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Claws and Fangs #1-3

Never Say Never

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Gem & Ryker's complete story in one set!

Never Say Never is a collection that features the first three full-length novels in the Claws and Fangs series:

Never His Mate (Claws and Fangs #1)
A year after Ryker rejected her in front of his pack, Gemma is shocked when her fated mate returns to make things right. She has no interest in taking him back — but it may be impossible to resist the alpha shifter… especially when he not only knows her secret, but he has a few of his own.

Always Her Mate (Claws and Fangs #2)
Still determined to prove that they belong together, Ryker is willing to do anything to claim Gem as his — these days, she's more than happy to let him. But old enemies and threats for the future begin to interfere with their mating dance as news gets out that she's a rare female alpha. With the another full moon approaching, will Gem finally have Ryker... or will she lose him?

Forever Mates (Claws and Fangs #3)
After their mating ceremony is interrupted by Ryker's former Beta, Gem finally claims her fated mate. She's looking forward to their forever... until the Wicked Wolf summons her to visit her birth pack. When she refuses, he makes a member of the Mountainside Pack pay for it. But Gem’s determined not to let anyone ruin her happily ever after…

724 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 19, 2022

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About the author

Sarah Spade

64 books591 followers

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5 stars
64 (31%)
4 stars
55 (26%)
3 stars
50 (24%)
2 stars
25 (12%)
1 star
11 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Cee.
3,236 reviews165 followers
August 12, 2023
Dnf 7%/ 4 chapters


The repetition is sooooo bad omg. And she’s kind of stupid? Like she smells a shifter in a city where there shouldn’t be shifters. Thinks someone is following her home while continuing to smell the shifter. Then hears the patrolling vampires found wolf prints leading into town aka a shifter is in town and she’s acts… like this is news? The direct quote is “ I close my eyes. Why am I not surprised?”

Gee idk maybe you aren’t surprised because you smelled shifter your whole walk home which isn’t normal and whytf wouldn’t you tell this immediately to your vampire patrol roommate?

I just… I can’t… UGH I really wanted to like this one.
Profile Image for Booklass Garrahan.
908 reviews16 followers
August 8, 2022
2 1\2 stars of frustration

This story had some great parts. The general premise is great, it has some genuinely amusing humor, and there are some exciting parts. However, the heroine is too stupid to live throughout most of the books, the second and third books spend WAY too much time summarizing the previous books, and the writing is unbelievably repetitive. I started skimming parts. Gem repeatedly describes herself as stubborn and impulsive, but she came across as selfish and willfully stupid. The author tells, tells again, and AGAIN, the same exact information, but, also forgets some information she included in previous books and contradicts herself or introduces it like it's new. It's obvious that the author can come up with a great story idea, create some witty dialogue and interesting adventure, but she needs someone to read it for repetition, continuity issues, and cohesiveness.
Profile Image for Emily Pennington.
20.7k reviews360 followers
March 5, 2022
Never Say Never #1-3 . . .

This collection has Gem and Ryker's complete story in the first three full-length novels of the CLAWS AND FANGS series. Below is a review of one of the books to give you an idea of what you will find in this set.

Titles include:

🐺 NEVER HIS MATE (#1)
🐺 ALWAYS HER MATE (#2)
🐺 FOREVER MATES (#3)

*** Reviewing “ALWAYS HER MATE (#2)” ***
Gemma and Ryker . . .

We had a good story beginning in Book 1, but this one is a semi-disappointment. There is far too much inner monologue used as a tool to repeat what we already know, the main problem being that it goes on and on and the story line loses its impetus. All of that tell-don’t-show non-action just makes the story drag. Gem is also too arrogant and stubborn, and just doesn’t listen. I think that is meant to show that she is strong and independent, but for me it comes across as foolish, selfish, and stubborn. At times, I begin to dislike her for putting herself before the pack.

That being said, I still like the story line. Ryker is back in town to surprise Gemma, but she figured he was the one trying to stalk her right from the start. She enjoys the chase anyway. I am eager to see when Aleks comes back and how that will affect everyone. Grab your copy and find out a little bit more as our story inches along. I hope the next book has no more than a tiny reminder of where we left off rather than making me think I’ve read this book 3 times by then. It’s good but I sometimes get the feeling all of the excessive re-cap of the story from the previous book is to make it take more books in the series before we get to the official end. Quality, not quantity, should be the goal.

But the good news is, we have all three books here in this set and can start reading from beginning to end.
185 reviews
Read
May 1, 2022
Repetitive

The first book was pretty good, the second and third repeated stories one then one and two. This could have probably been one book without all the repetition. I liked the characters just the drawn out inner thoughts and repetition killed this book for me.
310 reviews7 followers
August 21, 2023
Do not waste your time!

I tried. I really did. I got to the first paragraph of book 3 and just couldn’t torture myself any longer.

The MC ruins this book the way she’s written. I should have realized her inner monologue that starts off in book 1 was not just for world building and getting us up to speed on the current scene. The author has her inner monologu-ing all over the damn place. ***Spoiler Alert*** She’s an alpha wolf. That’s a joke. She says “I’m an alpha wolf” about every other freaking sentence! She talks about what she can do, her dominance level and pack hierarchy over and over again throughout the two books that I read to the point that it’s just annoying.

The thing is, despite how she constantly says she’s an alpha wolf and that she has training, she acts like the dumbest person in the world and doesn’t act like an alpha at all. She has no protective instinct, no self preservation, she doesn’t really care about anyone but herself… she acts like the bio dad she despises, if I’m honest. And when she finally become the alpha mate at the end of book 2, she clearly has no training in pack politics and doesn’t seem to care about the well being of the pack, only sex with Ryker and getting back to Muncie. She’s so gullible, being taken advantage of left and right and then she says, “I’m an alpha wolf” in her incessant inner monologue and goes off on a tangent of recaps of things we just read last chapter and continues for another chapter!

It’s like the author was just trying to reach a word count quota, repeating the same things over and over like we wouldn’t notice the storyline stalled… and stalled it did! Gemma could be talking to (or arguing with) someone and then we’d go off in Gemma’s head on a tangent, which always includes and usually starts with… you guessed it! “I’m an alpha”!

Then there are the inconsistencies. Alpha can scent a sour smell when someone lies to them, yet Shane lied to Ryker for years. It’s passed off as him just circumventing the truth but, YEARS? His best friend? Um, no. I don’t see that with his ability. Then Gemma outright lies to Ryker and says Aleks didn’t kick her out after just moments before meeting up with Ryker she said during an inner monologue while talking to Aleks that he as kicking her out in response to what he said.

Then there’s the whole Trish conversation that began the whole storyline and was obviously lies, yet “I’m an alpha Gemma” didn’t scent Trish’s deception and left mad to confront Ryker. And also, the story falls apart there in the beginning if you think about it because if Trish already knew that Gemma was an alpha, why would she be brave enough to walk into her cabin, her space, and tell her that Ryker was hers and that she’s been sleeping with him and was his chosen mate? An alpha. I believe Trish was supposed to be a delta!

In book 1, the author wrote that Aleks lived on the twelfth floor of a twenty story building, in book two, he’s suddenly on the twentieth floor.

Gemma is so annoyingly stupid in almost every decision she makes and since the chapters are from her POV, she sound’s especially dumb when she explains something to us and then says, does, or ignores the knowledge we have just gained from her insight. Then the author has the audacity to say things like, “it doesn’t take a genius to figure out” or “only an idiot would”… and I’m like…👀 Did you really just right that? And when Gemma finally figure’s something out after all the information was spelled out for her so the answer was completely obvious, she says, “I hate when I’m right” or some crap like that and it’s like “girl, if you were wrong after all of that evidence then I don’t know what to tell you.”

I believe this story could have been condensed into one good book if all the repetitive sentences were removed. There was a recap for a recap anytime something that previously happened related to the current scene, even if it happened in the last chapter! So yeah, the scene you were in took forever to unfold. Some of the dialogue was pointless and shouldn’t have even have made it into the book.

See my notes, highlights and commentary on Goodreads. Happy reading… if you’re brave and patient. After getting to book 3 chapter 1 para 1… or 2, I realized that it wasn’t even worth it to see how it ended. At least they were finally mated at that point.
Profile Image for SC.
810 reviews26 followers
July 3, 2023
DNF at 30ish %

New to me author. Blurb sounded interesting. There is A LOT of repetition from chapter to chapter which I never understand, I mean no I didn't forget that the FMC is an alpha between finishing chapter 3 and starting chapter 4. Totally unnecessary. So we have a FMC who has been rejected, she takes off, ends up living with a vampire and spends a year telling herself how strong she is, how she will NEVER give Ryker the time of day, how she's finally herself - though it's only because she apparently lost her curves, didn't curl her hair and doesn't behave all meek. Wow yeah no, BIG changes.

description

But I digress. So Ryker comes sniffing around again and he's all "it's YOUR choice" followed by "but I'll never stop and I'm not going anywhere and I'll keep doing what I can to change your mind until you give in and you're mine" so you know, essentially not respecting her choice at all, no matter how many times she says no. Oooookay. So now we have ourselves an alpha male wolf who still doesn't explain why he rejected her and a female alpha wolf that spends her time saying no, no, no, while her body is all yes, yes, yes. Strong Harlequin romance novel type of stuff.

description

Let's just say that I got to a point at around the 29% mark where I thought the book was finished, then looked down and realized where I was, not even half way done. Hell to the no. I was already more than done with the story, with the characters because I felt zero connection between the FMC and any other character in the book. Zilch. I thought that by having an alpha FMC I wouldn't have to read about how she is basically a slave to her body and has no self control around the MMC but that's not the case here, hell, she even throws herself at him and then HE rejects her.

description
Profile Image for Candice's Library .
201 reviews5 followers
April 4, 2024
Man...

Look this writer has so much potential. The plot is a little muddled but not terrible. Her writing isn't terrible.. The problem is after book 1 (even in a little in book 1) it's ridiculous how repetitive things get. Everytime Trish is mentioned so is everything that she did, everytime she questions things eith Ryker you're reminded of why, literally each character Gem is in contact with you get a repetition of what you already read. Sometime just read in the same book.

I cannot rate this more than a 2. The spice is good, but I cannot deal with the repetition. It made what could've been a great story absolutely a dread to read.

This is no hate to the author I truly believe the talent is there but that truly needs to change or stop completely. It caused me to feel as I'd the author thought I had short term memory loss.

I cannot DNF books, so I suffer through. With the last two books I just started skimming because it felt like the filler was literally just "hey this happened remember if not let me retell the whole thing again." 😑

I wish the best to the author and that she takes this as constructive criticism as there is potential. This book had a few editing issues. Missing comas, misspelled words. It wasn't alot but it was there.

This is my opinion. Please read and enjoy whatever you want and make your own opinions.
Profile Image for Elaine Campbell.
13 reviews
October 24, 2023
is she really an alpha?

Spoiler alerts
I gave it three stars because of the plot holes. Gemma and Ryker are fated mates but Ryker rejected her, in front of his council, so Gemma leaves. One year later Ryker finds her and tells her that she should have known that the rejection wasn’t real. There was no prior communication about this at all but somehow she was just supposed to know. I call BS on that. She is supposed to be an alpha but she capitulates on EVERYTHING!! She gives up her job, her apartment, her life, just to make Ryker happy. She is the typical female stereotype that women are driven by emotion and impulse rather than intelligence. She blunders through life rather than acts purposefully. I really didn’t like her or Ryker
Profile Image for Chiloe.
156 reviews
December 22, 2023
Wolf-shifter romance. I really wanted to score this higher but this book (or books since it was 3 in 1?) DRAGGED on. It had repetitive information not only in each book, but also within the same book.. Instead of briefling recapping each of the previous chapters, it was like half to 2/3 of the each chapter was recapping the last instead. It was just extremely repetitive. The story line and little plots twists were good but by over halfway through, I was just skimming past a good chunk of it. I skimmed into the future books too because no way was I re-reading everything all over again that I just read 3 times already in this book. It definilty could've been 300 pages instead and it would've been so much smoother and fulfilled then stretched out to over 700 pages of repeated rambling IMO.
188 reviews
November 18, 2025
Gemma is promised to mate with Ryker when she is older. When she finally reaches Ryker's territory he rejects her but does not explain why. Gemma goes nuts and leaves five pinholes around Ryker's heart which he leaves. Gemma leaves the property and ends up in the vampire property. Alex saves Gemma from becoming dinner for three female vampires. She moves in with Alex and wears his fang for protection (that is what Alex says it does). Ryker mean while finally finds her and explains that he has been looking for her for a year. He has gotten permission from the head of the vampires to court Gemma and to purchase a home. The book ends with them finally getting together. Really good book.
Profile Image for Meiwilli.
1,643 reviews5 followers
August 23, 2023
Boring! I started reading Claws and Fangs #1 way back on July 7 and managed to finish. I started #2 but could not continue and have finally decided to mark this trilogy as a DNF on August 23!

The characters are poorly defined, and the story drags along repetitively to arrive back at the beginning. The lead characters are immature, and I felt this was more of a YA read. I expected a better read than it is since vampires are thrown into the mix, but sadly no. Didn't help this tale.

On my Were Scale of Hotness, 2 stars.
11 reviews
July 14, 2025
Story started out a bit confusing but that could also be me missing details. I didn’t understand the whole “I reject you” when they’re fated but whatever. And when he does come back into her life, it’s not exactly clear why he rejected her for a while.

The story is good and holds your attention but the characters don’t really interest me. Hot guy and hot girl, fated to be mates. Old news. Touch her and die? Same old. I will continue to read the books because I want to know how it ends but this isn’t a book I’m rushing to share with anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Fale.
2 reviews
February 26, 2022
repetitive but still enjoyed it

First off I love the main female character. I love how she is strong willed and confident but also still has little triggers here and there about her insecurities. The only thing that kinda had my eyes rolling is the constant retelling of things. Idk maybe there are readers that would forget what they read in the beginning so the author has to repeat it through out the book but still gets a 5 star!
Profile Image for Sue MacKenzie.
1,677 reviews15 followers
October 9, 2023
Unexpected a lot

Nothing goes the way you expect it to in this right from the start.
That's what kept me hooked I suppose.
Gemma is a rarity that spent her whole life hiding until she couldn't anymore.
Theres a lot of double talking because someone's always trying to protect someone else but in the end Gem as strong enough to do what she wants.
Read this, you'll get what I mean.
She deserves it too.
Profile Image for Ashley LeBaron.
207 reviews14 followers
February 2, 2024
Seriously just don’t. Don’t waste your time. I gave it to book 3 and I literally felt like I was just reading the same thing over and over again. Not only was the plot repetitive, she used the same words over and over again. If I had a quarter for everyone she said “I’m an alpha” I’d have quite a bit of money by now. I stopped reading it because I realized I just kept putting it off and it was making me not want to read. I rarely DNF anything. Don’t bother with this one.
2,166 reviews28 followers
March 2, 2022
I loved the fact that I got to read Gem and Ryker's story without having to wait to read them all. This was a great story that I will enjoy rereading in the future. A Good Rejected Mate story with a Good ending that made me happy with this set!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
16.6k reviews154 followers
March 6, 2022
Read the first three tales in this series all in one place and follow how their lives go. You will not be able to stop at reading the first book but will want to go straight to the second before getting to the third one. Fast paced and action pack. Great starting to a new series of tales

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Lucinda Jordan.
663 reviews24 followers
August 22, 2023
Vampires and Wolfs oh My!

I love loved this series. The stories and characters were spot on. I mean wow they had it all, angst, spunk,crazy, and of course some hot hot lovemaking! The series kept my interest from the beginning to the end. Only one thing or person made me crazy and that would be Gemma!!! I’ll say no more you need to read this series people like NOW!
5,450 reviews32 followers
March 7, 2022
It was nice to have all three stories combined into one story as this made reading about his couple all the more enjoyable.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Whitney.
1,052 reviews6 followers
April 16, 2022
Great title, great cover. Solid plot. Love shifters and this book was a great addition to the genre. Loved every second of this book. I'm sorry it ended. I will be looking for the next book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Profile Image for Lorraina Lisowski.
233 reviews3 followers
September 4, 2023
Great story.

I really liked this story . Lots of great characters. The only downside was the writter repeated herself way too much . I found my self skipping chunks of the story becuase of it.
Profile Image for Krystin.
738 reviews25 followers
May 2, 2024
I’ve discovered that a good shifter series is my unicorn…I am trying to find one but they don’t seem to exist

This drug out waaaay too long. Aleks was my fav character but I’m too burned out to even read his books
40 reviews
July 29, 2023
Good! Love both the main characters. I love jealous man vibes!
10 reviews
Read
January 20, 2025
DNF 3 chapters into book two. I couldn't stand the main character and her stubborn stupidity.
6 reviews
February 11, 2025
Was pretty repetitive but had a good story line and it made you fall in live with the characters
Profile Image for Cindy.
143 reviews4 followers
February 20, 2025
Thoroughly enjoyed this story

Very well written engaging characters with plenty of twists and turns to keep me invested in the outcome for Gem.
Profile Image for Lenna  Wright.
3,397 reviews35 followers
March 7, 2022
Review -
Never is Mate- So it’s a dang good story but the bad thing is it’s part 1 of 3... I will read stories like this but a hint in a blurb that it’s part of a saga. So this ends in a cliffhanger of sorts to lead into the next installment.
Questions with no answers
20 & 22 year old virgin Alphas have to be able to trust each other with their backs but can they trust their own pack even if one alpha isn’t a member yet? How powerful can a born female alpha be for a pack and her mate? Will the packmates force their alpha to his fated mate for the good of the pack? Will there be repercussions for the treachery of wolves of power? Will Gemma’s dad have anything to do with her misery?

Always her mate-
A lot of rehashing from the first story. I found myself skipping majority of this since it’s rehashing what I’ve read from the first Gem’s story and parts from Janelle’s story. It might have been a 19 or so in chapters, but anything new was short lived. This works up to the third book for Gem and Ryker

Forever Mates-Great closure for Gem and Ryker that leaves their story to continue but not as the main couple, but more as a secondary characters, maybe?
All her near catches with her sperm donor has all come together where she has no other choice but to meet the jerk who still frightens her mother, her birth dad Jack Wicked Wolf Walker, he did something that no alpha had a right to do. He did it and his ‘plan’ is inefficient but will Gem figure it out or will there be a few not so great surprises in store for Gem?


Blurb-
Gem & Ryker's complete story in one set!


Never Say Never is a collection that features the first three full-length novels in the Claws and Fangs series:

Never His Mate (Claws and Fangs #1)
A year after Ryker rejected her in front of his pack, Gemma is shocked when her fated mate returns to make things right. She has no interest in taking him back — but it may be impossible to resist the alpha shifter… especially when he not only knows her secret, but he has a few of his own.

Always Her Mate (Claws and Fangs #2)
Still determined to prove that they belong together, Ryker is willing to do anything to claim Gem as his — these days, she's more than happy to let him. But old enemies and threats for the future begin to interfere with their mating dance as news gets out that she's a rare female alpha. With the another full moon approaching, will Gem finally have Ryker... or will she lose him?

Forever Mates (Claws and Fangs #3)
After their mating ceremony is interrupted by Ryker's former Beta, Gem finally claims her fated mate. She's looking forward to their forever... until the Wicked Wolf summons her to visit her birth pack. When she refuses, he makes a member of the Mountainside Pack pay for it. But Gem’s determined not to let anyone ruin her happily ever after…
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