Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Huck Cassidy is a cowboy at the Lazy L dude ranch. He’s a reformed bully trying to turn his life around and find redemption. One day Huck spots odd animal tracks by the perimeter fence. They’re massive in size. The discovery is soon proved dangerous when dead animals start appearing on the grounds and in the woods.

 

Séraphin Deschamps is a swan shifter, an exotic dancer, and a guest of the pariah pack. He’s sent to safety at the ranch where he encounters a handsome cowboy—who happens to be his mate.

 

But Huck is too timid to act on his desires. Séraphin sets out to seduce his would-be mate. Huck soon finds his resistance faltering.

 

A black beast stalks the midwinter night with murder on the brain. Humans and shifters must unite forces to battle the mysterious monster. When Séraphin ends up in mortal danger, Huck must choose whether to flee or fight for love.

 

Book Review

This newest episode of the ‘Pariah Pack’ series focuses on one of the no-good characters in the previous volume: ranch hand Huck. He is a former bully who is trying to make up for his missteps by working hard and keeping his head down, and a man who “can’t be gay” in his own mind. The author pairs him with a very elegant swan shifter, a man who is a guest of the pariah pack next door, hiding from something, and about as openly gay as imaginable. Can you see the fireworks those two cause when they run into each other? Their predicament, the theme at the core of this novella, is best summed up as “fight or flight” – for both of them.

Huck does not set out to be a troublemaker, nor is he a “bad” guy deep down, but he has awful taste in friends and always seems to be drawn to those with bad intentions, bigots, and bullies. He’s done some pretty bad stuff before (see the previous book), but he was never the instigator and he has seen the error of his ways, so to speak, and is trying to be a better man. Meeting Séraphin totally throws him – the attraction he feels can’t be happening, or so Huck insists, and even once he admits to himself that Séraphin is probably “it” for him, he is too shy to do anything about it. What does he know about romancing a man, anyway? So his initial response is “flight” whenever possible.

Séraphin is thunderstruck by the realization that the gruff ranch hand named Huck is his mate – being a shifter, he knows this from the start. He has no idea what Fate could have possibly been thinking when matching the two of them, but he knows there is no point in fighting it. If Fate believes they are right for each other, he has got to do his best to make things work – or face being alone for the rest of his life. Different from Huck, Séraphin knows exactly how to seduce a man, and he loses no time setting his plan in motion. Learning to ride a horse, not something he has ever done before, is part of his plan, and the result is very amusing. “Flight” is never really an option for him.

But figuring out if and how to make things work between them is not the only obstacle Séraphin and Huck face in this suspenseful adventure. Mysterious footprints appear on ranch land, fences break inexplicably, dead animals appear, and a dark monster seems to be stalking everyone. When it’s up to Huck to save Séraphin, “fight” is pretty much his only option now that he knows the swan shifter better.

If you like the world of the Pariah Pack with its unusual combination of pack members old and new and want to find out more about their neighbors and friends, if you think that a shy cowboy in denial of his sexuality and an out-and-proud exotic dancer can fall in love, and if you’re looking for a read that is full of mysteries, threats, surprises, and passion, then you will probably like this novella.

 

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 37415 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	29-November-2017
Price	$4.50 ebook
Buy Link	http://www.bookstrand.com/book/cowardly-cowboy-and-his-sultry-swan