Friday, June 21, 2019

ARC Review: Amber's Heat (Guarded Souls)

Amber's Heat (Guarded Souls)

by Lexxie Couper 

Blurb:

He’s been a lone wolf for centuries, the last of his species. A secret. And then she enters his life. But is she the future he’d never imagined he could have…or is she his worst nightmare?
Who is the hunted, and the hunter?
Kitt Newton accepted the fact he’s the last known dire wolf shifter on the planet centuries ago. He’s okay with that. Work keeps him busy. Can’t think about being alone when he’s busy protecting people—humans—after all. And who really needs to be mated for life? However, when he’s captured by a mysterious hunter, the last person he expects to save him is Amber Calegari, a woman he met at a café a few weeks ago.
Amber has spent her life studying dinosaurs. Specifically canis dirus from the late Pleistocene period. She’d thought she’d gone mad when she found evidence of an ancient human/dire wolf species. And even madder when she followed the trail to LA…and a man called Kitt Newton. Surely the massive hunk of burly hotness couldn’t be some kind of paranormal creature? Right? And if he is, shouldn’t she—as a scientist—reveal his existence to the world?
An apex predator has no right being drawn to a weak, fragile human, but is Kitt mistaken about Amber? And if he is, what the hell is he going to do about it, especially when he feels the mating bond begin to burn within him whenever she is near…
Themes: Paranormal
Rating: 4.25 stars
Heat Rating: 

Review:
Lexxie Couper strikes again with a fun and sexy story of two souls destined for one another and a dangerous foe that neither ever saw coming. I began reading this series as a fluke when I was offered the chance to read the second story and offer my opinion by the author.  Of course being me, I had to go back to the beginning and read the first story too, so I have been there from the beginning and I can say that the series just keeps getting better and better.  I have never read a story by Lexxie that has let me down as far as the sensuality and carnal passion between her characters, though I have been let down in the past by the overall plots, but I am thrilled to report that this series has been amazingly well rounded in all regards.  This third story in the series was even more enjoyable, though I might be a bit biased being a wolf lover through and through, and I am very much looking forward to seeing what comes next. Fans of Ms. Couper will recognize her miraculous skill at leading her lovers into the strangest of situations and making it seem perfectly natural for them to figure out a way to escape.  Even when you are gasping in fear, you know that the H/h will pull through and find a way to defeat the evil that is stalking them and this story is no different in that regard, even if the evil turned out to be much closer to home than either of them originally believed. I cannot wait for book four and am dying to find out what kind of trouble Dak and the others are going to get themselves into and maybe see who he and Nim fall in love with most of all.
Kitt and Amber have been circling one another for months as he slowly began to fall for her, so he was dearly surprised when he wakes up in a cage to find her rescuing him from an evil dude that has kidnapped him.  Amber finds a way to get them away, but as soon as they are alone it is time for her to come clean and explain to him how she was there to save him.  Amber doesn’t really want to admit that she has basically been stalking him, watching him and trying to find proof that he is in fact a dire wolf shifter, and now she has her proof.  The passion between them, though, is undeniable and she is beginning to wonder if the scientific discovery will be worth losing the man she is coming to care for.  With danger swirling around them, Kitt and Amber find that their chemistry and the magnetic draw to one another is irresistible now that Amber knows the truth and Kitt can stop hiding his true nature from her.  But at the same time can he handle putting the woman he is coming to love in mortal danger just by loving her, or will he make the choice to give up their love to keep her safe?
I loved Kitt and Amber’s story, and though it is short(ish), it was undeniably my favorite of the series.  Kitt is witty, sarcastic, and sexy with just the right amount of edginess to make any woman swoon, while still being sweet and loving to his woman.  And of course there is no discounting his willingness to kill anyone who threatens her or even makes her feel worried. His alpha nature and caring heart make him the perfect mate and once he gives his heart there is no taking it back. Amber was a sweetheart, if a little bit clueless in the beginning, but once she began to open her eyes to the depth of the world around her, you could see her intelligence and courage would serve her well.  There was no denying she had ulterior motives in the beginning of her relationship with Kitt, but it becomes abundantly clear in the end that she couldn’t survive without him and that makes me love her immensely.  Together they make a perfect team and you can see they are going to be a match that burns forever and helps light the way for others for generations to come.  The Guarded Souls team is filled with interesting and unique characters that I know are all going to have their own unique and fantastic stories of love as they find their mates in coming novels and, though I am particularly interested in Nim’s story, being a Wiccan practitioner myself, I know that Ms. Couper will do well by all of them as she leads them on a merry chase for love.  If you are a fan of short but well written and sensual stories of remarkable individuals that have come together to face the dangers in the paranormal world, then this series is just the one for you. Another marvelous addition to my digital bookshelves for sure.
*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

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