What is instructive to me about this book is that the move from ebook to NY print pub doesn’t necessarily = a better book. And yeah, I’d love to see her writing develop beyond the crazy women characters, much as I’ve enjoyed them.

It’s the old, don’t tell me, show me, deal… So the writer showing me works ten times better *for me, but I’m insane* than the writer telling me.

I realized reading ME that showing and not telling is only part of what makes a complete story for me, especially when the piece is IMO disabled by a number of other significant issues. I agree with you that at a bare bones level (like if you reverse outlined the story), CP is a fuller arc, but at a substantive level what comprised that arc defeated its own purpose — to me, at least.

The one thing that kind of annoyed me in the first story was how quickly Dez accepted that Mace was a lion. I mean some guy shifts into a lion in front of me and I might have a lot of issues with this. I mean your whole world has to realign its self to accept that shapeshifters exist and that you are currently shagging one of them. I can’t remember, but did they not have sex soon after that?

Yup, they had sex RIGHT after that. I didn’t mention this in my review (it’s a tough line expressing enough to justify a below average grade without spoiling the book or appearing to dump on it), but that aspect of the story didn’t work for me, either, not only because Dez’s reaction was so subdued, but also because the justification seemed weak to me: well, at least you’re honest — let’s boink. It just felt like Mace and Dez were being maneuvered into having sex that first time so that the rest of the story could be propelled by the bouts of sex (and IMO not very hot sex, at that).

That set up, BTW, is not the same as in the Pack Challenge books, whee the human/shifter dynamics are, IMO, MUCH more strongly developed. In fact, in the last book (Here Kitty, Kitty), there are some really nice moments when the heroine observes the hero in his cat form and interacts with him, reading his body language in a way that makes the affectionate exchange fresh, IMO.

More development in my mind. Their relationship seemed fuller to me.
Maybe just because their was more character arc there and description of their feelings for each other through the story and less discussion with others describing it “he loves you” or “she loves you” and more actions between them showing this at work.

It’s the old, don’t tell me, show me, deal… So the writer showing me works ten times better *for me, but I’m insane* than the writer telling me.

I would like some non-crazy, or at least less-crazy characters in her stories - otherwise it’s more of the same and I know I’ll start tiring of reading about the same kind of characters repeatedly. Let’s hope this was a blip, and her next book is stronger.

Did you see the warning on Fictionwise regarding this pdf?!?

I swear it almost seems to read DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. Honestly folks in publishing. Drop the DRM or the total mass of new eBook reader formats coming on the market combined with your silly choices in DRM is gonna become a nightmare for the eBook sales department.

Anyway, I almost wanted to flip your grades for both stories. I thought Shaw’s Tail almost too perfunctory but I liked the female characters in it a hell of a lot more.

I thought A Christmas Pride was more complete story wise but, like you, I thought the heroine had was weaker than I expect of a Laurenston creation.