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Keeping Her #3

Claiming Her

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The third, and long awaited book in the Keeping Her Series.
Lucas Gibbs walked away from Miley Isabella Rose years ago for her own safety. Then was forced to mourn and regret the choice when she died unexpectedly. Only she isn't dead.
Miley is alive and has good reason to keep Lucas at a distance. But he's not about to blow this second chance to claim his mate. No matter what she says... or who he has to kill to keep her safe.
This book is intended for mature audiences only. Definitely has explicit sex.
This is a stand alone book but is better enjoyed within the series order.

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2014

58 people are currently reading
309 people want to read

About the author

Kelly Lucille

33 books440 followers
Kelly Lucille is the author of paranormal and fantasy romance.
She has a B.A. Degree in Creative Writing and Literature from Naropa University.
Her first book "Keeping Her" published in July of 2013.


On a more personal note- I read my first romance novel: "Shanna" by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss when I was 13 years old. I still read it every year or so just to remember how amazing a really good romance novel can make you feel.

Check out more of what's coming next at kellylucille.com

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5 stars
317 (35%)
4 stars
321 (35%)
3 stars
189 (21%)
2 stars
57 (6%)
1 star
8 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
Profile Image for Barbara➰.
1,664 reviews461 followers
March 1, 2017
2/28/17 Another reread for me.

This is absolutely one of my favorite series ever.

Some don't like Lucas in this book...can't get past him rejecting Miley, firing her and forcing her to move on. Yes, he was a dick. Yes, he "did it to protect her". Yes, he doesn't come forward and say "Hey, you're my mate". But you know what? I do not care! When he realizes she's alive, he's in 100% and becomes that bossy alpha I love. Do I like what he did? No. But what does she do? Fakes her own death...where does that leave him? So, they were both wrong...I love them both anyway!
Profile Image for Monty Cupcake ☠ Queen of Bloodshed ☠.
952 reviews254 followers
June 30, 2017
The book starts with Lucas the lion finding the supposedly dead Miley/Isabella working on a resort island. She was his assistant, he fired her, she faked her death. Now that he's found her he's claiming her as his mate. That's fine and dandy, but before she disappeared they weren't at all romantic and suddenly they're hitched shifter style. I didn't like this lack of romance or a relationship or any sort of buildup besides the physical mating. And the rest of the book doesn't fix that for me. 3 stars is probably too much for this book that I think needed to be fleshed out more. Otherwise, not bad.
Profile Image for Jac K.
2,527 reviews495 followers
May 21, 2021
2.5 Too-Long Fluffy Shifter Stars
Lucas and Miley’s story. At the end of Loving Her Lucas learned that Miley was still alive. She’s a latent wolf (favors her human side) that he broke up with a few years earlier... because people are always trying to kill him, and she’s his mate. (she’s attracted to him, but clueless on the mate part. They were never romantic) Soon after she was declared dead.

This one is much longer than the previous two novellas, and it didn’t really work for me. There’s nothing deep going on, and 300+ pages of fluffy smut is much more than I prefer. * I believe this comes after a .5 book, so I found the first part a little jarring with the change in characters/setting. Even with all the extra pages, this is still pretty much an insta-love, insta-relationship situation. There’s a little bit of drama/action from an abusive ex-boyfriend, but it’s minimal… popping up at times, then being settled fairly quickly. The last part of the book is a setup for Cleo’s book.

Bottom Line- Another meh... not awful/not great, and I might’ve put it aside if I had other options. (only had scribd) I think it would have been MUCH better if Lucas had a wannabe OW secretary who was expecting the prize, and pissed when Miley showed up. As is, we only had small parts of the evil ex that didn’t have much page time. I found it a bit boring and skimmed some.
*Next up is Cleo, but I’m calling it. She’s certainly tough, but gets herself in way too many TSTL situations. I think already she’s been kidnapped 2 or 3 times, but still gets mad when anyone tries to help her. I’m all about girl power, but take some backup. I also don’t like when author’s go out of their way to tell us how “badass” the h is.. it just makes it more annoying when they act bratty, and make stupid decisions.
Profile Image for Shadi ***save your ratings use disclaimers**.
321 reviews182 followers
April 25, 2016
Review revised below

Book Facts: Claiming Her

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Part of a Series/Installment: Series
Standalone/Cliffhanger:
M/F-M/M-M/M/F-etc:
Multi-Luv'n/Ménages:
Was There Descriptive Sex:
Contains Cheating:
Amount of Sex in The Book 1-10:
Overall Steam Factor/Chemistry:
HEA/HFN/etc Ending:
Any Triggers/Warnings:



My thoughts: I read this book first out of the whole series. Going into it I expected to be a little confused at first as it happens when you start in the middle of a series. But I was REALLY confused. I felt like I was dropped into the middle of the story and it took awhile to figure out what was going on. Although after reading this one I read the previous two books and notice that the author has a tendency to drop you right into a story, introduce new characters or have something happen in the book without sufficient story building to make a reader understand what is going on. Sometimes that works, in this case it didn't. Mostly because when it works the author has to make make sure to tie up all threads of the plot line and it have a concise timeline of events so the reader can follow through the story what is happening. It is a type of format for a book that can be amazing but can also be horrible.

Basically the premise for the story doesn't quite make sense.

Beyond the spontaneous story line threads I like the book. The H is alpha, the h was sweet with some attitude and there was no OW drama. No mention if H was celibate during separation and I still have no idea WHY he fired her thinking she was in danger?!?!?! Seriously no idea so that just didn't make sense. Oh and he has two kids that are older so I think he was mated before but no idea to who, how it ended, widow or not etc.

The H is super possessive and I really liked that. He definitely knows what he wants and gets it.

****************

Revised review for timeline of event and where it went wrong:

Book 2- Ian (the H's son from book 3) is said to be 16 the epilogue of book 2 is a setup for book 3. (this isnt recapped in their book. which is book 3) They have found the h that faked her death from two years ago. It does say that the h had faked her own death within weeks after being fired so I am guessing the drunken hoe comment stands OR she was seeing the OM while she was working for her H and he didn't know.

Book 3- H goes to the island to claim his h. At this time Cleo the H's daughter is turning 21 but she was 19 when the h faked her death. Later in the book Ian is reference to be 19. So it looks like the only thing timeline wise that is truly messed up is Ian's age it just made everything look wonky since it was all spread throughout two books.


Overall Rating: 3.50
Do You Recommend This Book: Yes.... but read the series in order. The author explains key character traits of pending H/h in previous books and does not repeat in their book for cohesion. Expect some confusion.
ReRead: No
Would You Read More Books By This Author: Yes
Profile Image for Kelly Lucille.
Author 33 books440 followers
July 9, 2014
I just wanted to add it to my read file. Since I wrote it had to give it 5 stars. That's how much fun I had writing it. That, and since I had to give a rating, I'm hardly going to low ball it.
-Kelly Lucille
725 reviews71 followers
February 15, 2018
I love the characters in the Keeping Her series but I also loved the gang at At Ones Pleasure, so to get them all together in one book was fun. Lucas’ reaction to his kids being on “Pleasure Island”, especially Cleo, was priceless. His reaction to all the cute wolves wandering around staring at his Miley was even funnier. The result of all Lucas’ frustrations was that Claiming Her ended up with heaps of steamy hot sex, lots of craziness, but also a really good story woven in to even it all out.

I adored Lucas. He cracked me up with his attempts to be stoic amidst the zaniness of his pack. It was literally like herding cats (and wolves, a wolverine, and even a bird), but he pulled it off. None of these people should work well together but Lucas is the glue that binds and he does it well. He knows he screwed up when he sent Miley away, but there’s no groveling for him, he just acts like the king of the jungle he is and takes her back. I usually like my H’s to grovel but I don’t think that would have worked out for our Lucas.

Miley impressed me. It takes a lot of backbone to not immediately capitulate to someone as fearsome as Lucas but she was up to the task, even if she did immediately fall into bed with him, but honestly, who wouldn’t. She had issues, she tried to fix them and when Lucas was being an overbearing ass, I mean lion, she stood up to him. This was a fun dynamic they had, and Miley ended up being quite the lion tamer.

This was a well-rounded story that included extras like Cleo and her Dad’s battle about her growing up. Cleo is not a little princess, she is a badass in her own right. Watching her endure another one of her little adventures and how she handles whatever is thrown her way was a huge highlight to this story. She has her very own book coming up next and I can’t wait.

Spice’s Rating: 4 In My Kelly Lucille Happy Place Stars

For this review and more, check out EDGy Reviews
Profile Image for Amy M..
256 reviews23 followers
January 7, 2016
This is the story of Lucas the clueless lion...

I like everything about this book except the romance between Lucas and Miley. Technically it's a second chance scenario but since we don't get much backstory, it stunts any emotional weight. I really don't understand why he refused to mate Miley in the first place. He said it was for her safety but he never really talks to Miley about it or apologizes. Did he just not what a mate after his first one died? (Did she? Nothing is ever said...)

Profile Image for Maya.
858 reviews498 followers
October 10, 2015
Well, that was a big let down. :( Turns out H has two kids and has already been mated before. I really dislike reading books with Hs' or hs' having kids from before.
Profile Image for Erin.
394 reviews57 followers
March 6, 2017
I'm a little disappointed with this one. I was missing a heat factor that the others had. I didn't mind the main characters but I wasn't in love with them. I'm hoping for better things to come with this series!
Profile Image for eRomantix.
75 reviews2 followers
July 13, 2014
Look, I have to say I love Kelly Lucille as an author. She writes great characters and strong heroines. They are normally a bit of spunky with a touch of sweetness. This is the third book in the 'Keeping Her" series. It could be read as a standalone. But if you haven't read the first two, characters might seem to just pop up out of the blue. Also Lucas and Miley get hot and heavy very fast, which might seem a tad quick if you haven't been reading about them through two other stories first.

"Claiming Her" seems much longer than the first book in the series "Keeping Her" which in some ways is good. You see all the crew from past books and a few new characters to look out for. Yes, there is a sexy new 'Enforcer' that turns up towards the end. Hmm can't wait for him to meet his 'mate'. Now to the lovebirds at the centre of the story, Lucas and Miley. Except these two weren't really love birds, mates sure. Hot of each other absolutely. Head over heels for each other, not so sure.

Lucas just came across as more than a bit arrogant. Which is fine, being an alpha lion shifter and all. But he didn't tone it down for Miley. Before the start of this book he had betrayed Miley's trust and left her in a bad situation. When he turns up again he expects her to fall into line as his mate. Even though he never seemed that sorry about treating her badly in the first place. I just didn't get as much emotion between these two as I would have liked.

Miley provides the spunk, Lucas gives the alpha vibe, but I felt sweetness in the relationship was missing. I was also quite surprised Lucas's history was not explained in any way. How did he end up raising his children as a single father? Where is their mother? It would have been nice to fill in some of the blanks about Lucas. Perhaps I am being a bit picky though, did I enjoy it? Yes I did. Maybe not my favourite Kelly Lucille book but a solid effort non the less.
3,224 reviews68 followers
May 22, 2022
Growly H rarely speaks in sentences and is quite stupid. Luckily the h is smart enough to manipulate him. I did like the plot but not the OTT H or his disgusting son. The H's actions puts his daughter at risk but like all the women, she can save herself. It's silly OTT fun and I really liked it.
Profile Image for Jenn.
1,035 reviews256 followers
August 14, 2016
Love the humor, though it wasn't as prominent, and the pack. I really liked the story line a lot.

Still needs a editor! Wrong animal and names were another issue.
Profile Image for ValerieC.
1,343 reviews56 followers
July 22, 2014
I have read all three of the books in the 'Claiming Her' series, and really do like it a lot.

Best read starting at Book 1 so that you know who all the characters are... they carry over from book to book.

Adult content.

I would have liked to have more back-story for Lucas... the mystery lion-shifter is still a mystery to me. :-(
Profile Image for R *is for Relentless*.
221 reviews1 follower
July 17, 2014
Love this series. Keeps getting better. Still get to see characters from previous books too. Still a few little typos here and there but nothing big. If you like alpha male heroes and snarky tough heroines then you'll enjoy this series. MF shapeshifter hot romance
Profile Image for Colleen.
839 reviews35 followers
June 28, 2019
Shifters, they smell, they lick and then they know, their mate. Perhaps fantasy should be tried in real life. Look for me on a news station tonight...woman and man wed after meeting at Lick's (Toronto Burgers and Ice Cream) or woman detained after rampant licking of male customers in the food court of a local mall.
Loving this series!

Cheers
Profile Image for Camille.
1,419 reviews
January 7, 2023
I actually didn’t like this one. I mean, I didn’t hate it but I didn’t enjoy it either. I kept putting it down. I didn’t like Lucas whole alpha asshole thing. There was no real love or sweetness or even relationship. And there were so many questions like who TF is Cleo and Ian’s mother? What happened to her? I’m super annoyed those didn’t get answered. I did enjoy the first two books so I’ll read the fourth in hopes this was a one odd.
Profile Image for JJH--Judy.
1,093 reviews1 follower
August 17, 2014
3 1/2-4 stars. While I thought it was entertaining, I did not like it quite as much as the others in the series. Here are my thoughts:

What I liked: Well written (I really love Ms. Lucille's writing style), timeline was smooth, very funny in parts, great characters (super possessive, alpha H, and sweet, yet strong-willed h), got to catch up with characters from previous books, nice and spicy with the right amount of suspense. It also seemed a little longer than previous books--that's always a plus!

What I wasn't fond of (and it's a biggie for me): I felt there was a complete lack of build up to the relationship. There was chemistry in the beginning, but it was more of a mating thing than love. I realize the couple are not strangers to each other, and have not seen each other in two years, but they meet up within the first couple of pages, and are mating within the next couple of pages. The romance (or lack of) seemed to be at a very even pace throughout the entire story--it kind of gave it a "bland" feeling to me. I also realize the other couples in the previous books got together with their mates rather quickly, but there was tension and humor leading up to it. I missed it in this one.

While I wasn't as crazy about this one as much as the others, I would still recommend this entire series to anyone looking for fun, sexy, shifter books. I am really looking forward to Cleo and Shawn's story!
Profile Image for Camylle.
539 reviews24 followers
July 15, 2014
This was a great read! Glad to read the Lucas and Miley's story!! Can't wait to read Shawn and Cleo's book!
Profile Image for Izzie d.
4,308 reviews361 followers
Read
March 22, 2017
There were too many unanswered questions, it was a bit confusing.
Profile Image for Jo Oehrlein.
6,361 reviews9 followers
November 21, 2022
Lucas fires Miley without ever telling her that he loves her.
She leaves and ends up faking her own death after a boyfriend decides not to take No for an answer.

Then, in the course of Lucas's work, he finds her under a new name and in a new country.

Lovely to see his grown/almost-grown kids welcome her back.

And she has good advice for him as he learns to navigate life with a daughter he wants to protect but can't hide away.
1,748 reviews35 followers
June 11, 2017
I want Lucas Gibbs!!! He is utterly gorgeous. Haaaaaaa. Hallelujah. I loved the female lead in this one. She was filled with humor and I loved her sarcasm. She is my type of woman a fighter. Even if she didn't physically fight her battles she still fought them. And got a hell of a male in the process. Who is a hot as sin. Wait a minute I got to move on.
Profile Image for Booklass Garrahan.
908 reviews16 followers
August 4, 2017
So funny

This is one of those fun romance novels that leaves a smile on your face and a good afterglow in your heart. The heroine's, so far in this series, are smart, funny and able to hold their own. The males are uber alpha, and the banter a total delight. I love that there has been no ridiculous game playing, cheating or blindness. On to the next one.
Profile Image for Aditi.
285 reviews30 followers
cheaters-om-ow-drama
January 18, 2020
Nah. Not my tea, there is no back story on how the couple is separated.

On the first chapter itself, H finds h, he takes her to cabin, gets her naked and mate, while h...she blushes.🙄

It's first chapter and they're already mating, H is forgiven and h has no clue why this lion shifter is back in her life after 2 years and is humping her.
Profile Image for Celeste.
950 reviews36 followers
July 1, 2018
HOT

This is another super SEXY PNR from K.L. I enjoyed every page. The characters were fun and well written. I enjoy where the storyline is going and how each book can be read as a standalone but leads into the next book like a dangling big fat juicy carrot.
Profile Image for Laura.
775 reviews49 followers
Read
January 18, 2023
I probably would have found this out if I'd read the previous books, but I'm not a fan of the Hero/heroine having children before they meet their mate/significant other. Having it suddenly come up that the Hero has two full-grown kids ruined the story for me.
Profile Image for Fatimama.
1,017 reviews65 followers
July 3, 2017
Had high hopes but Lucas was not a good H
Profile Image for Mnms.
1,638 reviews5 followers
August 20, 2019
A bit over the top, but fun and good entertainment
Profile Image for Penelope.
1,013 reviews1 follower
June 17, 2020
built up to nothing really. but kelly good at getting me interested in next book in series. even though i hate age-gap find someone your own age grandpa
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews

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