She hasn’t been the same since.
Ally returned from the hereafter with strange new powers, burdened with the secret of why and how she survived. She managed to scrape her life together and raise her cousin, but now he needs a pack to guide him into adulthood. That means pulling up stakes yet again and heading for Colorado to find the only werewolf qualified for the job. A werewolf, she discovers, who tempts her to give up control in a thousand sinful ways.
Cade MacDougall, Alpha of an unrecognized pack, has a tragic history, a sizable ranch, and a daughter who thinks she’s a cat. Time to find a mate? Don’t make him laugh. Until Ally shows up with a smokin’ hot, preternaturally strong body that smells like mine, and introduces him to a nephew who holds the key to unraveling mysteries about Cade’s family—and himself.
But Ally’s holding something back. As Cade’s enemies gather, the cowboy and his secretive new mate must come clean about their mysterious pasts…or else all hope of protecting their newly formed family—and their future—will be lost.
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Between Patti's review and the awesome excerpt online I went into this book with pretty high expectations and I can happily report that it lived up to them. How many werewolf 'fated mate' stories can you say begin with the heroine dying? It's a first for me and created an interesting dynamic going in - Ally doesn't want to reveal to Cade how she ended up being his nephew's caregiver but he can tell that their story is total BS. Combine this with Ally's inability to submit to Cade's authority on the basis of his penis and you've got a fun story with great dialogue.
There are sparks from the beginning between the two of them, and they don't diminish just because Ally doesn't let Cade be the 'asshole alpha'. I loved it because while there was conflict between the two it never felt mean; neither was actively trying to hurt the other, they just both wanted to be in charge, which is impossible with werewolf hierarchy. Ultimately you get a nice romance combined with a bit of supernatural intrigue and action. It works well as a stand alone and I highly recommend it.
Overall Feeling - B+
Series - 1) Kiss and Kin 2) Yours, Mine and Howls 3) Ready to Run
