Accepted Readers,
I bet you thought I wasn't doing my Short Story Weekly Feature this week...BUT I had to wait to post my review for this selection because I joined the book blitz tour for it. So without further delay here is my review for Claiming Their Royal Mate by Andie Devaux with bonus tour perks... Enjoy <3
PS: This book will be free on Amazon until October 19th and part two in this serial was just released!
*WARNING THIS BOOK IS INTENDED FOR A MATURE AUDIENCE ONLY*
Claiming
Their Royal Mate:
Part
One Of
A Four-Part Serial
Andie
Devaux
Genre:
Paranormal Erotic Romance /
Paranormal Erotic Romance /
Menage
Number of pages: 63
Word Count: 18,000
Cover Artist: Cormar Covers
Daniella Clark has never fit in—a
fact she’s always blamed on being adopted. But when her body is overtaken by a
need so fierce it defies human explanation, she turns to the one man she
instinctively knows must have the answers she seeks—her sexy-as-sin neighbor.
But his explanation isn’t one she can easily accept, and it means her sexual
heat won’t go away without his help.
But it turns out her neighbor
isn’t the only male she has to worry about. The prime of his people has laid
claim to her. And though he radiates sexuality in a way that makes her mouth
water, he’s more beast than man. With one weretiger charged to protect her, and
the prime's plan to claim her for his own, Daniella must fight to maintain her
sense of self, even while they fight for her.
Claiming Their Royal Mate: Part
One is an 18,000-word novella, and it is the first entry in a four-part sexy,
m/f/m serial. The story contains erotic situations and is intended for mature
readers.
EXCERPT:
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER ONE
Holy crap. How
had she accumulated so many clothes that no longer fit?
Barely keeping
hold of the bags full of old clothes, Daniella Clark bumped her butt into the
door to push it open. Stepping into the hallway, she hit something nearly as
hard as the door—something that grunted at the contact. The bags slipped from
her fingers to land on the threshold. The hard body she’d run into was attached
to a large man blocking her doorway, and her glare didn’t seem to ruffle him at
all.
The jerk was
always in her way lately.
“Jeez. Way to
skulk around my door. What do you want, Owen?” Daniella asked, hating the
breathiness in her voice.
Her neighbor
stared at her for a moment, and his nostrils flared. Something passed behind
his gaze. Something that made her breath catch and tension build between her
legs. But just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. And he shrugged,
arrogant mask engaged.
“I was just
passing by. Not my fault you didn’t look where you were going.”
The man was
seriously aggravating. She could hardly believe they’d been good friends the
last year, ever since she’d accidentally locked herself out of her apartment.
He’d been kind enough to give her a place to hang out while she’d waited for
the building’s superintendent to show up with the key. From then on, they’d
hung out at least once a week, sometimes more, depending on her schedule. That
is, up until a month ago.
“I’m getting
sick of you always being in my way, Owen.” She picked up the bags, needing
something to look at that wasn’t her ridiculously hot neighbor. Her attraction
to him itself was irritating because he wasn’t her type, even if he did make
her weak in the knees. His face was hard, chiseled and memorable, but his
features were too strong to be considered traditionally handsome—his nose too
Roman and his jaw a little too wide. Not to mention he rarely smiled at her
anymore, and she liked men who weren’t afraid to enjoy life.
Heck, that was
why she’d liked his company for so long—his easy laughter and quick wit. Over
the last month, it was as if he’d turned into a different man. One who didn’t
smile much and who was quick to anger.
She tried not to
take it personally, but the fact he’d just cut off their friendship, cold as
ice, made being the bigger person difficult.
His full head of
light brown hair was nice, if always a little too long—as if he were constantly
two weeks late to the barber. But he was far bigger than guys she liked to
date. Broad and muscled like a man who never left the gym. Although she’d never
actually seen him at the gym near their Denver apartment complex, he had to
work out somewhere. Men just didn’t achieve that level of muscle naturally.
But despite the
fact he didn’t fit her usual mold, she found herself more than just a little
attracted to him.
Of course, that
was a hopeless cause if ever there was one. She’d seen his dates—all two of
them—since he’d moved into the building. They were both model thin, and while
she was usually pretty proud of her voluptuous form, no one would ever accuse
her of being waif-like.
Her attraction
had started with a tremor. Just the slightest quavering of her voice when she
spoke to him. Then, just when she’d started looking at him differently, he’d
shut down. Stopped talking to her, started making excuses for why he couldn’t
hang out with her anymore. But he always seemed to be around. At her door when
she walked out. Looking irritated to run into her in the parking lot.
“I was walking
through a shared hallway. Would you prefer I jump out the window to get to my
truck?” A hint of a smile touched his lips, and her breath caught.
Freaking-A. No
way was a simple smile turning her on. She was really starting to dislike her
neighbor. “I’d love for you to jump out a window or two. Heck, I’ll even help
with a little push.”
And she wasn’t
lying. Sure, she wouldn’t really push a man out a window, but something inside
of her—the part that was continuously horny, lately—was also feeling pretty
violent. It came out at the weirdest times, and it took every ounce of her
self-control not to lash out. Probably she needed to go see her doctor about a
new birth control or something. Out of whack hormones were likely the cause of
her wild emotions.
Not that Owen
was helping. He’d chased off two of her dates in the last month. Not by doing
anything she could call him out for. No, he was too subtle for that. He’d just
drop in to borrow sugar—when she’d never once seen the man bake. Or he’d say he
thought he’d smelled gas coming from her apartment, and wanted to check. Then
he’d glower in a way that made her dates run for the hills.
And then he
started showing up at her apartment when she was feeling particularly…needy.
“Surely you
wouldn’t want to see me injured.” His nose flared again, as if he couldn’t get
enough of her smell. It was seriously disturbing.
Even more
disturbing was the sudden wetness between her legs and the tension coiling in
her belly. She really needed to get some if a man she didn’t even like could
get her engine revving by smelling her. “I wouldn’t bet on that.”
“You’ll be happy
I’m around, Daniella. Very soon.”
She tried to
shove past him, but he moved out of her way before they touched, quick for such
a large man. Part of her regretted the lack of contact, but the rest of her
thought that part was batshit crazy.
MY REVIEW
I'm not usually a fan of serial novels because the few I have read all seemed to be missing something. However Claiming Their Royal Mate doesn't fit the standard serial novel mo. It felt complete despite its short length and cliff-hanger ending. I was hooked from the first chapter... I craved this book in a way I wasn't aware was possible. I've already purchased part two which I plan on reading ASAP!
The Erotica:
The animistic appeal runs bold in this novella and damn it's sexy. Owen (Daniella's neighbor) will make your inner tigress/tiger roar in pleasure and quivering for more. I was looking forward to the ménage à trois, but it is only mentioned, which was a total bummer. The erotic scenes that do take place make up for the lack of the ménage due to their extreme hotness.
To-Read or Not-To-Read:
Read. If you enjoy shifter erotica I suggest you're stop what your doing and get your fix now! I now understand what other reviewers mean when they refer to books as their shifter crack... Claiming Their Royal Mate was absolutely addicting.
AUTHOR GUEST POST:
Why I Love Serials
Why I Love Serials
Lately there has been something of a resurgence of
serialized fiction (a way of writing stories that was quite popular many moons
ago). While readers of serials can be a bit divided between love and hate for
the form, I definitely fall on the love side of the line. So much so that I
decided to write my own serialized stories.
One big reason I love serials is because they can offer both
the novel and short story experience all rolled into one. Novels offer a way to
fully immerse yourself in a world for a long period of time, which is fabulous
if that’s what you’re in the mood for, and if you have the time.
Short stories offer a satisfying bite, but in a way that
isn’t as encompassing as novels, and are ideal when you don’t have hours to
devote to a book (or, for me, they’re great if I’m lacking the brainpower due
to an overwhelming week).
Serials offer an interesting mix of both worlds. Ideally,
they should give you a good little satisfying story arc, while also offering a
hook that makes you want to read the next bit of the tale. They’re quicker than
novels, so you can fit them in on those nights you don’t want a novel to tempt
you into staying up super late (again!). Yet, the story follows the same
characters, and may follow an overall arc that continues throughout the parts
of the story, so you’re still able to gain that immersive experience.
And as a writer, they offer a fun, unique challenge that
short stories and novels do not. How do I tell a large tale, yet also a bunch
of satisfying smaller stories along the way? It’s quite an interesting
challenge! And it gives me newfound respect for television series writers,
since they face that same challenge season after season.
Have you found any fun serialized fiction you’ve
enjoyed?
About
the Author:
Andie writes sexy erotic romance
and erotica stories that push boundaries. When she's not writing (or reading!),
she can usually be found daydreaming or attempting a new recipe. She thinks
that life should require happily ever afters. And since she doesn't make the
rules of life, she instead applies this philosophy to the worlds she can
control-the ones in her books.
Website: http://andiedevaux.com/
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/MkT1X
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndieDevaux
Thanks for the free read!! Your review is very insightful!
ReplyDelete