Lou

Fire Ridge Pride, Book 1

By: Jae Greyn

Narrated by: Lance West

This is only the beginning.

King and Queen Law: No means no.

Anything you think can be used against you.

Blood drawn in anger will be answered with blood.

The Feline chooses the mate.

Kings mate for life.

“One day, my darling, you will meet your Amato, and they will love you as you are.”

Lou Barstow’s world is turned upside down over a mating contract.

Horse trainer is an odd job for a lion, but Lou prefers his horses to most people, even when they talk back and fuss because he didn’t bring them sugar cubes. After mucking stalls and mending fences, he deals with Pride politics over a beer and a game of pool. He also teaches the mated lionesses how to line dance, keeping the peace and marriages together.

For Lou, things just are, and he’s accepted them. Likes his place in the shadows. He dreams of having a mate but never expected one. His one want is a soft place to fall. Lou wants someone to be his equal and who pushes him in the right direction instead of pushing him away. Someone who understands Lou’s place, if a mate exists for him at all.

Then Lou’s Uncle, King Xeno Barstow, insists Camp Fowler, the next in line to be King of Juniper Springs Pride, is his promised mate. A mating between two Prides is almost unheard of, especially when one or both are destined to be King. Bloodlines are everything, and Kings mate to have heirs. They don’t mate to nobodies.And then the truth comes out. Lou was born to be the next King. Sacrifices were made to bring him into the world, and he must fulfill his destiny with Camp by his side, no matter the cost. After all, his Uncle went to a lot of trouble to unite Juniper Springs and Fire Ridge.

Could this be a love match? Could they make it work?

Is Camp his soft place to fall? Or is he the beginning of something more dangerous?

©2022 Jae Greyn (P)2023 Jae Greyn

Great, but Short

This story was actually more like a longer novella. I listened to it in a few hours without stopping. Because it was brief, the action occurred very quickly and we didn't get the detail about the MCs lives together that I would have liked. It was very unique, however, and I'll leave it at that so I don't give too much away.

Creative and engaging shifter romance.

Creative and engaging shifter romance.  Nice twist of the 17 year mating contract and merging of prides.  This is a fast paced novella that has some very interesting paranormal extras. 

Lou and Camp are both solid characters and they do come to life with the narration.  

Narration got better as the book progressed. 

Interesting Story

I enjoyed reading this a lot and now I've had the opportunity to listen to the audiobook. It made the story an even better experience.

I received an ARC and this is my unbiased opinion

An Okay Story

A good plot and nice characters, I enjoyed listening to it more than I had reading it.

when things come to light

A mating contract, some unforeseen issues, and love. Things are turning out differently than either of the MCs pictured for their lives. Though different doesn't always mean bad. This sweet story of finding love was very well written and I can't wait for more.

Just Fine

As harsh as this may sound, this story was like a ton of other shifter books I've read/listened to. Nothing overly special. Still good. Still enjoyable. Just not one I would go out of my way to listen to again.

Short and sweet

This is a cute story. It's a fun, quick read with charm, sweetness and a tiny bit of danger. It's not perfect, some parts feel stilted, others feel like there is information missing. Not much is explained about the pack or the world, or, at least not in a way that would give an easier understanding and I found myself relistening to parts to understand what was going on. It is a good listen but there needs to be more info. Discovering the world as the story unfold is great because Info dump aren't fun, but at the same time there are a lot of things that haven't been explained and are a bit confusing.

The narration was good and the narrator brough the story to life and showed the sweetness and charmm it possesses.

Making things fit

I generally enjoyed this book, though some pieces of it were a tad confusing and seemingly incomplete. Despite his age, Lou was incredibly mature, sensible, and powerful. Camp was a good complement to him in terms of personality and ability and I liked how he grew over the story from expecting Lou to fit his life to seeing how best to fit together. I do wish there had been more emotion and romance between them though. Lance West did a fairly good job with narration, trying to differentiate voices for the various characters.

A mating contract comes due!

"The man still thought, deep down, that Dell’s Wood was ‘hillbilly.’"

Oh my, Lance West brought this book to life with his narration. He took Jae's words and painted a better picture than my imagination could ever come up with.

The premise of the story/series is unique and I've read each and every book, as they've been released. When I saw it on Audible I had to grab it.

A 17-year-old mating contract, orchestrated by King Xeno, Lou's uncle, comes due.

Lou, horse trainer, rare white lion, promised / contracted at birth to become Amato (beloved mate) to Camp, son of Juniper Spring’s king.

How to describe this story... I was both confused and intrigued the first time I read it. So much is thrown at you, in a short amount of time, it's hard to keep it all straight. The story is only 88 pages (right at 2hrs to listen), so there's not much room for a lot of description and back story.

I can't explain too much about the story without spoilers, and I hate reviews that contain spoilers. It's a must to read/listen to these books in order or you will be lost. Each book in the series builds off the last and an amazing world is created.

Aww 🥰

This was a sweet shifter story by a new to me author. I purchased this book because I was given the second book to the series for free. I wanted to listen to the books in order.

Very enjoyable listen. I've heard this narrator in other books and am fast becoming a fan.

Looking forward to listening to book 2