by
Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan

Gibson Barton knows his Pack is on the verge of something they will never be able to prepare for: a chance at freedom. Yet when he’s finally able to open his eyes to what might be his fate, it could be too late.

As a submissive wolf of her Pack, Mandy Calhoun has always only watched Gibson from afar. Because of her fears, she hasn’t let her intentions toward him—or the other in her sights—be known.

Oliver Dare is the Foreseer of the Ursine Pack, and knows with each vision, his death is that much closer. Yet he cannot see his own future—or that of the two wolves who have been thrust into his path.

There is danger lurking in the den, and as the three learn to process their emotions and navigate their temptations, they’ll have to fight for something they never knew they had—or sacrifice it all for a purpose far greater than their own destinies.

As this series continues, change is on the horizon. Everyone can feel it, a tension in the air. With the inclusion of the Bears there is even less room for the packs within the compound. With that said, the inclusion of another pack also increases the chances of others finding mates.

Mandy is a submissive wolf, but she is much stronger than she thinks. She has been a little more than in love with Gibson for a long time. Yet she doesn’t approach him, she just hangs with her friend Theo. Unfortunately Theo thinks he could be her mate.

After an attack on Gibson, Mandy has had enough of hiding her feelings, not only for him but for Oliver as well. This is one of my favorite scenes.
He set the muffins on the small, beaten-up table in his kitchen as Mandy and Gibson each took a chair.

He sat down as well, the awkwardness of the situation settling over his skin.

“So…”

“So…” Gibson repeated.

Mandy let out a breath and rolled back her shoulders. “So… yeah. I had a nightmare. I don’t know what it was actually. It was dark, and there was growling, and it scared me. So I came here.” She blushed. “I don’t know why I came here instead of going to Ariel or Theo, but I did.”

At the sound of Theo’s name, Gibson let out a growl, surprising the three of them.

“Theo’s just my friend,” Mandy said softly. “That’s all he ever was.”
Gibson blinked. “I thought he was going to be your mate.”

She shook her head, and Oliver watched Gibson’s shoulders relax. “He wanted more, but I never would have mated him.” She scrunched her nose. “Well, I might have later on if my wolf finally gave in, but she wanted… wants someone else.” She sighed. “I wanted someone else. Still do.”
Oliver froze, as did Gibson. The sound of the coffee percolating filled the silence and they waited for Mandy to finish.

“This isn’t easy you know,” Mandy grumbled. “I’m not used to being so open and forward, and you two sitting there all growly and intimidating isn’t helping.”

Oliver smiled softly at that. “We’re not growling right now.”

She raised a brow and pointed at Gibson. “He growled.”

The other man held up his hands. “Yeah, I’m a wolf. I do that. He’s a bear, he tends to grumble and huff more than growl.”

Oliver snorted. “True. And don’t forget the roaring.”

Mandy smiled as he hoped she would and appeared to relax somewhat. “Anyway, I’m going to be an idiot and say something I probably shouldn’t. But you know what? We’re living in a time where things are all up in the air, and I might as well just go for it. Because waiting isn’t helping anyone, and I’m kind of freaking myself out over the whole thing.”

She paused, met both of their gazes. “My wolf wants you both. There. I said it.”
Buried and Shadowed (Kindle Location 654-675).

This begins a relationship that tugs at my heart. Even as others try to destroy it, there is strength in the bond.

With attacks coming from within the compound as opposed to the norm of the outside and SAU, the packs investigate and what they find is both alarming and heartbreaking.

This is a fast paced, intriguing, suspenseful read. With an emotional heat filled mating. I loved every second of it. You may need some tissues with this one.

5 Contented Purrs for Alexandra!

Sinclair, Alpha of the Unseen Pack, is determined to destroy the Shifter Accommodation Unit. He understands that his people will never be free until the truth is revealed and their enemies are brought out of the shadows and exposed to the public. Unfortunately, the human female who has been secretly working with him has disappeared, and his priorities must shift slightly. He’s resolved to track her down, and not just because she has the information he needs.

Mira Reese isn’t stupid. She’s painfully aware that the sexy shifter she’s been working with has been using her fascination for him to gain access to the CDC computer system. But that doesn’t stop her from helping Sinclair. Not when it allows her to be close to him. But after the CDC kidnaps her, she realizes that this isn’t a game. She’s a potential savior for the future of the shifters—and perhaps especially the loner wolf who stirs her passions.

Ah the mysterious Sinclair, how I love him. He has been out and about fighting for the shifters from the beginning. Now we get an up close look at him and how he’s been doing what he’s doing.

As the time comes to blow the cover on the SAU and how it came to be, the stakes are higher and more deadly than ever. A key piece the Doctor who developed the virus to begin with and where he is hiding. Mira has been looking for him everywhere she can, and as a result has been taken by the SAU. Sinclair has to find her and get her safe for more than one reason. Here is a favorite scene after he takes her from enemy clutches.

“My past means that I don’t have the best interpersonal skills,” he stated the obvious. “And I have even less insight into my emotions.”

“You’re a male.” She shrugged. “None of you have any insights.”

“Ouch.” He pressed her hand to the center of his chest. “A direct hit.”

She turned her head away. Almost as if she thought she could hide her hurt from him. It was obvious she had a lot to learn about shifters.

He could smell her each and every emotion.

At the moment, her luscious scent was a mixture of spring flowers, burnt toast, and a lingering feminine desire she couldn’t disguise.

“You really don’t have to say anything else,” she said.

“I do.” He resisted the urge to tug her into his lap and wrap her tightly in his arms. First, he had to undo the damage he’d caused. Only then could she trust him. “Initially, my intention was to seek you out and earn your trust so you would help me,” he admitted, rubbing his thumb over the tender skin of her inner wrist. He felt her heart skip a beat at his light caress. She was still aroused by his touch. Thank God. It was the only hope he had that he could reach through the walls she was trying to build between them. “But that doesn’t explain why I spent my day checking my phone to see if you called,” he confessed. “Or why I refused the offer of my Packmates to meet with you. From the minute I caught sight of you, I knew that no one else was getting near you.” He lifted her hand to nuzzle his lips against her fingers. “You are mine.”

That brought her head back around, her eyes wide. “Yours?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Mine.” He placed her fingers against his cheek. “It just took the thought of losing you to get it through my thick skull.”

Her eyes darkened with pleasure. A growl rumbled deep in Sinclair’s chest. His woman liked the feel of his rough whiskers that stubbled his jaw. Good. He planned to rub them over her naked skin as he kissed a path from her lush lips to the tips of her toes.

“I’ll agree with the thick skull part.”

He turned his head, pressing his lips to the center of her palm. “Let me convince you,” he pleaded in soft tones.

He heard her breath catch in her throat and the sudden leap of her heart. But even as she started to sway toward him, she abruptly shoved herself to her feet.
Buried and Shadowed (Kindle Locations 2547-2569).

As Mira unravels this puzzle with skill and intrigue, Sinclair must keep her and his pack safe. Lots of suspense, a heart pounding race against time, and a revelation. Top that off with sizzling sex and a love story for the ages.

I also fell in love with Rios the Unseen beta and Bree the shifter/reporter I assume is his mate. I guess that’s a story for the next installment.

5 Contented Purrs for Carrie Ann!

 

 

 

Alexandra Ivy

 

 

 

I’m not exactly sure when I fell in love with books. Probably on my mother’s knee listening to her read Dr. Seuss to me. I do remember that I was barely old enough to cross the street by myself when I discovered the delights of the local library. Could anything be more wonderful than spending summer days surrounded by stacks of Nancy Drew mysteries? Over the years I fell in love with Victoria Holt, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and J.R.R. Tolkien just to name a few. I read poetry, essays, biographies, and plays. In fact, I read anything I could get my hands on.

Years later (no, I’m not admitting how many) I’m still an avid reader, and my tastes are still as varied as they were in my youth, which I suppose helps to explain why I enjoy writing regency historicals under the name of Deborah Raleigh, as well as my contemporary paranormals as Alexandra Ivy. For now that is enough to keep me busy, but who knows what the future might hold!

I do have a few other loves in my life besides reading and writing, the most important being my unbelievably patient husband, David, and my two sons, Chance and Alexander. Without their constant support and belief in me, I never could have been able to follow my dreams. They are truly my heroes.

Carrie Ann Ryan

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan never thought she’d be a writer. Not really. No, she loved math and science and even went on to graduate school in chemistry. Yes, she read as a kid and devoured teen fiction and Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until someone handed her a romance book in her late teens that she realized that there was something out there just for her. When another author suggested she use the voices in her head for good and not evil, The Redwood Pack and all her other stories were born.

Carrie Ann is a bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas and has so much more on her mind (and on her spreadsheets *grins*) that she isn’t planning on giving up her dream anytime soon.
Sign up for Carrie’s Newsletter:

by
Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan

Stolen

The first rule of being Alpha of the Canine Pack is to protect their secrets from the humans at all cost. One look at the dying human at his doorstep and Holden Carter knows he will have to break it. The broken woman with no hope at survival is his mate. When he forces the change on her to save her life, he not only sets forth motions that could risk both their lives, but the lives of every shifter in the world.

Ariel Sands grew up in a post-Verona infection world and under the care of the very humans she thought had cured the disease. When they betray her in the worst ways imaginable, she finds herself not only mated to the Alpha of a the very species she’s been taught to fear, but the focal point of a traitor and path to destruction for everyone’s way of life. It will take more than trust and a mating bond for Ariel and Holden to not only survive their enemies, but the burn of their own temptations.

In Stolen, we meet the canines.

I love the Alpha Holden, he is trying so hard to do the right thing for his pack, one of those things has been not to mate. He is careful about who he beds, since none of the females in his pack are his mate.

When he comes across what he at first thinks is a body dump, his wolf cries mate. Ariel has been left for dead by the SAU, and Holden is given no choice by his wolf. There is only one way he can save her, and that way will but everyone at risk. Change her into a wolf.

One of my favorite passages is when Ariel wakes up already healing and Holden is trying to explain what happened:

“I’ll explain everything once you’re clean and have food in you.” He nudged her chin with his knuckle and she met his gaze. “You’re my mate, Ariel. You don’t have to believe that right now, but you’ll feel the connection.” He frowned. “At least I hope you will. We’ll deal with what that means at another time, but first, let’s get you cleaned up.”

She blinked. “You changed me. Is that what you’re saying? Because if that’s true, you didn’t give me a choice.” She ran a hand over her chest. “I… I don’t know how I feel about that.”

He winced but didn’t defend himself. “Shower, Ariel. Now.”

“Don’t order me around.”

“I’m the Alpha, siren. You’ll have to get used to listening to my orders.”

“Siren?” she asked, her head spinning.

“It was either that or mermaid.” He shrugged then picked her up, holding her close to his chest. She let out a yelp and wrapped her arms around his neck so she wouldn’t fall.

“I can walk,” she snapped.

“Can you?” he asked in that annoyingly arrogant tone.

Keeping Arial safe is top on the list of the Holden’s priorities. Yet as the Alpha’s mate she must also find her place in the pack. This will not be easy as so many things are thrown at both her and the pack simultaneously.

Jealousy, new love, sizzling sex and the SAU causing more than enough grief for everyone.

5 Contented Purrs for Alexandra!

Forgiven

Soren Slater is a Beta wolf who understands that duty to his Pack comes before his own needs. At a young age he takes a position as a liaison between his Pack and the other species of shifters. He never expected his enticing flirtations with Cora Wilder, a Tiger Princess, would encourage her cat to consider him a potential mate. He’s forced to walk away, choosing a partner among the wolves to try and strengthen his Pack.

Cora has no intention of forgiving or forgetting Soren’s rejection. Not even when the Packs are forced to live together and she discovers Soren’s former mate has died. But then, she’s kidnapped by the SAU and she has no choice but to work with Soren to escape. Together they must put the past behind them if they’re to survive the human’s evil plot.

In forgiven we meet the felines as they are forced to move in with the canines. Not an ideal situation for either of them. However, there is one feline and one canine whose interest in each other is more than just surviving together.

Soren had left Cora, the feline Princess, to do what was right for his pack and mated another wolf. A fact he regretted, and even two years after Leah’s death he still feels guilty.

In spite of Cora wanting them to stay away from each other Soren and his wolf have decided not to let that happen, especially with a male cat sniffing around her. Having come up with an idea for games that would challenge and help tone down aggression he enlists Cora’s help.

As the games progress, even Cora has to admit the idea was brilliant. This is a scene as Soren leads her to his place after gifting her with her favorite chocolates.

She nearly stumbled as she felt the damp urgency between her legs. Oh, lord, it’d been so long. Too long.

“You shouldn’t waste your money on me,” she forced herself to mutter.

His fingers moved up her back, threading in her hair that she’d left down this morning. “I would give my last penny to see you smile,” he assured her.

She licked her lips that suddenly felt dry. “Soren.”

They reached his front porch, and he halted directly in front of his door, gazing down at her with a tenderness that nearly broke her heart. “I would give my soul to earn your forgiveness, princess.”

She wavered. It would be so easy to submit. To give in to the aching need of her cat. But there was still a part of her that couldn’t let go. Perhaps it was a need to punish Soren. Or to protect her vulnerable heart. Or perhaps it is simply a very female desire to continue with this delicious game, she wryly conceded. There was, after all, a heady power in having this gorgeous male chase after her.

Whatever the reason, she found herself giving a slow shake of her head. “I’m not ready.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” His hand lifted to cup her cheek, his thumb trailing along the line of her jaw. “I can be a pushy bastard. Honestly, I’m happy we can at least be friends.” His light touch sent sparks of pleasure shooting through her body.

Swaying forward, she placed her hands on his chest, relishing the feel of his sharp shudder. “Friends,” she said, the word sounding oddly empty.

His thumb found the pulse that was hammering just below the line of her jaw. “We are friends, aren’t we?” he asked.

“I thought…” She deliberately allowed her words to trail away.

“Cora?”

“Maybe we could be friends with benefits,” she suggested.

Never stupid, Soren was swift to follow her implication. His muscles tensed, his heart pounding beneath her palm. “Would those benefits include having you in my arms?” he demanded, his eyes fully wolf as he gazed down at her flushed face.

“If you want-” Her words broke off in a startled shriek as he abruptly grabbed her by the waist and tossed her over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

Wrapping his arms around her legs, he shoved open the door and headed into his cabin. “Not giving you the chance to change your mind.”
Stolen and Forgiven (Branded Packs Book 1) (Kindle Locations 2266-2289). Kindle Edition.

Then the smoldering sex begins, as they both start to realize there is much more there.

It’s not going to be that easy though. The SAU knows Alpha’s can turn humans now and it’s only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.

Love this story and can’t wait for more of the Branded Packs!

5 Contented Purrs for Carrie Ann!

 

 

Alexandra Ivy

 

 

 

 

I’m not exactly sure when I fell in love with books. Probably on my mother’s knee listening to her read Dr. Seuss to me. I do remember that I was barely old enough to cross the street by myself when I discovered the delights of the local library. Could anything be more wonderful than spending summer days surrounded by stacks of Nancy Drew mysteries? Over the years I fell in love with Victoria Holt, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and J.R.R. Tolkien just to name a few. I read poetry, essays, biographies, and plays. In fact, I read anything I could get my hands on.

Years later (no, I’m not admitting how many) I’m still an avid reader, and my tastes are still as varied as they were in my youth, which I suppose helps to explain why I enjoy writing regency historicals under the name of Deborah Raleigh, as well as my contemporary paranormals as Alexandra Ivy. For now that is enough to keep me busy, but who knows what the future might hold!

I do have a few other loves in my life besides reading and writing, the most important being my unbelievably patient husband, David, and my two sons, Chance and Alexander. Without their constant support and belief in me, I never could have been able to follow my dreams. They are truly my heroes.

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Amazon Author Page | Goodreads

Carrie Ann Ryan

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan never thought she’d be a writer. Not really. No, she loved math and science and even went on to graduate school in chemistry. Yes, she read as a kid and devoured teen fiction and Harry Potter, but it wasn’t until someone handed her a romance book in her late teens that she realized that there was something out there just for her. When another author suggested she use the voices in her head for good and not evil, The Redwood Pack and all her other stories were born.
Carrie Ann is a bestselling author of over twenty novels and novellas and has so much more on her mind (and on her spreadsheets *grins*) that she isn’t planning on giving up her dream anytime soon.
Sign up for Carrie’s Newsletter: