Title: Born This Way
Author: Poppy Dennison
Genre: Paranormal
Length: Novella (115pgs)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (19th June 2013)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3 – 3 ½ Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Dayton Whitmore injures his arm playing basketball with his lion-shifter friends, and his best friend asks Dayton to check on her estranged brother Hart while he’s in Atlanta visiting a specialist. Though Dayton and Hart were never close, he grudgingly agrees.
Banishment from his pride meant Hart Sherman could never see his family again. His liger heritage—a tiger mother and lion father—was a thorn in his alpha father’s side. He always planned to go back for Dayton, the man he knows is his mate, but he uses his career as an entertainment attorney as an excuse to avoid risking Dayton’s rejection. When Dayton shows up unannounced on his doorstep, Hart wants nothing more than to claim him.
Knowing what it means to be a lion’s mate, Dayton isn’t in any hurry to make a lifetime commitment. To convince Dayton he’s serious, Hart must come to terms with the circumstances of his birth—and find a place in the pride for them both.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3897
Review: When Dayton injuries his arm playing basketball, he has to visit a specialist in Atlanta and does a favor for his best friend, Tawny. He visits her estranged brother, Hart. Hart was banished from the pride when he was eighteen. being a Liger and more powerful than the alpha, his father, was a huge mark against him and he was told he could never contact the pack again. Hart always planned to go back for his mate, Drayton, the only human adopted by the pride, when he was settled. But, fear of rejection has him putting it off. When Drayton turns up at his apartment, Hart knows it’s time to claim his mate. But, Drayton isn’t ready for commitment…. And Hart has to confront his father to keep his mate.
This is a great shifter story with just a bit of tension and a touch of angst. Dayton basically grew up within the lion pride. His best friend is Tawny, the alpha’s daughter, and he thinks her brother, Hart, hates him. But, nothing could have been further from the truth. Hart has always known that Dayton is his mate. Even when he is kicked out of the pride, Hart knows he will return for him. When Dayton is injured and has to go to the city, Tawny decides the time has come for her brother to claim her best friend. She thinks Hart is taking too long. He has a great career and a wonderful home and now just needs his mate and Dayton has everything he could want except a man to love.
I liked the characters in this story with Dayton and Hart making a great couple. They have difficulties as Dayton tries to accept that he is Hart’s mate. Especially after the way that Hart always treated him and then again, when he comes face to face with how the pride handles things. Hart’s predicament is one that makes you want to start slapping people. His mother shunned him and his father kicked him out at eighteen, banning him from contact with his sister or with anyone else in the pride. It makes you want to growl.
Although this story is quite good, there wasn’t much background or world building. Sometimes it felt like there should have been just a bit more detail. I would love to know where the hell that thing with Rick came from, that just blindsided me. Some of the secondary characters are wonderful like the boy band, who Drayton helps out, and Maxter J and his troubled times and I would love to see them in future books. Tawny is a great character, too. She is certainly sneaky, but only has the best of interests.
If you love shifters, finding your way relationships, hot sex, tension and conflict, great characters and an interesting storyline then give this story a shot.