Reviewed by Vicki
Holland Brothers Series Review, books 1-4
AUTHOR: Toni Griffin
PUBLISHER: Mischief Corner Books
Book 1
TITLE: Unexpected Mate
LENGTH: 124 pages
BLURB:
Brian Townsend was having one hell of a week. Rejected by his parents, kicked out of his pack and now his car breaks down on his way south. What else could go wrong? He soon finds out when the police rock up, and the sexy cop turns out to be his mate. What he didn’t expect was his mate to walk away from him, without so much as a backward glance.
Marcus Holland was having one hell of a week. Breaking up with his girlfriend, and then copping an earful from his mother about settling down and having kids. All he wanted was to go home and relax. Little did he know one last call-out on his way home would change his life for ever.
Can Marcus come to terms with the fact his mate is a man or will he risk losing Brian forever. However, not everyone in the pack is entirely happy with this mating.
REVIEW:
Poor Brian! His story starts out like a bad country song. Rejected by his parents, kicked out of his pack, forced to leave with nothing but his old truck and a little money, then his truck breaks down on the side of the road…. Luckily he gets rescued by a hot, sexy cop! Only to be rejected again. Even his fated mate doesn’t want him. He’s so sad, I got a little misty eyed when his heart was broken by Marcus the jackass.
Marcus is, well…. A jackass! He’s the only straight brother out of four, and convinced he has to have babies to carry on the family name, or he’ll let down his entire family. He’s been dating a shrew of a woman for a year, and finally dumps her when she tries to manipulate him in to bonding with her. On his way home he comes across Brian, is shocked to discover he is his mate, and practically runs him out of town. Then makes it worse by going to his motel room and insulting him more! The jackass.
There was a fair amount of drama in this short book, internally between Marcus and Brian, and externally as well. I loved the interfering brothers, and the fact that they all live together. Brian remains sweet and caring through it all, sorting through his own crap, and dealing with Marcus and his herd of busy body brothers. I like this world Toni has created, I am a fan of shifter stories, and this one is good. I wouldn’t say it unique, there are a bunch of stories out there like this, but this one is very enjoyable. I always have mixed feelings about fated mate stories, I’m not sure how I would feel knowing I had no choice in who I loved. But in this world, neither Brian nor Marcus have an issue with the concept, both have been wanting a mate. Brian is quite happy to discover who his mate is, Marcus is quite confused. Reasonably so, since he’s straight, and his mate is male! The connection between them is strong, the sex is hot and plentiful (eventually!), and the plot moves along at a good fast pace. Short and sweet, drama, sex, some tears, some laughs, and a good ending! I’m looking forward the the other books, I think this will be a fun series!
RATING: 
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Book 2
TITLE: Determined Mate
LENGTH: 124 pages
BLURB:
Jason Matthew’s is a broken man. He’s lived through hell and barely come out the other side. All he can thing about is getting to his best friend, Brian, after that he has no idea. Jason’s scared out of his mind when he’s met by not only Brian but two large men as well, he does the only thing he can think to do. He tries to run. One of the men, though, turns out to be his mate. A mate he is in no condition to have or want, a mate that won’t allow him to flee.
Alex Holland is forced to stand by and watch as Jason is taken to the safest place they know, too scared to be around him. He knows something bad has happened to Jason and he’s going to need every ounce of his Alpha control to give his mate the time he needs to heal and start living again.
REVIEW:
Oh geez. I thought Brian was a mess! He’s a cake walk compared to the damaged Jason… So sad!
Jason is Brian’s best friend from the lame-ass pack that kicked him out. Jason tries to stick it out, but finally decides he can’t live where he is, and without his friend Brian. He decides he’s going to leave before he gets kicked out and take Brian up on his offer of a home. He’s about ready to go, but wants to go out to a new club before he leaves. Unfortunately his evening takes a bad turn, and he shows up at Brian’s new home in a very bad way. Scared, traumatized and homeless.
Alex, the pack alpha, is at home when Brian receives a desperate phone call from Jason. He hears something in his voice and has a feeling about Jason. Could he be Alex’s mate? When Jason shows up, Alex is sure. Jason is his mate. Unfortunately he is terrified of the large Holland brothers. Brian takes control of things, gets Jason to a safe place, and gets Alex to back the hell off.
What follows is the gentle taming of a terrified, brutalized man. Alex does exactly what he should do. He leaves Jason alone until he is ready for some gentle wooing. It’s perfect. He slowly earns Jason’s trust, barely touching him, bringing him the occasional present, and working past his issues. Jason wants to heal, and wants Alex so bad, but damn, he is messed up. It takes time, but he does get there.
The first two books are similar in that they have large, alpha men (aside from the fact that Alex is the Alpha), mated with smaller men. I find myself drawn to books that have main characters of a more equal physical stature, but every time I read a book like these two I remember how much I like that difference. It’s not so much a difference in power within the relationship, but a difference in physical power. The smaller men are NOT at all feminine, but are physically weaker simple because they are smaller. They may be somewhat submissive to their more powerful lovers, but they both have steel spines. Jason’s takes a while to grow back after being hurt so bad, but by the end of this story it is starting to show. He is a fighter!
Toni continues to draw us in to this town populated by shifters, and the Holland family specifically. We get to know just a bit more about the brothers, Simon and Rick are still mysteries to be revealed. This book had very nice drama and angst as poor Jason’s story is told. But it also shows us patience and compassion from Alex and Brian, and stubborn recovery from Jason. He is not “poor” Jason by the end of the book!
On to the next book!
RATING:
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Book 3
TITLE: Protective Mate
LENGTH: 139 pages
BLURB:
Life isn’t meant to be easy, but for Zachary Bennet the last two years have been downright hell. The one shining light in his life, his precious daughter, Hayley. Deciding he needs a clean break, Zack gets a new job in a small town called Leyburn in the hopes they can settle down and live a peaceful life.
Between worry over one brother’s increasingly erratic behaviour and constantly walking in on the other two making out with their mates, Simon Holland is ready to pull his hair out. All he’d ever wanted in life was a mate and a family. When his wish is finally answered with Zack’s arrival, Simon finds out first-hand how far hate and bigotry can drive some people. But life wasn’t meant to be easy and Simon would protect what was his to the end.
REVIEW:
Three books, three screwed up men! I’m sensing a trend….
Zack seems like he’s off to a good start in life, his parents are fine with his sexuality, he has his best friend Sarah his corner and a bright future ahead of him. Then tragedy come knocking and he loses everything. Except the one bit of happiness in his life, his daughter Hayley. Zack’s life has gone to crap, so he decides to make a move, finding a new teaching position in Leyburn, he sells his house and off they go. One of his first stops is to visit the pack Alpha, to ask for permission to stay.
Simon Holland is about done with his two happily and annoyingly mated brothers. They kiss, they cuddle, it’s driving him crazy. Simon wants a mate so bad, but it just hasn’t happened. His mate is not appearing on his doorstep, like his brothers did. He decides he needs to get off his ass and go hunt down his mate. The next evening he goes out for a jog, returning to the house to discover…. wait for it…. his MATE!
Simon is a little surprised to discover his mate comes with a built in family, but he adapts pretty quickly and falls under Hayley’s pink princess spell. Zack’s spell as well, truth be told. It doesn’t take long for him to be sappy with the happy feelings, just like his brothers. Things go very smoothly for Simon and Zack, slowly they begin to bond as a couple and as a family. Simon is very good with Hayley, as are all of the big bad-ass men in the house. Their mother is about over the moon to have a granddaughter! Things were going so well I was a bit disappointed to not have much going on after the excitement of the last book, when BAM! Some drama of Zack’s comes to visit, stirring up the protective instincts of the whole Holland family. We get some nice drama and action, and a good outcome of course.
Zack and Simon are a good couple, there is some nice sex, but they are carefully working around a two year old. I enjoyed the slow build between them, and the bonding as a family. Zack fits right I with the other boys, as does Hayley. Her energy was a nice addition to the testosterone fest. The plot was interesting in the beginning, slowed a hit in the middle, but picked up for a nice dramatic finish.
While this story was about Simon and Zack, there was something happening with Brian…. CLIFFHANGER!
RATING:
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Book 4
TITLE: Forbidden Mate
LENGTH: 205 pages
BLURB:
Finding his mate should have been Patrick Holland’s greatest day, instead it turned into a nightmare with one phone call. His mate didn’t want him. His heart broke, but at sixteen he was too young to do anything. The next ten years—ten long years— of Patrick’s life are spent at odds with his mate. Split by forces he can’t comprehend and a long line of misunderstandings, Patrick doubts he’ll ever get the man he’s both loved and hated.
Jake Richmond never expected to come home from Uni to find the youngest Holland brother was his mate. Knowing the news might uplift his still grieving father, Jake shares the news only to have his young mate threatened. Jake does the only thing he can think of, protect Patrick. The next ten years are nothing but torture for Jake as he watches his mate grow into a remarkable young man.
They say time heals all wounds, but how much time?
REVIEW:
Wow. It feels like all other the previous books were a build up to this one…. What a mess Jake and Rick are.
Rick is the fourth and youngest Holland brother. We have seen over the last three books that he has something going on, but not what. He’s been drinking and moody, but won’t talk to anyone, just lives in misery. As this book starts we learn that when he was sixteen, he and Jake discovered they were mates. Jake acknowledges this initially, but tells Rick that he won’t claim until he is eighteen, and Jake has returned from school. Rick understands this. Then later that night, Jake calls and tells him they can never be together, and he doesn’t want him. Rick is devastated. He tries for the next ten years to get over Jake, and live his life, but he never does. Their close association through Alex does NOT help.
Jake has been a part of the Holland family for years, since his mother died, and has always liked Patrick, the youngest brother. He comes home from Uni and is pleasantly surprised to discover that Rick is his mate, but knows he is too young to claim, so he decides to wait until he returns from school. He decides this is the time to tell his father he’s gay, and has found his mate. Unfortunately his dad is not as accepting as Jake seems to think he’ll be and threatens to kill Rick if Jake touches him, much less claims him as his mate. Jake is forced to break the heart of a sixteen year old, and lives with that for the next ten years. His own heart is equally as damaged, but at least Rick has been relatively safe. Alex, his best friend, takes over as Alpha of the pack and asks Jake to be his Beta. Jake is happy to step in to this role, but it means he can’t leave, and will see Patrick more often, making it worse for both of them.
A good portion of this story is the angst and drama of the ten years between Jakes rejection of Patrick, and is quite hard to read. I wanted to slap one or the other of them, or both of them! It’s what creates the story, but it drove me crazy. This happens to me as a reader quite often. We can see both sides of the story, and what the lack of communication between them is doing, but obviously can’t do anything about it. I so wanted them to talk! I get why Jake made the decision he did, I don’t agree with it, but I see what he was thinking. But. Talk to him! Talk to your Alpha. Talk to Rick’s family! There had to be another way to deal with this other than making two people miserable for ten freaking years! Anyway. Drama, angst, sadness, gah…. It’s all in this one. The last books mostly had drama that occurred before the couple meet, this all happens between them. It is wonderful.
Jake and Rick are painfully in love, apart and together. They equally hate and love each other. It was a fabulous story to read, and I was very emotionally involved. In a good way and a bad way! There is good drama between them, as well as some outside crap that affects them directly. The other brothers are around, interfering as usual, plus Rick has a friend at Uni that I liked. Wished we had seen more of him! But the Jake and Rick story works well and I loved it.
So aside from the Jake and Rick mess, other interesting things happened to this family. We find out more about what is happening with Brian and it is huge. I won’t say here, I wasn’t aware thst this plot point was in this series even as I was reading the early books until I saw it mentioned on Facebook, so I won’t spoil it for someone who hasn’t heard. But it is well done, sometimes I have issues with this particular “thing”, and it being unrealistic, but it worked in this world very well. My only issue was that we saw it from the outside, not the inside. I would like to have had a book about Marcus and Brian and what happened to them, but we watch it happen through Jake and Rick’s eye. Fun, but not the same!
I liked this one best, I liked that the drama was current, we saw it happen, instead of one mate bringing baggage, these two created their own. And boy did they create drama! Not that I didn’t like the others, but this was great!
RATING: 
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OVERALL COMMENTS:
I thoroughly enjoyed this series! I can’t say they were unique, I have read lots of shifter/werewolf stories, but these were very well done. I loved the world Toni created, the family connection was great, and having four gay werewolf brothers was original. I liked that each book featured one couple but they were all so tied in together that we see what is happening with the other couples. The couples were each well connected physically and emotionally, the sex was plentiful but not overwhelming, and the endings were all satisfying. There were clearly defined bad guys and good guys, enough drama and action to keep me interested, but lots of sweet cuddling as well. I am very glad I read them, and hope the story of the Holland Brothers continues!