Book Blast - The Mating Game by Melissa Snark - (Review + Giveway)

Two males…two friends…a competition for the right to claim The Heart of the Iron Stone Pack.

An alpha female at her core, Theresa Sanchez struggles to protect her young daughter, but rivalries and politics create volatility in the pack. As Theresa comes into heat, lust and need rule her body. Her pack demands only the most virile male have her. How can she choose only one mate when her body craves two—the virile beta and the man she loves?

Zachary Hunter will do anything to take Theresa as his mate, even if it means killing his best friend. However, Robert Blane is just as determined to ascend to Alpha. Both their beasts howl to mark her flesh, but only one can survive to claim her.

But with enemies circling, they must fight…for the pack, for Theresa, and for a future together.

Warning: Book contains wolf shifters, pack politics, gritty fight scenes, offbeat humor, and sizzling sexual adventures between a ménage of partners.

 

“Zach, about what I said to Isabel,” Theresa said in a voice riddled with pain. “What you overheard—I never meant to imply that you’re unattractive.”

A quick grin crossed his face, and he bit back a laugh. So, she thought his ego was that fragile, eh? Ever the ham, he adopted an expression of patent relief. “Thank goodness for that. I was starting to feel like an ugly duckling.”

Her cheeks reddened. “I-I…I just don’t want Isabel getting her hopes up or getting the notion that something might happen…”

Zach surged to his feet. He used their joined hands to pull Theresa upright and toward him. He leaned across the small table. Just before their lips met, he felt the gasp of her breath, and then the heat of her skin. He captured her mouth in a kiss. She yielded and opened to him, and his tongue feathered across her upper lip before encountering the smoothness of her front teeth.

Zach settled both of his hands onto Theresa’s shoulders, caressing the smooth bare skin with a circular motion. His sensitive hearing tracked the racing beat of her heart and the accelerated rate of her breathing. He scented perspiration and arousal, and he ached to taste more than just her delicious mouth. He wanted to peel the neckline of her sundress down to expose her full breasts to his heated gaze. He imagined the silk of her thighs and the honeyed flesh between her legs, swollen and sensitive and ready for him.

He kept the pressure of his mouth upon hers light, seductive rather than assertive, because he had to be careful not to frighten her. Under the coaxing stroke of his tongue, her lips parted wider, welcoming his advances, and her tongue stroked his lips and then his teeth with increasing confidence. She tasted smoky and spicy, like peppercorns and paprika, not as he had imagined but so much better. Heavenly. She whimpered and then moaned, and her tongue met his with a bold thrust. Her small hands clung to his shirt, fingers knotted about the soft cotton.

“Mama! I want to watch a movie.”

Isabel’s voice from the other room hit Zach like a bucket of ice water. He released Theresa and moved back. They stared at each other. Her eyes were huge and her skin flushed. Her tongue crept out to wet her swollen lips, which moved as if to speak, until his name emerged as a strangled plea. “Zach?”

Zach looked straight into her eyes, and he saw her fear, uncertainty, and desire. “Don’t count me out so easily, love.”

Amazon Paperback - http://www.amazon.com/dp/1628303786

Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L4OEW4Q

All Romance ebooks - https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thematinggame-1555725-168.html

Barnes and Noble Nook - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-mating-game-melissa-snark/1119838440?ean=2940149720927

iTunes- https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-mating-game/id885010129?mt=11

The Wild Rose Press Paperback- http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/wildcatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=180&products_id=991

The Wild Rose Press ebook- http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/wildcatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=156&products_id=990

 



Wow, this story has a little bit of everything! Wolf shifters, friends to lovers and menage.

Theresa and Zach have been friends for three years, and even though the both want more than friendship, neither one has pursued it.  Due to Theresa being abused by her ex-husband, Zach took his time earning her trust.  Just as Zach decides its time to let Theresa know how he feels, pack politics force him to rush his plans.  Their alpha, Adam, wants to retire and does not want Robert, the pack beta, to be his successor.  Adam would like for Zach, their third highest ranking member, to challenge Robert for the position.  Neither Adam nor Robert want to fight each other, but after Theresa's position in the pack evolves, the two men might not have a choice in the matter.

 

 

 **********Spoiler Alert**********

Zach does not really want to be alpha, but Robert does.  Since their current alpha has made it so that Theresa's mate of choice will be made Alpha, Zach and Theresa come up with a proposition for Robert.  They will form a mate bond between the three of them, making Robert the alpha and Zach the beta.  While Zach is willing to share Theresa for one night with Robert in order to seal the bond, only Theresa and Zach will live as a couple.  Robert is bisexual and knows he will more than likely never form a mate bond due to his sexuality and position in the pack.  It was sad to see Robert feeling excluded from the love that Zach and Theresa share.  I hope he gets his own happy ending in the future.

**********End of spoiler**********

 

Overall a sweet and sexy story.  I recommend to anyone who enjoys shifters, friends turned to lovers, who doesn't mind a dash of menage.  Looking forward to more from this author and hope that she continues this series.  I really want Robert to have his own story.



 





Fast Facts About Melissa Snark:

• Melissa Snark is published with The Wild Rose Press & as an Indie author with five unique titles: A CAT'S TALE, THE MATING GAME, LEARNING TO FLY, THE CHILD THIEF, HUNGER MOON.


• Her Loki's Wolves series includes THE CHILD THIEF, HUNGER MOON AND BATTLE CRY (to be released in 2014).


• She lives in the San Francisco bay area with her husband, three children and a glaring of cats.


• She is a professional cat herder and unrepentant satirist who blogs about books and writing on The Snarkology.

Connect with Melissa Snark:

Author Website: http://www.melissasnark.com/

The Snarkology: http://www.melissasnark.blogspot.com/

Email: melissasnark at gmail.com

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/melissasnark.author

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelissaSnark

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/MelissaSnark

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0076EEQIU

 


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Melissa will be awarding a Nordic Lights Dolphin Triskilian Pendant for Guidance and Inner Peace to one randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway