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.