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Heart of a Jaguar #1

Paws and Claws

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When neither choice is acceptable, then what?

To save his jamboree from obliteration, Omega Cade Decker is forced into a match with the powerful but merciless Grady Williams. While he may be attracted to the big, bad Alpha, and Grady will protect him from a corrupt Alpha jaguar, Cade won’t settle for anything less than the love of his life.

As Alpha of one of the most powerful jaguar jamborees around, Grady’s reputation for bloodthirst is more of a help than a hindrance. When Alpha Decker approaches him with a proposal, Grady jumps at the chance to mate with Decker’s Omega brother. Grady doesn’t believe in love but craves having a beautiful, talented partner, so this arrangement is perfect.

When Cade is kidnapped, Grady realizes his love equals his fear that he’ll never get his mate back…

Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2016

64 people are currently reading
182 people want to read

About the author

M.A. Church

61 books679 followers
M.A. Church is a true Southern belle who spent many years in the elementary education sector. Now she spends her days lost in fantasy worlds, arguing with hardheaded aliens on far-off planets, herding her numerous shifters, or trying to tempt her country boys away from their fishing poles. It’s a full time job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it!

When not writing, she’s on the back porch tending to the demanding wildlife around the pond in the backyard. The ducks are very outspoken. She’s married to her high school sweetheart, and they have two grown children.

Member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

My Facebook: MA churh http://www.facebook.com/pages/MA-Chur...

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5 stars
111 (25%)
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150 (33%)
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150 (33%)
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29 (6%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
Profile Image for Shin Mon Thway.
663 reviews1,703 followers
March 25, 2018
Did I hear Jaguar shifters? 😱 Count me in! 😉 Fun fact, Jaguars are one of my favorite animals. Not only they are sleek and strong and fast, they are majestically beautiful creatures. And have I been living in a cave? Really, how didn’t I know that M.A. Church has shifters series? 😁 And boy, did I love shifters! 😍

 
Cade Decker is an omega jaguar who is now betrothed the notoriously ruthless Alpha Grady. While he knows that his brother made the best possible choice to make him escape from another despicable alpha by marrying him off to Grady, it doesn’t help to know that Grady is allegedly a ruthless, harsh and emotionless alpha. He dreams of true love and he dreams of a man who’d devote everything to him. So he has been dreading the day his betrothed will arrive to his doorstep to take him home. And then he met Grady in person and everything changed. 😉
 
Alpha Grady, an Alpha of a very rich, successful and huge jamboree, is looking forward to settle down. And when an Alpha in need from another jamboree offered his omega brother as his mate in exchange for his protection, he gladly accepted the offer. After all, the omega is the most gorgeous creature he’s ever seen. But love is not for him, he only wanted a stable, compassionate and understanding relationship between he and his mate. Love is for the weak and dreamers and it’s definitely not for him. Then he met Cade in person, and he has to question himself for everything he believed in. 😌

 
None of our MCs expected that they’d be true mates before they met each other. It was going to be a marriage of convenience and they certainly didn’t expect to fall head over heels for each other. But despite Grady being a big, bad, macho Alpha, their union isn’t going to be as smooth as they wish it is. There are enemies, another alpha coveting Cade to become his, a traitor in their jamboree and lies and deceits. 😱 Will Cade and Grady able to overcome everything and explore their newfound love?
 
This is a very fast-paced, exciting and interesting story. The world building is thrilling and fun and MCs are very attractive. 😍 I love both Cade and Grady characters. Although the love and lust is quite insta, it was reasonable and natural. ☺️ And boy, the smut! It’s sizzling hot! 🔥 The touches were just electrifying! 😍 Who knew jaguars were such sexually active creatures! Absolutely loved the smut. 😍 And the storyline is decent and interesting. And as always, it all ended with a very merry HEA. I’m very excited to dig into the second book. I’d recommend this book to anyone who wants a change from wolves shifters book. 😉
 


Favorite excerpts from the novel: ❤️

There was no doubt Grady was an Alpha. Everything from the curve of his cheek to the straightness of his nose shouted domination. Control. Ruthlessness.

The only reason he didn’t shift was because he knew his cat would try to dominate the other one… which would lead to him mounting that sexy cat. While his animal was all for it, the human side of him calmly pointed out that it might not be the best introduction to his mate.

“I’m about two seconds away from mating you. As much as I would love to have you riding my cock, I don’t think you want to do that in your brother’s home. Am I right?” Grady raised an eyebrow. “But if I’m wrong, by all means remain sitting on top of me. I certainly have no problem doing it here. Nor do I care who’s around to hear you scream for me.”

“Ask me to be yours. You and Wayne discussed this. The papers have been signed and even filed. But not once did you actually ask me to be your mate.” “Ahhh. I see.” Grady’s jaguar peered at him through Grady’s eyes. “Well then, will you be mine?” Cade stood still. A shiver ran over him at the intensity in the other predator’s stare. This was a cat not to be fucked with—one he was proud to belong to. “Yes, I will.”

He blinked at Grady. “Mine.” Grady tenderly smiled at him. “Yep. And you’re mine, too.”

“Yeah?” “Yeah. I don’t want to rush things, but… I want that. I want a loving relationship. I want the ups and the downs, the pleasures and the heartbreaks, the sharing of feelings and… all of it. I want all of it.” “Good. Because I do, too.”

Thank the goddess he’d been wrong in the type of relationship he thought he desired. He wanted nothing more than to get his paws on Cade… now and forever.

 


4.5 big, bad Alpha Jaguar and sassy, witty omega lovers stars

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Profile Image for Barbara➰.
1,669 reviews460 followers
March 29, 2018
This turned out to be a sweet mate story. I wasn't sure in the beginning given their feelings regarding love and marriage of convenience. But they are true mates so it all works out. I had hoped for a better ending but I realize there are more in the series. So, overall, a sweet story and I'll definitely continue the series.
Profile Image for Kazza.
1,561 reviews174 followers
November 10, 2016
Cute enough novella. I liked the MCs as much as I could given a lack of real character depth. And guys, you talk and joke way too much before sex. Grady, for the big bad alpha, you got hellishly tongue-tied easily.

Overall, I enjoyed Paws and Claws. It's easy, stress-free shifter reading which pleasantly whiled away a few hours.
Profile Image for Makhda.
877 reviews146 followers
October 4, 2016
3.5 stars

Disappointed with the ending. Still got a lot of unanswered questions, unsolved problems. Although I did really like the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Tereza.
106 reviews17 followers
October 4, 2016
This review will be rather quick, I’m afraid.



Before I begin, let me just say I have read plenty of shifter books. Like a lot of them. Because I love, love shifter books.



„Paws and Claws“ was not a bad book, really. Now here comes the part where the reviews will probably vary. IMHO, those who read enough shifter books to know what they like and what they don’t, probably won’t think this book is anything special. Those who start with this genre will most likely like it.

As it is, I am looking at my notes in my kindle and see “meh” a lot and my thoughts after reading the book were that it’s a “meh book – nothing new and nothing that would interest me”.

I suppose I am spoiled and need something juicier, more complex, more detailed, having a story or character driven plot, surprising moments, interesting side characters, a mystery that won’t be solved on the following page... something… MORE to interest me at this point.

And unfortunately for me, this is a rather simple and straightforward shifter story.

So, let me elaborate more on the things a liked and things I didn’t like.



What I liked:



What I was not impressed with:



-----

1.5 Stars!











Profile Image for Serena Yates.
Author 104 books771 followers
February 6, 2017
In ‘Paws and Claws’ M.A. Church uses more than one shifter trope – from the merciless alpha to the vulnerable omega with a somewhat mysterious ability, and from the aggressive, corrupt bad guy to the arranged mating that protects everyone’s interests. Since these are all storylines I like when they are done well, and in this case there were also a few nice little tweaks, I ended up enjoying this story. It’s an entertaining, quick read with some steamy encounters between new mates and a touch of suspense when not everything goes as the big, bad alpha had planned it.

Cade is an omega jaguar shifter with a unique talent, and as such, a treasured member of any jamboree. So valuable, in fact, that the alpha of the neighboring pride has been after him for a while. The attacks are doing real damage to Cade’s jamboree, and Cade’s brother, who is the alpha, is beginning to be desperate. But when Cade is told that he has been mated to a stronger alpha as “payment” for protecting Cade’s birth jamboree, he is angry. Cade is his own man, even though he is an omega, and he is hurt that he has become an object to be traded away without having any say in it. That Grady, the jamboree’s new protector, is totally hot is beside the point – Cade is understandably upset anyway.

Grady is a strong alpha who has already assimilated quite a few jamborees - all for good reasons and with shifter council approval - but this earned him a reputation as a ruthless, maybe even cruel leader. Grady isn’t worried about this, after all it means people respect him, stay away, and don’t bother him or the shifters under his protection. But when he wants to impress Cade since he is his future mate, he finds out that Cade is anything but impressed. Grady struggles with his sudden need to “convince” Cade to like him rather than just subduing him, and his sudden scrambling made me smile.

There is some excellent humor between Cade and Grady as they get to know each other. They both figure out their mate is not whom they expected them to be, and with an attraction as strong as theirs, it soon ceases to matter anyway. Their real problem turns out to be the persistence of the corrupt alpha, and it takes Cade and Grady working together if they want to win.

If you like shifter stories with fated mates, scorching attraction, and a bad guy who just won’t quit, then you will probably like this entertaining novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Omnilit / All Romance eBooks for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Profile Image for Candice.
2,955 reviews134 followers
February 17, 2017
ummm no! photo: Ummm.... no. Ummmno_zps46b83120.gif

2 stars because I did shed a tear for Cade.

There was no world building. There was no character development. There was no bond between Cade and Grady. There was no explanation of Cade's powers. There was nothing.

Also, kidnapped is such a strong word to use in this instance.
Profile Image for Rachel Emily.
4,485 reviews382 followers
October 27, 2016
MA Church always writes great shifters and paranormal stories, and I really enjoyed this one! It was fast paced, fun, sexy, and had a lot of story for it being more of a novella length. I liked the characters, the explanations of the packs and hierarchy, and I liked the the omegas had unique abilities and they could all be different.

I really liked that Cade was a strong omega, not a pushover or whiny or weak, and so he was just perfect for Grady. They had great chemistry, dialogue, and interaction right from the start and I really enjoyed reading about them.

But PLEASE tell me there will be more! It ends happily, but kinda at the same time totally open for MORE STORY.
Profile Image for Deanna.
2,749 reviews66 followers
January 2, 2017
Held my interest and I liked the MCs. I wanted more depth of their characters. I was intrigued by the shifter world the author created. The ending - You know when you are looking forward to a yummy dessert, but when you take a taste it is not as good as you thought it would be. That's this ending. Still a good read.
147 reviews
June 25, 2018
I was pretty happy to start reading this book. I liked both the main characters, the initial meet was cute, and then... and then it kind of fell apart. I kind of wanted something a little more as far as relationships go, as you get that Cade and Grady are super attracted to one another (mates, so...), but beyond the entire mate thing I wanted them just hanging out or something. More interactions of substance that was less sex (I know, I know) and more just talking and surveying the new land that Cade has landed himself in. You don't get that. Instead you get insta!attraction (not that I expect much different from an alpha and omega book) and then the entire other alpha jaguar who wants Cade still wants Cade drama. Which in of itself could have been interesting, but it's just not. It felt pretty weak.

And let's not forget about Cade's omega powers that are touched on briefly and don't make all that much sense, haha. They come out of almost nowhere and you'd think they'd be a bit more important, but they're very lightly touched upon. I also call bullshit on NOT ONLY THAT, but the book ends of something of a cliffhanger and when I went to look at the summary of that book, I realized the main characters swapped to Alvin and Bert. No thank you. I was going to read the next book just to get a better resolution, but if you're swapping characters like that even when I think Cade and Grady's relationship hasn't been explored well enough then I'm not even going to bother.

Ugh. So yes, promising beginning, meh-ish middle, a wtf ending. The sad part is the writing itself is fine, it's the execution that's pretty bad.
Profile Image for Raven and Chris.
3,335 reviews31 followers
March 6, 2022
A good series start

I enjoyed this book. I am a fan of shifter books in general anyway and when I saw the book in a FB group, I felt like a I had to check it out. Grant has a ruthless reputation due to how he challenged a bad Alpha and took over his jamboree. Cade’s brother desperately wants help in keeping hims safe so he decides to enter into a contract with Grant to keep Cade safe from another alpha. Grant gets more than he bargained for with this strong willed omega but their instant connection makes for a perfect match. Now they just have to deal with the other alpha. I love how quickly Grant’s tune changed when he actually met Cade. He suddenly found himself faced with an actual mate and not just a contracted arrangement.
Profile Image for Mstay.
859 reviews1 follower
September 19, 2021
Meh

This just felt sort of ‘meh’ to me. I decided to read because the story sounded familiar from years ago. I guess I know now why it didn’t stick in my mind.

The story feels very superficial. I mean alpha had a hard stance on mating and then bam changes his mind. One Delta makes Omega uncomfortable but the story never explains his problem even though he isn’t the bad guy. The omega’s ability seems interesting but we barely glimpse it. There is a big threat and then just handled by the shifter council. It was like all the parts were there in a sort of synopsis but the story felt half done.

6 reviews
October 26, 2017
I wanted to give this a higher rank...I really did! The story progressed nicely and was interesting...so are the characters. But that sloppy wrapping-things-up-in-the-end-just-coz really put me off. I wish there would have been a bit more proper hashing it out of the end part rather than the seemingly quick fix ending that the author came up with. The interaction between the leads and their chemistry is quite cute.
Profile Image for John-Torleif  Harris.
2,726 reviews13 followers
April 14, 2018
Great alpha/omega couple

I really liked Grady and Cade together. I liked how Grady was able to calm and center Cade when he was starting to panic over all of the changes in his life. And I loved that Cade was able to help Grady realize that having a mate wasn't a bad thing. My one complaint was that I thought that the book ended too quickly - I would have liked a bit more of a wrap up to all of the events.
Profile Image for Nathan.
1,100 reviews4 followers
September 18, 2022
jaguar shifters

Apart from the shrill introduction to Omega Cade (and his rollercoaster anger-frustration-tears-love tirade to his brother and Alpha), a workable shifter-mated romance. Unexpected twist, and no Alpha-on-Alpha fight scene climax, which isn’t a bad thing.

Alpha realized, belatedly, that negotiation for a mate probably should have had more courtship, less faxing of legal documents.
Profile Image for Brandy R..
Author 33 books
January 13, 2017
Did nothing for me.

I love M.a. Church books the characters are unique and different. There is funny bits and serious. But the omega's gift was lame...his eyes turned white and he sees patterns.
I'm anxiously awaiting the next werewolves of Manhattan and fur and fangs books because I love m.a. Church books...just not this one as much.
Profile Image for llv.
2,329 reviews14 followers
March 21, 2018
Rating: 3.5 stars
I thought this to be a pretty basic shifter story. It was entertaining, and I really liked both of the MCs. I think my biggest gripe was that we didn’t find out what happened to Alvin’s mate and the whole situation with Hogan was left unresolved. Other than that I liked the book and will definitely read the sequel.
Profile Image for Pam Eller.
205 reviews21 followers
June 11, 2017
3.5 stars. I mostly liked this book but I thought it needed to be longer. I felt little closure. Also, there was not much depth to the characters. I did like it mostly though. It was a decent quick read.
Profile Image for MyzanM.
1,337 reviews8 followers
August 29, 2017
This was sort of mehhh.

An ok paranormal romance with lots of hot scenes. The characters were a bit flat and the dialogue was a bit too high schoolish at occasion.

Still an enjoyable afternoon read, but what happened to Erwin?
Profile Image for Teresa.
3,981 reviews41 followers
December 28, 2018
3.5 stars

While I liked both mcs and the premise, there were typos abound that distracted from getting immersed in the story. There are a few loose threads by the end of the book that may be resolved in future books. I liked it enough I’ll probably try the next book.
Profile Image for Jennifer Lavoie.
Author 5 books70 followers
August 11, 2019
Short but good

A fast read but I liked Cade and Grady. There was drama but it wasn’t dragged out and Cade was not the typical omega in distress. He could hold his own and I liked that about him. I look forward to more in this series.
28 reviews
March 30, 2018
Paws and claws

An great read. Light. Funny. And sexy. A perfect combination. I look forward to reading the next in the series.
Profile Image for Kaitlin.
150 reviews1 follower
June 7, 2018
This is one of those books that's so full of m/m shifter tropes that it feels like I've read this book a million times before. Don't get me wrong; it's not bad, it's just... stale to me.
Profile Image for Samantha Foster.
513 reviews3 followers
October 24, 2019
Great Read

Short,sweet, and sexy. You cant go wrong with shifters. I definitely reccomend and cant wait to read the next. N
Profile Image for D..
2,125 reviews14 followers
October 30, 2020
I loved their story BUT I'm so dissapointed with the ending. So I must read the 2nd book in order to get the conclusion? I would love to. But the 2nd book contains violent contents. No, thanks..!
Profile Image for Katherine.
2,872 reviews13 followers
February 15, 2017
Mates and meetings

This was a nicely done story, with the slightly less common feline shifters taking the lead role. It have a bit different animal reactions and characteristics which was a pleasant change, as well as allowing for different expectations.

I enjoyed how the whole thing worked out, even when it was neatly cliches at times. Grady is an alpha, and one with a bloody reputation. He doesn't much believe in true mates, so he sees no problem having an arranged mating with the omega of another clan he is making an alliance with. Cade, the omega, never figured he would enter into a political mating. He is anxious about leaving home and a bit afraid of the reputation of the alpha he has been contracted to. When they meet things change as they scent each other as true mates.

I was glad that Cade was not made out to be the 'diva' omegas are first mentioned to be. He is afraid of leaving the home he has always known and bringing his whole life to a new place where he knows nobody and is expected to mate a man he has never met; this is a valid fear. When Grady acknowledges the difficult time this would be it is an excellent turn around in the book and made the pair work together really well.

The only thing that irked me was this one unresolved character. Several times it is mentioned that Ernest was an issue. He was snarky and unpleasant, and Case mentioned getting a bad feeling from him. Yet, despite bringing up this issue a few times, it suddenly just gets dropped and never really mentioned again. It sort of felt like he was simply there to be a red herring, which annoyed me as when he no longer served a purpose he was forgotten.

This was an enjoyable read, with a nice showing of shifters and true mates without feeling too cliched or rushed.
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