Official Review: Swallowing His Pride by Serena Pettus
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SharisseEM
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Official Review: Swallowing His Pride by Serena Pettus
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Swallowing His Pride" by Serena Pettus.]
3 out of 4 stars
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One night stands.
It’s about letting go of all your inhibitions, having a wild time with a stranger you find hot and irresistible -mostly to your drunken mind, so they might look a little different the morning after- and scratching that itch without any future involvement. Well, Samantha Cooke might have let go of her inhibitions but she wasn’t drunk and she wanted more. That, and that one night stand led to much, much more. Yep, she lucked out BIG time.
The first book of the Southern Pride series by Serena Pettus, it features a pretty contemporary novel beginning, sexy shifters, and a Mills & Boon worthy surprise only a few chapters in. It’s a book that I enjoyed reading. It’s a light paranormal romance with danger, action and humor in the form of secondary characters Lynn and Liam, whom I adore.
Now, about the heroine. Samantha Cooke, recently divorced, is starting a whole new chapter after having wasted her youth in a lousy marriage. And what better way to start anew than to take a trip to Vegas with her best friend, Lynn. After all, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? WRONG! And in a situation that usually only happens in romance novels, hot Texan shifter, Dylan, is also on a trip in Vegas with his younger brother, Liam. There’s no business OR pleasure with these two. It’s all business AND pleasure. More so Liam than Dylan but big brother sings a different tune when Sam walks into the picture at the gym where the brothers are duking it out on the treadmills (in which, Dylan loses due to a little “distraction”). Dylan is the Prime of his pack of shifters (Prime as in Alpha) and he’s looking to build a resort for shifters by shifters so where else would he go for inspiration than Sin City itself?
The pair are attracted to each other from the very beginning though Sam is a little more than wary of his attentions due to her past. She gets over her wariness of the brothers pretty quickly though. Sexual tension sizzles between the pair and a kiss in a crowded elevator only heightens it. This is a case of ‘It started with a kiss and ended like this’, in which a misunderstanding over the phrasing of words in his note the next morning leads to Sam leaving, though she did leave him her number. I did find that to be quite a petty reason for their separation but onwards! Sam continues on with her new life while Dylan is antsy because his cat –his words, not mine- marked Sam as his mate and she’s not by his side even though he still has her number. It takes Liam to not only point out Dylan’s mistake to him (and me) to understand why Sam left just like that, but also to convince him to see Sam. The couple is reunited and then comes the surprise that has Sam thinking ‘how the hell did that happen’ for a very good reason. Trouble lurks as there are shifters unhappy about having a human as their Prima and Dylan has the shifter, Jag, to protect his mate and Lynn, the latter of whom catches the wounded shifter’s attention.
This book started out reaaaally slow. I could put it down and pick it up any time, which I guess is a good thing for me since I work long hours and it takes me hours to travel to and from work. It was sweet and innocent in the sense that the author gave Sam and Dylan time to fall in love. Serena Pettus did a great job with secondary characters Lynn, Liam and Jag, all of whom added another layer of depth to this read. Lynn and Liam are funny, witty and they bicker like children but quickly develop a sibling-like relationship with each other within their first meeting. Lynn is a great friend. Beautiful, funny, fiercely loyal and smart. She’s pretty much Sam’s saving grace. And Liam, though a shameless flirt, wises up when it comes to protecting his Pride. There were a few discrepancies here and there such as missing words like in one sentence where the author wrote “grind his against her”, but with a little imagination and a dirty mind, I suppose we can all fill in the missing blank. Also, there are grammatical errors. But hey, I don’t judge. I’m guilty of both. Pretty sure the latter is pretty obvious in this review.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The missing words and the grammatical errors can be easily overlooked and while I did appreciate that Serena developed the relationship between Dylan and Sam as well as Liam and Lynn, I felt that it was too slow of a buildup. I did feel that Serena could have had Dylan figure out the reason behind Sam’s reaction to men instead of having her reveal it just like that on their second meeting because it would have added some depth as well as an added conflict to the story, which is something that it needed more of. I did find it a little unappealing how Dylan and Sam’s little surprise came about and how despite being the Prime of his pride, Dylan lacked the usual alpha male traits. I mean, he couldn’t have become Prime just by being the nice guy, now could he? Still, it was a great read with romance, humor, action, sex and shifters. Highly recommended for those looking for a short paranormal romance or just shifters. Those looking for something with more depth, conflict and a more alpha male hero might not find this that appealing but should give it a go when they’re in the mood for a light read. All in all, this series is a promising one and I’m looking forward to reading Lynn’s story next.
******
Swallowing His Pride
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Barnes and Noble
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3 out of 4 stars
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One night stands.
It’s about letting go of all your inhibitions, having a wild time with a stranger you find hot and irresistible -mostly to your drunken mind, so they might look a little different the morning after- and scratching that itch without any future involvement. Well, Samantha Cooke might have let go of her inhibitions but she wasn’t drunk and she wanted more. That, and that one night stand led to much, much more. Yep, she lucked out BIG time.
The first book of the Southern Pride series by Serena Pettus, it features a pretty contemporary novel beginning, sexy shifters, and a Mills & Boon worthy surprise only a few chapters in. It’s a book that I enjoyed reading. It’s a light paranormal romance with danger, action and humor in the form of secondary characters Lynn and Liam, whom I adore.
Now, about the heroine. Samantha Cooke, recently divorced, is starting a whole new chapter after having wasted her youth in a lousy marriage. And what better way to start anew than to take a trip to Vegas with her best friend, Lynn. After all, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? WRONG! And in a situation that usually only happens in romance novels, hot Texan shifter, Dylan, is also on a trip in Vegas with his younger brother, Liam. There’s no business OR pleasure with these two. It’s all business AND pleasure. More so Liam than Dylan but big brother sings a different tune when Sam walks into the picture at the gym where the brothers are duking it out on the treadmills (in which, Dylan loses due to a little “distraction”). Dylan is the Prime of his pack of shifters (Prime as in Alpha) and he’s looking to build a resort for shifters by shifters so where else would he go for inspiration than Sin City itself?
The pair are attracted to each other from the very beginning though Sam is a little more than wary of his attentions due to her past. She gets over her wariness of the brothers pretty quickly though. Sexual tension sizzles between the pair and a kiss in a crowded elevator only heightens it. This is a case of ‘It started with a kiss and ended like this’, in which a misunderstanding over the phrasing of words in his note the next morning leads to Sam leaving, though she did leave him her number. I did find that to be quite a petty reason for their separation but onwards! Sam continues on with her new life while Dylan is antsy because his cat –his words, not mine- marked Sam as his mate and she’s not by his side even though he still has her number. It takes Liam to not only point out Dylan’s mistake to him (and me) to understand why Sam left just like that, but also to convince him to see Sam. The couple is reunited and then comes the surprise that has Sam thinking ‘how the hell did that happen’ for a very good reason. Trouble lurks as there are shifters unhappy about having a human as their Prima and Dylan has the shifter, Jag, to protect his mate and Lynn, the latter of whom catches the wounded shifter’s attention.
This book started out reaaaally slow. I could put it down and pick it up any time, which I guess is a good thing for me since I work long hours and it takes me hours to travel to and from work. It was sweet and innocent in the sense that the author gave Sam and Dylan time to fall in love. Serena Pettus did a great job with secondary characters Lynn, Liam and Jag, all of whom added another layer of depth to this read. Lynn and Liam are funny, witty and they bicker like children but quickly develop a sibling-like relationship with each other within their first meeting. Lynn is a great friend. Beautiful, funny, fiercely loyal and smart. She’s pretty much Sam’s saving grace. And Liam, though a shameless flirt, wises up when it comes to protecting his Pride. There were a few discrepancies here and there such as missing words like in one sentence where the author wrote “grind his against her”, but with a little imagination and a dirty mind, I suppose we can all fill in the missing blank. Also, there are grammatical errors. But hey, I don’t judge. I’m guilty of both. Pretty sure the latter is pretty obvious in this review.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. The missing words and the grammatical errors can be easily overlooked and while I did appreciate that Serena developed the relationship between Dylan and Sam as well as Liam and Lynn, I felt that it was too slow of a buildup. I did feel that Serena could have had Dylan figure out the reason behind Sam’s reaction to men instead of having her reveal it just like that on their second meeting because it would have added some depth as well as an added conflict to the story, which is something that it needed more of. I did find it a little unappealing how Dylan and Sam’s little surprise came about and how despite being the Prime of his pride, Dylan lacked the usual alpha male traits. I mean, he couldn’t have become Prime just by being the nice guy, now could he? Still, it was a great read with romance, humor, action, sex and shifters. Highly recommended for those looking for a short paranormal romance or just shifters. Those looking for something with more depth, conflict and a more alpha male hero might not find this that appealing but should give it a go when they’re in the mood for a light read. All in all, this series is a promising one and I’m looking forward to reading Lynn’s story next.
******
Swallowing His Pride
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Barnes and Noble
Like SharisseEM's review? Post a comment saying so!
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Latest Review: "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper
