Love Bites by D. River

Title: Love Bites

Series: A Feral Hearts Tale 01

Author: D. River

Genre: Alternative World, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Length: Novel (265pgs)

Publisher: Lightbane Publications (7th July 2012)

Heat: Explicit

Heart: ♥♥♥♥♥4 ½Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Ryder has been friends with Tucker since they were in the first grade. They grew up together, they joined the Marines together and they moved to the vast metropolis of New York City together. Nothing could tear them apart.

Or so they believed. When they get bitten by a mysterious creature, they find themselves drawn together in a whole new way that is both exciting and terrifying. Neither of them is prepared to face the feelings they now have or what that could mean for their future.

This is the story of their quest for a cure, which takes them through such locales as Little Avalon, the Wild Wood and the haunted ruins of Old Syracuse. Together they must face down dangers and challenges even as they grapple with the life-shift of now being mated werewolves.

Join Ryder and Tucker for a fun, romantic adventure set in an Earth much like our own, but where magic and magical creatures are as much a part of the world as science and technology.

Purchase Link: USA: http://www.amazon.com/Bites-Feral-Hearts-Tales-ebook/dp/B008IMRH4O

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bites-Feral-Hearts-Tales-ebook/dp/B008IMRH4O

Review: Ryder and Tucker are the best of friends and nothing will ever change that. But, the days and weeks following an attack by a mysterious creature pushes them to the limit. Discovering they are now Lycan (a long dead race), fighting their inner battles with the wolf spirits and the sudden confusion of being attracted to each other is hard to process. But, throw in a series of quests and it just might tear them apart.

This is a great shifter & paranormal novel that delves into imagination and gives us a great mix of paranormal, myths and legends. Ryder is a man who is loyal to a fault, but is far from a push over. He will do what has to be done, but he also has a nurturing side. Tucker is a man who holds himself in tight control, terrified that he will turn into the kind of man his father was, but he is also loyal and protective and would give up his own happiness to make Ryder happy… oh and they are both very straight. The night they are both bitten is the night it all changes for them. With everything that is thrown at them from that moment on, their greatest fear is losing each other.

This is an excellent story that doesn’t just give us an adventure and action, it also gives us the complex process as Ryder and Tucker have to decide just what to do about their curse and also the new developing feelings they have for each other. The story is from Ryder’s perspective so we get all his feelings and confusion, we do get an idea of what Tucker is also deciding because Ryder knows him so well. But, there is still a touch of angst while they process what is going on.

The storyline is brilliant, far from the usually paranormal stories, the background and world building is great, so we get a good grip of what is happening in the paranormal world and Ryder and Tucker’s romance is quite realistic to the setting. I absolutely loved the adventure they found themselves on. Ending with a series of quests from finding a cure, to discovering a lost relic, to helping a haunted town AND Herne the Huntsman, all the while being chased by hunters who want blood and a Dream Speaker who wants war.

I have to recommend this to those who love paranormal, primal shifters, urban fantasy, alternative world, hot primal sex in shifter form, hot sex in human form, a great adventure, a friends to lovers romance and a happy ending.