Feral - Torment: A Dark Mate-Claim Romance

These beings are clearly not human. With alpha and beta being thrown around you'd think shifters. Especially since the alpha males get knots like a wolf does. Along with biting the shoulder by the neck and the whole scenting thing. Extremely weird that it's not explained when they clearly aren't normal humans.

Loved it! I received an arc of this book to review. I am a big fan of Nora Ash and she did not disappoint. I had some doubts about 351 considering his criminal past but this book made me understand the reasons for his actions and redeemed him in my eyes (not that I didn't like him already). We get to see both 351 and Lillian out in the world which is a first in the series and how their connection to each other helps bring 351 from the brink. I was happy that they get their HEA although it made me sad that we lost some new characters whom I had become fond of. All in all I enjoyed this great read and I can't wait for more as the teaser at the end suggested there will be another book but with a different character.

I voluntarily read this ARC novella in exchange for an honest review. I love Nora Ash and all of her novels. I definitely liked the fact that this was longer than the 1st two installments but in doing so, I felt it lost some of its eroticism. Perhaps since the h and H were trapped together in the 1st two, of course there were more opportunities for the brutal sexuality that took place and the struggle within the heroine to make sense of her feelings for her alpha. However, in a sense because that struggle and tension between Lillian and her Alpha were now gone and exchanged for more of a suspense aspect of the plot where other characters were introduced, it detracted from their love story a bit, but in a minor way. *Spoilers ahead* I think I hoped that Barnes would recover more of himself and not be so permanently damaged that the characters could fully reconnect on more equal footing rather than her try to calm him and try to help him return to his less feral self. Also, that Lillian still had to be assured that the man she fell in love with *wasn't* a "bad man" still rankled -- she still felt the mating bond was more instinctual and real and it had to take a secondary character to tell her that what she was feeling wasn't just about the mark. I also found it a bit odd that Lillian bit Barnes towards the end of the novella and he wasn't turned on by it. Perhaps it's because he didn't fully understand what was going on with her quite yet due to the damage done by SilverCorp. The hottest scene for me in the book was the final scene where she's attempting to fix her nest and the sexual aggression in him is rolling off in waves. :)) There's that darkly sexual element I wished there was a bit more of... but at the same time I did appreciate the depth of the story, the sacrifices made, the clear loyalty and love Barnes' brothers had for him, and the potential of a new chapter.