Mating Claire

Sea Island Wolves #1

by Jenny Penn

[Siren Classic: Erotic Paranormal Romance, Demons, Werewolves]

Following the trail of a serial killer and a demon, Claire Hallowell arrives in Wilsonville, SC. As difficult as her case is, it is the small town police chief with his easy smiles and blatant sexuality that threatens Claire's highly structured world.

Arrogant and cocky, Derek Jacob knows his mate when he meets her. As the Alpha of the Narian Pack, Derek is not about to let anything stop him from claiming Claire.

Claire might fight it, but there is no denying the instantaneous heat between them. Sex comes easy while trust comes harder for the couple with secrets to hide. Follow Claire and Derek's journey to overcome the obsessive attention of a demon and killer to find love.

**A Siren Erotic Romance

Cover Art by Jinger Heaston

Genres: Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Erotica, Erotic Romance, Werewolves

255 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2008

About the author

Throughout my life, I’ve always been an avid reader. Reading fed my need to dream and fantasize about what could be. As a latchkey kid I’d spend hours at the library earning those shiny stars the librarian would paste up on the board after my name.

I credit my grandmother’s yearly visits as the beginning of my obsession with romances. When she’d come, she’d bring stacks of romance books, the old fashioned kind that didn’t have sex in them. Imagine my shock when I went to the used bookstore and found out what really could be in a romance novel.

I’ve been writing stories for years and have found a particular love of erotic romances. In this genre, women are no longer confined to a stereotype and plots are no longer constrained to the rational. I love the anything goes mentality and letting my imagination run wild.

I hope you enjoyed running with me and will consider picking up another book and coming along for another adventure.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under an alias, Claire Hallowell arrives in Wilsonville, SC looking for the link to a set of serial killings claiming young women. Branded by a demon, Claire was forced out of the FBI but is working with another group who handles the more paranormal side of investigations. So far, with the help of her ghost Claire had not discovered to much except her boss, the Sheriff was lazy.

The first day they are supposed to work together, he is late. When Claire finally meets Derek Jacob, he is rude, crude, and makes it perfectly clear he wants her. Claire is not interested though, she has had more than enough trouble with men to last a lifetime, especially since the last one marked her.

Derek knows that Claire is his mate. His first impression though did not go well and she finds him repulsive, at least that is is what she is telling him but he can smell her desire. Of course he can also smell she is not being completely truthful about who she is. Now Derek has his hands full of his temperamental mate and a heck of a problem when he finds out the demon wants Claire as his own.

I thought I had read this before, but not completely sure. I thought this was pure hot fun. Derek is a bad boy to the core but Claire is his equal in every way, she is not having any of his games but she doesn't quite realize he intends to make her his mate. I hope there is more coming in this series soon.

[Meghan Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this book, because I love anthology story lines and I adore Jenny Penn. The story itself was exactly what I had expected, though the character lines were fuzzy at best. What was incredibly distracting though were all the errors. Seriously, whoever the editor for this book was should be found and fired. By Page 40, I was fighting the back the urge to find a red pen and get to work on editing. By page 100, I was fighting to keep from redlining the book and then sending it back to the publisher demanding a refund. I became so fixated on all the grammatical and story errors that it was completely distracting from enjoying the overall book. I still don't know why the FBI agents (Agent Yankovic? Really?) were calling Claire/Dorothy Miss Cory? And who is Claire's editor - on one page, it's Melinda and on the very next page it's Sally. I thought Sally was the one hanging on JD? And what's the deal with Kate? Is she actually Kathleen, because when they were in Kathleen's bedroom, there was a hint of a suggestion to that possibility, but it was never really answered. Nothing against Ms. Penn, but this story seriously needs to be taken back up and revised/re-edited.

[ValerieC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading again. For some reason, I was thinking about re-reading this series, but forgot who wrote it. Not easy to find again in a huge list... hence so many shelves because 400 werewolves are easier to browse through than a huge mass of 'read' books, lol.

It seriously needs to be edited. Lots of italicized areas that shouldn't be. Unfortunately, there's also too much smex (even the h says so, lol), but it's a Siren book and that's their stock in trade. At least she puts in every one of the things they pretty much require in their books, so if you aren't reading just for a good story, it should be good.

So - on a second reading, I'm reducing from 4 stars to 3. This is because of the lack of editing.

February 13 - 14, 2016
January 8 - 9, 2011

[Fatimama · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this coz I love shifter mates. However, the zero was a manwhore. He was sleeping around before meeting the heroine and he was such a dick that he didn’t properly break off with his on-off gf? before mating the heroine. Of course, he also didn’t believe the heroine when she said that his ex was the serial killer. What a dick.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting paranormal romance, with werewolves, Vampires, demons, ghosts, sorcerers and priestesses. It had a good mystery storyline. I loved the different supernatural creatures in this book, I loved the mystery of trying to find the demonic killer and the female killer of Kathleen Harper although I must say was quite obvious who it was and why from the very first moment of meeting her. But an enjoyable book to read nonetheless.




Claire Hallowell was an FBI agent once until she got tricked by a demon named Agakior and it was resulted in a large amount of deaths. Left branded by the demon it gave her psychic powers. She joined a secret organisation the masters of Cerberus that track down supernatural threats. She’s looking for a demonic killer in the small South Carolina town of Wilsonville. She’s undercover posing as Dorothy the police chief assistant who she knows is a werewolf his over sexuality and attraction to her infuriates her despite her being attracted to him too, everytime they kiss leads to more which she regrets doing convinced he only wants sex, Derrick will have his hands full convincing his mate he wants more than sex but keeps acting like a horn dog much to the amusement of Kate a ghost and Dorothy’s partner on the case. Things get more complicated when Agakiar rears his ugly head in the picture and the fact that Derrick is connected to one of the missing girls an ex girlfriend who was pregnant Kathleen Harper. Derrick and Claire grow closer and open up about their secrets, she finds the demon killer and has her friends Sasha a priestess, Harold a sorcerer and Deik a vampire get rid of it. She discovers Carolyn a longtime on and off friends with benefits of Derrick is Kathleen Harpers killer out of her obsession with him Claire is shot but survives but Derrick feels extremely guilty that he didn’t believe her concerns about Carolyn being the killer. They mate and she turns into a wolf, her dream of becoming a writer comes true when her book she’s been writing is going to be published.

[Mspink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claire is undercover working on a murder case posing as the Sheriff's assistant. Derek (the sheriff and wolf pack leader) immediately knows this is his mate so the story is about him fighting to win her and work through their miscalculations about each other...and also solve a murder mystery. The feelings are intense and mutual. But there are many obstacles and problems that pop up and stand in their way of ultimately coming together.

HOWEVER, none of that stands in the way of the HOT HOT HOT attraction and steamy encounters they have together. Derek is extremely alpha male; incredibly protective and possessive of Claire. It just adds to his extreme sexiness. Lots of interesting secondary characters as well. Some supernatural as well as human...


Of course in the end Love conquers all and things fall in to place as they should. This is a wonderfully written book. Lots of action, Love, sex, intrigue, humor, and LOADS of "werewolf love". I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Lots of fun elements to the story. I want a werewolf of my own now!! Well done JP!!

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An undercover investigator, Claire is a former FBI agent who has been inadvertently "marked" by a demon. She is now sent into a little town in So. Carolina whose chief of police is the Alpha of his pack--the citizenry being mostly shape-shifters. He has found his mate--he knows this the minute he walks back into the station house after has vacation and finds his new personal assistant there. Claire isn't really jazzed about being the object of the chief's ogling. She needs to find the serial killer who has been responsible for 26 deaths of young pregnant women over a period of years. A fun read with a pushy and totally Alpha werewolf, a mouthy and sassy investigator, a jeolous sometimes-girlfriend, a paranormal team of investigative support for Claire--all just very humorous and fun to get to know.

[Iris · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself was OK, no problems, although a little bit cliché, i didn't have any problems with it.
I did have a problem with the more "intimate" scenes. It wasn't real for me as some words were used too much and i just skipped them all after the first two. They were also too long for my taste. Normally i don't have problems with them, but 10 pages was a little bit too much of it. I'm more for a good story and some than almost no story and too much ;) Other than that it was just the usual werewolf story, with some interesting new aspects. But i won't be reading the rest of this series since the intimate scenes will probable be the same.

[Critterlovr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story itself was good. Liked the characters and how it all played out.
It introduced additional characters that I assume will be in future books in the series.

I took off 1-star for the grammatical, spelling, and proofing errors. It seemed to get worse the further into the book it went, and started to become a bit distracting.

Off to download the 2nd book now!

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mating Claire is the first book in Jenny Penn's "Sea Island Wolves" series. I enjoyed it so much that I will definitely continue to read the next book in the series.

The dialog in this book was highly entertaining. I laughed out loud a few times while reading. The hero and heroine were complete opposites personality wise, yet Ms. Penn made them a perfect match for each other. Their banter back and forth was one of my favorite aspects of the book. In addition to the romance there was suspense and mystery thrown into the mix. I just love a book that can throw all of that in there and not be overwhelming. Mating Claire did just that.

I always look forward to reading novels by Jenny Penn since I love her writing style so much. Mating Claire lived up to (and possibly surpassed my expectations). I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to readers who enjoy adult romance and/or werewolf shifter stories.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would just like to say when i bought this book i expected a book soley based around a couple trying to get together and sex lots and lots of sex. While these things are in this book. There is a really good story as well. Shifters, demons, serial killers a ghost called Kate and FBI agents all are in this book. In fact at one stage I wanted to bypass the sex to get to the storyline. That wasn't because the sex was shit either, it was because I was intrigued to see what the demon was up to or what the conniving bitchy ( possibly serial killer) ex girlfriend would doo next. So to say I was very pleasantly surprised is a understatment. I really do love you jenny Penn. Your cattlemens club is what brought us together, I really believe this series may cement you in my must read author list. Great job.

[Dar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decided to have a re-read of the series and glad I did - I forgot how good and naughty Derek and Claire were!! Derek is his packs alpha and way too good looking, and way to used to have women fall at his feet, and way to used to getting his own way without question,and then he meets Claire. Poor Claire, she has had a hard life, lost her job as an FBI agent under a cloud of suspicion, marked by a demon to be hauled to hell, and has a ghost following her around giving her a sarcastic sound track to her life, and then she meets Derek. As much as she wants, Claire can't resist Derek and Derek recognizes Claire as his mate and won't give up. Paranormal and traditional law enforcement work together to straighten out this mess that has been following Claire's life and, unknowingly, Derek's

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claire Hallowell is under investigation after her last job at the FBI wend sideways, now working undercover with a new job she finds herself investigating a serial killer and working at a small town sheriff's department. Everything was going well, that is until she meet Derek Jacob the local Sheriff. Now she finds herself distracted from her case and in danger of losing all self control whenever Derek is around.

So really short there but I have to say that I was really impressed with this book. For the genre your expecting sex, and you do get quite a lot of it. But you also get a working and functional plot for the story as well. This story would have done just fine as a stand alone but i'm interested in seeing how the series plays out as well. In the end 4 stars!

[Laurielu Bona Fide Reflections · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew!! I am still fanning myself. This is one HOT werewolf read. Claire is undercover for a supernatural investigative company. She is looking into the mysterious disappearance of women who all share physical characteristics. She meets her mate, Derek - Chief of Police - while she is on her undercover mission. This novel is equal parts steamy loving (that is an understatement) and mystery. Despite some of the typos, I liked this story. I need to check out some more of this author's books.

Happy Reading from Bona Fide Reflections!

[Ti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent storyline. My one beef here is that there is no notice anywhere that this book contains pain, spanking, anal, bondage, blindfolding..at the very least it should have been noted that this book contains moderate BDSM. Moderate since the heroine is noted to experience significant pain and discomfort from what ensues.

My personal opinion of those aside, as a survivor of rape and abuse, I am turned off of an author or a series when this is not noted. I find it detracts from my enjoyment of the book. Big Time.

[Lisa M]

Derek is the werewolf police chief of a small town. Claire/Dorothy, who is branded by a demon and therefore has some psychic powers, goes undercover as his assistant to solve some serial murders.

This was a dnf for me. Maybe the author thought she was making Claire "strong," but I thought she was just mean and nasty. I got about halfway into the book before deciding that wasn't going to change anytime soon, and quit.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story wasn't so bad, even though the heroine got super annoying. Having sex then being a bitch over and over again is tiresome, and don't beg for it then call him a perv. The editing was atrocious. It was hard to concentrate on the story with mistakes on every other line. I ended up skimming the ending, I just didn't care by the time I got to the end.

[Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend recommended this book for me and when I read the summary I was a bit hesitant. I was actually surprised how good it was. The book was very entertaining. I probably won't read the next book. I expected this book to have erotic scenes hence it is a erotic book, but for me, there was an obnoxious amount. The book for me would have been better if they focused more on the story line.

[Charlotte Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was a delicious combination of erotica with some serious paranormal thrown in! The demon was scary as hell, and the sex was hot...female lead was very easy to identify with. Nice touches of humor as well.

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hot smut scenes but felt that a lot of important details were missing from the plot....and I don't mind when that happens but mostly it's a short book, This one was not and it was confusing and looked like there where previous books before this story... Meh!

[Martha]

Kindle Edition.

[Ladonna Alexander · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not care for this book. I refused to finish it.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flirty, sexy, and fun. Some interesting characters and clever plot made this an interesting read. Derek and Claire were hot. :)

[Rudhradev · Rating 3 out of 5]

full of sexiness. to be frank it was a bit like castle show. but nonthles it was good

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like it, enjoyable read. :)

[Varied Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

H is an asshole

[Serenity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Mating Claire enough to buy Jenny Penn's second book in the series, Taming Samantha and I'm glad I did. I think Mating Claire was a good read, but overall #2 in the Sea Island Wolves was better.

[ML Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light read, little more over the top than usual. Typo's in the book were frustrating but an easy read.