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    Old Loyalty, New Love
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    Old Loyalty, New Love
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    Old Loyalty, New Love
    Ebook340 pages3 hours

    Old Loyalty, New Love

    By Mary Calmes

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    L'Ange: Book One

    When jackal shifter Quade Danas was banished from his pack for being gay, he spent years in the military escaping his father's prejudice before returning to civilian life as a bodyguard for Roman Howell, the teenage son of a very rich man. After Roman is in an accident that leaves him physically scarred and emotionally distant, Quade is the only one who can get through to him. As Roman becomes a man, he realizes what he wants—his bodyguard by his side and in his bed. Unfortunately, Quade can’t seem to see past the kid Roman once was to the man he has become, certain Roman’s feelings are merely misplaced gratitude. But Roman knows a lot more than Quade realizes, and he’s used to persevering, no matter how many impediments life throws his way. He wants the chance to prove to Quade that he’s strong enough for a jackal alpha to call mate.

    Despite the decades Quade has been away, and the heartache of his father’s rejection, his inborn loyalty to the pack remains, and his abrupt departure left the jackal shifters without an alpha heir. As a psychopath shifter staking claim as alpha draws Quade back home, and Quade feels compelled to heed the call, he may be forced to make a choice he never anticipated. But doing so means he must leave Roman behind… unless somehow they find a way to make loyalty and love work together.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamspinner Press
    Release dateDec 13, 2013
    ISBN9781627984751
    Unavailable
    Old Loyalty, New Love
    Author

    Mary Calmes

    Mary Calmes believes in romance, happily ever afters, and the faith it takes for her characters to get there. She bleeds coffee, thinks chocolate should be its own food group, and currently lives in Kentucky with a five-pound furry ninja that protects her from baby birds, spiders, and the neighbor’s dogs. To stay up to date on her ponderings and pandemonium (as well as the adventures of the ninja), follow her on Twitter @MaryCalmes, connect with her on Facebook, and subscribe to her Mary’s Mob newsletter.

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    Reviews for Old Loyalty, New Love

    4/5

    33 ratings6 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Have you ever read a book and wondered if the author just changed what type of book s/he was writing halfway into the story? Because that is how I feel about this book.I apologize in advance for any rambling or things that don't make sense, because I'm quite high at this point. Haha.At first glance (and the first several chapters), this book appears to be a basic h/c m/m romance. Quade Danas has been Roman Howell's bodyguard for eleven years. He's been there since Roman was sixteen; he saw when Roman was horribly disfigured in an accident; he was there when Roman's parents died, leaving Roman alone at the age of 21. And he's definitely spent a good time fantasizing about what it would be like to sleep with Roman, who is nineteen years his junior - but he'd never act on it, because he knew that it would ruin their friendship. Roman, of course, is in love with Quade and has been since he was sixteen. So it looks like a standard "friends-to-lovers" romance with a bodyguard twist at first (even though there are a few mentions, including a short prologue, about Quade being some type of shifter). And I don't think I would have enjoyed the story as much without all of the supernatural elements, because...their friendship was just plain weird. Quade appears to be mostly blind to Roman's affection for him, even though Roman repeatedly hugs him, touches him, wears his clothes (!!), and flirts shamelessly with him. I mean, I really don't know two guys who are this touchy feely with one another who AREN'T boyfriends/partners/somehow romantically involved with one another. So when Quade and Roman finally get their feelings out in the open for one another, Big Shit hits the fan. Quade's sister, also a shifter, visits him unexpectedly, even though she has been out of his life for twenty-nine years, after Quade was kicked out of their jackal pack at the age of seventeen for being gay. And Quade is a Super Shifter, at that - one who is a "seer" as well as an alpha. Suddenly, a new paranormal world emerges, which takes center stage for a while. Roman and Quade fall into love quite easily and conveniently - I'd label it "instalove," except that they had been pining for one another for years at this point, so I'm not sure what to call it. "Instamate," perhaps. Because Quade and Roman barely have a chance to ever be boyfriends - they shift (lol sorry for the pun) from friends to mates so fast the reader gets whiplash.There is a lot of pack politics, which I was okay with, because it distracted me from the fact that the relationship between Quade and Roman went from 0 to 60 in the span of a few pages. And I did like how Quade returned home, even though he wasn't sure how anyone would react to his presence or him challenging the current alpha of the jackal pack (who was pimping out girls and selling drugs, and was just generally a shit head), and tried to set things in order because he genuinely loved and cared for the pack and its members.I'm not going to lie - this book was almost unputdownable for me. Seriously, I got into the tub for a "quick bath" and started this book, and the next thing I knew, the water was freezing cold and three hours had passed. It was kind of like crack, and I am going to definitely pick up the next two books in the series, and, most likely, I will be reading other books by this author in the near future. But I had Issues with this book at the same time, which is why I only rated it three stars.My first big issue was the fact that I felt like Roman was semi-fridged for Quade's character. Granted, Roman didn't die, but he was horribly scarred at a young age (seventeen), which also gave him a sensory disorder (he had a hard time feeling pressure, so people had to be extra firm with him, I suppose, for lack of a better word). And, don't get me wrong, I love physical imperfection in a romance, and I love to read about characters who are horribly scarred (whether mentally or physically) and find love anyway. But it just felt like the reason that Roman was scarred was because it made him "fit" better with Quade. It kept him in love with Quade for eleven years, because as Roman repeatedly stated in the book, Quade was the only one who could look at him and think he was beautiful. And the whole sensory disorder also helped out their romance, because alpha jackal shifters apparently like to paw and be rough with their mates, which makes Roman better suited to Quade. And that gives me a hint of skeeves.I also didn't like how everyone was mooning over Quade. When he lived in Arizona, before becoming the Howells' bodyguard, he caught his best friend (Del) and boyfriend (Novan) in bed together and that is what sent him into the Howells' path. When Quade returns to Arizona, he runs into Del - and discovers that not only did Del have the hots for him way back when, but Novan and Del have been together eleven years waiting for Quade to return to them so they could all be together. Oh, and the reason that Quade caught them in bed together in the first place? It was all on purpose because Novan and Del wanted him to join them. What. LOL Apparently Quade has a magic dick? And as soon as Roman and Quade get together, even before they really sleep together (I don't count the quick rutting session and even quicker blow job), Roman morphs into this confident, self-assured businessman into a needy teenager who can't let Quade out of his sight. I was getting sick of Roman's neediness by the end of the book; the author really took his spine from him once he was Quade's mate.Also, with all of Quade's talk about needing Roman to submit to him and this is how the pack works and blah blah blah, there sure isn't a lot of submitting. Which I didn't mind, actually, because I had a bad experience with Christianity in my teenage years, and whenever someone starts yapping at about how someone needs to submit to them, I seethe inside.So will I read more from this author? Definitely! Did I enjoy this book? Yes, but I didn't love it. Here's to hoping that I will love the next one, because I was so close to loving this book.
    • 5/5
      This blurb had me at “jackal shifter” – not exactly a commonly written about species, and with Mary Calmes’s ability to build exciting shifter worlds (her ‘Change of Heart’ series is one of my favorites), I was intrigued to see what she would come up with next. Additionally, you have one main character, Quade, who is a bodyguard, older, and with lots of mystery in his past, and another, Roman, who is physically scarred and emotionally troubled while having had a massive crush on Quade for years. A set of potentially explosive characteristics if I’ve ever seen one! The story that results by the time Quade’s old pack gets involved is action-packed, tension-filled, and so emotional it made me want to alternately slap Quade for being so obstinate and hug Roman for being such a champ. Amazing!

      Quade has quite a few issues. He is “tall, dark, and mysterious” to a T, but he is also honorable, dedicated to his job as Roman’s bodyguard, and entirely too determined not to admit he is as much in love with Roman as Roman is with him. With a lover’s betrayal in his past on top of everything else, Quade could be the poster child for “not relationship material”. And yet – he has spent eleven years seeing Roman grow up, survive several tragedies, and become a man who knows exactly what he wants. I loved seeing the seemingly implacable Quade squirm when Roman finally decides enough is enough and goes after Quade, no holds barred. Watching Quade deal with his old pack, his previous lover, and a whole new direction in his life kept me glued to my seat and turning the pages as quickly as I could devour the words.

      Roman may be the younger man in this couple, but in many ways he is wiser. He knows himself and what he needs exceptionally well, and what he has had to endure (physical disfigurement when he was seventeen, the loss of his parents a few years later) has made him more mature than most of his peers. Dealing with rejection due to his scarred face on a daily bass has hardened him, and the emotional walls he has built around himself so he can survive are formidable. Despite all that, he is not a hermit. Yes, he is careful about letting anyone new close to him, but a large part of that is due to all the gold diggers who are after him. The one person he has never held at a distance is Quade, and once he decides it is time they become a couple in every sense, he is unstoppable. He has known Quade for eleven years and has seen a lot more, understands a lot more, than Quade suspects. Roman will NOT be deterred, and he will NOT be left behind – no matter what Quade may have decided. This makes him the ideal partner for a man who never intended to let anyone close to his heat again.

      If you like unusual, gripping love stories with a paranormal touch, if you are intrigued by two men who are ideal for each other but have one of them refusing to admit it, and if you’re looking for a read that is as emotional and filled with passion as it is suspenseful and action-packed, then you will probably like this novel as much as I did. Yes, I am totally hooked on this new series!


      NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspiner Press for the purpose of a review.
    • 3/5
      Friends and authors I really enjoy rated this work very highly, but I'm sorry to say it was only an "ok" read for me. It read well enough, the setting was interesting, and the plot was fine (similar to many werewolf romances). The most unique offerings were the main characters, whose outline was rather interesting (one with extreme physical scars and the other an exiled, isolated, powerful and pining shifter). Overall, I guess neither character drew me in. Their submerged/simmering/emerging relationship (the core of the plot) was only mildly enticing for me, and their heat, while decently written, didn't sizzle for me.

      I was also disappointed in the level of shifter/paranormal elements, although towards the end there clearly were "Were" characters (including shifters and those of unknown power). Actuallly, I am most intrigued by minor characters who are likely to be the center of future stories, such as the alpha hero's ex-lover (who hooked up with his ex-best friend), a couple of attractive guys thrown at the other hero, and a mysterious body guard. This is the first book I have read by Mary Calmes, but her works appear multiple times as favorites in the genres I enjoy, so I'm looking forward to see if I find a different book more enticing.
    • 4/5
      The only reason I didn't give this one 5 stars was that it was a bit slow in the beginning, and she did get a little too wordy and descriptive towards the end. I mean, once I knew they got their HEA after the fight with Ray, I was ready for things to be wrapped up and over. It was nice that she gave some hints about future pairings, but I would have preferred a short epilogue with info about the pack, Quade's family's adjustment and the tease about the future mates. I am wondering if a lion can actually end up with a deer?! And I guess I wrongly assumed the lion was Arman because he would be chasing a jackal, not a stag, so I'm wondering who the two in the woods with them at the end were. I am excited for Arman's book, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's the next in line.
    • 4/5
      Old Loyalty, New Love by Mary CalmesParanormal romance. 1st in a series. M-M.Alpha pack dynamics. Ethics and goodness overcomes the criminal. Possessive shifters. Hot sex. Sublime mated romance. Excerpt: “I’ll call you later.” “Yes. Please.” “You’re being stupid.” “Because you were purposely baiting me instead of simply giving me the words you know I needed to hear.” “Words are cheap. Actions mean more.” “Words secured by action are best.” “What the h does that mean?” “You say, ‘Roman I won’t sleep with anyone’ and then don’t. That’s best.” He was exhausting. “You know I only want to sleep with you,” I blurted out. His sigh was both annoying and sweet at the same time. “Now, you see? Was that so hard?” I could actually visualize my hands around his throat, squeezing. “You’re thinking about throttling me, aren’t you?” He really did know me very well.”Excerpt from Old Loyalties, New Love by Mary Calmes
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars. Entertaining. A classic Mary Calmes tale. Fun. The most inventive...no, but satisfying.