Following Chance

Shifters of Greymercy #1

by Kiska Gray

Huxley

On a rainy April day, exactly one year after my mate's death, I take flowers to his grave--and come face-to-face with his twin. The fox's eyes are haunted things, an Omega on the run from his past. Homeless and broke and on the verge of his heat, he needs help. What kind of Alpha would I be if I turned him away?

Chance I'm so tired of running. When my brother's mate offers me a place to stay, I can't turn him down. I have nowhere else to go, but accepting Huxley's help means I'm putting him and his family in danger. When Bones finds me, he'll slaughter anyone in his path. My savior seems so certain that he can keep me safe. I hope he's right, because there's a life growing inside of me now and every day I spend in Huxley's arms gives me hope for a future. For a forever... Following Chance is a 38,000 word shifter Mpreg with no cliffhangers or cheating. Every book in the Shifters of Greymercy series stands alone and comes with a guaranteed HEA.

Genres: Paranormal, M M Romance, Romance, Fantasy, Shapeshifters, Omegaverse, LGBT

142 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2018

Reviews

[Len Evans Jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The story was a good balance of suspense and love story. The cast of characters was well-developed, especially the two MCs. Over all a very enjoyable romance.

[annob [on hiatus] · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the beginning—how the MCs first met. The romance between the pair peaked quite early in the plot, and the remainder of the storyline wasn't able to hold my attention.

[haletostilinski]

*sigh* I can't really rate this. Why are there so many more misses with mpreg than hits? It's quite sad.

I can't truly rate this, though, because from basically the beginning of this I was skimming it and was bored with it. I went and re-read my fave parts of another book just to take a break from this. I couldn't get into it.

There was just something about the writing, the characters - and exactly what I saw in other reviews, how Chance was Charlie's twin brother - Charlie was Huxley's mate who died the year before - and these two fell almost instantly and it was weird and uncomfortable, especially when for the most part these two glossed over the fact that Chance was Charlie's twin and they had sex quickly and he got pregnant quickly and they just became so happy right away and it just...didn't click for me.

I did skim a lot too so I can't speak for the whole book, but of what I did read it was just silly and ridiculous and I didn't feel anything much for these characters. I was just bored. And the plot line of the abusive Alpha coming for Chance was whatever and I just...this story didn't grab my attention, at all.

I mostly want to just move on and forget it and that doesn't say much about this. I just didn't care for it. *shrug*

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet and sugary with lots of hurt/comfort.

I thought this had some good parts, but also some WTF moments.

Huxley lost his mate, Charlie, just a year ago, and he was just fine with falling in love with Charlie’s twin brother? Chance did ask Huxley if he liked him because he looked like Charlie, but I still felt as if it wasn’t addressed like it should have. Especially because I felt that Chance and Huxley didn’t spend all that much time together without Chance being scared and needing protection. That is not a good basis for a relationship.

And Chance also mentioned Charlie being killed by Chance’s alpha, but Huxley kind of swept that under the rug. He didn’t even contemplate going after the man who killed his deceased mate, and abused his new one. Now that was just weird.

So while this had some lovely hurt/comfort moments, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have because of the twin thing. If Chance would have been unrelated to Charlie this would have worked better. Now I expected it to be weird between them at first, and it wasn’t, and that was what made it weird again.

Was this a case of just trade in the dead twin for the new one?

[Rachel Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first book I have read from this author and overall, I enjoyed it. I did feel like the romance was a bit rushed (and especially in regards to Chance being twins with Charlie, who was Huxley's mate, it seemed a bit quick for them to get together, almost a bit of lacking in respect to Charlie?).

I also always find it weird when shifters can shift with clothes on - where do the clothes go? It's little details like that, that sometimes stick out for me as a reader. Still, I enjoyed the mpreg part of the story and I'm going to read the second book in the series, since it's Soren!

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A fun super quick read that was just what I was expecting. This isn’t getting a higher rating not because I didn’t enjoy it or anything. It’s just because I’ve read stuff like this before and this one didn’t blow me away enough to get a higher rating.

There were a lot of time jumps in this that made it seem like the story was moving super quickly which isn’t super surprising given that this book is under 200 pages. The relationship was definitely a bit insta-lovey so if that’s not your thing maybe skip this. However, I personally am very forgiving of insta love in a books with a mates/soulmates element because I know that sort of part of the deal.

The characters in this were cute. I liked the way Huxley and Chance fit together and I liked the side characters of Dresden and Soren. I usually like or at least don’t mind children from previous relationships in my romance as long as they aren’t throw away characters and I think for the most part Dresden wasn’t but it was definitely a bit of a plot convenience to have Soren always available to watch him so that Huxley and Chance can do whatever they want without worrying about the child.

I think some people may not love that Huxley was formerly in a relationship with Chances twin brother and then gets into a relationship with Chance but I personally am not super bothered by plot points like that but it is something to keep in mind.

Overall I enjoyed my time reading this. It was super quick, I finished in about an hour, and I would consider picking up other books in this series if I wanted something like this in the future.

[Xiomara · Rating 2 out of 5]

3.0

I don’t know I feel like this relationship was too fast-paced for me. I year had barely passed when he decided to move on with is dead mates twin. Supposedly he just wanted to help him because it would had been his dead mate wish. Suddenly it switch to the sleeping together and claimed him as his mate. I did not felt a love connection between them. I feel like he was trying to replaces his dead mate with his twin brother.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. So much hurt and angst and comfort and it was wonderful.

I enjoyed this book a lot. The writing was good and the angst was on point. I really felt for both Chance and Huxley and I thought their relationship was so beautiful. I like the whole ‘coming together through a tragedy’ was really well done and it made their connection that much deeper.

Chance’s story and how he starts off in the beginning was so heartbreaking. He’s still grieving his brother’s death and also on the run from his abusive boyfriend. Hearing about the things he had to endure with his ex before he escaped was so hard to read. He definitely changes and goes through wonderful development in the end.

Huxley was such an attentive and loving alpha. I loved his character. He’s so loving and loyal. I loved his relationship with his brother and his son (who was absolutely adorable). He was so patient and kind with Chance and was really there for him and helped him so much.

This was so great and I really enjoyed it.

[Wax · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I did like the story overall. Just a few niggles that brought it down to a 3 star read for me. One is that I feel like the story behind Charlie (Chance's brother and Huxley's mate) was never really resolved. Both Chance and Huxley have been in mourning for him and though his death is mentioned obliquely we never really get the whole story. And as it was something so major in the background, I just felt cheated when the ending occurred and we never really heard more about it. Also, the relationship between Chance and Huxley did move a bit fast for me given that Chance is Huxley's dead mate's twin. I did like Huxley's brother and am rooting for his happy ending.

[Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 Sterne
Nicht perfekt, aber richtig schön. Ein richtiges Wohlfühlbuch mit ein bisschen Drama, Sex und Action.

[Ashley Martinez (ilovebooksandstuffblog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following Chance

A very sweet and sexy second chance/ shapeshifter romance with mpreg, a bit of action and a protective sweet alpha.

[Penumbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following Chance is the first book in the ‘Shifters of Greymercy’ series. The main characters are Huxley, a wolf shifter, and Chance, a fox shifter. The story is told in first person from both Huxley and Chance’s povs.



This is a new to me author so I don’t know if the style of writing in this story is the usual way this author writes. It’s quite fast considering the topics covered. It’s not a deep emotional story because it only touches on key points in short bursts and then those points are quickly solved. The plot covers a lot of events and a lot of shifter tropes. There’s the death of a mate, instant lust, knotting, mental, physical and sexual abuse, mpreg and a few more I’ve forgotten.

The blurb does a pretty decent job of explaining the plot. Adding a bit more info, Huxley has been widowed a year. He was married to Chance’s twin brother. Visiting his dead mate’s grave, he finds Chance and takes Chance home. Chance is in bad shape. He’s been severely abused by his ex, Bones, who is a werewolf and Bones’ gang of hangers-on. Huxley is immediately drawn to Chance and realizes that Chance is his mate. Chance is afraid Bones will find him and destroy Huxley, his son, and Huxley’s brother who all live together. The story progresses with Huxley proving he’s dependable, Chance going into heat, Chance learning to trust Huxley and then Chance getting pregnant, followed with Bones showing up. From the time Huxley finds Chance until Chance gives birth takes a few months.

One of the thoughts I had was, how could Huxley fall so quickly for Chance if Huxley already had a previous mate? I realized, that’s us as humans thinking that Huxley could only have one mate, or that shifters could only have one mate. In fact, nothing says that shifters can’t have more than one mate and the way ‘Fate’ works in their world could function in any way the author wishes. Huxley and Chance are not humans, it’s our human misconception that makes the erroneous judgment of only one mate.

But there was a major issue I had with the relationship. It’s sort of the ‘Magical Pe**s’ syndrome. Huxley helps Chance through his heat and suddenly a lot of Chance’s fear of Huxley is gone and he starts to find his place in Huxley’s family. In reality, if someone was as terribly abused as Chance was, as an example he’d likely flinch and duck any time Huxley raised a hand to just scratch his head. I certainly couldn’t see Chance wanting to be touched that much after his heat was over. Even an abused animal takes more than a few months to recover and Chance recovers far, far too quickly and I found that to be the major problem in this story. It was too unbelievable.

Finally, there were some instances during the pregnancy that reminded me too much of female pregnancy. For some reason the vast majority of mpreg authors can’t come up with original ideas on how an omega deals with pregnancy. I can’t imagine them giving birth to a child out their butts, especially with the size of a child’s head. In this instance I believe the author had someone say the baby was crowning. This type of error is too close to an M/F story.

Overall, Following Chance was an okay read. There were a lot of shifter tropes, and I’d add a warning of topics of abuse and the return of the abuser at the end of the story. Chance recovers too quickly from his past abuse so that it’s highly unrealistic. The pregnancy is too close to M/F fiction which isn’t what I want to read. I want to read a unique omega pregnancy not something similar to human birth. Because of these issues, I won’t continue with this series unless later books are free. I give this book, 3 Stars.

[Deb Swietek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your late husband's twin needs your help. Can you find a second chance love?

What a wonderful first book in a new series. I was pulled into this world from the first pages. The characters are well thought out and intriguing. The story has it all: a strong Alpha, an omega in trouble, a loyal brother, a vengeful, abusive ex, an adorable little boy, an unexpected pregnancy, and steamy scenes. Oh, and HEA. What's not to love!
Huxley lost his mate a year ago. Going to lay flowers on his grave, he finds a ghost instead. Chance, his late mate's twin. Chance is running from his abusive ex. He doesn't want to endanger Hux and his family. But Hux insists Chance stay with them. His brother Soren and son Dresden, both want him to stay. Chance can't believe how kind Hux is. An intense heat changes their dynamic. Oh, you are going to love this book!
As Hux and Chance strive toward their HEA, the past rears it's ugly head. The danger is real. Courage will surface. And love will conquer all. You have to Get. This. Book. Now!
This book contains adult themes and language, mm sex and is intended for mature readers only.

[Claudia Lezár · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5*

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:
A 3,5* is clicked with a 4* but in review marked as 3,5*:

5* - very very good and rare (it would be a Blow-Away-book like ‘Jesse's Smile’ or ‘Joey’ from Angelique Jurd, ‘Save the the kids’ series
from EM Leya, ‘Love’s Tethered Heart’ from C.L. Etta or ‘Liberty’ from Seth King),
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often reread and is a WOW-book with interesting plot and surprises (like most of Andrew Grey books and Davidson Kings 'Haven Hart'-series)
it's like an A

3,5* - a really good book, which will be reread a few times (most romances where you can enjoy for relaxing and during waiting times in
hospitals). I can recommend them definitively!
It's like an B+

3* - it could be more then a one-time-reader (2-3 times a year),
it's like a B

2* - it was ok to read, but it's more a one-time-reader (I wouldn't recommend it heartily, but it was ok)
It's like a C-, D

1* - sorry, but that isn't really a book for me (too many mistakes, not nice plot, illogical, so an absolute NO-GO). It's like failure in the
whole line, dismissed, repeat the class

[MagnusLR · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needs a lot of work. Might return for refund

So, the plot is really interesting, cliche but quite good on it's own. The characters are lovable and you can feel their fears and dreams, so you want to cheer for their happiness. But the structure fails, the dialogues sometimes feel odd, the sexual intercourse is rushed and awkward, taking in consideration how traumatized the kid is. Every character has a story, none is really explained or developed and you end up with more questions that answer without the desire to buy the next one. The book feels like it was written by two people, one with a good vocabulary and passing, and another with the thought process of a fanfiction aficionado of probably 12 years of age and the eagerness of one. I would like to say it's a hot mess but is not even that. I think it's a diamond in the ruff and it would have been amazing if the author worked more on it.

[Danielle Gypsy Soul · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. I struggled with this one a bit. The whole idea of Huxley falling for his dead husband's twin brother was just a bit weird. Then I felt like Chance could have been written as a woman - not much made him stand out as a man. There was just too much crying for me. I admit I also struggle with MPreg during the whole birth scene when they were talking about the baby crowning I just kept trying to figure out where the baby was crowing? Was he giving birth out of his ass? I don't know - it's just weird.

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

New author for me. Glad I took the chance. Loved the characters, glad this is part of a series. The story goes on and I am so looking forward to it. I laughed, cried and almost closed the bedroom door. lol. I am quite happy at finishing Chance, which to be honest I usually get depressed when I finished a book. A couple of things were different for my concept but I will leave that up to other readers to find if we share same thoughts at a later date.

[ChuiB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classical romance, a bit of angst, a bit of fluff, the cute starved-for-love omega and the widowed alpha that has been grieving for so long...

A quick read for those seeking comfort after a more dark book, like me. I would have liked to have more shifter-action-appearances (not sex, but interaction and cuteness), because sometimes I forgot this was not a contemporary book, but a shifter Mpreg romance.

Overall I enjoyed it. Peace.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The plot jumps a bit. It's never clear what Charlie was trying to do to save Chance that cost him his life. I know that's not a huge part of the story, but a little more background would have been helpful to me. Maybe there is a novella or short story that addresses that story point.

Otherwise, this was a good story. The bad guys are dealt with appropriately and the good guys come through everything essentially intact. I look forward to the next one.

[Alexis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh this book wasn’t that good I DNF at 22%. It had potential but I felt like chance was just a replacement for his brother. I wish they didn’t look the same maybe that would have made me feel the connection more. I felt like Huxley just suddenly fell for a man that looked, acted, and basically was a clone of his husband. I’m usually a fan of instant love but this was boring.

[Davina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was wonderful. I enjoyed Huxley and Chance's relationship. I love how Chance treated Dresden like his own son. There were a few grammatical errors and I wish that the author had included Huxley and Chance's marking. Hopefully, we get to see how Soren and Huxley got to be living without a pack in Loving Soren.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

☺ Enjoyable. HAPPY READING!☺

😃 I just finished reading FOLLOWING CHANCE by Kiska Gray; it is the first book in the SHIFTERS OF GREYMERCY series. I enjoyed this book. It was a quick read with a happy ending which left me with happy feelings after I finished reading it.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet tale of love lost and found

Following Chance was a sweet heart rendering book about loss and love found. The characters Chance and Huxley were great, the storyline entertaining.

[Marjorie Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

This was my first time reading Kriska Gray and I’m glad I gave it a chance. It was well written and it had funny moments, sad moments and a lot of love. I’m looking forward to Soren’s book.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really writing, in a fairly formulaic shifter novel. The emphasis is on the "comfort" part of hurt/comfort so if you want to read about sad omega Chance being gently cared for by a perfect Alpha, this is a nice diverting read.

[RomanceMama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

I really did like it. But I wish it was longer and more detailed. It didn’t really talk about what happened to Charlie.

[Vintage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute shifters!,

If you love a hurt/comfort shifter MPREG story, then you will really enjoy this book. I plan on buying the next one.

[Katy Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing

This is the first book i have read by this author and i have to say i really enjoyed reading it.

[Li Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

New to this author after reading one of her stories in a collect I decided to give it a try and I’m so glad I did I loved this story and highly recommend it

[Jane (PS) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute sweet story of two MC shifters, one wolf one fox. Both in need of help and love. I enjoyed it; it was easy to read and I would read the next book should it pop up on my radar....