I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Sexy Beast 1
by
Kate Douglas
It is part of the , series and is a erotica, paranormal romance in eBook edition that was published by Aphrodisia on April 13, 2006 and has 272 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Sexy Beast II, Wolf Tales 10, Sexy Beast VII, Wolf Tales, Wolf Tales II
An anthology of three shapeshifter sex scenes thinly disguised as stories. If you’re interested, there is a chronological listing of the Chanku: Wolf Tales + Sexy Beast books on my website.
Series
“Chanku Rising” (Sexy Beast, 1; Wolf Tales, 1.5)
The Stories
Kate Douglas’ “Chanku Rising”
My Take
I know. I don’t normally do the full bore in the short stories…unless it’s part of a series I’m following. Douglas’ numbering system for her series is very confusing, and I’ve decided to start over and try this from the beginning — I’m OCD, and Douglas’ storylines seem to follow each other closely. It leaves me disoriented if I read out of order.
Of the three short stories, this is the best (a “4”) as it has an actual storyline, and it is beautifully done as Douglas sets up a future problem, resolves several past issues, and solves a kidnapping with strong character development. Sex-wise, it’s every combination you can imagine of four people.
I don’t get Uncle Ulrich. Douglas has a thin premise for his disappearing from Keisha’s life and his exit is abrupt. Despite him, the true value in Douglas’ stories are the family values and honor of her very memorable characters. Yeah, and the sex is hot, LOL!
The Story
Keisha has the opening to attend in San Francisco for the memorial garden she designed and Xandi has decided to go with her. This trip will bring closure to both her mother’s hit-and-run, her own rape, and Carl Burns.
The Characters
Contrary to my usual treatment of short stories, I’ll include a list of characters as I’m trying to grab that progression and make sense of where everyone is from and how they’re related.
Anton Cheval discovered what he was and has been testing and experimenting for some time. He’s mated to Keisha Rialto, a landscape designer who has just completed a memorial garden for Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Alexandra “Xandi” Olanet is mated to Stefan Aragat. The four of them live together in Montana.
We learn that Keisha has a cousin Tianna and an Uncle Ulrich Mason.
Carl Burns is a tabloid reporter with no morals who is stalking Keisha.
Noelle Mack’s “Tiger, Tiger”
This is a cute idea, and a “2”. I just wish Mack had developed this much farther than simply a string of ideas held together with sex. There are so many clever vignettes and she could have really gone somewhere with this. Instead, it reads more like a dream sequence in which disconnected actions pop up with no purpose. Mack’s idea of closure is inadequate. Of course, part of that may be that I got rather bored and kept putting the book down over the weeks it took me to get through this.
Vivi Anna’s “Night of the Jaguar”
This is the least enjoyable (“1”) of the three with its clichéd plot of the woman who gets exposed to her hidden genetic inheritance (I’m guessing as Anna couldn’t be bothered to explain it) and returns home only to discover she’s being pursued by sexy beasts in her dreams and her physical world for the amulet. Lame and heavy handed.
The Cover and Title
The cover is all pinks and fleshtones with its naked and well-muscled man sprawling back, a sheet strategically draped, a roaring cat’s head tattooed on his left bicep.
The title is definitely about a series of Sexy Beasts.
