Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Checks, Balances & Manipulation
SERIES: Wolves of Stone Ridge #48
AUTHOR: Charlie Richards
PUBLISHER: eXtasy Books Inc.
LENGTH: 108 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2019
BLURB:
Jared Templeton has been mated to his wolf shifter, Carson Angeni, for over a decade. Having spent the first half of his adult life as a high-paid assassin, Jared thought he’d struck a decent balance with pack life. Everything changes when their beta takes a position on the Shifter Council. That forces Alpha Declan to hold a challenge for a new Stone Ridge pack beta, which draws in unfamiliar wolves. The way one of the contestants—Larson—watches Jared arouses his suspicions, but he tells himself he’s being paranoid. Jared wasn’t being paranoid, and Declan’s daughter Sara is kidnapped. Even though they manage to save her, Jared still blames himself and acts rashly in an attempt to catch the culprits. His choice puts not only him but Carson in a tight spot with their alpha and a few others in the pack. Will Jared remember that pack is there for each other and aren’t just people to protect? Or will Jared’s past catching up with him create too big a wedge to overcome?
REVIEW:
Note: While this is book 48 in this series, it can be read as a standalone, although I recommend having read at least Book 6 – Goading the Enforcer and book 47 – With a Wolf’s Support, to get background on Jared 😊
Jared and Carson are home together in Stone Ridge following the adventures of the previous book where they rescued their alpha’s kidnapped daughter and by extension, victims of human trafficking. But Jared just knows that someone is getting close – trying to smoke him out – because of his previous life as an assassin. He located a device meant to do him hard. And he is sure that someone is getting too close, and all too soon he finds out there are multiple avengers who are after him because there is a price on his head. He can’t have that, because if anything happens to him, it’d be the end for Carson too and that’s the one thing he absolutely can’t allow.
There are so many great scenes in this book and I really don’t want to give anything away, because they are just to delicious to read for the first time without any preconceived notions – and there are a LOT of surprises along he way. Jared and Carson have to go to extremes in order to pursue the assassins who are trying to take Jared out. Jared realizes he can’t go it alone and Carson reiterates that they are in this together. They enlist the aid of some magic and so we get to have a visit from Kontra and his pack. In addition, we get to see a bit more about Alpha Declan’s adopted daughter and her situation with her mate. But really this is about how far Jared is willing to go to protect his mate – and his pack family. And his original family 🙂
I think this might very well be my favorite book in the series. As anyone who knows me is aware, Jared is my favorite character. He’s a smart-ass and a cynic and generally a tough customer. But when it comes to his mate and his pack, he’s willing to do everything in his power to protect them. There are plenty of smexy times for Carson and Jared, but the focus is on finding and eliminating the threats to their lives and their pack. There are a lot of twists and turns and surprises for everyone in this story. The ending does not wrap everything up neatly in a bow, but indeed I hope that means more of this story! Highly recommended for fans of this series. You will not be disappointed. 😊
RATING:
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