A Wolf's Claim

The Holiday Ball #1

by Marie Mason

Hosting the annual Holiday Ball was Hayden Barringer's first official act as the new alpha. He'd avoided the event in years past, knowing he wasn't ready for a mate. One look at the curvy witch standing on the sidelines had his wolf howling into the snowy night.

The wolf was more than ready for his mate.

Amber Jones hadn't wanted to attend the Holiday Ball this year because she'd come to the realization that fate didn't have a mate for her. As matriarch of the coven, her bossy grandmother had insisted. With a little help from some sparkling blue pixie dust, this just might be the Christmas fate gives her the present she's always wanted.

Warning: This title is intended for mature audiences only. It is a short holiday story with a lot of some snow-melting sex.

Continue the party with:

A Wolf's Fate - January 1, 2015
A Wolf's Desire - January 8, 2015

Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Shapeshifters, Paranormal Romance, Christmas, Magic, Holiday

49 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 24, 2014

Reviews

[Barbara➰ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pure smut

Safety Gang suppose to be a true mate story but h gets turned on by H's brothers when she meets them AFTER she was claimed by the H and they watched as H fucked her from behind and they were turned on and admiring her body. She didn't know they were watching but the H did. And then felt "tingling" down there when she met H's father later...WTF?

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love shifter romances and I thought it was fun that the author paired this with a holiday ball for the paranormal races to mingle and find their mates.

In this case, it is lonely, desolate curvy witch Amber and the new wolf alpha, Hayden. Whew! This one was quick and hot. Hayden is dominating and dirty sexy with his mating encounter with Amber.

Unapologetic in this erotic encounter and fast to the point, but there is a nice set up for a series with Hayden's brothers and other wolves.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are into a hot short story between a werewolf and his mate a witch, read this one.

Amber has to go to the annual ball but actually she doesn't like that. It is the ball where you could find your mate. But he didn't show up in former years, so why would he now?

Boy was she wrong. He is there and wanting her.
He also takes her to his room and what happens next is hot and not only because Amber puts on the fire.

Great hot and steamy read with humour

[Never Stop Reading or Dreaming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review

I thought this was a pretty good story. It got weird when they started bringing the other people into though but I liked it. I liked that he spoke to her before she could even see him.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. The perfect sexy and hot short story. I know there's a scene that some readers don't care for. But surprisingly, it didn't bother me. lol I thought it was hot. To each their own. 🤷🏿‍♀️

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great hot little read.



Amber Jones is a single witch and as such she's been told she must attend the annual Holiday Ball where humans and all types of supernatural beings go to try to find their mates or if not to have a bit of fun.
Amber is very curvy and not completely happy with her body which is why she's hiding in the corner not that this will stop her mate from finding her.
Her mate is Hayden Barringer the new alpha the host of this years holiday mate party and he's about to show Amber just how much he likes her body just the way it is.
As you'd expect this book has a lot of sex but it also had some great characters and I really enjoyed it, so much that when I've finished this I'm going straight onto 'Wolf's Fate'

[IrishAmber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was ok

I would've enjoyed more story, there wasn't much of that here. The majority of the book was the mating. So if that's what your looking for..........

[Pam Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of continuity issues

Warning mild spoilers….The continuity issues made me think the author cut and paste either from her own other stories or other authors…it definitely felt chopped up…

1) She’s hair free then a few pages later she’s not.

2) Domestic discipline is mentioned, but never actually happens…

3) Her powers are with plants, then suddenly she has other powers…

Many more, but these were the ones so blatantly obvious that any editor or author should have caught them…

[Mrs R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was short but packed in a lot of steam.

Amber is a witch who has been reluctantly attending the annual ball where shifters find their mate, but she's not found her's yet.

When Hayden finds his mate, he can't hold back from claiming her.

This was a fun and steamy read - a good introduction to more characters for the series.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talk about pure unadulterated lusty Alpha male wolf - there is nothing not to like here with Hayden Give Me Some More Barringer, and oh yes, I suppose Amber can come along for the ride. Very sexy, lusty, lusty short read. More please.

[Shawn-Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good set up and back story, but bad transitions and ended very shortly. Too much sub/dom for my taste: Hey your my mate let me smack you around a little bit. Missing consistency, they are calling out each others names during sex and then introducing themselves afterward.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot sexy well written

Short and sexy and completely well done. Sexy Wolf and witch togetherness. Little family invention along the way. Hot hot sensual scenes. Recommended for mature readers

[Trina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great shifter book

5/5🌟 this was a great read that enjoyed. I love a good fated mate shifter book and this was it. Had enought spice and claiming aspects to the book. Very easy to read. I would love to read the others in this series.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 27%

The constant POV switching with no warning was awful, also the choice to include POVs from characters outside of the main pairing is odd.

More concerning though, is that the FMC gets roofied by her GRANDMOTHER?!?!

[Fatimama · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to give it 3 stars but the heroine feeling a tingle for her mate's dad and brother was so squicky

[Deonne Lyness · Rating 4 out of 5]

The storyline was a bit scattered but the writing itself was good and the spicy scenes were super hot.

[Book Binge · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 68%
Decided to try to ignore the fact the the h was essentially drugged when they got together for the first time but then some nonconsensual voyeurism pushed me over the edge and I was done

[Deborah Countryman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Wolf's Claim

Amber a Witch came to Holiday Ball. Alpha Hayden Wolf Shifter also was in the ballroom watching his Fated Mate, Amber!

[Debra White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spicy

Loved the chemistry, the live, quick to take his mate , but too short, a little more between the lines was needed

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (7/11/2023)! 🎁

[Joe Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasant surprise!

This is a very up and coming author, someone who has done her research, 😉 😉 I really enjoyed this book. I can't wait to read the next one!

[sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

fast

Quick and cute read with lots of steam. Didn’t think mates could talk in each others heads until they mated, but these two did.

[Lori Laidlaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sexy and sweet Christmas love story with the added attraction of wolves with voracious appetites!

[C.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wolf’s claim

Instalove mating story. I liked the build up to the couple meeting no matter how brief. Seriously smutty middle with sweet ending.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a RIDE. This was a steamy whirlwind of a fated mate love story that still has my head spinning and my legs clenching. If only men were really like this and the idea of true mates was real. I am on to the next book in this series.

[M.K. McCollom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steamy

A quick short shifters holiday read. The story overall was really good just felt a little rushed and needed more.

[Jamoz23 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall easy coffee time reads.
Reviewing all three books together as they pretty much read as one book and I read them as one story.
I’ve read a lot of this authors books in various box sets. Found them to be enjoyable plot-line wise but lacking depth.
I was hoping to see that this author was growing in her writing.
Grabbed these through Kindle Unlimited as the blurb sounded fun and entertaining.
Found these short, lacking in real story but okay reads for books that are 80% sex, insta lust & insta love. I just actually like having more story with my sex.
Basically all three books flow and overlap with the ball as the backdrop.
All three heroines are big, curvy girls with lots to hold on to which the hero’s love. We get a witch with extra, a pixie of mixed DNA and a human.
All three are likeable with self-esteem issues due to their size.
The first two heroes are brothers. The first is the new alpha, the second has an emotional hurt caused by his job, the third male hero is the alpha of a different pack, the one that had a problem that hero two needed to deal with as an enforcer.
All have proofreading errors and there are even incorrect names used for characters.
1 - A WOLF’S CLAIM
Very short and flows into the following two brothers’ books.
Sex with little bit of story and just a bit nauseating and off-putting when the heroine Amber, gets turned on by looking at one of her new mates brothers and his father. Just yuk.
We also get an older couple, the mother and father of the H’s in book one. Though the time they are widowed differed twice.
This mature couple were once together as lovers years previously and get back together now both are widowed. They get very little explanation.
2 - A WOLF’S FATE
More sex than story again.
A bit of chubby spite commenting and jealousy from the skinny cousin of the heroine.
Did enjoy the public proposal but the comments on her big ass were rude.
Amber from book one is still getting turned on by looking at Gunnar. Just Yukky.
Missing words and spelling errors annoyed me. Lair instead of liar. Proofreading boo, boo. Hayden, when talking about Gunner, called his brother Gunner by his own name Hayden.
3 - A WOLF’S DESIRE
Liked that this was about Kade and that his mate is a human woman working as waitstaff.
Very very similar to previous two books as heroine does not believe she could be the mate of such a hottie.
Sex ensues before talking is done.

I get annoyed when the author of a series of books cannot keep her own characters names straight.
In book two Hayden called Gunner by his own name, Hayden. In book three, Hayden has apparently swapped his mate Amber, for Gunners mate Autumn.

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received this ARC from the author for a honest review*

Amber Jones is a witch from a very powerful covern but she does not take after the tall slender woman on that side of her family but from the human woman on her dads side. When it comes to men she has always been very insecure. Once a year they have a Christmas Ball. Where all kinds of shifter, witch, demon, vampire and ghost go to find their mate. But Amber doesn't think there is any point been dragged there as she doesn't think there is a mate for out there for her. That is until she keeps hearing a voice in her head. She thinks she's going crazy or she's had too much to drink. She soon realises thats it's neither and it's her mates. Hayden Barringer is alpha of his pack. He became alpha when his farther stepped down. He was so glad when he hosted the christmas ball this year and went all out as his mate is in attendance. She is curvy and beautiful and he goes in search of Amber so he can claim her. He takes her to his room so he and his wolf can claim whats theirs.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the storyline, it was a little different to the normal shifter story, and the characters. The only part I wasn't so sure or keen on was the mating scene. I'm not into voyeurism unless it's a menage. But this is my opinion and I'm sure others will love it!

[Ivy Deluca · Rating 2 out of 5]

**this review covers all three books in the series**

The Good, The Bad and Everything in Between
So, BBW heroines in shifter romances? Like catnip to me. Can’t resist them. Sometimes, I just want to roll around in glee, especially finding a good story with smutty goodness.

Other times, well, I feel like batting it around because I can’t get anything out of them. This series? Definitely batting material.

There was promise here in the premise, but the execution ended up being just smut, not alot of plot. Each novella was about 50-60 pages, and the page count includes excerpts for other stories. I like the way they interconnect, since they all take place around the same holiday ball. The best would be A Wolf’s Fate, as there is a tiny bit more about the hero’s trauma from having to put down a rogue enforcer. So, since it was more like one short novel if you include all the novellas together, and there’s not alot to distinguish each installment, I figured I’d give one review for them all.

The Bottom Line
Meh. High on smut, low on substance. If you’re looking for just a bit of sex without stuff like characterizations or plot to muck it up, this may work for you.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story had potential as a cute, steamy smut piece and the sex scenes were very well-crafted. Unfortunately, the editing and lack of storytelling really killed my enjoyment of the short story. Note to author: a canopy is like an awning--people don't eat canopies, they eat canapés. I'm also not sure how someone sounds like a loin, but a character in the story does. There were multiple mistakes of this type that simple spell-check won't catch because the words were spelled right, but people trying to read the stories do catch because it's the wrong word. It also read like someone just wanted to write 'the good stuff' and slapped in some setting and characters to set the scene. There was potential there for an actual romance, what was delivered was what is referred to as a PWP (plot, what plot?). I didn't detract stars for the fact that it was simply a PWP, that's just a disappointment in the author since there's obviously talent there, just no effort. Two stars I detracted for the clumsy storytelling and bad editing; I took another star for the creepy factor of having an 18 year old younger brother watching Amber and Hayden consummate the mating.>...