Customer Reviews

Wolf Unbound (Cascadia Wolves)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Cascadia Wolf series is excellent! I have read 5 of the 6 in the series and all of them were wonderful. This book has several sweet and sincere moments, as well as lots of action and returning charaters from the previous books.

This story centers around one of the twin sisters, Tegan, but you also get to catch up with brothers Lex and his mate Nina (Enforcer) and Cade (Standoff)! It is very sexy and has some light bondage thrown in - but was a great read.

I would highly recommend that you read the series from the beginning - Enforcer (Lex and Nina's story)was truly wonderful and had some laugh out loud moments.

If you like paranormal stories, this was a great read.

Tegan has just been going through the motions of life since the death of her mate in Afghanistan four years ago. Ben is a cop who has given up on ever trusting or getting close to a woman again since finding his fiancee cheating on him with his partner. Tegan is a wolf; Ben is a human.

Their relationship is that of a D/s, and upon their first time having sex, they become a mated pair. Of course Ben is confused and needs time to process this, leaving Tegan heartbroken. She wants Ben to want to be with her for her, not just because the bond makes them crave sex with one another. All of their sexual encounters included some sort of sex toys. The shower scene is the only time I can recall them having sex without all the extra. I've read other books with spanking and nipple clamps, but the rope play and ropespace was something altogether new to me.

While they are dealing with their new bond and Ben's mother being against their relationship, war brakes out between the packs and Pellini. Which if you have read the previous books in the series, the war between them is not a surprise. This book only touches on the beginnings of war so the next books in the series will have more.

Overall, I didn't really feel that there was a true connection between Ben and Tegan. I really loved the connection and chemistry between Nina and Lex in Enforcer, but Tegan and Ben just didn't have that.

Werewolf Tegan Warden has spent the last four years of her life mourning the death of her mate. Her job as a Cascadia Enforcer keeps her going through out the day, but late at night she wishes for strong arms to hold her and a deep voice to whisper commands to her. Commands that she readily wants to submit to in the bedroom. Finally able to take charge of her life again, Tegan frequents a local BDSM club with the hope of being able to give up control, if just for a little while. Alone and blindfolded, Tegan's senses go on alert when she realizes that the man so masterfully making her submit might be exactly what she needs. Hooking up with him is fairly a no-brainer since he seems to be just as attracted to her as she is to him. After their scene, Tegan agrees to a simple date. Nothing is simple after their date, however, because come the light of day there are repercussions of their sexual encounter and it is a forever kind of mistake.

Ben Stoner can't believe his body. Alone with the fiery-haired woman in a scene room at his club, and he is instantly aroused. Using every bit of control he has to make the scene work for her, by the scene's completion, he knows he has to see this beautiful submissive woman again. She just might be the submissive woman of his dreams. He doesn't count on being tied to her forever.

Ben and Tegan have a lot of issues to work through. Issues that as a human Ben doesn't like and as a werewolf in a pack, Tegan has no choice but to obey. Add in the werewolf mafia and these two lovers will have to fight with every bit of their souls to stay together.

I can't get enough of Lauren Dane's Cascadia Wolves and Wolf Unbound is no exception. I read this book like a junkie looking for his next fix. Engulfing this story in one sitting, I laughed and I cried. I rolled my eyes at Ben one minute and then swooned at his charm and love for Tegan the next. I blushed at their encounters and cheered their victories. Wolf Unbound was written in such a way that I could hear their words and feel their emotions.

Wolf Unbound is just another reason why Lauren Dane is an automatic read for me. It was simply divine and I wholeheartedly urge snapping up a copy right this very minute. I must simply and emphatically Joyfully Recommend Wolf Unbound.

Talia
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Werewolf Enforcer Tegan Warden has spent the past four years mourning the death of her mate in Afghanistan. She's tired of being alone and feels that it's time to move on with her life. She just hadn't anticipated meeting Ben Stoner or the shocking discovery that her mate is human.

Ben Stoner isn't looking for a happily ever after. He simply wants a steady girlfriend who enjoys being his submissive. After meeting Tegan, he believes he may have found exactly what he was looking for - but what he gets is more than he is prepared for - he suddenly finds himself mated to a werewolf. For human cop Ben this is beyond shocking but she presents a challenge he just can't resist.

It's not that Ben is unaware that werewolves exist, he works with Tegan's brothers who just happen to be the local pack Alpha and Enforcer. What he's having trouble accepting is the simple fact that after only one unforgettable sexual encounter he is forever tied to Tegan - as in mated for life!

Their relationship is challenging enough without adding in the conflicting human and werewolf laws. Each is sworn to uphold the laws of their kind but what happens when situations overlap and they find themselves at odds? There are signs that Pellini and his group are out to hurt their pack - they just aren't aware of the complete and utterly despicable nature of the man.

Tegan and Ben's relationship is put to the test on more than one occasion. Will Ben and Tegan's mating be a rousing success or will he come to regret his marriage to a werewolf? What about Tegan, she's already in love with Ben, will she be heartbroken again?

WOLF UNBOUND is the latest in Lauren Dane's CASCADIAN WOLVES series. This story is full of all of the passion, emotional angst and wolfie wonders you could possibly want in a fantastic storyline. I adored Tegan's kick-butt attitude. There's no doubt she's more than capable of taking care of herself - but she has a whole pack more than willing to go to battle for her if Ben ever hurts her - in any way. One of my favorite things about this series is how each story builds on the last one and you feel like part of the family. If you haven't yet experienced a Lauren Dane book then you're missing out!

Watch for the next book in this exciting series, STANDOFF, to be released in March 2008. I just read the blurb for this book on Ms. Dane's website and I have to admit I'm practically bouncing in anticipation!

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

I enjoyed all of the Cascadia Wolves stories, but Ben and Tegan's story was far and away my favorite. Lauren Dane's female characters are all strong and fierce, but Tegan's strength is tempered with a vulnerability that stems from losing her first mate. And Ben, a human character we first met in Enforcer, is a feast for the imagination--a human man with a strong enough personality to love a were female. Yes, please!

In the context of a D/s love story, I found the sex scenes incredibly hot without being superfluous. Understanding Tegan's need to give up control, to let Ben take care of her, to make herself vulnerable to him is a huge part of understanding their relationship as well as how she became so shut off from the rest of the world when she lost her first mate.

Of all the Warden siblings, Tegan is the one who really makes you want to root for her and her man, because more than anything, she's the one who has truly earned her happy ever after.

I love this series and unabashedly recommend it for everyone interested in hot men, hot women and hotter sex - complimented and augmented by shape-shifter wolves. A woman getting involved with this society and finding out she is the mate of one of the alpha males is always in for a shock - a good one for us, a bed of nails for her. Even though the stories wind up with a good outcome to the danger - there are enough on the edge of your seat moments to keep the stories really interesting and in come cases, riveting. I am such a Lauren Dane fan based on these books that I'll read anything else by her, and I'm seldom disappointed.

This is an incredible series! I read the first 5 in one week! I can't rave enough. I love the way LD blends the paranormal fantasy aspect with an erotic romance. She develops characters that you fall in love with and look forward to learning more about not just later in the book, but in other books in the series. She does a fabulous job of drawing you into this other world! I am currently in the middle of Trinity and I have to admit I am not finding the plot as captivating as previous books....

From "Cascadia Wolves" series - preceded by Tri Mates, followed by Standoff. (There also is a "prequel" Reluctant, which is within the "world" of Cascadia Wolves but outside the story arc of Werewolf Mafia. It is not necessary to the series). "Standoff" is also not part of that story arc.

Plot:
Two main arcs: Tegan's mate died some years ago. She has finally decided to start dating when "wham" she's mated to human cop, Ben Stoner. Cue relationship angst, plenty of sex and culture shock. Second arc follows the Pellini/werewolf mafia takeover bid for the National Council.

Comments:
- A good length book (4433 kindle locations). Plenty of plot, action, sex, relationship, emotion.
- We met Ben Stoner in the first book; he's the cop that doesn't understand werewolves but helps Nina all the same. He is also mentioned in the second book as liaison.
- Other characters from previous books reappear and play an integral part in the plot.
- The Mafia story arc is emphasised in "Wolf Unbound". Page-turning action.
- m/f with consensual bdsm (flogging, ropes, handcuffs, D/s behaviour, toys). Very HOT and plenty of it, though perhaps not as much as previous books. The sex moves the plot forward and shows the growth of the relationship.
- There is violence against Tegan. But being the kickass Werewolf bodyguard she is, she survives.

Opinion:
Dane handled the D/s relationship really well. Tegan is a *strong* woman - she's a werewolf and a bodyguard. But in her off time, she likes to submit in the bedroom. It is very clear the submission only occurs in the bedroom, only with her active and willing consent and only in a loving and caring manner. Okay, bdsm isn't my cup of tea. But Dane wrote it in a truly beautiful way, and it works within the growth of the relationship and as an aspect of it. I assume, given some of the language used and the emotions written, that really this is bdsm-lite. I don't know how true afficionados would view the scenes. But I found them surprisingly HOT, caring and emotional.

Loved this book. This series just keeps getting better. Each book in the series is different, with different types of sexual liasions (bdsm, menage), but the female characters are always strong and independent. The males are always Alpha, but respect the women and their independence, while trying to "protect" them. Emphasis on the larger world of Shifters (through the Mafia story arc) varies between books, with it playing a large part in "Wolf Unbound". It is appropriate to the world view of the female characters and extremely well done. I highly recommend this series.