Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Stolen and Forgiven (Branded Packs #1) by Alexandra Ivy & Carrie Ann Ryan

Stolen and Forgiven (Branded Packs #1) by Alexandra Ivy & Carrie Ann Ryan 



Blurb:

Stolen

The first rule of being Alpha of the Canine Pack is to protect their secrets from the humans at all cost. One look at the dying human at his doorstep and Holden Carter knows he will have to break it. The broken woman with no hope at survival is his mate. When he forces the change on her to save her life, he not only sets forth motions that could risk both their lives, but the lives of every shifter in the world.

Ariel Sands grew up in a post-Verona infection world and under the care of the very humans she thought had cured the disease. When they betray her in the worst ways imaginable, she finds herself not only mated to the Alpha of a the very species she’s been taught to fear, but the focal point of a traitor and path to destruction for everyone’s way of life. It will take more than trust and a mating bond for Ariel and Holden to not only survive their enemies, but the burn of their own temptations.

Forgiven

Soren Slater is a Beta wolf who understands that duty to his Pack comes before his own needs. At a young age he takes a position as a liaison between his Pack and the other species of shifters. He never expected his enticing flirtations with Cora Wilder, a Tiger Princess, would encourage her cat to consider him a potential mate. He’s forced to walk away, choosing a partner among the wolves to try and strengthen his Pack.

Cora has no intention of forgiving or forgetting Soren’s rejection. Not even when the Packs are forced to live together and she discovers Soren’s former mate has died. But then, she’s kidnapped by the SAU and she has no choice but to work with Soren to escape. Together they must put the past behind them if they’re to survive the human’s evil plot.

My review:
Two incredible books in one.  They both take place in the same world.  These are not light and fluffy love stories.  These will take you to a dark and dismal place and prove once again that anything is possible to bear if you have someone to love.
These stories take place in a world where humans were dying from the Verona virus.  An ailment that shifters are immune to.  Shifters came out and basically saved what was left of the human race which thanked them by forcing them into compounds and taking away their rights. These stories take place 25 years after the Verona virus.
Stolen
Holden Carter was 15 when the shifters came out.  He became Alpha of the canine shifters in his camp.  He has been doing his best to protect them ever since.  He is tired and lonely.  He needs his mate and he isn’t likely to meet her with the set up the humans have forced him into. So he is really surprised to find that the dying human tossed into their compound is his mate.  He forces the change on her to save her life.  It may have been the most selfish thing he has ever done but he can’t regret it.
Ariel Sands was born and orphaned in the height of the virus epidemic.  She doesn’t know why she was kidnapped experimented on, eviscerated and left for dead but when she finds herself surrounded by shifters and informed that she has been turned into one she is torn between joy that she is alive and fear of being what she has been taught were animals.
Ariel may be just what Holden needs to keep on going if his turning her doesn’t bring the SAU done on them even worse. Can Ariel embrace her wolf and accept Holden as her mate?
Stolen is a dark story that had me in tears but ultimately left me with a feeling of hope.

Forgiven
Soren Slater is Holden Carter’s second. He discovers and abandons love while acting as ambassador to the felines.  The Tiger Princess Cora knows that Soren is her mate and is heart broken when he leaves her and takes a wolf to mate. Now his mate is dead and the SAU has determined that the Felines and Canines are to share a compound and Cora and Soren will be thrown together again.  Can she forgive and forget?  Soren has never forgotten Cora.  Will she understand that it was duty that took him from her? 
I didn’t like Soren a whole lot in the first story but all is forgiven in this second chance romance.  Cora makes him work for it and it is fun to watch him fall.

This book is not an easy read but once you pick it up I dare you to put it down.       

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