I received an ARC for Claimed by Desire from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I should start with the caveat that shifter books are not my usual reading fare. That being said, I decided to give this one a try out of curiosity. I’ll also state that I did not read the first book in this series, but had no trouble following this standalone story.
Dylan is a wolf shifter who lost his mate two years ago. He blames himself for the death of his lover, but also his entire pack, at the hands (or maybe jaws?) of a pack of ancient and decidedly evil vampires.
Let me stop right here to mention I was looking forward to the vampire showdown from the very beginning. Skye Jones does the kind of vampires that smell like decaying flesh and will rip your throat out in the blink of an eye. Those are the kind of vampires I like, and after the whole sparkling vamps sensation came about, I honestly haven’t picked up a single vampire book. This story reminded me why I love Anne Rice and Poppy Z. Brite—because vampires can be seriously fucking good-scary.
Anyway, back to Claimed by Desire: Dylan has gone all rogue, tending a farm in the middle of bumfuck Wales. He hires a cute, (mostly) openly gay farm hand named Aeron, and proceeds to try to ignore their mutual attraction.
Aeron is a fun character. There’s some humorous dialog in here, no little thanks to Aeron’s exuberance.
As one might expect, Aeron and Dylan hem and haw a bit, but then begin a relationship that starts as fuck friends and pretty quickly morphs into something more serious, much to Dylan’s chagrin. There are a few ups and downs, including some drama related to Aeron’s sick mom (she’s suffered from MS for years and Aeron is her primary caregiver).
Just when the two MCs are falling hard for each other, the vamps return. Dylan calls in some furry friends (the MCs from the previous book being three of the considerable bunch), they buckle down for a fight, and it’s as exciting as I’d hoped.
I won’t give up the entire story, but all in all, this was a quick, enjoyable read I’m sure will be a hit with those who love shifter romance.
Four Shooters
Buy links:
Kimber Vale 