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Branded Packs #1
Stolen and Forgiven
Stolen
The first rule of being Alpha of the Canine Pack is to protect their secrets from the humans at all cost. One look at the dying human at his doorstep and Holden Carter knows he will have to break it. The broken woman with no hope at survival is his mate. When he forces the change on her to save her life, he not only sets forth motions that could risk both their lives, but the lives of every shifter in the world.
Ariel Sands grew up in a post-Verona infection world and under the care of the very humans she thought had cured the disease. When they betray her in the worst ways imaginable, she finds herself not only mated to the Alpha of a the very species she’s been taught to fear, but the focal point of a traitor and path to destruction for everyone’s way of life. It will take more than trust and a mating bond for Ariel and Holden to not only survive their enemies, but the burn of their own temptations.
Forgiven
Soren Slater is a Beta wolf who understands that duty to his Pack comes before his own needs. At a young age he takes a position as a liaison between his Pack and the other species of shifters. He never expected his enticing flirtations with Cora Wilder, a Tiger Princess, would encourage her cat to consider him a potential mate. He’s forced to walk away, choosing a partner among the wolves to try and strengthen his Pack.
Cora has no intention of forgiving or forgetting Soren’s rejection. Not even when the Packs are forced to live together and she discovers Soren’s former mate has died. But then, she’s kidnapped by the SAU and she has no choice but to work with Soren to escape. Together they must put the past behind them if they’re to survive the human’s evil plot.
The first rule of being Alpha of the Canine Pack is to protect their secrets from the humans at all cost. One look at the dying human at his doorstep and Holden Carter knows he will have to break it. The broken woman with no hope at survival is his mate. When he forces the change on her to save her life, he not only sets forth motions that could risk both their lives, but the lives of every shifter in the world.
Ariel Sands grew up in a post-Verona infection world and under the care of the very humans she thought had cured the disease. When they betray her in the worst ways imaginable, she finds herself not only mated to the Alpha of a the very species she’s been taught to fear, but the focal point of a traitor and path to destruction for everyone’s way of life. It will take more than trust and a mating bond for Ariel and Holden to not only survive their enemies, but the burn of their own temptations.
Forgiven
Soren Slater is a Beta wolf who understands that duty to his Pack comes before his own needs. At a young age he takes a position as a liaison between his Pack and the other species of shifters. He never expected his enticing flirtations with Cora Wilder, a Tiger Princess, would encourage her cat to consider him a potential mate. He’s forced to walk away, choosing a partner among the wolves to try and strengthen his Pack.
Cora has no intention of forgiving or forgetting Soren’s rejection. Not even when the Packs are forced to live together and she discovers Soren’s former mate has died. But then, she’s kidnapped by the SAU and she has no choice but to work with Soren to escape. Together they must put the past behind them if they’re to survive the human’s evil plot.
258 pages, ebook
First published June 26, 2015
513 people are currently reading
2443 people want to read
About the author
Carrie Ann Ryan
252 books6,226 followersCarrie Ann Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary, paranormal, and young adult romance. Her works include the Montgomery Ink, Talon Pack, Promise Me, and Elements of Five series, which have sold millions of books worldwide. She's the winner of a RT Book of the Year and a Prism Award in her genres. She started writing while in graduate school for her advanced degree in chemistry and hasn’t stopped since. Carrie Ann has written over seventy-five novels and novellas with more in the works. When she’s not losing herself in her emotional and action-packed worlds, she’s reading as much as she can while wrangling her clowder of cats who have more followers than she does.
The Montgomery Ink World contains the following series, though each series is a stand alone and can be read in any order. Feel free to hop around:
The Montgomery Ink Series
The Gallagher Brothers Series
The Montgomery Ink: Colorado Springs Series
The Whiskey and Lies Series
The Fractured Connections Series
The Montgomery Ink: Boulder Series
The Less Than Series
The Promise Me Series
Her Elements of Five Series is her Young Adult Romance series while her other series are all adult.
Her Talon Pack series is set in the same world as the Redwood Pack series, only 30 years later.
The Dante's Circle, Holiday, Montana, and Branded Packs series are all individual series as well.
The Montgomery Ink World contains the following series, though each series is a stand alone and can be read in any order. Feel free to hop around:
The Montgomery Ink Series
The Gallagher Brothers Series
The Montgomery Ink: Colorado Springs Series
The Whiskey and Lies Series
The Fractured Connections Series
The Montgomery Ink: Boulder Series
The Less Than Series
The Promise Me Series
Her Elements of Five Series is her Young Adult Romance series while her other series are all adult.
Her Talon Pack series is set in the same world as the Redwood Pack series, only 30 years later.
The Dante's Circle, Holiday, Montana, and Branded Packs series are all individual series as well.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 200 reviews
June 25, 2021
An enjoyable set of novellas based in the same world, by two different authors. The whole Verona Virus thing wiping out the humans while dealing with the corona virus in real life was a bit trippy. I liked the world set up and the shifters. I do wish the stories were a bit longer. I will keep reading this series in hopes they get freedom!
June 15, 2025
A Twofer!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 🖤💙❤️💚
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 🙃🙁😀😋
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Solo Narration
The World: Earth 25 years after the Verona virus that nearly wiped out most of the human population. Shifters had come out of hiding to offer their blood as an antidote which brought the virus to an end. Shifters then ended up branded, collared and forced to live like animals in small compounds for each type of shifter (canine, ursine, and feline), they suffer from infighting and humans keep enacting new laws that threaten the shifters even more.
STOLEN
The Hero: Holden - Alpha of the river pack of canine shifters. His duty was to make sure his pack was never forgotten. They hated the collars, and the humans would kill them if they took off the collars. Since each of the shifter species were separated from the others, the wolves, bears, and cats are at odds with each other as well as the humans. His pack wants to fight back against the humans and have been building up their numbers but aren’t at that point yet. To get the freedom that his pack now has twenty years ago, Holden had begged, pleaded, was tortured, and agreed to take part in brutality monthly. None of the females in his pack called to his wolf, and he needed to find the one for him, so he had no chance for true happiness.
The heroine: Ariel - she thought for sure she was dead this time. She had spent months, maybe years at the edge of death as the butchers played with their toy. She had been at the mercy of doctors at an SAU lab, knowing from the first time they poked a needle in her arm against her will that her life was no longer her own. She grew up in an SAU orphanage after her parents succumbed to the virus. She once overheard one of the doctors saying they were trying to make her a shifter.
The Story: Holden smelled human blood while running in the forest. He shifted to human and found a body dumped near the fence. Someone had cut her up and dropped her over the high fence, breaking bones in the process. He had seen many horrors in his time alive, and this was by far the worst. This wasn’t the first time the SAU (Shifter Accommodation Unit) had dumped a body on shifter lands to try to blame the shifters for something they had done. Holden didn’t think he could do anything for her, but he knew that she was his mate. He knew he could bite and change her, but it was forbidden, because humans didn’t know that shifters could make other shifters. He knew doing this would risk everything he and his people had fought for, but he couldn’t do anything else.
I liked the story, and the world was unusual for shifter books, so I appreciated the originality of this world. It was intense—dystopian shifter societies, brutal government control, and deep-seated interspecies conflict. I can see why you appreciated the originality of the setting; it’s refreshing to see a unique twist on shifter lore rather than the usual tropes.
When I picked up this audiobook, I just read the first few lines of the blurb and it sounded good, plus I love the narrator, so I grabbed it and began to listen before figuring out that it wasn’t just one book, it was two novellas packaged together. I wish it was just one longer book, but either way I did enjoy the storylines.
The world building was terrific, though I wish the character development was a bit better, Holden was described well, and his background was full, though Ariel was not described well aside from how she was found. Given her traumatic past and the experimentations she endured, there’s a lot of potential for a layered, emotionally complex character arc. The book could have benefited from expanding her story more.
One thing I hate about stories like this, where the main characters are treated so bad by another group of people, I just want them so bad to find a way to change things, by either beating the bad organization or somehow making the world see what is really going on. Since in this case the world doesn’t know that it was the shifters that saved them from the virus. They have only heard propaganda from the SAU about the shifters as vicious animals that are a danger to them. The world doesn’t know that they are forced to wear collars and branded and kept like animals.
FORGIVEN
The Hero: Soren - he is a beta wolf and best friend of the Alpha Holden, and he has been the liaison between his pack and other shifter groups. He has had to sneak from his fenced in guarded territory to that of other groups of shifters, so they keep updated on what is going on and hopefully plan a way to break free of the tyranny someday.
The heroine: Cora - her father Jonah is the alpha of the golden pack of felines. He was a tiger shifter and was the meanest, baddest cat around and he adores his daughter. Cora was independent, though wants some freedom to do as she chooses. She had fallen for Soren in the past when he was a liaison and he had broken her heart when he chose to stay with his pack and mate another wolf. Though her cat had chosen him as a mate.
The Story: As a punishment for what the river pack did at the end of the first book, the SAU moved the feline golden pack into the small area that the pack occupied. The feline and wolf pack weren’t enemies, but they weren’t ever friends either. In the past when felines and canines have occupied the same territory, things hadn’t ended well. Jonah, as alpha knew about Cora’s fascination with Soren, and he knew all about duty, so he didn’t blame Soren for hurting his daughter. When they move into the river pack territory, he asks Cora to go with him to greet them and tells her about the fact that Soren’s mate died.
The one thing I really liked about these stories was that even though they are technically novellas, they two of them together are nearly 400 pages long (nearly 8 hours of audio), so there is so much world building and plenty of story so that they do not at all seem novella length. I probably wouldn’t have picked these two stories up if they were separated, because I like longer stories, though I am glad I did because they turned out to be great and I plan on listening to the next books in this series as well.
The shifter dynamics, political intrigue, and emotional tension between Soren and Cora make for a compelling story. I love how the world-building feels substantial despite the novella format—having enough depth to make the conflicts and relationships feel earned. It’s interesting that Cora’s cat chose Soren as her mate despite him being a wolf and devoted to his pack. That kind of built-in soulmate connection versus personal choice always creates great tension. And the forced cohabitation of the feline and wolf packs adds another layer—historical distrust mixed with necessity.
This book went in a direction I wasn’t expecting though. With the death of the SAU doctor in the first book, a new research scientist took his place and has plans of his own, to use an alpha to change a human and to figure out what made the change happen so he could create a virus to change hundreds of humans at once. Though I am not quite sure how he expected to control them. He decided that the best way to get an alpha to comply was to steal the daughter of the feline alpha, Jonas.
This audiobook was narrated from multiple perspectives, done in solo narration by Aiden Snow. I absolutely love Aiden’s voice, it is deep, but soft and I could listen to him all day. He is one of the few narrators that I don’t mind at all listening to as solo narration. He does a terrific job. He has a voice that could make reading a grocery list sound dramatic. His ability to carry multiple perspectives solo added a lot of depth to the experience.
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The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 🖤💙❤️💚
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: 🙃🙁😀😋
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Solo Narration
The World: Earth 25 years after the Verona virus that nearly wiped out most of the human population. Shifters had come out of hiding to offer their blood as an antidote which brought the virus to an end. Shifters then ended up branded, collared and forced to live like animals in small compounds for each type of shifter (canine, ursine, and feline), they suffer from infighting and humans keep enacting new laws that threaten the shifters even more.
STOLEN
The Hero: Holden - Alpha of the river pack of canine shifters. His duty was to make sure his pack was never forgotten. They hated the collars, and the humans would kill them if they took off the collars. Since each of the shifter species were separated from the others, the wolves, bears, and cats are at odds with each other as well as the humans. His pack wants to fight back against the humans and have been building up their numbers but aren’t at that point yet. To get the freedom that his pack now has twenty years ago, Holden had begged, pleaded, was tortured, and agreed to take part in brutality monthly. None of the females in his pack called to his wolf, and he needed to find the one for him, so he had no chance for true happiness.
The heroine: Ariel - she thought for sure she was dead this time. She had spent months, maybe years at the edge of death as the butchers played with their toy. She had been at the mercy of doctors at an SAU lab, knowing from the first time they poked a needle in her arm against her will that her life was no longer her own. She grew up in an SAU orphanage after her parents succumbed to the virus. She once overheard one of the doctors saying they were trying to make her a shifter.
The Story: Holden smelled human blood while running in the forest. He shifted to human and found a body dumped near the fence. Someone had cut her up and dropped her over the high fence, breaking bones in the process. He had seen many horrors in his time alive, and this was by far the worst. This wasn’t the first time the SAU (Shifter Accommodation Unit) had dumped a body on shifter lands to try to blame the shifters for something they had done. Holden didn’t think he could do anything for her, but he knew that she was his mate. He knew he could bite and change her, but it was forbidden, because humans didn’t know that shifters could make other shifters. He knew doing this would risk everything he and his people had fought for, but he couldn’t do anything else.
I liked the story, and the world was unusual for shifter books, so I appreciated the originality of this world. It was intense—dystopian shifter societies, brutal government control, and deep-seated interspecies conflict. I can see why you appreciated the originality of the setting; it’s refreshing to see a unique twist on shifter lore rather than the usual tropes.
When I picked up this audiobook, I just read the first few lines of the blurb and it sounded good, plus I love the narrator, so I grabbed it and began to listen before figuring out that it wasn’t just one book, it was two novellas packaged together. I wish it was just one longer book, but either way I did enjoy the storylines.
The world building was terrific, though I wish the character development was a bit better, Holden was described well, and his background was full, though Ariel was not described well aside from how she was found. Given her traumatic past and the experimentations she endured, there’s a lot of potential for a layered, emotionally complex character arc. The book could have benefited from expanding her story more.
One thing I hate about stories like this, where the main characters are treated so bad by another group of people, I just want them so bad to find a way to change things, by either beating the bad organization or somehow making the world see what is really going on. Since in this case the world doesn’t know that it was the shifters that saved them from the virus. They have only heard propaganda from the SAU about the shifters as vicious animals that are a danger to them. The world doesn’t know that they are forced to wear collars and branded and kept like animals.
FORGIVEN
The Hero: Soren - he is a beta wolf and best friend of the Alpha Holden, and he has been the liaison between his pack and other shifter groups. He has had to sneak from his fenced in guarded territory to that of other groups of shifters, so they keep updated on what is going on and hopefully plan a way to break free of the tyranny someday.
The heroine: Cora - her father Jonah is the alpha of the golden pack of felines. He was a tiger shifter and was the meanest, baddest cat around and he adores his daughter. Cora was independent, though wants some freedom to do as she chooses. She had fallen for Soren in the past when he was a liaison and he had broken her heart when he chose to stay with his pack and mate another wolf. Though her cat had chosen him as a mate.
The Story: As a punishment for what the river pack did at the end of the first book, the SAU moved the feline golden pack into the small area that the pack occupied. The feline and wolf pack weren’t enemies, but they weren’t ever friends either. In the past when felines and canines have occupied the same territory, things hadn’t ended well. Jonah, as alpha knew about Cora’s fascination with Soren, and he knew all about duty, so he didn’t blame Soren for hurting his daughter. When they move into the river pack territory, he asks Cora to go with him to greet them and tells her about the fact that Soren’s mate died.
The one thing I really liked about these stories was that even though they are technically novellas, they two of them together are nearly 400 pages long (nearly 8 hours of audio), so there is so much world building and plenty of story so that they do not at all seem novella length. I probably wouldn’t have picked these two stories up if they were separated, because I like longer stories, though I am glad I did because they turned out to be great and I plan on listening to the next books in this series as well.
The shifter dynamics, political intrigue, and emotional tension between Soren and Cora make for a compelling story. I love how the world-building feels substantial despite the novella format—having enough depth to make the conflicts and relationships feel earned. It’s interesting that Cora’s cat chose Soren as her mate despite him being a wolf and devoted to his pack. That kind of built-in soulmate connection versus personal choice always creates great tension. And the forced cohabitation of the feline and wolf packs adds another layer—historical distrust mixed with necessity.
This book went in a direction I wasn’t expecting though. With the death of the SAU doctor in the first book, a new research scientist took his place and has plans of his own, to use an alpha to change a human and to figure out what made the change happen so he could create a virus to change hundreds of humans at once. Though I am not quite sure how he expected to control them. He decided that the best way to get an alpha to comply was to steal the daughter of the feline alpha, Jonas.
This audiobook was narrated from multiple perspectives, done in solo narration by Aiden Snow. I absolutely love Aiden’s voice, it is deep, but soft and I could listen to him all day. He is one of the few narrators that I don’t mind at all listening to as solo narration. He does a terrific job. He has a voice that could make reading a grocery list sound dramatic. His ability to carry multiple perspectives solo added a lot of depth to the experience.
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July 15, 2015
It has been quite a while since I read a book written by published, famous authors that so deserved not only the one star, but also the trashbin label. I would have done without even longer.
Stolen and forgiven is among those books I didn't simply dislike, but really loathed. Superficial, cardboard, full of holes, with characters that are so thin and stereotyped you wonder if they weren't simply an excuse to write sex scenes. I haven't read something this stupid in months or years.
Do not expect grittiness, there's none. Oh yes, shifters are collared and imprisoned (have you read about it?), but the lack of proper world-building, of a real focus on plot, and of details make this promise just words. Fake, uber villains detracts from a story, they don't add to it.
Even as a romance fan I couldn't find any saving grace. Dialog was cheesy and stupid, focus on the idiotic in the middle of a battle with death. You are launched in the middle of a sex life, when you have barely met the couple (and they too have met mere days before).
And the reason for the sex and love on first sight? Animal instinct, mate bonds. Yeah I so want to be ruled by hormones that overrule brain.
Meh.
Sorry. I can't really recommend these novellas. But, please read Donna's five star review for a completely different point of view: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Stolen and forgiven is among those books I didn't simply dislike, but really loathed. Superficial, cardboard, full of holes, with characters that are so thin and stereotyped you wonder if they weren't simply an excuse to write sex scenes. I haven't read something this stupid in months or years.
Do not expect grittiness, there's none. Oh yes, shifters are collared and imprisoned (have you read about it?), but the lack of proper world-building, of a real focus on plot, and of details make this promise just words. Fake, uber villains detracts from a story, they don't add to it.
Even as a romance fan I couldn't find any saving grace. Dialog was cheesy and stupid, focus on the idiotic in the middle of a battle with death. You are launched in the middle of a sex life, when you have barely met the couple (and they too have met mere days before).
And the reason for the sex and love on first sight? Animal instinct, mate bonds. Yeah I so want to be ruled by hormones that overrule brain.
Meh.
Sorry. I can't really recommend these novellas. But, please read Donna's five star review for a completely different point of view: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 14, 2017
(Review is for Stolen only)
Good story. It felt like a darker version of another popular series by Jennifer Ashley. I thought the similarities were a little too similar, just to be honest.
Quite a few typos/missing words. If I were the authors, I would have this re-edited.
3 stars
Good story. It felt like a darker version of another popular series by Jennifer Ashley. I thought the similarities were a little too similar, just to be honest.
Quite a few typos/missing words. If I were the authors, I would have this re-edited.
3 stars
August 22, 2016
These are like two novellas in the same world but they are intertwined. They are enjoyable and the world is interesting. I will continue the series
July 22, 2015
In STOLEN we are introduced to the world of BRANDED PACKS through the building crisis in the Canine pack. Holden is trying to figure out how to make the lives of his pack members more tolerable when they are all confined to a reservation like area because of the fear that humans have of dual natured beings. After discovering Ariel near death and realizing that she is his mate Holden is now facing a whole new level of problems not only from the humans who despise all of the shifters, but from dissent in the pack as well. STOLEN is fast paced and there is a lot of background and story packed into this short read.
In FORGIVEN the world is expanded through Soren's story and the inclusion of the feline shifters. Things are changing for the shifter community and when wolves and cats are made to live together alliances, loyalties, and even hearts are tested.
There's plenty of action and world building in STOLEN AND FORGIVEN. I enjoyed the paranormal world that is developing. These are novella length stories so things happen quickly and I was left wanting more. The only thing that I didn't like is the fact that the humans are so much the villains in this world. I hope that in future stories there will be more empathetic and basically good humans that come to the forefront. I will definitely continue with this series to find out!
**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
You can find more from me at
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
http://www.monlatablereviews.com/
In FORGIVEN the world is expanded through Soren's story and the inclusion of the feline shifters. Things are changing for the shifter community and when wolves and cats are made to live together alliances, loyalties, and even hearts are tested.
There's plenty of action and world building in STOLEN AND FORGIVEN. I enjoyed the paranormal world that is developing. These are novella length stories so things happen quickly and I was left wanting more. The only thing that I didn't like is the fact that the humans are so much the villains in this world. I hope that in future stories there will be more empathetic and basically good humans that come to the forefront. I will definitely continue with this series to find out!
**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
You can find more from me at
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
http://www.monlatablereviews.com/
November 5, 2021
This was a great first book; it was split into two so we get 2 short stories that keep you wanting more.
I haven’t read a good shifter book in a while and this just hits the spot.
Captivity I can’t and don’t ever want to imagine how hard this had to have been on the Alpha. Wanting and needing to protect his pack but he can only do so much.
Finding his mate the way he does, it breaks your heart but I don’t think anyone could really blame him and really would they have wanted the alternative?
Ariel is perfect for him, she really takes her role seriously. I love that she didn’t whine and complain she just jumps in feet first.
Ahh the second story is harder to listen to because you can feel the pain in both the characters the pain of wanting and also the past.
I do love how they come to be and how they deal. This makes me crave more from these authors. Please more, and the narration is OMG perfection. Aiden’s voice is LUSH!
I haven’t read a good shifter book in a while and this just hits the spot.
Captivity I can’t and don’t ever want to imagine how hard this had to have been on the Alpha. Wanting and needing to protect his pack but he can only do so much.
Finding his mate the way he does, it breaks your heart but I don’t think anyone could really blame him and really would they have wanted the alternative?
Ariel is perfect for him, she really takes her role seriously. I love that she didn’t whine and complain she just jumps in feet first.
Ahh the second story is harder to listen to because you can feel the pain in both the characters the pain of wanting and also the past.
I do love how they come to be and how they deal. This makes me crave more from these authors. Please more, and the narration is OMG perfection. Aiden’s voice is LUSH!
April 14, 2017
Hotness Rating 3 out of 5
Review to come...
Review to come...
December 17, 2015
Audiobook provided by author for an honest review.
3 Collard Stars
It’s been 25 years since the Verona Virus nearly wiped out human civilization. It was the shifters who reluctantly came out of hiding offering their blood as an antidote. This should have created harmony, but it didn’t. The humans branded and collard the shifter like animals.
Now on the edge of extinction, Canine, Ursine and Feline compounds were set up all over the world with that ASU assigned to police them. Now there are small packs behind gates, which cause problems with finding true mate and healers, etc. needed to complete a pack. The ASU are known to make up rules and laws for the Shifters as they go along to keep the Shifters in check. But are they really controlling them?
Stolen
Holden Carter, Alpha of the River Pack of werewolves, finds a nearly dead human woman thrown over their fence. Realizing she's his mate, he "turns" her setting off a chain of events that will have a ripple effect across the shifter communities. Causing the humans to try experiments on them, kidnappings, and more atrocities.
Ariel Sands, was kidnapped by the ASU. Experiments conducted and then left for dead. But when she wakes up, the Alpha explains that he changed her in order to save her life and that she's his mate. She's only been told bad things about Shifters. But knowing what her own did to her, she is easily persuaded that Shifters aren't the boogie men they've been made out to be.
Soon Ariel and Holden's mating is real. There are others who don't like it and cause problems, bringing the human enemies to their door.
Forgiven
Sorin Slater is Beta to Holden and the Canine Pack. When the Pack protects Ariel from the ASU, they bring the Feline Pack into the enclosure with the intention of causing problems. The only problem they cause is for Sorin who was in love with Cora, a Tiger Shifter and daughter of the Feline Alpha.
Sorin had left her in order to mate with another wolf, thinking Holden would never mate within their group. Sorin's wife died and now he's free to pursue Cora. Unfortunately the ASU have other plans for her. To force her father to make other shifters for them. she's kidnapped. But Sorin is determined to get his mate back no matter what.
The stories are okay. But what I'm not a big fan of, is how the story is an ongoing continuation with two different couples. It's like two novellas in one story with an underlying connected theme.
Maybe I just need to get used to it.
3 Collard Stars
It’s been 25 years since the Verona Virus nearly wiped out human civilization. It was the shifters who reluctantly came out of hiding offering their blood as an antidote. This should have created harmony, but it didn’t. The humans branded and collard the shifter like animals.
Now on the edge of extinction, Canine, Ursine and Feline compounds were set up all over the world with that ASU assigned to police them. Now there are small packs behind gates, which cause problems with finding true mate and healers, etc. needed to complete a pack. The ASU are known to make up rules and laws for the Shifters as they go along to keep the Shifters in check. But are they really controlling them?
Stolen
Holden Carter, Alpha of the River Pack of werewolves, finds a nearly dead human woman thrown over their fence. Realizing she's his mate, he "turns" her setting off a chain of events that will have a ripple effect across the shifter communities. Causing the humans to try experiments on them, kidnappings, and more atrocities.
Ariel Sands, was kidnapped by the ASU. Experiments conducted and then left for dead. But when she wakes up, the Alpha explains that he changed her in order to save her life and that she's his mate. She's only been told bad things about Shifters. But knowing what her own did to her, she is easily persuaded that Shifters aren't the boogie men they've been made out to be.
Soon Ariel and Holden's mating is real. There are others who don't like it and cause problems, bringing the human enemies to their door.
Forgiven
Sorin Slater is Beta to Holden and the Canine Pack. When the Pack protects Ariel from the ASU, they bring the Feline Pack into the enclosure with the intention of causing problems. The only problem they cause is for Sorin who was in love with Cora, a Tiger Shifter and daughter of the Feline Alpha.
Sorin had left her in order to mate with another wolf, thinking Holden would never mate within their group. Sorin's wife died and now he's free to pursue Cora. Unfortunately the ASU have other plans for her. To force her father to make other shifters for them. she's kidnapped. But Sorin is determined to get his mate back no matter what.
The stories are okay. But what I'm not a big fan of, is how the story is an ongoing continuation with two different couples. It's like two novellas in one story with an underlying connected theme.
Maybe I just need to get used to it.
November 30, 2016
DNF @ 50% I found myself incredibly uninterested. Everything was just meh.
April 9, 2021
Two stories in this book.
Both great reads.
Situated in a world after a virus and shifters are living inside a fence.
First book is about the werewolf alpha who finds a almost death woman thrown over the fence. He changes her, because she is his mate. Ariel takes the difference to her life pretty easy, but some in the pack gave to get used to her.
Next book is about Soren the beta and his mate, the tiger Princess. But she gets in trouble, because the bad guys take her.
Both stories are finished, but also ending with a hint to the next book at the end of it
Both great reads.
Situated in a world after a virus and shifters are living inside a fence.
First book is about the werewolf alpha who finds a almost death woman thrown over the fence. He changes her, because she is his mate. Ariel takes the difference to her life pretty easy, but some in the pack gave to get used to her.
Next book is about Soren the beta and his mate, the tiger Princess. But she gets in trouble, because the bad guys take her.
Both stories are finished, but also ending with a hint to the next book at the end of it
June 23, 2017
This is another one of those books where the author lost me right off the bat. Guess I like more traditional paranormal romance novels. Shifters stuck wearing collars? I'm not much into apocolyptic stuff either. Not for me.
July 19, 2015
The world has survived a pandemic of epic proportions. The Verona Virus killed indiscriminately and without prejudice. Whole families perished and no hope of a cure was in sight until the paranormal shapeshifters community decided to reveal themselves offering the human race the only known antidote that could cure those infected and those still at risk. Their blood. Thus the world was saved from certain destruction.
And what did the shapeshifters get in return for this heroic act. A population whose fear resulted in governmental run quarantined compounds where all shifters are housed. Leaving is not as an option as those who do face instant termination. Shifters are branded and collared to protect the general population but who's protecting them?
This series starts twenty five years later ...
Stolen
Holden Carter, pack Alpha, carries a heavy burden on his shoulders. Balancing the well being of his pack with the ever increasing demands of his human jailers. All know that the humans are looking for any reason to exterminate their species as a whole except they want one deeply kept secret that the shifters refuse to share which is the only reason they're still living.
When a dying female is thrown into their compound Holden knows it's just another excuse to incite propaganda by claiming shifters are killing humans. Ready to do his duty to protect the pack Holden is shocked when he discovers the female about to die is his mate. Holden does the one thing that if found out will be the death sentence for his species. He saves Ariel.
Forgiven
The shifters may have gotten away with fooling the humans but it doesn't come without consequences. Everyone knows cats and dogs don't get along so by the government's decision to move the feline shifters into the canine compound it not only decreases the available habitat but also creates tension that can only result in bloodshed among shifters.
What isn't known is that Soren Slater, beta for the wolf pack, and Cora Wilder, tiger princess, have history. History that proves cats and dogs can get along.
* * * *
This is a new series that has many similarities to Jennifer Ashley's "Shifters Unbound" series. It's being promoted as dark themed and this book actually includes two full length stories that kick off the series.
I do want to share my opinion of what the 'dark' theme warnings are that the authors are going for in this series. I fully expected violence, gore, sex, and offensive language with a good dose of extreme erotica to supplement the story line. Well, I was wrong. The darkness for this series has to do with the environment and living conditions of the shifters. They are abused, mistreated, and made to feel like sub-human animals with no hope of ever being free. Their future is to be caged and experimented on like rats until the day they die. That is the darkness contained in this series.
Yet, even in the darkest of times and just when it's thought that one hits the bottom of the barrel, a glimmer of hope DOES appear. In this case, mates. The first story begins the process of possible change as Holden meets the other half of his soul. Ariel. I'm not gonna spoil the reading experience for any potential readers by expounding on the circumstances of Ariel and Holden nor am I going to share how they get to the point of a HFN ending. What I will say is that I had high hopes that somewhere along the line I hoped for a lessening of darkness. Guess this is when you'll have to read the book for yourself to find out if that happens.
In the second story Soren and Cora take center stage. This story I wasn't as thrilled about as it was predictable from the start though the plot did have several twists and turns. At one point I did have high hopes for a menage outcome but Max will have to wait his turn I guess. ;)
The authors have added quite a number of teasers that are left unanswered but add to the potential that not all is as it seems. These I would by no means call cliffhangers. No, they are more like the elusive puzzle piece that hasn't been put into place yet. Personally I love these as they do drive me crazy trying to figure out what the authors are hiding. lol.
For those who like to know about the adult content in a story. Those types of scenes take a very minor role in each story. Doesn't mean they aren't mouth watering sensual. They are. Just know that if you pick up this book for that reason you'll be very disappointed.
Overall, this was a good start to a new series though if it continues to remind me of "Shifters Unbound" I can't say that I'll continue to be a fan. For those looking for a paranormal romance that challenges the mind with it's complex multi faceted series plot this is one to definitely check out. Just be aware that it does have dark overtones and you'll be good.
And what did the shapeshifters get in return for this heroic act. A population whose fear resulted in governmental run quarantined compounds where all shifters are housed. Leaving is not as an option as those who do face instant termination. Shifters are branded and collared to protect the general population but who's protecting them?
This series starts twenty five years later ...
Stolen
Holden Carter, pack Alpha, carries a heavy burden on his shoulders. Balancing the well being of his pack with the ever increasing demands of his human jailers. All know that the humans are looking for any reason to exterminate their species as a whole except they want one deeply kept secret that the shifters refuse to share which is the only reason they're still living.
When a dying female is thrown into their compound Holden knows it's just another excuse to incite propaganda by claiming shifters are killing humans. Ready to do his duty to protect the pack Holden is shocked when he discovers the female about to die is his mate. Holden does the one thing that if found out will be the death sentence for his species. He saves Ariel.
Forgiven
The shifters may have gotten away with fooling the humans but it doesn't come without consequences. Everyone knows cats and dogs don't get along so by the government's decision to move the feline shifters into the canine compound it not only decreases the available habitat but also creates tension that can only result in bloodshed among shifters.
What isn't known is that Soren Slater, beta for the wolf pack, and Cora Wilder, tiger princess, have history. History that proves cats and dogs can get along.
* * * *
This is a new series that has many similarities to Jennifer Ashley's "Shifters Unbound" series. It's being promoted as dark themed and this book actually includes two full length stories that kick off the series.
I do want to share my opinion of what the 'dark' theme warnings are that the authors are going for in this series. I fully expected violence, gore, sex, and offensive language with a good dose of extreme erotica to supplement the story line. Well, I was wrong. The darkness for this series has to do with the environment and living conditions of the shifters. They are abused, mistreated, and made to feel like sub-human animals with no hope of ever being free. Their future is to be caged and experimented on like rats until the day they die. That is the darkness contained in this series.
Yet, even in the darkest of times and just when it's thought that one hits the bottom of the barrel, a glimmer of hope DOES appear. In this case, mates. The first story begins the process of possible change as Holden meets the other half of his soul. Ariel. I'm not gonna spoil the reading experience for any potential readers by expounding on the circumstances of Ariel and Holden nor am I going to share how they get to the point of a HFN ending. What I will say is that I had high hopes that somewhere along the line I hoped for a lessening of darkness. Guess this is when you'll have to read the book for yourself to find out if that happens.
In the second story Soren and Cora take center stage. This story I wasn't as thrilled about as it was predictable from the start though the plot did have several twists and turns. At one point I did have high hopes for a menage outcome but Max will have to wait his turn I guess. ;)
The authors have added quite a number of teasers that are left unanswered but add to the potential that not all is as it seems. These I would by no means call cliffhangers. No, they are more like the elusive puzzle piece that hasn't been put into place yet. Personally I love these as they do drive me crazy trying to figure out what the authors are hiding. lol.
For those who like to know about the adult content in a story. Those types of scenes take a very minor role in each story. Doesn't mean they aren't mouth watering sensual. They are. Just know that if you pick up this book for that reason you'll be very disappointed.
Overall, this was a good start to a new series though if it continues to remind me of "Shifters Unbound" I can't say that I'll continue to be a fan. For those looking for a paranormal romance that challenges the mind with it's complex multi faceted series plot this is one to definitely check out. Just be aware that it does have dark overtones and you'll be good.
July 13, 2015
A brand new series by one of my top 5 authors, Alexandra Ivy and a fabulous soon-to-become a favorite new author to me, Carrie Ann Ryan.
Stolen and Forgiven is a paranormal (kind of dystopian) book. Twenty five years ago, a virus called the Verona Virus nearly wiped out humanity. It was at that time that the shifters decided to come out and help since they were immune to the virus. Instead of finding peace though, humans used their blood to destroy the virus and made the shifters appear as savages to the public. They collared and forced them to live as animals in compounds. Each pack is suffering and especially now as they are forced to shared their barely enough space with other shifters.
Stolen by Alexandra Ivy
Holder Carter is the alpha of the River Pack. He is struggling to keep his pack from revolving because he knows that although they are stronger than humans, they could very well lose their weaker member such as their submissive, the elders and the children. Holder is aware that the guards of the SAU (shifter accommodation unit) will do anything to get a chance to blame them for something and thus punish them by killing them.
So, when he finds a dying woman on their compound, he knows that the humans left her there to die and accuse them of killing her. He can’t be surprised by their tactics but he sure damn can be when he realizes that the dying woman is his mate.
Holder never thought that he would find his mate especially now that they are imprisoned in the compounds. His mate is a step away from death and Holder has no choice but to save her. He waited forever for her and he’s not about to lose her. Turning her might be her only chance at survival but it will also put his pack in grave danger and for an alpha his pack always comes first.
The scientists working for SAU have long wanted to find a way to turn humans. If they see that the human they left for dead is now a shifter, holder knows that his pack will be slaughtered to uncover their most sacred secret.
I loved Stolen, I loved Holder and I loved Ariel (his mate). I loved everything. Holder was such a great alpha. He would sacrifice everything for his pack and Ariel (I love he name!). Ariel was very strong too. She was kidnapped from her home and later taken to the SAU labs to be experimented on. She was tortured by the very humans who had promised to protect her. The irony!
Holder and Ariel were just amazing!
Forgiven by Carrie Ann Ryan
Forgiven tells the story of Soren, Holder’s second in command, his Beta and the princess of the Golden pack, Cora Wilder.
Soren and Cora have loved each other in the past but then Soren had to do his duty to the pack and marry one of their own to keep the pack’s stability. Cora never forgave Soren for his betrayal. He seduced her, made promises to her but then he turned his back on her and married one of his pack members.
Now forced to share the same territory and with Soren’s mate dead, Soren wants to make up for the mistake that cost him the woman he loves. He always felt guilty about leaving Cora but he would never disrespect the memory of his mate. Cora may be stubborn but she can’t deny the chemistry that still exists between them.
Soren wants Cora to be his mate but he will take anything that she’s willing to offer and in this case a friends with benefits deal. What neither anticipates is the threat that SAU still poses. They still need the shifters to “help” them turn humans and Cora is their perfect prey, daughter of an alpha and soon to become mate of a Beta, both men would do anything for her.
Stolen and Forgiven were beyond incredible. I loved both stories and I can’t wait for Abandoned and Unseen (September 2015).
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
Posted on: http://sofialovesreading.blogspot.gr/...
Stolen and Forgiven is a paranormal (kind of dystopian) book. Twenty five years ago, a virus called the Verona Virus nearly wiped out humanity. It was at that time that the shifters decided to come out and help since they were immune to the virus. Instead of finding peace though, humans used their blood to destroy the virus and made the shifters appear as savages to the public. They collared and forced them to live as animals in compounds. Each pack is suffering and especially now as they are forced to shared their barely enough space with other shifters.
Stolen by Alexandra Ivy
Holder Carter is the alpha of the River Pack. He is struggling to keep his pack from revolving because he knows that although they are stronger than humans, they could very well lose their weaker member such as their submissive, the elders and the children. Holder is aware that the guards of the SAU (shifter accommodation unit) will do anything to get a chance to blame them for something and thus punish them by killing them.
So, when he finds a dying woman on their compound, he knows that the humans left her there to die and accuse them of killing her. He can’t be surprised by their tactics but he sure damn can be when he realizes that the dying woman is his mate.
Holder never thought that he would find his mate especially now that they are imprisoned in the compounds. His mate is a step away from death and Holder has no choice but to save her. He waited forever for her and he’s not about to lose her. Turning her might be her only chance at survival but it will also put his pack in grave danger and for an alpha his pack always comes first.
The scientists working for SAU have long wanted to find a way to turn humans. If they see that the human they left for dead is now a shifter, holder knows that his pack will be slaughtered to uncover their most sacred secret.
I loved Stolen, I loved Holder and I loved Ariel (his mate). I loved everything. Holder was such a great alpha. He would sacrifice everything for his pack and Ariel (I love he name!). Ariel was very strong too. She was kidnapped from her home and later taken to the SAU labs to be experimented on. She was tortured by the very humans who had promised to protect her. The irony!
Holder and Ariel were just amazing!
Forgiven by Carrie Ann Ryan
Forgiven tells the story of Soren, Holder’s second in command, his Beta and the princess of the Golden pack, Cora Wilder.
Soren and Cora have loved each other in the past but then Soren had to do his duty to the pack and marry one of their own to keep the pack’s stability. Cora never forgave Soren for his betrayal. He seduced her, made promises to her but then he turned his back on her and married one of his pack members.
Now forced to share the same territory and with Soren’s mate dead, Soren wants to make up for the mistake that cost him the woman he loves. He always felt guilty about leaving Cora but he would never disrespect the memory of his mate. Cora may be stubborn but she can’t deny the chemistry that still exists between them.
Soren wants Cora to be his mate but he will take anything that she’s willing to offer and in this case a friends with benefits deal. What neither anticipates is the threat that SAU still poses. They still need the shifters to “help” them turn humans and Cora is their perfect prey, daughter of an alpha and soon to become mate of a Beta, both men would do anything for her.
Stolen and Forgiven were beyond incredible. I loved both stories and I can’t wait for Abandoned and Unseen (September 2015).
*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*
Posted on: http://sofialovesreading.blogspot.gr/...
July 9, 2015
Two incredible books in one. They both take place in the same world. These are not light and fluffy love stories. These will take you to a dark and dismal place and prove once again that anything is possible to bear if you have someone to love.
These stories take place in a world where humans were dying from the Verona virus. An ailment that shifters are immune to. Shifters came out and basically saved what was left of the human race which thanked them by forcing them into compounds and taking away their rights. These stories take place 25 years after the Verona virus.
Stolen
Holden Carter was 15 when the shifters came out. He became Alpha of the canine shifters in his camp. He has been doing his best to protect them ever since. He is tired and lonely. He needs his mate and he isn’t likely to meet her with the set up the humans have forced him into. So he is really surprised to find that the dying human tossed into their compound is his mate. He forces the change on her to save her life. It may have been the most selfish thing he has ever done but he can’t regret it.
Ariel Sands was born and orphaned in the height of the virus epidemic. She doesn’t know why she was kidnapped experimented on, eviscerated and left for dead but when she finds herself surrounded by shifters and informed that she has been turned into one she is torn between joy that she is alive and fear of being what she has been taught were animals.
Ariel may be just what Holden needs to keep on going if his turning her doesn’t bring the SAU done on them even worse. Can Ariel embrace her wolf and accept Holden as her mate?
Stolen is a dark story that had me in tears but ultimately left me with a feeling of hope.
Forgiven
Soren Slater is Holden Carter’s second. He discovers and abandons love while acting as ambassador to the felines. The Tiger Princess Cora knows that Soren is her mate and is heart broken when he leaves her and takes a wolf to mate. Now his mate is dead and the SAU has determined that the Felines and Canines are to share a compound and Cora and Soren will be thrown together again. Can she forgive and forget? Soren has never forgotten Cora. Will she understand that it was duty that took him from her?
I didn’t like Soren a whole lot in the first story but all is forgiven in this second chance romance. Cora makes him work for it and it is fun to watch him fall.
This book is not an easy read but once you pick it up I dare you to put it down.
These stories take place in a world where humans were dying from the Verona virus. An ailment that shifters are immune to. Shifters came out and basically saved what was left of the human race which thanked them by forcing them into compounds and taking away their rights. These stories take place 25 years after the Verona virus.
Stolen
Holden Carter was 15 when the shifters came out. He became Alpha of the canine shifters in his camp. He has been doing his best to protect them ever since. He is tired and lonely. He needs his mate and he isn’t likely to meet her with the set up the humans have forced him into. So he is really surprised to find that the dying human tossed into their compound is his mate. He forces the change on her to save her life. It may have been the most selfish thing he has ever done but he can’t regret it.
Ariel Sands was born and orphaned in the height of the virus epidemic. She doesn’t know why she was kidnapped experimented on, eviscerated and left for dead but when she finds herself surrounded by shifters and informed that she has been turned into one she is torn between joy that she is alive and fear of being what she has been taught were animals.
Ariel may be just what Holden needs to keep on going if his turning her doesn’t bring the SAU done on them even worse. Can Ariel embrace her wolf and accept Holden as her mate?
Stolen is a dark story that had me in tears but ultimately left me with a feeling of hope.
Forgiven
Soren Slater is Holden Carter’s second. He discovers and abandons love while acting as ambassador to the felines. The Tiger Princess Cora knows that Soren is her mate and is heart broken when he leaves her and takes a wolf to mate. Now his mate is dead and the SAU has determined that the Felines and Canines are to share a compound and Cora and Soren will be thrown together again. Can she forgive and forget? Soren has never forgotten Cora. Will she understand that it was duty that took him from her?
I didn’t like Soren a whole lot in the first story but all is forgiven in this second chance romance. Cora makes him work for it and it is fun to watch him fall.
This book is not an easy read but once you pick it up I dare you to put it down.
July 22, 2015
Stolen and Forgiven (Branded Packs #1) by Alexandra Ivy & Carrie Ann Ryan Stolen:
Alpha Holden Carter knows he is about to break the law when he decides to save the life of the dying human woman he finds by turning her into a wolf-shifter. Trouble is the woman is his mate and letting her die is not an option.
Holden is the Alpha of the Canine Pack. He is an excellent leader who hates the suffering of his people as well as all shifters that have been branded, collared, and imprisoned by the humans who fear them. The shifters are a good race that were wrongfully accused. Holden knows what it was like to live free. He tries his best to shield his pack. I really like Holden. He struggles with his feelings and tries to do what is best.
Ariel Sands was an orphaned human that was tortured and left to die on shifter land in order to frame the pack. She is a worthy heroine who struggles with everything she was taught and needs to adapt to a new life as an imprisoned wolf-shifter. She is strong and an easy character to admire.
Forgiven:
Beta wolf shifter, Soren Slater, is devoted to his pack. Years ago, he met his potential mate, Tigger Princess, Cora Wilder. He put his pack above his own needs and left Cora behind. Now they are reunited and need to work together in order to survive the SAU.
Soren is a noble character. He is brave and cares for his people. He is a loyal Beta and pack mate. He is determined and will not make the same mistake twice.
Cora is loved by her father and pack. Soren’s rejection hurt her. She still has feeling for Soren even though she doesn’t want to forgive him. Despite that, they work together well, coming up with clever ways for their packs to gel and when faced with danger. I enjoyed Cora’s character and her chemistry with Soren.
Stolen and Forgiven is an excellent read. I really enjoyed this collaboration between Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan. The plot was original and carefully thought out. The details and description are commendable. The story was very believable. My heart went out to all the shifters and what they endured. This is one series I will definitely want to continue to read.
Complimentary copy provided by authors in exchange for an honest review.
Alpha Holden Carter knows he is about to break the law when he decides to save the life of the dying human woman he finds by turning her into a wolf-shifter. Trouble is the woman is his mate and letting her die is not an option.
Holden is the Alpha of the Canine Pack. He is an excellent leader who hates the suffering of his people as well as all shifters that have been branded, collared, and imprisoned by the humans who fear them. The shifters are a good race that were wrongfully accused. Holden knows what it was like to live free. He tries his best to shield his pack. I really like Holden. He struggles with his feelings and tries to do what is best.
Ariel Sands was an orphaned human that was tortured and left to die on shifter land in order to frame the pack. She is a worthy heroine who struggles with everything she was taught and needs to adapt to a new life as an imprisoned wolf-shifter. She is strong and an easy character to admire.
Forgiven:
Beta wolf shifter, Soren Slater, is devoted to his pack. Years ago, he met his potential mate, Tigger Princess, Cora Wilder. He put his pack above his own needs and left Cora behind. Now they are reunited and need to work together in order to survive the SAU.
Soren is a noble character. He is brave and cares for his people. He is a loyal Beta and pack mate. He is determined and will not make the same mistake twice.
Cora is loved by her father and pack. Soren’s rejection hurt her. She still has feeling for Soren even though she doesn’t want to forgive him. Despite that, they work together well, coming up with clever ways for their packs to gel and when faced with danger. I enjoyed Cora’s character and her chemistry with Soren.
Stolen and Forgiven is an excellent read. I really enjoyed this collaboration between Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan. The plot was original and carefully thought out. The details and description are commendable. The story was very believable. My heart went out to all the shifters and what they endured. This is one series I will definitely want to continue to read.
Complimentary copy provided by authors in exchange for an honest review.
August 29, 2021
Stolen Holden and Ariel story
Years ago a virus called Verona wiped out many humans at that time shifter came out of hiding with a cure. Wolves were locked up and rights taken away.
Holden is a pack alpha imprisoned by government agency SAU. While trying to deal with making his life and pack as easy as he can. The SAU torture starve and humiliate pack.
While trying to run off his frustration in wolf form he come across a almost dead body of a women.
Instantly he knows there mates and he must protect her.
Ariel is thrown over the fencing of the wolf pack to then blame them for her death but when they come to search for her body they can't find her.
Really like this story and how its laid out. I hate SAU and the way the treated the pack.
Have read previously but wanted to try audiobook because Carrie Ann Ryan has fantastic taste in narrators.
Absolutely loved this more in audiobook Aiden snow beautiful deep voice is perfect for Holden but somehow still makes the female characters sounds feminine can not wait for more in this series
Forgiven Soren and Cora story
There's history between Soren and Cora that you learn bits from blurb and through Holden story. Soren had to give up his true mate and love of his life to stabilise the pack, with the mating if Holden who at the time refused to mate died with no heir then Soren would become alpha but if he was single the pack would then be unbalanced and maybe become dangerous.
After Holden story because he refused to give up Ariel the punishment was to have feline pack join the in the wolf compound.
After everything Soren did Cora wasn't interested in having her heart broken again but Soren had completely different ideas. After seeing the golden pack beta Max try and talk Cora into mating Soren realised he hasn't got a lot of time to convince Cora that there perfect together.
Great story has a lot going on it such a small book. This book is a bit darker and more gritty then other Carrie Ann Ryan books usually have but I really like the change. Really looking forward to next in series and again Aiden Snow does a fantastic job bringing this book alive.
Years ago a virus called Verona wiped out many humans at that time shifter came out of hiding with a cure. Wolves were locked up and rights taken away.
Holden is a pack alpha imprisoned by government agency SAU. While trying to deal with making his life and pack as easy as he can. The SAU torture starve and humiliate pack.
While trying to run off his frustration in wolf form he come across a almost dead body of a women.
Instantly he knows there mates and he must protect her.
Ariel is thrown over the fencing of the wolf pack to then blame them for her death but when they come to search for her body they can't find her.
Really like this story and how its laid out. I hate SAU and the way the treated the pack.
Have read previously but wanted to try audiobook because Carrie Ann Ryan has fantastic taste in narrators.
Absolutely loved this more in audiobook Aiden snow beautiful deep voice is perfect for Holden but somehow still makes the female characters sounds feminine can not wait for more in this series
Forgiven Soren and Cora story
There's history between Soren and Cora that you learn bits from blurb and through Holden story. Soren had to give up his true mate and love of his life to stabilise the pack, with the mating if Holden who at the time refused to mate died with no heir then Soren would become alpha but if he was single the pack would then be unbalanced and maybe become dangerous.
After Holden story because he refused to give up Ariel the punishment was to have feline pack join the in the wolf compound.
After everything Soren did Cora wasn't interested in having her heart broken again but Soren had completely different ideas. After seeing the golden pack beta Max try and talk Cora into mating Soren realised he hasn't got a lot of time to convince Cora that there perfect together.
Great story has a lot going on it such a small book. This book is a bit darker and more gritty then other Carrie Ann Ryan books usually have but I really like the change. Really looking forward to next in series and again Aiden Snow does a fantastic job bringing this book alive.
July 19, 2015
Well, this was bad... I tried to ignore the fact that I have already read another (better) series about imprisoned and collared shifters (just out of curiosity, why are collars relevant? A forehead brand would be a lot easier to spot). It would have been fine if the story would have been good, but damn, it was weak. I have read the Bayou series from Alexandra Ivy and liked it but I haven't read the Redwood Pack series from Carrie Ann Ryan. But somehow they managed to bungle up a story that had potential.
Oh, well, I guess I have to find another series with shifters to enjoy.
Oh, well, I guess I have to find another series with shifters to enjoy.
July 16, 2015
3.5 stars! Good shifter book, the first story seemed underdeveloped in the romance department. The second was good. Both were a bit short for my liking, so I didn't get a good feel for the characters.
November 14, 2016
Overall 3.5 rating. Both stories blend well together and successfully leads the reader into the other stories of the series that follow.
July 18, 2015
4.5 stars so far....
Stolen and Forgiven are actually two stories in a series. I have completed the first story: Stolen.
Background on this series: Stolen and Forgiven is a paranormal book. A couple of decades ago a virus nearly wiped out human beings around the world; the virus was called the Verona Virus. Shifters were immune and their blood actually was the antidote that could cure and prevent humans from getting the virus. They (The Canine, Ursine [Bear], and Feline)stepped forward and made their existence known in order to save the human race and in turn were enslaved by being collard and forced to live segregated in encampments surrounded by fences and armed guards called the SAU (Shifter Accommodation Unit).
Medical experiments were done on children who were given the blood and humans were fed propaganda about how savage and monster-like the shifters were. All of this very reminiscent of what went on in a combination of Nazi Germany and to the American Indians. Now, each pack is suffering and are trying their best to survive day-to-day while bide their time until the day when they can change their circumstance and live free again.
Stolen is the first story:
Holder Carter is the alpha of the River Wolf Pack. He stepped up as their alpha at the age of 15. He knew life before the Verona Virus and is now forced to live in a compound, collard, branded and limited in what he can do to lead the lives of his pack. Many of his pack want to fight back but he knows he must rein them in because a full on war with humans would be disastrous to the submissive members and children. They are not on equal footing and he struggles to keep balance among shifters who by nature are territorial and independent.
Holden is out running and comes across a dying woman in their compound, he knows that the SAU/humans left her there to die so they can accuse them of killing her. That gives them reason to come in and kill members of his own pack in retribution. He immediately starts to think about how he can get rid of her body. She is cut up and near death. He knows keeping her body in their compound will result in suffering for his pack. But before he can take any action his inner wolf realizes she is his mate.
Holder never thought that he would find his mate especially since that they are imprisoned in the compounds. His mate is a step away from death and Holder has no choice but to save her. He waited forever for her and he’s not about to lose her. Turning her might be her only chance at survival but it will also put his pack in grave danger and for an alpha his pack always comes first.
The reason she, Ariel, is so cut up is that she has been dissected by scientists who work for the SAU. They have been long working to see if they can turn a human into a shifter. Ariel's mother was pregnant when she was given a dose of the shifter blood and the scientists stole her from her parents by murdering them and making her a ward of the state. They have been experimenting on Test Subject A ever since. Now that she has been turned, Holden knows that the SAU will slaughter his pack to get the secret to how it is done if he does not hide her among them.
I really enjoyed this story. How they came to be a loving couple, how she accepted her fate, how tender and loving they were with each other. But I also loved the secondary characters and back stories starting to develop. You can see how this is going to be a great series with a wonderful arc to finding happiness and freedom for these shifters. Holder is such a dominant and responsible alpha who is now mated to a strong Ariel. I liked these characters and look forward to part two of this book...the story of this pack's Beta who has a sad story of his own.
Forgiven is the second story:
This is the story of the second in command of the River Wolf Pack, Soren, the Beta Wolf and Cora, the Princess, or Alpha daughter of the Alpha of the Golden Cat Pack. Soren and Cora had a heated love afair seven years ago and fell in love. They were mates to each other but Soren left her to marry one of his own, Leah, to help stabilize the wolf pack because Holden was un-mated. Cora has carried a huge grudge against Soren for his betrayal and now she is living within the same compound, dreading their first meeting.
Leah died two years ago and Soren wants to find a way to get Cora to forgive him for the biggest mistake of his life....walking away from her. He has not gone to her in the past two years because he feels it would be disrespectful to Leah but the pull to his mate is more than he can handle and with Holden's help he is able to make peace with that. When they first meet after so many years it is undeniable that they share a chemistry and that they still love each other dispute Cora's anger.
Soren is willing to do anything to have Cora back and agrees to a "Friends with Benefits" arrangement, that he knows is only a door back into her heart...who is kidding who? They still love each other. One of the hottest moments is when Max, the beta of the Golden Pack finally gives up that Cora will not be his and walks away. Soren walks up to Cora, leans down and whispers into her ear with a sexy voice:...."Don't let him touch you again or I will rip his throat out." They give in to their lust, love and longing...spend some time together and then things fall apart.
SAU comes looking for Cora, kidnap her to get to her father and Soren takes off after her. Nothing wills stop him from protecting and saving his mate. The story get's very interesting from this point on....Soren and Cora cement their bond and we get more incite into what is going on in the world. Humans just don't really know what is going on in these camps and Congress is starting to grumbling about it. The shifters may have some allies among humans. We get the impression that not everyone is against the shifters. Oh and we get the first glimpse of "The Unseen" a group of shifters who can mask their scent and live among humans as spy's.
Each installment has two stories by these two authors. I look forward to the next installment. (Abandoned and Unseen). This is an interesting storyline that is going in a very intriguing direction. In the meantime, we are treated to some very hot, loving relationships that come together with what we hope will be a HEA.
Stolen and Forgiven are actually two stories in a series. I have completed the first story: Stolen.
Background on this series: Stolen and Forgiven is a paranormal book. A couple of decades ago a virus nearly wiped out human beings around the world; the virus was called the Verona Virus. Shifters were immune and their blood actually was the antidote that could cure and prevent humans from getting the virus. They (The Canine, Ursine [Bear], and Feline)stepped forward and made their existence known in order to save the human race and in turn were enslaved by being collard and forced to live segregated in encampments surrounded by fences and armed guards called the SAU (Shifter Accommodation Unit).
Medical experiments were done on children who were given the blood and humans were fed propaganda about how savage and monster-like the shifters were. All of this very reminiscent of what went on in a combination of Nazi Germany and to the American Indians. Now, each pack is suffering and are trying their best to survive day-to-day while bide their time until the day when they can change their circumstance and live free again.
Stolen is the first story:
Holder Carter is the alpha of the River Wolf Pack. He stepped up as their alpha at the age of 15. He knew life before the Verona Virus and is now forced to live in a compound, collard, branded and limited in what he can do to lead the lives of his pack. Many of his pack want to fight back but he knows he must rein them in because a full on war with humans would be disastrous to the submissive members and children. They are not on equal footing and he struggles to keep balance among shifters who by nature are territorial and independent.
Holden is out running and comes across a dying woman in their compound, he knows that the SAU/humans left her there to die so they can accuse them of killing her. That gives them reason to come in and kill members of his own pack in retribution. He immediately starts to think about how he can get rid of her body. She is cut up and near death. He knows keeping her body in their compound will result in suffering for his pack. But before he can take any action his inner wolf realizes she is his mate.
Holder never thought that he would find his mate especially since that they are imprisoned in the compounds. His mate is a step away from death and Holder has no choice but to save her. He waited forever for her and he’s not about to lose her. Turning her might be her only chance at survival but it will also put his pack in grave danger and for an alpha his pack always comes first.
The reason she, Ariel, is so cut up is that she has been dissected by scientists who work for the SAU. They have been long working to see if they can turn a human into a shifter. Ariel's mother was pregnant when she was given a dose of the shifter blood and the scientists stole her from her parents by murdering them and making her a ward of the state. They have been experimenting on Test Subject A ever since. Now that she has been turned, Holden knows that the SAU will slaughter his pack to get the secret to how it is done if he does not hide her among them.
I really enjoyed this story. How they came to be a loving couple, how she accepted her fate, how tender and loving they were with each other. But I also loved the secondary characters and back stories starting to develop. You can see how this is going to be a great series with a wonderful arc to finding happiness and freedom for these shifters. Holder is such a dominant and responsible alpha who is now mated to a strong Ariel. I liked these characters and look forward to part two of this book...the story of this pack's Beta who has a sad story of his own.
Forgiven is the second story:
This is the story of the second in command of the River Wolf Pack, Soren, the Beta Wolf and Cora, the Princess, or Alpha daughter of the Alpha of the Golden Cat Pack. Soren and Cora had a heated love afair seven years ago and fell in love. They were mates to each other but Soren left her to marry one of his own, Leah, to help stabilize the wolf pack because Holden was un-mated. Cora has carried a huge grudge against Soren for his betrayal and now she is living within the same compound, dreading their first meeting.
Leah died two years ago and Soren wants to find a way to get Cora to forgive him for the biggest mistake of his life....walking away from her. He has not gone to her in the past two years because he feels it would be disrespectful to Leah but the pull to his mate is more than he can handle and with Holden's help he is able to make peace with that. When they first meet after so many years it is undeniable that they share a chemistry and that they still love each other dispute Cora's anger.
Soren is willing to do anything to have Cora back and agrees to a "Friends with Benefits" arrangement, that he knows is only a door back into her heart...who is kidding who? They still love each other. One of the hottest moments is when Max, the beta of the Golden Pack finally gives up that Cora will not be his and walks away. Soren walks up to Cora, leans down and whispers into her ear with a sexy voice:...."Don't let him touch you again or I will rip his throat out." They give in to their lust, love and longing...spend some time together and then things fall apart.
SAU comes looking for Cora, kidnap her to get to her father and Soren takes off after her. Nothing wills stop him from protecting and saving his mate. The story get's very interesting from this point on....Soren and Cora cement their bond and we get more incite into what is going on in the world. Humans just don't really know what is going on in these camps and Congress is starting to grumbling about it. The shifters may have some allies among humans. We get the impression that not everyone is against the shifters. Oh and we get the first glimpse of "The Unseen" a group of shifters who can mask their scent and live among humans as spy's.
Each installment has two stories by these two authors. I look forward to the next installment. (Abandoned and Unseen). This is an interesting storyline that is going in a very intriguing direction. In the meantime, we are treated to some very hot, loving relationships that come together with what we hope will be a HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 14, 2019
I am actually conflicted with this book. It's not that I didn't like it, but the author needs some work. I felt like she would say one thing but would later contradict herself. Also the story of how the shifters are confined and caged just has too many wholes in it to make sense why they still live like this.
I did not like the split in the middle of the book. The beginning being Holden's story and the second half being Soren's story. Once the book started getting good it switched to a new story and I had to connect with it all over again.
I did not like the split in the middle of the book. The beginning being Holden's story and the second half being Soren's story. Once the book started getting good it switched to a new story and I had to connect with it all over again.
February 8, 2024
Paranormal Romances are a guilty pleasure of mine. In "normal" romance, the characters so easily annoy me too much to even continue reading, but somehow them being a shifter/vampire/whatever else just makes it better somehow. Or paranormal romance writers just do it better? Idk...
Normal guy being over the top "alpha"? Ewwww... Nope. Andrew-Tate-vibes. Yuck.
Shifter guy doing kind of the same but add in "pack dynamics" and being a different species? Yes please.
This book is actually two stories put together, I liked the first story the best. But now I'm not sure who wrote what.?
Anywho... it has the perfect mix of paranormal, thriller, romance, spicyness and humor for my liking. Four stars.
Normal guy being over the top "alpha"? Ewwww... Nope. Andrew-Tate-vibes. Yuck.
Shifter guy doing kind of the same but add in "pack dynamics" and being a different species? Yes please.
This book is actually two stories put together, I liked the first story the best. But now I'm not sure who wrote what.?
Anywho... it has the perfect mix of paranormal, thriller, romance, spicyness and humor for my liking. Four stars.
June 30, 2018
Way too many typos and grammatical errors.
March 13, 2018
Theoretically, the book is good and probably interesting, but it didn't catch my attention from the very beginning. I just didn't like that the main heroine was thrown into all of this and just went along with everything almost without comments.
July 22, 2015
Stolen
This collaboration has a familiar shifter feel in totally unique setting. Kind of like a dystopian shifter romance.
Years after a virus thinned out human existence shifters came forward to help save the human race.
Their thanks was incarceration, branding and why not collar them as well for good measure.
Small community living has enormous down fall for a large group of people suck in tight quarters. With that being said imagine being a shifter, knowing that if you haven't found your true soul-MATE you probably never will. How could you? You are locked up with the same people you have been for decades.
Holden the Alpha has hard choices to deal with everyday between being forced to brand and collar all of his people even the children and the feeling of being trapped and at his wit's end all comes to a halt the instant he smells her. The thought of just letting her bleed out and die when there is a way she could be saved is unacceptable. Not to mention the retribution his pack will suffer if a dead human is found in their compound.
Ariel has had a less than perfect life. Parents are dead, growing up in an orphanage was her all time low or so she thought. I think lab-rat and a real live game of operation just made it to the top of her shitiest moments list. Tossed away like garbage into the Wolves compound with death closely nipping at her heals. In that moment of darkness she never imagined emerging a wolf.
I found the plot to be inventive but the usual flow was not there. Not to mention the sex, it was really choppy. You didn't get any heat from it, no titillation or yearning to run home a strip it down. It felt clumsy. What also brought the rating down for me was the first chapters seem to have an abundance of repeating going on. The need to run, the way the submissive wolves where described. No poetic eloquence. Not to mention the part where she just wants Holden to "Make her feel good" totally made me think of Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry in Monster's Ball. No Romance.
Forgiven
Now for the second installment Forgiven, this one was very different. Like night and day. The chemistry was bubbling and overflowing. Loved it. The story had a building up tempo that had you powering through the pages.
Holden's pack feared retaliation from what happened with the doctor. They expected punishment just not in the form of sharing the small living compound they had. With the tigers no less. Higher Powers that be expected them to just fight and let themselves thin the herd. The shifters where smarter than that. They have been in communication for years and the key players in each community already had some history. The in the sheets kind.
Cora the tiger princess is less than happy to see the only male her cat wanted to mate with, Soren. Soren took one for the team and mated in his own pack. Back then the Alpha wasn't mated the pack needed stability. Yet the guilt he holds due to his young mate dying is a palpable thing, so strong that even after she passed away he couldn't approach Cora. But that too is in the past. All they have between them is the walls they built themselves. Which happen to be paper thin...lol They each have a strong mating pull towards each other their other half have absolutely no qualms with human emotion or pride.
When they do come together, fireworks are ignited and the passion that has been tempered pour out. With life seemingly good, of course that is when the other shoe drops. The SAU wants to force the packs to change people of their choosing into a shifter. They got this bright idea that having Cora would make her father more pliable to their whims. What wasn't accounted for was Soren and his determination to have her with him now and always. They just pissed off the wrong wolf.
AS I mentioned before this was gripping and action packed, this story sheds light on new players and gives you an idea of all the possibilities the series can go.
Very good read.
I received this for an honest review. I truly enjoy Alexandra Ivy's writing. This collaboration was not quite what I expected. I just finished Blood Assassin and I was thrilled to pick this book up. But not a total loss.
This collaboration has a familiar shifter feel in totally unique setting. Kind of like a dystopian shifter romance.
Years after a virus thinned out human existence shifters came forward to help save the human race.
Their thanks was incarceration, branding and why not collar them as well for good measure.
Small community living has enormous down fall for a large group of people suck in tight quarters. With that being said imagine being a shifter, knowing that if you haven't found your true soul-MATE you probably never will. How could you? You are locked up with the same people you have been for decades.
Holden the Alpha has hard choices to deal with everyday between being forced to brand and collar all of his people even the children and the feeling of being trapped and at his wit's end all comes to a halt the instant he smells her. The thought of just letting her bleed out and die when there is a way she could be saved is unacceptable. Not to mention the retribution his pack will suffer if a dead human is found in their compound.
Ariel has had a less than perfect life. Parents are dead, growing up in an orphanage was her all time low or so she thought. I think lab-rat and a real live game of operation just made it to the top of her shitiest moments list. Tossed away like garbage into the Wolves compound with death closely nipping at her heals. In that moment of darkness she never imagined emerging a wolf.
I found the plot to be inventive but the usual flow was not there. Not to mention the sex, it was really choppy. You didn't get any heat from it, no titillation or yearning to run home a strip it down. It felt clumsy. What also brought the rating down for me was the first chapters seem to have an abundance of repeating going on. The need to run, the way the submissive wolves where described. No poetic eloquence. Not to mention the part where she just wants Holden to "Make her feel good" totally made me think of Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry in Monster's Ball. No Romance.
Forgiven
Now for the second installment Forgiven, this one was very different. Like night and day. The chemistry was bubbling and overflowing. Loved it. The story had a building up tempo that had you powering through the pages.
Holden's pack feared retaliation from what happened with the doctor. They expected punishment just not in the form of sharing the small living compound they had. With the tigers no less. Higher Powers that be expected them to just fight and let themselves thin the herd. The shifters where smarter than that. They have been in communication for years and the key players in each community already had some history. The in the sheets kind.
Cora the tiger princess is less than happy to see the only male her cat wanted to mate with, Soren. Soren took one for the team and mated in his own pack. Back then the Alpha wasn't mated the pack needed stability. Yet the guilt he holds due to his young mate dying is a palpable thing, so strong that even after she passed away he couldn't approach Cora. But that too is in the past. All they have between them is the walls they built themselves. Which happen to be paper thin...lol They each have a strong mating pull towards each other their other half have absolutely no qualms with human emotion or pride.
When they do come together, fireworks are ignited and the passion that has been tempered pour out. With life seemingly good, of course that is when the other shoe drops. The SAU wants to force the packs to change people of their choosing into a shifter. They got this bright idea that having Cora would make her father more pliable to their whims. What wasn't accounted for was Soren and his determination to have her with him now and always. They just pissed off the wrong wolf.
AS I mentioned before this was gripping and action packed, this story sheds light on new players and gives you an idea of all the possibilities the series can go.
Very good read.
I received this for an honest review. I truly enjoy Alexandra Ivy's writing. This collaboration was not quite what I expected. I just finished Blood Assassin and I was thrilled to pick this book up. But not a total loss.
July 15, 2015
Originally Posted on Once Upon a Romance Blog - http://rexilake.tumblr.com
5 CROWNS!!!!
BLURB:
Stolen & Forgiven
The first in a brand new dark and gritty paranormal series, Stolen and Forgiven begins a new journey with NYT Bestselling Authors, Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan.
Stolen
The first rule of being Alpha of the Canine Pack is to protect their secrets from the humans at all cost. One look at the dying human at his doorstep and Holden Carter knows he will have to break it. The broken woman with no hope at survival is his mate. When he forces the change on her to save her life, he not only sets forth motions that could risk both their lives, but the lives of every shifter in the world.
Ariel Sands grew up in a post-Verona infection world and under the care of the very humans she thought had cured the disease. When they betray her in the worst ways imaginable, she finds herself not only mated to the Alpha of a the very species she’s been taught to fear, but the focal point of a traitor and path to destruction for everyone’s way of life. It will take more than trust and a mating bond for Ariel and Holden to not only survive their enemies, but the burn of their own temptations.
Forgiven
Soren Slater is a Beta wolf who understands that duty to his Pack comes before his own needs. At a young age he takes a position as a liaison between his Pack and the other species of shifters. He never expected his enticing flirtations with Cora Wilder, a Tiger Princess, would encourage her cat to consider him a potential mate. He’s forced to walk away, choosing a partner among the wolves to try and strengthen his Pack.
Cora has no intention of forgiving or forgetting Soren’s rejection. Not even when the Packs are forced to live together and she discovers Soren’s former mate has died. But then, she’s kidnapped by the SAU and she has no choice but to work with Soren to escape. Together they must put the past behind them if they’re to survive the human’s evil plot.
GENRE: Paranormal
SERIES: Branded Packs, Book 1
http://alexandraivy.com/books/stolen.php
http://carrieannryan.com/stolen-and-f...
MY THOUGHTS:
I immensely enjoyed this new series. I have been a fan of both Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan for many years, and their books are often at the top of my TBR list, and my re-read list. Both authors have a way of describing details and nuances about their characters and the setting without overwhelming the plot line.
The plot of this new series is seemingly straightforward in Stolen. A virus almost wipes out humanity, but shifters remain immune to the mutations. They step forward and reveal themselves and their physiology leads to a cure. Instead of this being a happy ending, humans turn on the shifters and they “cage the animals” so humans can be safe. Placing the blame for the virus on shifters helps to boost public opinion against them. In reality, human scientists are searching for a way to create their own shifters for selfish reasons. The series is then about the shifters who are living within the confines of the compounds they’ve been forced to live in and the struggles they face.
In Forgiven, the plot becomes a little more intricate as the reader learns that multiple players in multiple levels of security, government, and research are involved in attempting to “make” shifters.
The characters within the series are well-developed and diverse. All types of personalities make an appearance, from Alpha to Beta, submissives to betrayers. The “pack” is a family whose dynamics are just as intricate and crazy as any family could be. And when those characters are thrown into situations that lead to learning to trust and love an outsider, a mate? Then all the rules are thrown out.
Beautifully written, intricately detailed, and wonderfully inventive, the Branded Packs Series is sure to be a success! I’m looking forward to the next set in the series. With the way Forgiven left off, I’m anxious to know what will happen next.
5 CROWNS!!!!
BLURB:
Stolen & Forgiven
The first in a brand new dark and gritty paranormal series, Stolen and Forgiven begins a new journey with NYT Bestselling Authors, Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan.
Stolen
The first rule of being Alpha of the Canine Pack is to protect their secrets from the humans at all cost. One look at the dying human at his doorstep and Holden Carter knows he will have to break it. The broken woman with no hope at survival is his mate. When he forces the change on her to save her life, he not only sets forth motions that could risk both their lives, but the lives of every shifter in the world.
Ariel Sands grew up in a post-Verona infection world and under the care of the very humans she thought had cured the disease. When they betray her in the worst ways imaginable, she finds herself not only mated to the Alpha of a the very species she’s been taught to fear, but the focal point of a traitor and path to destruction for everyone’s way of life. It will take more than trust and a mating bond for Ariel and Holden to not only survive their enemies, but the burn of their own temptations.
Forgiven
Soren Slater is a Beta wolf who understands that duty to his Pack comes before his own needs. At a young age he takes a position as a liaison between his Pack and the other species of shifters. He never expected his enticing flirtations with Cora Wilder, a Tiger Princess, would encourage her cat to consider him a potential mate. He’s forced to walk away, choosing a partner among the wolves to try and strengthen his Pack.
Cora has no intention of forgiving or forgetting Soren’s rejection. Not even when the Packs are forced to live together and she discovers Soren’s former mate has died. But then, she’s kidnapped by the SAU and she has no choice but to work with Soren to escape. Together they must put the past behind them if they’re to survive the human’s evil plot.
GENRE: Paranormal
SERIES: Branded Packs, Book 1
http://alexandraivy.com/books/stolen.php
http://carrieannryan.com/stolen-and-f...
MY THOUGHTS:
I immensely enjoyed this new series. I have been a fan of both Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan for many years, and their books are often at the top of my TBR list, and my re-read list. Both authors have a way of describing details and nuances about their characters and the setting without overwhelming the plot line.
The plot of this new series is seemingly straightforward in Stolen. A virus almost wipes out humanity, but shifters remain immune to the mutations. They step forward and reveal themselves and their physiology leads to a cure. Instead of this being a happy ending, humans turn on the shifters and they “cage the animals” so humans can be safe. Placing the blame for the virus on shifters helps to boost public opinion against them. In reality, human scientists are searching for a way to create their own shifters for selfish reasons. The series is then about the shifters who are living within the confines of the compounds they’ve been forced to live in and the struggles they face.
In Forgiven, the plot becomes a little more intricate as the reader learns that multiple players in multiple levels of security, government, and research are involved in attempting to “make” shifters.
The characters within the series are well-developed and diverse. All types of personalities make an appearance, from Alpha to Beta, submissives to betrayers. The “pack” is a family whose dynamics are just as intricate and crazy as any family could be. And when those characters are thrown into situations that lead to learning to trust and love an outsider, a mate? Then all the rules are thrown out.
Beautifully written, intricately detailed, and wonderfully inventive, the Branded Packs Series is sure to be a success! I’m looking forward to the next set in the series. With the way Forgiven left off, I’m anxious to know what will happen next.
December 9, 2018
4 stars
This was a very enjoyable set of stories. But, the world this takes place in is disturbing so the story can't be enjoyed completely. Basically, imagine our world in the future...the Gov decides to try to weaponize a virus and it gets loose and caused an epidemic that seems sure to kill every human being in on the planet. Shifters were a secret but in an attempt to save humanity, they came out of hiding to give the human a possible cure (from their blood because shifters can't get diseases). It stopped the virus but then the Gov decide the shifters are a danger to all humans so the shifters are all captured, branded, collared and put in "encampments", surrounded by walls and armed humans that are part of a Gov branch called the SAU that is responsible for controlling the shifters (harshly). There are 3 different encampments, one each for canine, feline and bear :(
Stolen
Time 0:00-3:55
In Stolen, Holden is the alpha of the wolves and does what he can to protect them from their human captors/tormentors. Ariel is a human that the SAU experimented on and then disposed of by throwing her half-dead body into the wolf encampment. Holden finds her and realizes she's his mate and he can't lose her. It's dangerous but he changes Ariel into a shifter to save her life. Ariel grew up with the lies about the shifters being dangerous so she's freaked when she finds herself alive but mated to a shifter. It isn't an easy situation but she handles it very well and I liked her and Holden as a couple. Dealing with the consequences when the SAU finds out what happened is rough but the story does end with them together and as happy as possible considering their captivity.
Forgiven
Time: 3:55- 7:48
After the issues with Holden and Ariel, the SAU decides to make things rougher on the canines by forcing them to cohabitate with the felines. Since canines and felines don't mingle well, it's obvious that the SAU is forcing them together to attempt to start a fight between the 2 shifter types to kill off more of them easily. Soren is the beta of the wolves and Cora is the daughter of the Alpha of the felines. They've met previously and a heartbreak lies between them so when the wolves and cats are forced into cohabitation, they have to deal with each other. Their reunion isn't easy but Soren is determined to make things right between them. Just as things are looking good, the SAU decides to cause more trouble. It's dealt with as well but at the end, the shifters are still captives and things are getting worse. But as far as Soren and Cora, they end the story together and as happy as possible considering.
Overall, this was a very interesting story, even if it's a bit dark. I hate seeing what happens to the shifters...it just makes me want to shoot all the jerks responsible. The story is very good (if a bit disturbing) and I really like the characters and want to see them freed so I will be continuing this series and would recommend it. :)
* note - I listened to the audio version of this story (story times are noted above) and the narrator did a very good job.
This was a very enjoyable set of stories. But, the world this takes place in is disturbing so the story can't be enjoyed completely. Basically, imagine our world in the future...the Gov decides to try to weaponize a virus and it gets loose and caused an epidemic that seems sure to kill every human being in on the planet. Shifters were a secret but in an attempt to save humanity, they came out of hiding to give the human a possible cure (from their blood because shifters can't get diseases). It stopped the virus but then the Gov decide the shifters are a danger to all humans so the shifters are all captured, branded, collared and put in "encampments", surrounded by walls and armed humans that are part of a Gov branch called the SAU that is responsible for controlling the shifters (harshly). There are 3 different encampments, one each for canine, feline and bear :(
Stolen
Time 0:00-3:55
In Stolen, Holden is the alpha of the wolves and does what he can to protect them from their human captors/tormentors. Ariel is a human that the SAU experimented on and then disposed of by throwing her half-dead body into the wolf encampment. Holden finds her and realizes she's his mate and he can't lose her. It's dangerous but he changes Ariel into a shifter to save her life. Ariel grew up with the lies about the shifters being dangerous so she's freaked when she finds herself alive but mated to a shifter. It isn't an easy situation but she handles it very well and I liked her and Holden as a couple. Dealing with the consequences when the SAU finds out what happened is rough but the story does end with them together and as happy as possible considering their captivity.
Forgiven
Time: 3:55- 7:48
After the issues with Holden and Ariel, the SAU decides to make things rougher on the canines by forcing them to cohabitate with the felines. Since canines and felines don't mingle well, it's obvious that the SAU is forcing them together to attempt to start a fight between the 2 shifter types to kill off more of them easily. Soren is the beta of the wolves and Cora is the daughter of the Alpha of the felines. They've met previously and a heartbreak lies between them so when the wolves and cats are forced into cohabitation, they have to deal with each other. Their reunion isn't easy but Soren is determined to make things right between them. Just as things are looking good, the SAU decides to cause more trouble. It's dealt with as well but at the end, the shifters are still captives and things are getting worse. But as far as Soren and Cora, they end the story together and as happy as possible considering.
Overall, this was a very interesting story, even if it's a bit dark. I hate seeing what happens to the shifters...it just makes me want to shoot all the jerks responsible. The story is very good (if a bit disturbing) and I really like the characters and want to see them freed so I will be continuing this series and would recommend it. :)
* note - I listened to the audio version of this story (story times are noted above) and the narrator did a very good job.
January 24, 2016
Twenty-five years ago, humans were plagued by the horrendous Verona Virus. If it had not been for the shifters, humanity would have been lost. Instead of openly welcoming shifters to be themselves in the everyday norm, humans turned against them and forced them to live in heavily guarded compounds – often times with a variety of shifter packs.
STOLEN
As the Alpha of the River Pack, Holden Carter will do whatever it takes to protect his people from the evilness of the SAU (Shifter Accommodation Unit). So when he fines a dying woman on his compound grounds, Holden takes matters into his own hands and save the human woman’s life. Things become even more complicated when Holden discovers the expiring woman to be his mate.
Left for dead, Ariel Sands is dumped inside the werewolf compound grounds with the hopes of her death to be blamed on the River Pack. However, before Ariel dies, she is mysteriously saved by Holden, who just happens to be her mate. But, by saving his mate, Holden has put his pack in grave danger. Will this deed be the end of the River Pack?
Stolen is a profound tale that will pull on your heartstrings. Throughout the read, there are moments that will bring laughter, tears, anger, and lust. It takes a very strong-willed woman to mate with an Alpha like Holden. Although not perfect, Ariel proves to be that and much more especially when it comes to her position in the pack. I really like how she stays true to herself while embracing her new life with Holden and his entire Pack.
FORGIVEN
As the Beta of the River Wolves Pack, Soren Slater knows first-hand what it is like to make a significant sacrifice for the betterment of his pack. In the end, it costs him the love of his life and his one true mate. That is until years later when her pack and his pack are forced to share the same compound.
Tiger Princess Cora Wilder refuses to forgive Soren for rejecting her love many years ago. So when her Feline Pack is coerced to live within the same compound as his, Cora tries to avoid Soren like the plaque. Avoidance proves to be easier said than done now that Cora’s cat has pinned Soren as their mate.
Forgiven is a beautifully written story that held my complete attention from start to finish. This tale centers on a second chance at love. While Cora, the woman, is in denial about her true feelings for Soren; her tiger has staked claims on him and his wolf. This time Cora’s tiger refuses to allow them to slip through their fingers a second time. Their courtship takes a roller coaster of a ride filled with various twists and turns that will take your breath away.
Of the two stories in Stolen and Forgiven, by far my favorite is Forgiven. The storyline is more intense and attention grabbing as various characters come into play and has a bit more suspenseful action in the mix. Nevertheless, Stolen has moments where I was totally captivated and eager to see just how the plot would unfold. All in all, a wonderful start to the Branded Pack series.
STOLEN
As the Alpha of the River Pack, Holden Carter will do whatever it takes to protect his people from the evilness of the SAU (Shifter Accommodation Unit). So when he fines a dying woman on his compound grounds, Holden takes matters into his own hands and save the human woman’s life. Things become even more complicated when Holden discovers the expiring woman to be his mate.
Left for dead, Ariel Sands is dumped inside the werewolf compound grounds with the hopes of her death to be blamed on the River Pack. However, before Ariel dies, she is mysteriously saved by Holden, who just happens to be her mate. But, by saving his mate, Holden has put his pack in grave danger. Will this deed be the end of the River Pack?
Stolen is a profound tale that will pull on your heartstrings. Throughout the read, there are moments that will bring laughter, tears, anger, and lust. It takes a very strong-willed woman to mate with an Alpha like Holden. Although not perfect, Ariel proves to be that and much more especially when it comes to her position in the pack. I really like how she stays true to herself while embracing her new life with Holden and his entire Pack.
FORGIVEN
As the Beta of the River Wolves Pack, Soren Slater knows first-hand what it is like to make a significant sacrifice for the betterment of his pack. In the end, it costs him the love of his life and his one true mate. That is until years later when her pack and his pack are forced to share the same compound.
Tiger Princess Cora Wilder refuses to forgive Soren for rejecting her love many years ago. So when her Feline Pack is coerced to live within the same compound as his, Cora tries to avoid Soren like the plaque. Avoidance proves to be easier said than done now that Cora’s cat has pinned Soren as their mate.
Forgiven is a beautifully written story that held my complete attention from start to finish. This tale centers on a second chance at love. While Cora, the woman, is in denial about her true feelings for Soren; her tiger has staked claims on him and his wolf. This time Cora’s tiger refuses to allow them to slip through their fingers a second time. Their courtship takes a roller coaster of a ride filled with various twists and turns that will take your breath away.
Of the two stories in Stolen and Forgiven, by far my favorite is Forgiven. The storyline is more intense and attention grabbing as various characters come into play and has a bit more suspenseful action in the mix. Nevertheless, Stolen has moments where I was totally captivated and eager to see just how the plot would unfold. All in all, a wonderful start to the Branded Pack series.
January 19, 2016
ARC REVIEW
Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan bring you a new Paranormal Shifter Romance. This is a great two for one. One thing these ladies have in common is to take a tried and true genre and make it their own. I love these ladies they take something and make it dark, and twist it into an emotional mess that is so deeply entwined in the story it causes such a book hangover when you are done and beg for more. Much like in Kim Harrison's The Hallows a deadly virus has spread throughout the world the cure lies with the blood of the shifter and reluctantly they figuratively come out of the closet and save humanity, now here is where it deviates human instead of thanking them they freak out. They try to wipe them all out the creation of the SAU locked them up and, like in Jennifer Ashley's Shifter's Unbound, they end up collared even more they are branded like cattle. But shifter's are strong and can survive and they have had enough they are just bidding their time.
Stolen is Alexandra Ivy's perfect introduction for a new series. In this story you have Alpha of the River Pack, Holden Carter, who became Alpha at the age of fifteen and everything he has done everything in his power to protect his pack. Knowing how important his pack is he has refrained from claiming a mate until he finds one that his wolf wants but since all the wolf shifter are stuffed in one place it's hard for him to find the one for him. Ariel Sands grew up as an orphan in the post virus world where the government and SAU have spread propaganda and lies about the shifters. Everything is fine in her life until she gets kidnapped by SAU and experimented on, then on the verge of death dumped into the woods on shifter land. Holden finds Ariel before she dies and immediately his wolf claims her and breaking pack laws bites her and changes her. With that Holden changes everything and the secrets the SAU come out as well. Now the dangerous chess game between Shifter and SAU has begun.
Forgiven by Carrie Ann Ryan is Carrie Ann at her best. A second chance, shifter romance between the River Pack Beta, Soren Slater, and Cat Shifter Princess, Cora Wilder. As a punishment for keeping Ariel the SAU merged the dogs with the cats. Soren and Cora meet previously when Soren meet with the cat's several years ago. What started as an innocent flirtation ended in heartbreak, Cora's tiger morns for Soren since he left and chose to mate with another wolf to strengthen the pack. Soren has felt guilty over the death of his mate and the appearance of has rekindled the passion and love he has felt for her. Cora is hesitant still hurting from the initial heartbreak but with the sage advise from her father helps her see things from Soren's point of view. But the SAU has other plans and with the knowledge that they can change people and how to do it they target Cora and her Father. The Cat's and the Wolves, but specifically Soren, work together to change their plans.
Alexandra Ivy and Carrie Ann Ryan bring you a new Paranormal Shifter Romance. This is a great two for one. One thing these ladies have in common is to take a tried and true genre and make it their own. I love these ladies they take something and make it dark, and twist it into an emotional mess that is so deeply entwined in the story it causes such a book hangover when you are done and beg for more. Much like in Kim Harrison's The Hallows a deadly virus has spread throughout the world the cure lies with the blood of the shifter and reluctantly they figuratively come out of the closet and save humanity, now here is where it deviates human instead of thanking them they freak out. They try to wipe them all out the creation of the SAU locked them up and, like in Jennifer Ashley's Shifter's Unbound, they end up collared even more they are branded like cattle. But shifter's are strong and can survive and they have had enough they are just bidding their time.
Stolen is Alexandra Ivy's perfect introduction for a new series. In this story you have Alpha of the River Pack, Holden Carter, who became Alpha at the age of fifteen and everything he has done everything in his power to protect his pack. Knowing how important his pack is he has refrained from claiming a mate until he finds one that his wolf wants but since all the wolf shifter are stuffed in one place it's hard for him to find the one for him. Ariel Sands grew up as an orphan in the post virus world where the government and SAU have spread propaganda and lies about the shifters. Everything is fine in her life until she gets kidnapped by SAU and experimented on, then on the verge of death dumped into the woods on shifter land. Holden finds Ariel before she dies and immediately his wolf claims her and breaking pack laws bites her and changes her. With that Holden changes everything and the secrets the SAU come out as well. Now the dangerous chess game between Shifter and SAU has begun.
Forgiven by Carrie Ann Ryan is Carrie Ann at her best. A second chance, shifter romance between the River Pack Beta, Soren Slater, and Cat Shifter Princess, Cora Wilder. As a punishment for keeping Ariel the SAU merged the dogs with the cats. Soren and Cora meet previously when Soren meet with the cat's several years ago. What started as an innocent flirtation ended in heartbreak, Cora's tiger morns for Soren since he left and chose to mate with another wolf to strengthen the pack. Soren has felt guilty over the death of his mate and the appearance of has rekindled the passion and love he has felt for her. Cora is hesitant still hurting from the initial heartbreak but with the sage advise from her father helps her see things from Soren's point of view. But the SAU has other plans and with the knowledge that they can change people and how to do it they target Cora and her Father. The Cat's and the Wolves, but specifically Soren, work together to change their plans.
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