Magpie (Avian Shifters #2) by Kim Dare

Magpie (Avian Shifters #2) by Kim Dare
Stars: 4/5

Length: 215 pages
Blurb
Everet has found his perfect place in the nest. As a raven, he’s ideally suited to his new role in the nest’s security flock. Some of the jobs it entails have been far more enjoyable than others, but when he’s called to retrieve a magpie, whose got himself into trouble in a local human club, it becomes a truly life changing experience.

Magpie shifters have always been looked down on by other avians. Just as attracted to shiny things in their human bodies as they are in their avian forms, everyone knows they’ll do anything for money—and they’re not above stealing what they can’t get by more honest means.

Kane knows what being a magpie means, and he’s got the bruises to show for it. When Everet rescues him from his latest scrape, Kane knows better than to believe the raven will actually take an interest in him and his welfare, but it’s just possible that Everet is different to any other man Kane has ever met.

Overall
After reading Duck, I was anxiously awaiting Everet's story, and while it wasn't at all what I expected, it didn't let me down in the least. Everet and Kane are so different from Raynard and Ori, that it's a nice change in both personality and in the dom/sub dynamic. I wasn't as blown away or as emotionally invested in the characters, but I found the evolution of them and their relationship to be highly enjoyable. (And the writing felt stronger, since it didn’t rely as heavily on referring to them as ‘the submissive’/’the dominant.’)

Review
Kane is a brat, but with his drug-use history, it's not really too surprising, since much of his brattiness comes from his addiction (although, not all of it). He's well matched with Everet, who needs someone to boss around, but who also wants someone with a backbone to challenge him. Their personalities lead to conflict, but ultimately also lead to balance in a rough and tumble sort of way.

Hamilton continues to be a jerk, but I love how we get moments of Ori putting him in his place. That has to rub him the wrong way. *cackles madly* My only issue with Hamilton's later actions is that it felt someone forced in order to cause X, Y, and Z to happen, but it also didn't bother me as much, because I can see Hamilton doing what he did, although the motivation behind it was a tad flimsy. It would be interesting, if there are going to be more in the series, to see how Hamilton could be redeemed as a character. But if there are going to be more, I think the next is going to be Albatross or Doctor-bird. :)

The plot focuses on the transformation of Kane from a druggie whore to a happy submissive. The concept isn't necessarily highly original, but I enjoyed the progression nonetheless, and it provided plenty of opportunities for Dare to develop the world and the nest, which was a complaint I had in the first book, plus it showed the improvements that have happened since Ori came into power (as it were).

An enjoyable plot, fun characters, and further development of the world leave this being an enjoyable novel, especially for fans of Duck, although in some ways it caters to a very different audience in regards to the BDSM elements, as pain is not so important as dominance, and even that differs from Raynard/Ori’s relationship.

Ellery's Duty by Kim Dare

Ellery's Duty by Kim Dare
Stars: 3/5

Blurb
As a well respected dominant, Ellery has been watching the subs from the local leather bars disappear into the lions’ den for far too long, and he’s not convinced that everything is as fine as they all claim it is. He’s determined to find out what really happens in there. If the only way he can do that is to volunteer to be thrown to the lions himself, so be it.

Kefir’s never worked out what the other lions find so interesting about the human sacrifices who visit their den, but this new man is unlike any other human he’s ever met, and Kefir’s captivated. Can the smallest lion in the pride claim a man like Ellery as his pet—is that even the way Kefir wants to think of his human mate?

Overall
After reading the the first book in this series, I immediately wanted to know more about Kefir, who was different from the other lions. And while I enjoyed his story, I was in no way enchanted. I think the problem is that I still love Kefir and I didn't really like Ellery much at all. He had his moments, normally when he was cuddling up with Kefir, but anytime he was dealing with anyone aside from Kefir, he came across as an arrogant prick.

Of course, if you like your dom to be an arrogant prick, then maybe you won't mind. After a second read through, he didn't come across so grating, but I still don't like him and how he handles Kefir, for the most part.

The weird thing is, I would re-read this story only because I really do like Kefir and I want him to have his happy ending, even if it's with Ellery.

Characters aside, there isn't too much to entice the reader, aside from shifters and BDSM, which may be enough for some people. The writing of this series continues to be middle of the road and the plots don't grab my attention. I almost feel (and I hope it's not just because of the mood I'm in) that the author has these characters and wants the story told, but just wants to get to the happy ending without having to trudge through all the work to really get the reader there. Don't get me wrong, I want the happy ending, but I also want the characters and the reader to have to earn it.

Marrick's Promise by Kim Dare

Marrick's Promise by Kim Dare
Stars: 3/5

Blurb
Marrick thinks that being thrown to the lions will be the ultimate adrenaline rush, and he’s not disappointed. But his plan is to try everything life has to offer once. He has no intention of visiting the lions again.

Blaine and Luther don’t expect to give any of the human sacrifices they share another thought once they leave the den. This man’s different. They have no intention of letting this one go. The only question is, while they are willing to share Marrick with each other, are they willing to share each other with a human who could become as important to each of them as they are to each other?

Overall
This blurb, specifically the last line, is extremely misleading. The majority of the novel isn't about "can we make this threesome work?" In fact, aside from some initial struggle where Luther and Blaine make faces at one another and try to make sure they are both OK with what's happening (emotionally), the two were-lions are pretty comfortable with Marrick as their pet. I thought that it worked for this story, since that concept wasn't really the focus of the story.

In fact, the focus of the story mostly seems to be about sex until Marrick finally makes the long-hinted-at action and all three men struggle to come to an understanding with some outside help (or non-help, as sometimes the case seems to be). I enjoyed the story and the characters and overall the writing, but none of it was enough to grab me and make me want to stay and read more. Everything felt a little sex heavy, and I wasn't really inspired by the scenes. An OK novel.

Strengths
The characters were pretty interesting, with our masochist Marrick and two were-lions who have been told that humans are fragile. Blaine and Luther come across as being pretty dense, which I think is the author's intention, and really is the device that keeps the story moving forward as they just don't get it. I didn't fall in love with the characters, but I enjoyed while they were on stage, for what it was worth.

The final sex scene was the best and strongest scene in the book, I felt. It had emotion and depth that the rest of the book lacked, and it made me yearn to have the entire novel written with such thought and care. It was the first time I really felt what the characters felt and could understand what they all needed from one another--not just understand, but see it.

Weaknesses
I might be the only one who feels this way, but there was too much sex going on. Between sprints of plot were marathons of sex (okay, that may be a slight exaggeration). I'm fine with lots of sex, but I didn't really feel anything for these characters, and I couldn't buy why they wanted one another, aside from the mate thing. It wasn't until the final scene that they actually seemed to care for one another in a way that didn't involve a body part being shoved into another man's body part.

What is probably the crucial weakness for me is the lack of dynamic between characters. Supposedly Marrick is the mate to both Luther and Blaine and we see some of their yearning to always be near him and protect him, although some of it comes across as over-protective and domineering, but I never really got an impression from Marrick that he was in love with these two. While we were told that he was, and that he couldn't sleep without them, I didn't really go for it. Maybe we were limited by the length, but I wanted more development before they were swearing themselves to each other.

Ryland's Sacrifice by Kim Dare

Ryland's Sacrifice by Kim Dare
Stars: 3/5

Overall
While I enjoyed the ride, I wasn't really won over by it. Elements of it were good and nothing was particularly bad, but it didn't spark an interest, either.

Strengths
Repaying the debt. Very amusing and funny, I like where Dare took this.

Characters. Although the main characters were fine, I was more interested in some of the side characters, specifically three of the lions who, since they have their own books, I am tempted to read more about. As for the main characters, they were both acceptably human and realistic, and although I connected to them, I wasn't really too emotionally involved.

Weaknesses
I found the conflicts hard to buy and didn't feel incredibly invested in the characters or their plight. Although I wanted them to get together, I didn't feel a sense of struggle in them doing so, although I did want them together and was frustrated (like they were) with their situation.

The shifter's place in society seemed a little odd, because people seemed to know about shifters (enough that some would be willing to be 'thrown to the lions') but outside of the den scenes, we don't get any mention of shifters. I wanted to know more about the society, especially since culture played an important role with these two characters.

Duck! by Kim Dare

Duck! by Kim Dare
Stars: 5/5

Overall
While Ori's shifter species is unknown, there's no question of whether he's a submissive or not, and Raynard is just the hawk to help him find out what it really means to give yourself over to someone. The plot and story are well told in this very different retelling of the Ugly Duckling, and while the characters may not deeply drawn, they still connect to the readers and invite an emotional connection.

Strengths
Aside from one writing qualm (see below), I enjoyed Dare's writing style. It was simple, but pulled emotions from me as the reader. She was able to connect me to two characters who were very different, and able to redeem a third character who was a jerk in the beginning. In addition, even knowing this is the story of the Ugly Duckling, I looked forward to seeing the events unfurl and I enjoyed the build up between them as their relationship evolved from master-servant to master-submissive to something else.

Story. A lovely re-make of The Ugly Duckling, although the story in general has very little in common with the original aside from the basic premise. I enjoyed every step of the way and actually put aside other things I should have been working on in order to finish the book. While the tale wasn't complex, it was emotionally packed and I fell in love with the characters and was invested in what happened to them.

Overall. While I try not to use this as a point of strength, in this story it was especially true. I just enjoyed it, and even though I was reading it for the first time, it felt familiar and good, like meeting with an old friend. I think this overall enjoyment of the story helped me ignore any of he other little things that may have annoyed me otherwise.

Weaknesses
In my initial read, I didn't really feel there were "weaknesses" in the story, and only one peeve in the writing. In looking around, I know some people have had complaints about a lack of character building for Ori and Raynard, but I had no problems with them. It was pointed out that they are rather flat characters, only really taking on the role of submissive and Dom. I love deep, fleshed out characters, but this two, while single-minded, didn't seem completely flat. They weren't what you'd call deep, but they were what they were. Raynard was a hawk, a dominant in all things. Ori was...well Ori, a submissive in all things. While that's simplifying who they are, it seems to drive home the point of the book.

One issue I did take in this book was Dare's attempt to not abuse pronouns or names. In trying to not overuse names, or making sentences confusing with too many "he"s, she tried using alternatives like "the dominant," "the submissive," "the hawk," and "the fledgling." While I can get behind Raynard referring to Ori as "the submissive" or "the fledgling" when we are in his perspective, I can't see Ori calling himself "the submissive." Since the narration switches between the two men in a limited 3rd person perspective, the words should have adjusted accordingly.