Feral Attraction [Paperback]

Both authors are new to me, and I'm glad I took a chance with this antho.

Paige McKellan's tale is that of Jules, lead Lioness-to-be of her pack, whose Leo fathers have decided it's time for her to be mated, and so have announced that she's up for grabs. It is done a touch more subtly, but yes, she gets approached by several pairs of males (the leads of the Pack are always a trio) and has several showdowns with them, not knowing that in fact when she went off to college 3 years ago, brothers Gabe and Luke had staked their claim, which her fathers had already accepted. Yes, her family tricks her into being home for dinner when the guys are invited round, and she tries to escape by jumping out of a window, but of course, they are waiting and they carry her off to their lair, the ranch next door. I liked how this book, which could have been a battle of wits from start to finish, wasn't as both guys, though totally Alphas, recognised Jules's stance and her rights to make her own choices, and so they backed off in some ways. Not sexually, no, that was hot, plentiful varied and descriptive, and yes, they get their HEA. At the end of the tale, the author tells us that if we want to see more of the HEA, to visit her website, which I did, and I loved where the leads were. We also get introduced to Jules' sister Nessa, who has been at college, and she did look as if she was meant to get her tale, but there's been no further works published as far as I can tell and the author's website hasn't been updated since 2008...a real pity.

Marie Harte's tale was pretty much on a par: Rachel, who has no reason to believe that she is anything other than human, inherits her aunt's house, and immediately she arrives in Cougar Falls, a town that doesn't appear on any maps, she realises that the local guys come on strongly and almost seem...feral. Despite her smarting from an acrimonious divorce, her senses ignite when she sees Burke, who senses that she is an unawakened shifter, and they have a hot and heavy session whilst totally clothed, before being asked to see the local lawyer for the reading of her aunt's will. Each has been left a letter and instructions and the deceased aunt's property has been left to both of them. Rachel then comes to realise that she has latent shifter in her, and that she is her generation's Guardian Of The Totem, which has been missing since her aunt's death, and the loss of which might cause their town to be discovered by humans, and to be invaded by non-friendly shifter groups. There was an issue with a slight discrepancy/continuity, but overall, this was minor and the book was pretty hot from the start, and it was clear that the leads would end up together, and whilst I have no issues with there being a 'marking/claiming' menage ceremony with Rachel, Burke and his brothers, it didn't feel as if that scene, which lasted the whole night as a one-off, was entirely necessary. Yes, pretty hot and varied, though we don't get to read about the ins and outs, only certain sore areas the next day!, so it was not quite up to the previous tale.