Reviewed by Donna
SERIES REVIEW: Miracle series
AUTHOR: Shea Balik
PUBLISHER: Self Published
BOOK #3 TITLE: Bearly Hanging On
LENGTH: 158 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 20, 2017
BLURB:
In a world where everyone was against them, they needed a Miracle. What no one had expected was to find their salvation in an abandoned town that was ready to collapse. Yet, that is exactly what happened when they moved to the town of Miracle, Oregon.
Kirill had been moving from town to town most of his life, staying one step ahead of those bent on destroying his kind. Along the way he’s somehow managed to become Alpha to a group of shifters also on the run. But he was tired of always having to pick up and move when all he wanted was a place to call home.
Harper had never known a moment of peace. Even as a child his father had pitted his own brother, Abdiel against him for his own amusement. When his father died, Harper had hoped things would change. He should have known better than to believe that change would be for the better.
The two men embark on a journey of discovery about themselves and the love they potentially share for each other. Can they get beyond their pasts, or will they be doomed to be separated for all eternity?
REVIEW:
Oh, I really liked this one!
Usually when a series deviates from the original cast of characters it’s a bit of a disappointment but I loved both of these guys so I didn’t mind ditching the original cat shifter pack for a mouse and a bear. Kirill is a big tough alpha, who doesn’t feel the need act like a big tough alpha. He’s the perfect mate for Harper, a mouse shifter who has spent the last five years suffering repeated rapes and sexual abuse at the behest of his brother, the evil alpha from the book two. Now that the mouse alpha is dead, Harper’s situation has become even worse, as the guards who have abused him for the duration of his incarceration no longer feel the need to try to keep him alive when they hurt him. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because Harper wants nothing more than to die and end his torment forever.
This is definitely the heaviest book of the series so far, with one of our main characters a suicidal rape victim and the other a protective alpha who is hesitant to assert any authority over his broken mate, even though that’s exactly what he has to do if he wants to keep Harper alive.
I enjoyed the darkness of this installment, and appreciated the confusion and despair that both MCs were dealing with. There is a lot of talk rape and sexual assault in this story, which may be a trigger for some readers. While there is no rape scenes in the book, the character of Harper has experienced years of rape leading right up to the beginning of the story.
When I say that this book is darker than the first two, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this book was heavy on the angst. I’d still label the series so far as light reading. As tormented as Harper was by everything he had suffered, to be honest, he recovered very quickly to the point that he was comfortable beginning a sexual relationship with his mate. However, I’m totally going to give the author a pass on that one. Maybe a mystical shifter mate bond really would help a rape victim heal that quickly. Who am I to say?!
RATING: 
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BOOK #4 TITLE Overcoming Stereotypes
LENGTH: 144 Pages
RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2017
BLURB:
In a world where everyone was against them, they needed a Miracle. What no one had expected was to find their salvation in an abandoned town that was ready to collapse. Yet, that is exactly what happened when they moved to the town of Miracle, Oregon.
Kellach Alder hadn’t been given a chance in life to be the man he knew he could be. It never occurred to him that if he wanted others to see him differently, he would have to stand up and be the person he wanted to be.
Trygg Snow was sent to kill Kellach and his friends. Already conflicted about his mission, Trygg knew he wouldn’t be able to complete his assignment when he came face to face with his mate. If only Kellach, a mountain lion shifter, would look past the fact that Trygg was a wolf shifter.
Against all odds, and an army headed their way to destroy them all, Trygg and Kellach must find a way past their differences if they are to survive. The only way to achieve that is by Overcoming Stereotypes.
REVIEW:
I was really looking forward to Kellach’s story, but unfortunately it’s my least favourite of the series so far.
Kellach discovers that his mate is wolf shifter, Trygg, an assassin sent to kill Kellach and his friends for the crime of being gay. Obviously Trygg has no intention of hurting his fated mate, and is ready to embrace his loved up fate, but unfortunately, Kellach has other ideas about that.
While I liked the continuance of the overarching story, that of the residents of Miracle rebuilding the ghost town as they prepare to defend their lives, I didn’t like the relationship between our two main characters. Kellach was a prejudice asshat. He had a bad past with wolves, so it was understandable that he had reservations about his mating, but there was absolutely no compromise with the cat shifter. He planned on rejecting his mate solely based on his species, but when he discovered his past didn’t really happen the way he believed, he does a total 180 and is excited to get his mating on. I just felt that he needed to soften to the idea of mating a wolf shifter at least a little, to show that his feelings for Trygg were stronger than any prejudice.
Kellach also annoyed me with his habit of speaking his thoughts aloud without realizing it. That’s something that I’ve always hated characters doing, because honestly, does anyone actually do that in real life? And ok, yes, shifters aren’t exactly real life, but that’s just a quirk that bugs the heck out of me. Obviously it won’t annoy everyone.
What I liked best about this installment was catching up with Jari and Harper again, and seeing the progress that these two abused mouse shifters have been making.
I’m definitely looking forward to the next book, where we will hopefully see the no-good council be taken down by some badass shifters.
RATING: 
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