Reviewed by JustJen
Title: Lion’s Mate
Authors: Shannon West and T.S. McKinney
Series: Hell’s Creek #1
Heroes: Julian/Leo
Genre: MM Paranormal
Length: 135 Pages
Publisher: Painted Hearts Publishing
Release Date: May 10, 2017
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: When Julian Montague rolls into a small mill town on the back side of nowhere, he isn’t looking for any trouble. He’s broke and fallen on hard times—but his idea to run from a license check on a main highway has backfired. He went off road on his motorcycle and now he’s hopelessly lost and almost out of gas. Stopping at the only station in town, he’s confronted by bullies with a gun who insist he’s on the “wrong side of the line” and then proceed to attack him. Fighting them off, he heads for the dubious safety of the “other side” when he’s attacked by a wild animal and crashes, almost killing himself. Waking up tied to a bed, he’s startled to find his injuries are being tended by a large, handsome man named Leo who bosses him around, showers him with affection and insists on calling him kitty. Something is going on in this strange town called Hell’s Creek, involving the large paper mill and the strange inhabitants who live in separate territories and answer only to the Company. Julian needs to find out what it is before he finds himself the “mate” of another man—and the main problem with that is that he’s beginning to like the idea way too much.
Review: This was a cute shifter story about a guy who had no clue he was a shifter. Julian finds himself smack dab in the middle of things when he unknowningly finds himself in the middle of werewolf territory. He barely escapes thinking everyone is crazy for talking about cats, calling him “kitty,” etc. Unfortunately, or fortunately, he makes it across the border into cat territory where he is taken in by Leo, the alpha lion who recognizes Julian as his mate.
In this world, the cats (cat shifters) and the dogs (werewolves) have reached somewhat of a pact where they get along, but not everyone is on board. They all live in Hell’s Creek, a town created for them and the paper mill that sustains the town. There is a lot more to the story involving the “Company” who oversees them all which made things interesting and added a nice twist to everything.
I loved Julian. He took quite a bit of convincing on Leo’s part with a number of things. First, was the fact that Julian had no idea there were any kind of shifters, let alone that he was one. Second, that he had a mate, let alone a male one (he had no interest in men up to this point). And third, there was the issue of him never having shifted. But, it didn’t take long for Julian to become receptive, though he never gave into anything without a fight of some kind. He made Leo work for it, but came through for him (and the rest of the shifters) in the end when it counted. He had a great sense of humor and I really enjoyed the banter between he and Leo.
I found this to be a very enjoyable afternoon read and interesting series opener. It was fast-paced with interesting dynamics and other intriguing characters that I’m looking forward to learning more about and seeing again in the next book.
Overall Impression: I liked it
*I received a copy of this book from the authors in return for a fair and honest review.*
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