This was delightfully fun, though it took me a bit to get into it. It’s set in 1974, with Eggie Ray Smith home on leave from the special shifter group of the Marines, and Darla Mae Lewis home from her work as a pastry chef in San Francisco. When she’s attacked by humans, Eggie decides to take her back to his place in the hopes that whoever’s after her won’t be able to follow. Of course, once Darla wakes up, she’s got something to say about his high-handedness…
“I could skin ya, have you deboned, and buried in less than an hour. It’s in the trainin’. So don’t y’all cross me when it comes to Darla Mae.”
The two eldest hunkered down more over their food, the youngest nearly choked on his pancake, but Bubba Ray leaned back in his chair and noted, “I guess this means you love her.”
But Eggie wasn’t about to get into discussing any of that with his kin. “Just don’t get in my way, and I won’t have to kill any of ya. I hate upsettin’ Momma and all.”
I loved these two together. Darla’s able to take care of herself, and that’s one of the things Eggie loves about her. The whole thing is ridiculously tongue-in-cheek, and I laughed so much while reading this. It’s still also sweet, and I loved the way their relationship developed.
Wed or Dead – Cynthia Eden
“But Kayla wasn’t leaving. She’d never left a job before, and she wouldn’t start now. From the corner of her eye, she glanced at Gage. Poor guy. He had no idea what was coming for him. Did he think this was some kind of epic romance?
Think again.
She was the predator. He was the prey. And, soon enough, he’d grow to hate her.”
This was much more action-packed than the first story, and also a bit more typical. Kayla’s a monster hunter tasked with killing Gage, the alpha of the Las Vegas shifter pack. Unfortunately, getting close to him has involved getting, well, *very* close to him, and the story picks up at their wedding. I think this story suffered in comparison to Ms. Laurenston’s, since this one has so much more action, plot, and backstory, that the characterization was weaker. I was hoping this was the start of a series, but it looks like it’s not, unfortunately. As it is, I’ll definitely be looking up more by Ms. Eden.
Overall, two enjoyable shifter romances!
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.