Review: Rage: Redemption (Odin's Wolves MC Series Book 1) by Candi Fox

Rage: Redemption by Candi Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting Spin Off

This book comes between books 3 and 4 of the Naked Truth series by the same author, Candi Fox. It’s needed to understand the timeline which makes it less of a spin-off and more a change of focus in my opinion. However, there is a definite change of focus, so it makes sense to label it as such.

This spin-off is about Odin’s Wolves MC, which is made up of Odin’s warrior wolves of legend. They are immortal and half shifter and half god. When they felt Freya wake on earth a year or so ago, they decided to move to White Horse OK, to be close to her avatar. What they didn’t realise that by coming there they would be meeting someone who had been important to them a previous life.

This story is about Jami, or Rage as he is known. We actually met him in an earlier Naked Truth book when he seemed to know Harley, but this was never followed upon. Rage met his mate, Desiré when she walked into the meeting room to waitress on her first day in her new job. He knows it is her immediately and a huge chunk of ice in his chest begins to melt at the thought of having a mate.

The problems is that Desiré comes with a violent ex-husband, who she has been running from for 3 years, to keep her and her son safe. This time her ex has involved the Twisted, the corrupted werewolves that Odin’s Wolves MC fight as their duty and right. Harley came across the Twisted in book 3 of The Naked Truth Series and they infected her lover with their venom. Harley and OWMC’s purposes align and they work together.

The POV is from the OWMCs side. Harley is a supporting character in this book. In some ways, this book is more like a traditional Paranormal Romance/MC book. It’s one alpha male and one damaged female in need of rescue. I enjoyed the book and it filled in some information that I felt was missing from The Naked Truth books.

I like the idea of Odin’s Wolves and the mythology of it all and I enjoy an adventure into the territory of the gods and goddesses. As with previous books in The Naked Truth series there was a bit of jumping around and assumptions made that weren’t explained until later, when the characters (and the author) acted as though it had been explained to us poor confused readers, but it hadn’t, and we just had to scratch our heads for a while until it became obvious.

There was plenty of heat and the romance worked ok, but as is often the case with these fated mate stories it was a bit insta-love for my taste. Still, I’m sure I’ll read the next book in the series because I kind of like the supporting characters and I’ll be interested to see what happens to them.

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Review: Becoming (Mountain Magic Series Book 1) by Dakota Brown

Becoming by Dakota Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Untrained Mage Goes to College

Sofia is a young woman who is just starting her freshman year at college. She’s also a magic-user who is completely untrained and in the closet. On her first day on campus, she meets three good looking and nice young men who all seem interested in her, which flusters her. She also meets her new roommate, Veronica, who is a supernatural rights activist, which makes it slightly easier to reveal her magic to her, because it turns out the magical black market really wants to get its hands on her.

This is a pretty slow-paced book. It doesn’t really get exciting until the very latter stages. Everything leading up to the action at the end of the book relates to Sofia and her relationship choices.

The world-building is sketchy and we only find out limited facts relating to how magic users are perceived and treated. We are given some facts about a very small amount of supernatural creatures, but not many.

I did like the characters but there was very little depth to them, especially Sofia who seems to have emerged from a pre-college cocoon where she has no real-life before we meet her.

There wasn’t anything wrong with this book, but I just didn’t feel connected to it. I didn’t want to give up and return it after 20%, and I was happy to finish it, I just don’t feel compelled to read the next book in the series.

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Review: Solstice (Naked Truth Series Book 3) by Candi Fox

Solstice by Candi Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Letting People In

The last book left us on a doozy of an emotional cliffhanger, and this book takes a surprising twist with Harley finally being able to give in to her crush on her contact with the police, with the blessing of his wife. This is a difficult subject for some people who may not understand how polyamory can work for people in established relationships as time changes them and they decide to alter how their relationship looks.

During the course of this book, we see more of Freya becoming involved in Harley’s life and we discover more about her powers. In fact, her powers seem to be developing more quickly than she thought was possible and she has to reach out to others to learn how to use them. She also learns to start letting people into her life in a more than superficial way, which has a direct impact on her friendships as well as her relationships.

I like how this series handles polyamory and the various levels of emotional connection Harley has with the people in her life. There are people she is friends with, those she has sex with, those who are both and those she has a romantic and emotional connection with. All the people she is involved with are involved with other people too and it’s all out in the open and discussed to ensure no one gets hurt.

There are a few confusing moments in this book, as there were in the previous ones, where things get raised and then sort of abandoned or forgotten about, or half tied off without more explanation. I don’t know if they’ll be raised again in future books but it’s a little frustrating at times. But there is also lots to enjoy, with Harley’s caseload and her romantic endeavours mingling together to produce something interesting and sensual.

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Review: Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega Series Book 1) by Patricia Briggs

Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐ if I could.

This story is a spin-off from the Mercy Thompson Series and the meeting of Charles and Anna is explained in the novella Alpha & Omega, which is also in the On the Prowl book.

Charles returns to Aspen Creek, the main werewolf town in the mountains, from Chicago, bringing Anna his new mate with him. Anna was brutalised by her old pack to keep her Omega nature a secret and to force her to work her magic on the alpha’s unstable mate with her presence. Anna’s last three years of isolation, fear and the everyday brutality of her existence has turned her into someone scared of dominant male werewolves, something her new mate is, as are many of the wolves in her new pack. Leaning on her wolf for strength has fooled Charles into thinking that Anna isn’t as broken as she is and she doesn’t know how to tell him.

Being brought into a new pack in the middle of the Montana wilderness, with no money, no role and no friends has left Anna uncertain and fearful of her future. With Charles so badly injured from his trip to Chicago, they don’t have time to sort through all her problems before Charles’ father sends them both into the mountains to track down a rogue shifter.

This story is complex and multi-faceted. The relationship between Anna and Charles is complicated and evolves quickly through the experiences they share. But also at the heart of the story is Bran, The Marrok, Charles’ father. We learn a little of his history and why he chose to mate Leah a woman who is vain and cruel. We learn of Asil, The Moor, and his lost love. We learn about the bravery of strangers who try to do what is right in the worst of circumstances even when they are damaged themselves.

Through this book, you can almost smell the crisp scent of the pine trees and hear the crunch of the snow as they trek through the mountains. This author conveys emotion and place with surety and precision, never leaving you in doubt of where the book is situated or how the character is feeling, even if it’s only confusion.

This is not the first time I’ve read this book, and it won’t be the last because Anna may be damaged and she may feel weak, but she has a mighty strong heart that can’t help but captivate the reader and her strong and silent mate is the support and protection she needs. How can you help but fall a little in love with these characters and want to know more about them, even if you’ve read their story before?

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Review: Witch's Transformation (The Naked Truth Series Book 2) by Candi Fox

Witch's Transformation by Candi Fox
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Plot Thickens

In this book, we see a smooth continuation of the previous one as Harley starts a new case after finding an email from a potential client who wants a ‘magic stick’. She finds out her client is transgender and wants something more than the usual surgical options for a transgender man. Fascinated by the concept Harley dives in by taking a drive up to Dallas to meet with the young man.

In Dallas, things get a bit tricky when the diner they meet in gets blown up. This is not the end of the attempts on her life. Supported by Lt Meyers, her contact with police and his new witch employee, she tries to keep under the radar whilst still working her case and trying to find out who wants her dead.

In this book, we find out more about the world in which the book is set and it becomes more and more interesting. We also find out a little bit more about why Niccolo might be interested in Harley, apart from wanting her in his bed. We find out a lot more about Harley’s magic and see why she is a bit different from other magic workers.

There is plenty of hot sex scenes in this book and I really like how polyamory is worked in this book. It could be labelled a Reverse Harem book, but it isn’t really. It’s more about a witch who is sexually self-aware, knows what she wants, is open and honest with her partners and uses sex to heal herself!

The cliffhanger on this book is a bit of a doozy, but it’s more of an emotional one than a perilous one.

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