Black River Pack Series Paperback – January 24, 2015

**Spoilers**Book 2 in this set disguises rape as taking charge and being dominant. Stripping someone while they sleep and cuffing them to a bed when they have consented to neither is against the law. Adding sex to that is rape. It doesn't matter how you work your way around the storyline, it is rape. There were any number of other ways the tension in the storyline could have been resolved other than rape. There just isn't any excuse to perpetuate this unhealthy stereotype that your one true love should be allowed to take away your choices.

I only read the first book because it left me disappointed. I was in the mood for a good PNR and reading the blurb, I thought this would be right up my alley. The premise was promising: Grace had been running away from an abusive ex. She finds a bar in a small town and meets Hunter who unbeknownst to her is her mate and a shifter. Sounds good right? But then nothing was developed. There was no world building. The shifter society wasn't flushed out. All you know is Hunter is the alpha and so are his brothers. Their grandmother was a clairvoyant who predicted their mates. Hunter realizes Grace is mate when he first meets her. You're told all this in a few sentences, not shown, not developed. This left me feeling distant from the characters and didn't make me care about them.I didn't care about Grace and Hunter as individuals. And I didn't care about them together. They go from meeting, having sexual tension at the bar where they work, to suddenly having sex and declaring their love for each other because they were tired of hiding their felings. I didn't even see them talk to each other before they were suddenly tired .if holding back their feelings and having sex. If I could sum up book one into three worss, it would be: they had sex. That's the first of it. I didn't care enough to read the other two books.

Some times it can take me awhile really get into a book. Often I find that authors seem to forget one of the first rules of writing: The first sentence should grab the reader by the throat and reflect everything that is coming in the following pages. Rochelle Paige seems to have learned that lesson very well!From the very beginning I was enthralled by the story that she was weaving. Her characters were strong, and I couldn’t help but like them.Book One, “Crying Wolf,” is a sweet love story punctuated with great sex. The heroine, Grace, desperate and running from an abusive boyfriend, finally finds a safe haven in the arms of the Alpha of the River Pack. Even though she is fully human the pack accepts her completely and vows to protect her at all cost.Book Two in the series, “Shoot The Moon,” continues where Book One leaves off with the story of Eliza and Spencer. Eliza has the Gift (or curse) of walking in dreams. Wrongly accused of the death of her Pack leaders son, she has wandered from town to town, destined to be a lone wolf. But when she arrives at the River Pack, she recognizes her mate, Spencer. She decides to stay with the pack so that she can remain near him and even though Spencer denies to himself that Eliza is his true mate, he can’t seem to bring himself to stay away from her.Book Three, “Thrown To The Wolves,” finds sad and abused Annora trying to escape the man who raised her but is not her father. Annora finds herself sold to the cruel Alpha of a neighboring pack, and in the midst of a desperate plan to escape she finds herself in the arms of the man who she least expected. Her real father. Her true mate isn’t far behind!This is a great set, all three stories with a sexy HEA!

Each of the stories are rated separately:1. Crying Wolf was a good story with interesting characters. I especially enjoyed the relationship between the two protagonists-- caring and respectful-- which made the abusive Sam's actions stand out in contrast. Nice story progression and a good set up for interwoven storylines.2. Shoot for the Moon was told from a narrator's perspective which left the reader outside the action and emotions of the protagonists, Spencer and Eliza. There was also some overlap with book 1, which I read quite awhile ago, so I was lost when the novella fast-forwarded to skip key details (which had been part of first book). As a result, I recommend reading these novellas back to back. The overall plot was somewhat weak, and the over-explanations meant there was too much redundancy3. Thrown to the Wolves was better as far as dialogue to pull the reader into the action (as opposed to being an observer, as I felt in book 2). Plot holes were rampant--for example, if someone is close enough you can smell them, wouldn't they also be close enough to hear if you sound the alert? And after a character talks about his fated mate, another character is surprised a couple pages later, "{she] was your fated mate?"The series is werewolf-light with lnsta-love and cheesy lines, but not bad for its genre.

Crying Wolf 3.5 StarsThis was pretty good. I love the whole mine at first sniff thing. I loved how Hunter wanted Grace, but was willing to give her time. I loved that he wanted to protect her. I liked Grace. I understood why she was leary of getting in a relationship. The plot was food, interesting. There was some good amount of heat. I would have liked Hunter to be a little more wild, but I understood why he wasn't.Shoot for the moon 2.5 starsThe dialogue is the same for part of the story as it was in Crying Wolf. Which was a bit repetitive since I read the stories back to back. My enjoyment suffered because I kept waiting for heartache and rejection, but I figure out what was going to happen. But by then, I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have.Thrown to the wolves 3.5 starsThis one was the best out of the three. The whole instant "mine" thing. The fact that Parker had been wanting his mate, and was so glad to find her. This gave me some feely goods.Overall for the three books they were ok. Good heat, but everything was solved pretty quickly after a fair amount of buildup, so it was kind of disappointing. I will read more, especially about the bears.

A good value box set. Individual book reviews follow:#1 - Crying Wolf - 4*On the run from a crazy ex-boyfriend who is a cop and willing to use Police resources to find her, Grace Shaw hopes she killed the prospect of his colleagues helping him with her tactics to set him up before she left. All she wants is a job, a place to stay and folks to leave her alone. Then she meets the alpha of the Black River Pack - Hunter Tate. She tries her hardest to keep him at arm's length, but you can reason with an alpha male werewolf who insists she is his mate.This was a sweet story that had lots of drama, excitement and danger woven carefully into the story. Well written, it was easy to read and understand. Quite enjoyable. Please note this does contain explicit sexual scenes and some partner abuse.#2 - Shoot for the Moon - 4*Wolf shifter Eliza Reve has the unusual ability to dream of future events which has been a curse in the past when she was unable to save her mother nor the pack alpha's son and so she found herself exiled and alone. So she knows never to reveal her talent to anyone else - not even the man who has been in her dreams for years. Wolf shifter Spencer Tate is her mate but her visions have always told her that he will renounce her and so when he doesn't initially recognise her as his mate she agrees to a non-strings affair that he offers to her because she is convinced it is the most she could ever hope for even though her heart breaks as she falls deeper in love with him. When Spencer finally comes to his senses he really has his work cut out to persuade Eliza that he actually wants her forever. Using the determination he developed as the pack enforcer, he refuses to settle for anything else and is determined to fight for what is his and refuses to accept anything other than Eliza as his marked and claimed mate. Can he finally persuade her?I enjoyed this story even if the determination that Eliza used to constantly refuse him became a little wearing. Thankfully she did eventually accept that she could have everything and that she had the power to change the future if she just took action based on the information that she had. I felt sorry for Eliza and just wanted Spencer and his brothers to take action against her old alpha for the way that he treated her but maybe they decided that he wasn't worth the effort. I loved the references back to Spencer's grandmother who sounds like a formidable woman that I would have loved to hear more about. Easy to read and understand the thoughts and emotions of the various characters in this book. Contains some explicit sexual content.#3 - Thrown to the Wolves - 3*Brought up as a wolf shifter like her parents, Annora Channing's world is thrown into chaos after her first shift and she discovers that she is actually a bear shifter. As soon as her father realises that she is not his daughter he finds a way to use her existence for his own advantage and ensure that she is removed from under his roof. When it goes from bad to worse Annora spaces but is badly wounded, but thankfully Elias Reve finds her as he travels to Wolf's Point to find the daughter he thought he had lost many years ago. So with no other option, Annora joins him only to find her own mate. Wolf Shifter Parker Tate knows Annora is his at the moment that he sees her and so when he manages to make and mark her within hours he considers himself the luckiest man alive. Then the trouble around Annora finds her and Parker realises that the path to finally claiming his mate will not be easy and that is before he considers the bears who are now involved. Will everything work out in the end?I enjoyed this story which had a lot of drama, danger and happiness all rolled into a novella-length story. I was thrilled for Annora when she found so many reasons to be accepted and part of a loving family which I really hope made up for all the trauma and sadness that she experienced earlier in her life. It seemed weird to me that her mother would be able to not know who the father of her child was as I thought that a shifter would know at least the race of their baby. Easy to read and understand. Contains some explicit sexual content.

A really great read , it's about three brothers and finding their mates. What is slightly different is the brothers grandmother can see into the future, and can give them hints about their mate. If you brought the books separately you could read them, as each book is about a brother no cliff hangers. Totally about each brother , what ties the books together is the brothers and the fact that the female mates becomes friendly. There is alot of story and there is sex in the book but it does not dominate. I like that the female mates are all different and not all wolves. It is an easy read , not a book that (I can't sleep until I read the book) . But a good book , if you like shifters have a go .

I would not recommend this book to any young woman. We do not need to be saved or rescued by any man or woman. Sexual fantasy is fine and whatever floats your boat. These books teach women nothing but men can be whomever they choose but women should remain innocent until claimed!! Be damaged be brutalized then find a mate who will still subdue you but call it love! Only read these books if you are old enough experienced enough to know better! They don't need an age rating they need a life rating! Man woman whoever wrote this abusive shambollick should be ashamed

If you like short steamy shifter books with some added drama this series is definitely a must for you. Good characters and interesting plots.

I enjoyed this box set my only problem was that it would have been so much better if it could have gone into so much more detail and rounded everything more. Everything happened to fast and on top of each other for me but that might just be me and the style I like to read. I did really enjoy reading this series and would look at more by this author