charged for someone as sensitive as him, forcing her to suppress the essence of who she is.

To make things worse, Emma’s best friend and longtime lover, James—a charismatic music star—arrives in town, adding fuel to Ryder’s jealous, possessive wolf and threatening to tear them all apart. When Ryder’s broken bond with his wolf puts him on the brink of losing everything, Emma takes a reckless gamble to save him. But her bold act of healing magic shatters Ryder’s trust and leaves her heartbroken. Now, Ryder must will he let his fear and pain drive her away forever, or will he fight for the only woman who’s ever made him whole?

Emma, Ryder, and James' story is a heart-pounding romance of passion, pain, and unbreakable bonds.

“This Shifter romance is one of my favorites. It has spice, knotting, unique magical systems, beautiful world building, angst, kinks, and did I mention the spice already?” - Kristen (Goodreads review)

Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Shapeshifters, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Dark Romance, Ebooks

372 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 17, 2023

Reviews

[Gwen]

Wtf did I just read. This was so bad. Unstructured and pointless.

Full RTC.

[Mandy Sickle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received Battle Within in return for an honest review from the author as part of the tour hosted by R&R Book Tours. 

Emma is a mage who uses her magic to control sound and needing a break from her club she heads off to visit her brother who happens to be a werewolf living in the mountains. Maybe a chance to recharge is just what she needed but she didn't plan to meet Ryder who sets her on fire. What should have been a one night stand turns into a complicated relationship as his wolf has imprinted on her even thought Ryder isn't sure he wants to be anything more than friends.

I like Emma she's this passionate adorable character who you just can't help liking right from the start. I'm didn't start out loving Ryder I have moments when he's just what she needs and moments when I want to stab him. Sometimes his hot & cold behavior gives me whiplash. In his defense he's struggling with his wolf so things were already a mess before she shows up. I love her best friend James he sees what Ryder doesn't see at first. I love them chemistry between them all. 

I love the world building for this one the shifter community was very interesting the way they work with the humans. I love the mage concept I found it unique using the sound to create charges that change the way people feel. I enjoyed the characters even if I wanted to stab them a couple of times. .

The story is well written fast paced and hard to put down I devoured it in one afternoon. The author did a great job of balance the story with the steamy scenes. While the bedroom scenes are sizzling the story doesn't lack in anyway. My only complaint is I wanted more I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Emma and felt a little rushed I'm hoping to see more of Emma in the next book even with a supporting roll. 

[Jacqueline Fromm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emma the Sound Mage leaving her busy hectic life for a break. Goes to spend some time with her brother who is a shifter and roommate Ryder who is also a shifter who thought he dreamt their first night together. He ends up imprinting on her and she struggles to deal with all her feelings about it and such. She finally realizes she loves him and will do everything to “fix” him and they have their happily ever after. Not gonna lie everyone needs the possessiveness of Ryder the caring of James and the responsibility of Connor in their life.
This story is a wonderful example of a shifter story with just the right level of spice. Very well done and thoroughly enjoyed this read

[Krystine de la Fuente · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shifter/mage romance. What happens when you go stay with your brother and the first night you end up in the wrong bedroom and end up sleeping with his roommate. This story was so good. Up and downs.

[Cheyyleigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this whole book and did not dnf. I need someone to come pat me on the back. Spoilers.


Emma sucks. I have really no other way to describe my ending feelings on that one. She is drama, she does only what she wants, instead of being this "badass" and saying what she actually wants and needs to ignores all of her problems until they are quite literally boiling over. Then instead of taking ANY responsibility for her actions she only listens to people who coddle her and blames everything on everyone else. This was painful to read but it's not even the most annoying part.


If I wanted to read 400 pages of shitty relationship I wouldn't be reading romance. And we get reprieve only when she's in a threesome with two other guys? Not our main love interest? And for the love of God CAN ANYONE UNDERSTAND JAMES? I tried so hard but at one point I found myself just skimming or skipping his dialogue because how can I feel warm and fuzzy when I can't read what he is actually saying. And having James be our romance to balance out Ryder? WHAT? oh I'll support you no matter what: includes drug usage, sexual escapades with any partner she wants, being with her emotionally for a decade but actually being with her. He's almost as selfish as her, but honestly not quite but at some points he does have clarity and says some insightful shit.

And another thing! If Blake and her are so tight then why hasn't she visited? Why does he not pick up on her distress and sadness like Connor and James do in a matter of minutes? And saying they bonded as siblings when he was 16 and she was 14? Bullshit. It's the time siblings go to school have friends go to college and have separate lives there is no way that is even a good idea. AND THAT STORY EVEN MADE HER OUT TO BE A HORRIBLE SPOILED BRAT. *Stamps foot and pouts for months* But mommy and Daddyyyy I want a sibling I want someone else to live with us, please go purchase one. 🙄 Dumb founded by this story. She purchased a sibling like a pet. Then treated him as something she could pick up and put down throughout their lives. Then comes to his house where he has a job and an entire life and BLOWS IT UP. He has to deal with her banging his best friend, and listen to her have sex on a fire call, and a PLETHORA of other shitty things like her hooking up with the local cop, bringing drama to the fire house, bringing multiple men around. Seriously she is awful.



I'm saying rant over because no one is going to read this long thing, but I feel so much anger about these issues.

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you value a plot, character building or story this book isn’t for you

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a way to start out this book with Emma crawling into Ryder's bed. I love Emma's brother, Blake. He brought humor to this story, and it was nice that he did not get all macho with Ryder. He acknowledged that Emma is entitled to her own choices including who she sleeps with.

Emma's ability as a mage to manipulate sounds is intriguing. I liked those elements of her gift was featured throughout this story and not just the wolf shifter aspect. The chemistry shared between Emma and Ryder is spicy. Each interaction seemed to get more and more intense. The battle that Ryder had with his wolf was very intriguing. I have read many wolf shifter books and they don't always touch on the two sides. This is a really good book.

[Casey Velasquez]

Yikes! DNF about 100 pages in. I have read & enjoyed a lot of paranormal, shifter, why choose romance books, but this is not it. It’s in third POV, which is not great for me, but not a deal breaker. But, it needs a serious editor. There were incomplete sentences & things that really didn’t make sense. It’s more spice than plot, with the FMC jumping right into bed with two strangers, one right after the other. The book doesn’t do the characters any justice with how quickly the spice started. We hardly know these characters & feel no connection to them or passion between lovers. It might get better by the end or the story, but it honestly would be less than a 3 ⭐️ & not worth finishing for me.

Thank you Christina Mattingly & The Author Agency for the ARC!

[Michelle R · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started with such a nice vibe!! I love seeing how they used magic to incorporate mundane jobs, the FMC job was so interesting!! The imprint was so interesting, how the MMC was separate from the his wolf. Half way through the story started to irritate me a little, the FMC and MMC had little to none communication at all, mostly just a physical link. The why choose was a little out of place in my opinion, a wolf wouldn’t share his mate and the other MMCs didn’t interact at all. The plot and the characters background was very vague, how the FMC and the other MMCs meet or any memories at all. The ending was okay.

2/5🌶️

[Rachel Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Ryder's and Emma's story. Ryder a medic/firefighter shifter wolf who is struggling with his mate bond. Fighting his feelings towards his bestfriend's sister. And his wolf has a separate personality who is obsessed and possessive and imprinted on Emma. Emma a sound mage is a independent do what she wants and when she wants kind of woman. She doesn't want Ryder to change her or tell her what to do.
I loved this book, great entertaining character's and world building and i couldn't put this book down. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Kea Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spice, kink, and angst

This shifter romance has it all: spice, knotting, dubcon, magic, and incredible world building. Plus, there’s a delicious amount of drama with actual, real plot and character development. Great read!

[Desiree M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, it's not the worst book I've read by far. I did NOT expect it to be a RH though. First I'll say what I didn't like and second I'll say what I did, so stick with me.

First:
I had a handful of things I didn't like but what actually caused me to rate it 2 stars was the fact that the writing in general sucked. I read this on my Kindle and some of the sentences weren't finished, words were repeated back to back, situations got changed suddenly (like there was one character going with for an emergency call and they suddenly changed it to a different one kind of ordeal), and some of the situations just didn't make much sense. I'm not a fan of RH type stories in all honesty. Especially if I'm under the impression it's a werewolf romance. Usually you go in expecting the character to find the wolf guy and then he's all possessive and it's a full on one man kind of commitment, but that's not the case here. Be warned about that, there's at least 4 guys and she's kind of in an open relationship with 3 of them. Or maybe they're in a committed relationship all together? It's confusing to me.

Second:
I liked some of the side characters a lot and the back story for the MC and her brother. The story was kind of fast paced with the spice so it kept my attention (although it was nearly too often it was happening, but somehow the author made it work with the story). The ending was intriguing with the stocker guy.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am 100% Invested in Emma’s Story!

As others have noted, there are errors. If you’re the type of person that obsesses over a sentence periodically saying something like “there eight were” instead of “there were eight”, then this might frustrate you. Personally, my brain just auto corrects and moves on, it doesn’t detract from the story for me.

That being said, as an avid MF, MMF, MMM+F paranormal reader, this is the story I’ve been looking for and wanting for so long. Mattingly somehow perfectly meshed the emotional reality/messiness of reluctant mates, monogamy, polyamory, and a magical world. I don’t want to know what happens next, I NEED to know. I’m 100% invested in Emma’s story.

There’s jealousy, angst, self-discovery, compromise, stubbornness, character growth. I really feel like I got to know all of these characters in an organic way as well as getting to witness their growth. That’s storytelling done well, so I can say I already have a calendar reminder to read the next book when it comes out!

[Elizabeth - the_passionista_book_doctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got suckered in by a Facebook ad and it captured my attention enough to want to know what happened next. I was not disappointed. This is an entertaining story and I enjoyed the overall storyline and the premise of the werewolves and mages. I feel that the characters were a bit immature and needed to work on their communication skills. I was a bit annoyed at the FMC blatantly rubbing her other relationships into the MMC’s face. And at one point, there’s just a whole team of first responders listening to them have an orgy. Like, once you realized what was happening either turn off the intercom or kick out anyone who is not completely essential. Once everyone got on the same page things went a bit more smoothly and there is a good set up for book 2. Initially I felt if ended too abruptly but then I realized this is not a true standalone. There is a complete story within this single book but the same main characters continue into the next book as well. Overall, I enjoyed the story and this world and am planning on reading book 2 so stay tuned for more.

[Chasity Trimble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn into the story from the beginning. There were several MC and the two I got attached to was FMC Emma who is a mage and one of the MMC Ryder, a shifter and his wolf declares Emma as theirs.

I felt this was a fast paced story that delivered a lot of emotions between Emma who struggles with commitment, Ryder who hasn’t unified with his wolf side, Emily’s best friend, and her brother, who is also Ryder’s work and roommate. This is a shifter/paranormal romance full of jealousy, angst, self discovery, character growth and polyamory. I loved the duel POVs between Emma and Ryder.

I recommend this for anyone who enjoys a shifter romance story with a lot of steam! I fell this is well written and will have you not wanting to put it down for the need of knowing the outcome. Definitely worth the read!

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is written in third person POV. So that is definitely something to think about going into the book. It is also multi men situation, not always at once. In this book we do focus on Emma and Ryder but can see where James can come into play down the road to create our RH.

Overall the book has a great plot. Yes, there are grammatical errors and mistakes throughout but overall it’s good.

We get to watch Emma stand up for herself and finally get the life she always wanted when she was little; a family. Then there is Ryder and Xander who stuck with each other but also separated by the bond being damaged during growth. Yet, they both know they need Emma so must find a way to work together in the end.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Emma is some sort of music mage, as well as a commitment-phobe. She goes to visit her brother in his small town when her life gets a little static. She immediately, like the night she gets there, sleeps with his roommate. The roommate is Ryder the werewolf and his wolf immediately becomes possessive.

Now this is normally the start of a story I would like very much but this just wasn't it. Emma became such a door mat to Ryder and his wolf that it was really disappointing. As far as Ryder and his wolf, we are told he's a good guy but he is really mean to Emma and frankly treats her like a sex doll.

I did finish the book, it did have a good pace and the story definitely had potential but it just wasn't for me.

[Flavs is Mrs David Gandy♥~♥’ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.50 Stars

Emma is a sound mage, and she just needs a break from her fast paced life and her nightclub. So she decided to go visit her brother, who lives in a mountain town. Her first night in her brother’s place and she sleeps with his room-mate, who happens to be a wolf shifter.

Ryder who wasn’t into anything permanent, but immediately becomes obsessed and possessive over Emma…

I kind of enjoyed the story, I didn’t like Ryder so much as I felt like he was a real a## to Emma and he really didn’t treat her well. I however loved her best friend James 😊I kind of didn’t know that this was a RH story. And I don’t think its for me… But the story had lots of potential.

Read on behalf of
Fay’s Corner

[Emilie Hemenway · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn’t Expecting an RH (spoliers)

This book was great but I will say I was not expecting it to be a RH. If multiple partners is not your thing then I would not recommend this book. If it is your thing then this is slightly different from your normal Reverse Harems. You’ve got emotionally complicated Ryder with his rough relationship with his wolf and James who is her best friend with benefits. This book definitely felt a bit unfinished and ended with a big cliffhanger.

[Teeana Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read 4 and a half stars

This was a really good book. I felt all the emotions while reading. Although this storyline is based on Ryder and Emma i loved James the best.

The ending felt a bit weird. The feeling of being watched then the epilogue mentioned someone watching from the shadows yet the next book is about Owen and Caitlyn so not sure how this guy watching Emma and claiming her is going to fit into the next book. So that is why the rating is not 5 stars for me.

[Country Goose · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's 2 chapters long

It starts in the middle of a scene. The entire book, including "book 2" I didn't read, equaled 22 pages long. It's not a book. It references several scenes that never happened, and there is nothing to search. I either ended up with a glitches download, or this is a waste of time. Maybe it was a glitch, but two chapters doesn't cut it.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay hear me out

This book has soooooo much potential. It just needs A LOT of editing. There is so much back and forth also I almost DNF.

The FMC is annoying and the only reason I kept reading was James.

The plot is there and with some edits and maybe fixing some things this book would be 5 stars.

[Donna Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written in third person form so if you do not like third person or multiple men situation then this book is not for you. Me personally I enjoyed the plot of the book and the character's I enjoyed everything about it. Please check troupes and triggers to make sure this book is for you but I highly recommend it. .

[Alishia Pinon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters are very well blended together. As in they work very well together. I wish the EMT’s in my town looked the way these guys sound. I think I would be falling more and maybe calling 911 a bit more. lol Not really my husband might not like that. Over all I really loved this book. Book two is turning out to be just as good

[Hannah Gillispie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The SPICE 🥵 holy moly
Shifters and mages, oh my!😍
Want a spicy shifter romance? This is it!
I loved the drama between Ryder and Emma! It kept the book interesting all throughout!
I never found myself wanting to skip pages which I do sometimes.
Imprinting on someone and stuck with them? Say less!

[Amanda Ramsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 25% of this book was hard to get through. The last 75% was pretty good. The main character really doesn’t have any redeeming qualities but the other characters were well developed and the plot was easy to follow along with. Won’t be reading the rest of the series but this wasn’t a bad free stuff your kindle day book

[Tonita Spillers · Rating 4 out of 5]

waaaaaay different

This is not your average PNR/Shifter romance story and that’s why it gets 4 stars from me. I LOVE that this isn’t your run of the mill why choose trope. The two MMCs in her life aren’t buddies and I love how the MFC owns her sexuality and her needs and stands up for herself and demands autonomy and respect. Great read.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost stopped reading the book due to the errors but I kept going. I finished it with Alexa reading it to me while I worked. It has a good story line with Ryder and Emma and figuring out their bond. Ready to see what happens with their story.

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

New kind of magic

This book was unique & the magic part of it was complex & new. The relationships were all over the place though so it wasn't my cup of tea but the writing was good.

[Haney Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

is a perfect fit for readers who crave a lighthearted and humorous romance with a touch of magic, a strong female lead, and a swoon-worthy love story that explores the complexities of relationships, commitment, and finding one's true mate.