Gentle Scars

This is Book Two in the 'To Be Claimed' Series, and it did not disappoint. To sum up the first book - Wounded Kisses; there’s a treaty between shifter werewolves and humans. The treaty demands that every year the women in town become an offering for the shifters. The werewolves haven't taken an offering in generations; but best friends Lizzie and Grace are still worried. And they should be, the werewolves take them both to become 'mates'. Grace and Devin’s connection seems to happen very quickly which I thought a great parallel to Lizzie and her mates- yes mates, two mates. Book One does need to be read first. Book Two in this paranormal/shifter romance series introduced vampires. While the story still involves the shifters and humans, we get to meet Veronica. She's dark and alluring, a vampire and we find that she is also Vince's mate. Veronica is a woman who needs control and Vince has to shred his strong wolf persona and submit to his mate to have her. There's also Grace and Devin struggling to accept each other's differences in the sense that Grace wants Devin to be more open towards her and Devin wants her to simply trust him. Then there's the trio of Lizzie and Dom and Caleb.... you'll just have to read that one 😍😍🔥 🔥 Behind everyone's side stories - there's something going on with the vampires. The shifters need to find out who is behind this and why. Gentle Scars also leaves you on a cliffhanger for a third book, but it's totally worth it. We also get the other couples POV’s so you need to read these in books order. As much as I loved the couples and the sexy scenes, I really wish I could have seen Grace and Lizzie reconnect as best friends in this new life after they accepted their mates. Throughout the book it is very clear they are very dependent on one another, so a mutual meet up at then end would have been the icing on the cake for me. But again, there's still another book. I'll wait patiently. All characters are easy to love, Willow Winters is an amazing writer. I'm ready for Book Three!

honestly, still kind of conflicted, haha. willow is an author i quickly took to after reading Tell Me You Want Me in august, and when i read wounded kiss yesterday, but this just didn't do it for me. i did enjoy it to an extent, but the break-neck speed pacing made it hard for me to connect to the characters. readers were warned that this would be a PNR smutty romance and don't get me wrong, vampires, werewolves, smut? love them. but this book revolved a lot around sex. then again, this is part of a series/saga, so i look forward to the rest. the new addition of vince and veronica made me so happy. i loved veronica's character—she's a domme, got the whole "Call me Mistress" thing going for her minus the bdsm. vince, cannot not love him. he treats his mate like she hung the moon and the stars. that cliffhanger though, i'm agnostic but i have to say: je-sus christ. devin and grace; it was rocky start for us in this book. devin needs a slap or two, same with grace. however, i was glad they managed to resolve their issues. they still have a long way to go, but i know there will definitely be better communication and more character development as the series progress. caleb, lizzie, dom. my heart is still broken for lizzie and dom. caleb, i have my reservations about him. he genuinely seems like a nice guy who loves his mate and cares for his pack, but i have a bad feeling about him. that aside, lizzie warned up to them quickly and whilst i'd normally love that, it was so sudden. i reiterate, break-neck speed. i'm glad she was more of herself by the end, though. still, i barely know what her character is like or the rest of them because both books were paced so quicky. i look forward to seeing the progression between the three couples, and hopefully a fourth and fifth couple will be added with jude and lev. i want to know more about their characters. all in all, i enjoyed this book but i'm not quite satisfied.

Turns out Devin and Grace and Dom, Caleb, and Lizzie aren't the only ones with their hands full. Vince has met his mate - a vampire who likes to be in control. The reason for this is the same reason why she trained to be a werewolf hunter. Despite, Vince wanted to be the one in control, he is more than willing to be submissive to her. Grace is still struggling with coming to terms with what being Devin's mate means in the world of wolves and to herself. She feels like she's being shut out for not knowing the world of the supernatural. Lizzie is becoming more open to returning as a wolf and being the mate of two. Dom and Caleb are supportive of her improvements and she sees this. She Their relationships keep taking turns. There are nowhere close to coming off the rollercoasters.