Mating Tempest

Paranormal Wars: Stone Haven #7

by Shea Balik, Harris Channing (Illustrator)

Even though E. J. Jennings was forced to fight for the psy, he never believed that violence was the answer. In fact, the very thought of causing harm made him sick.

Strafe Winchester learned early on that violence was a part of life. He didn’t enjoy it, but he never shied away from it. If inflicting pain on the bad guys saved innocent lives, Strafe would make sure to inflict as much pain as possible.

Strafe and E. J. were from different worlds, yet they must find a way to compromise if they have any chance to make their mating work. As they struggled to find common ground they started to realize that their rigid views aren’t as black and white as they believed. Will they be able to find a shade of gray where they can be happy or are they destined to live apart?

WARNING: Graphic violence and torture

PLEASE NOTE: This is the second edition of this title. Although it has be re-edited there are no significant changes to the story.

Genres: M M Romance, Paranormal, Futuristic

114 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2015

About the author

Bestselling author of the Cedar Falls Series, Hart Medical Center Series, Miracle Series, and Paranormal Wars Series, Shea Balik has always had a vivid imagination with stories running around in her head. Often her stories are taken from observations of other people with her own spin.

Traveling is one of her favorite ways of fulfilling her passion of people watching. You never know, one day you may spark her imagination for her next book.

Whether at home or traveling she is usually in front of her computer writing or curled up with a good book.

Reviews

[Hc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure where I stand on this.

EXTREME VIOLENCE and TORTURE... magic word.. Torture. There's a lot of it going around here.

EJ's refusal to back down from what he sees as right... Well.. seems like he's the only one getting shit over it. Strafe isn't innocent for crying out loud. I kept waiting on him to tell EJ about his past and why that colored how HE thought of the subject of torture but..nope didn't happen. They may have gone a way to bring them together faster.

Oh and there's like.. no sex until the end. Frankly, while waiting on SOMETHING to happen, I still had issues with THEM not having issues. Or at least EJ, seeing as he was recently tortured. No flashbacks no emotional baggage..

And, the mystery of little blond girl and how she knew where Strafe was. Let's turn this long overdue completed mating into an instant family right after finally doing the deed.

The most unromantic of the series. The most..intense?.. book. Definitely not a fluff, and probably not on my re-read list for sure.
2.5 ???????

Oh... and what was EJ's psy power??

[Karlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

sehr spannend geschrieben,
viel Action, etwas Drama, etwas Erotik,
hat Spass gemacht dieses Buch zu lesen

[Candy Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Awesome book love this series as well as all of shea Balik books can't wait for more of any of her books or series

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

so good

[andrea moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

PW stone haven 7

I’m still enjoying this paranormal series with shifters, mystics and psy created by the gods to help heal the earth but of course it didn’t go to plan

[Gabrielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

aburrido

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3 ½ - 4 Hearts

This book is part of a series and should be read in order. This series also coincides with events happening in the Paranormal Wars: Juarez series.

E.J. has been taken prisoner by an evil leader of the Psy. For the past two weeks he has been physically and sexually abused. When the general decides to have some friends over he makes E.J. the main entertainment E.J. knows he is not going to live through it. Strafe has been sent in to rescue E.J. since he is a friend of the alpha mate. Once there he quickly realizes E.J. is his mate.

I actually liked both Strafe and E.J. I could see their individual points of view and understood where both were coming from with their beliefs. What I didn't like about their conflict was how they went about it. They were both very rigid in their personal belief. Neither saw a way to overcome them and make it work. However I do think E.J. was wrong in what he did. But Strafe was not without his blame.

That being said they very much care for each other and when they finally pulled their heads out of their asses they worked very well together. And they were pretty damn hot. Plus I liked the special surprise at the end making them complete.

The overall story arc about the war between the Alliance and the Psy is going strong. This book reveals even more about the true evil the Psy are committing in their quest. It was pretty sad to read about their experiments and the depths they will go.
This series keeps getting more and more interesting to me. Each book gives a bigger picture of what the Alliance is facing and I can’t wait to read more.

I wanted to include a bit of a warning. There are some intense and descriptive scenes of physical and sexual torture. It was not pretty and is not meant to be. It was not listed in the warnings on the purchase site, so I figured I would give my own as I know some readers do have issues with such things.

* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *

[Kizmet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like how this book started out even though it was bloody and graphic. Which I believe this book should have had a warning for, by the way. But about halfway through, it down spiraled for me fast. I really don't understand how it turned out being all of E.J.'s fault when it came to the uncompleted mating. I like how E.J. stood by his morals and when everyone basically attacked him for it was something I didn't agree with.

I think E.J. should have been more willing to compromise but the same can be said for Strafe. Both were at fault for what happened. When Strafe asked E.J. to say with him even though they didn't share the same beliefs and E.J. said he couldn't. I don't understand how E.J. was the one to walk away, when Strafe turned around and left E.J right there and wouldn't talk to him after that moment. Strafe did everything he could to stay away from E.J., if anything Strafe was the one to walk away from the mating instead of E.J. (in my opinion)

I don't understand why Strafe didn't explain why he had his beliefs to someone that was obviously lacking in knowledge of the subject. I also think since E.J. had just been through a traumatic experience had a big part in why E.J. didn't like the idea of torture. Overall, it was as if everyone was saying that E.J. was wrong for what he believed in and used guilt to make him sway in his beliefs. Instead, it should have been that they both had their beliefs, but that shouldn't stop them from talking and figuring how why they feel the way they did. Nope, it was just that E.J. was wrong so he had to beg for forgiveness from Strafe, though the reason for their differing opinions was still left unsolved.

*Sigh* I don't understand this at all! Plus what was E.J.? He was psy but what was his power? I felt a lot of it was left unfinished and the book went into a direction that didn't have a purpose. I am very disappointed.

[sm84 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, it's not that I didn't like this book but the way everyone treated E.J. made me want to scream. My biggest issue with this book was that too me Ian seemed like a bully I used to really like his character but after this book I find it hard to ever want to read about him again because he was such a jerk.
Furthermore, with the exception of Seth no-one bothered to talk to E.J. or anything it was all about how HE should change to accommodate Strafe yet not once did it occur to ANYONE to have Strafe try to understand his mate...just no...

[Nikko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not liked this one so much!! Coz the couple spent more time apart than together... Didn't liked that.. And the scene where E.J's nipple was tortured. Oh my goodness, I can literally feel the pain.. =(

[Ericka Walden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably one of my favorites in this series

[Toofan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first half was really interesting, unlike the second half which wouldn't have been too bad if it had not made the mating sound like something every body was trying to force on E.J, without letting him having a say in it and the constant emphasis on E.J being wrong for thinking logically and honoring his values. I really found it irritating. And Ian's behavior was beyond disgusting. I really wished E.J would have beaten the living daylight out of him. There were many things which were wrong from psychological and ethical and even administrative points of view. Further more the author is also obviously ignorant of what a real whipping, opposed to controlled whippings in S/M or BDSM , can actually do to certain body parts, but by now I already know that this author never bothers with any kind of research. The ending was unnatural, boring and forced. It would have been interesting if for once the general scheme of this series had changed, even if just temporarily. I wish The MC's would have gone their separate ways, so that either each could find another mate or come together at the end of this series.