Title: Cody’s Revelation (Shifters’ Haven #2)
Author: Lavinia Lewis
Cover Artist: Posh Gosh
Publisher: Total E Bound
Buy Link: Amazon.com
Genre: Paranormal M/M, Werewolves
Length: 97 pages
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
A guest review by Lasha
Summary Review: Shifter meets his mate, but guess what? He’s married.
THE BLURB
Book two in the Shifters’ Haven series
What happens when a werewolf meets his mate, only to discover the man he has waited his life for already belongs to someone else?
Werewolf Cody Morgan is summoned home from New York to Texas by his elder brother and alpha Kelan, and immediately knows that visiting alpha Stefan Drake is his soul mate. However, Cody’s newfound happiness is short-lived after he discovers Stefan has a wife and son. Cody’s life becomes further complicated when Stefan’s brother-in-law shows up and challenges Stefan’s position as alpha. Are there too many obstacles to overcome or is true love worth taking a chance on?
THE REVIEW
I reviewed, Book #1, Luke’s Surprise here. Cody’s Revelation follows the same format: werewolf meets werewolf, instant attraction, mating occurs…enter The Big Bad to try and break up their happiness.
As I have stated before, I love werewolf stories. If I have a choice between a contemporary romance and a werewolf romance I will pick the werewolf romance hands down. In this installment of the Shifters’ Haven series, I liked the fact the two main characters were already gay. There is no Gay-For-You trope in this book. Cody and Stefan know what they like and go for it, in bed and out. Also I liked how Cody’s Revelation storyline was inter-connected to Luke’s Surprise (you will have to read that to fully understand this one), so that both storylines weave together without bogging each other down.
The biggest surprise for me was that one of the protagonists was already married – to a woman – when he meets his mate. While it was an arranged marriage and Stefan always knew he was gay and when he found his true mate he knew the union would end; but it was still a shock for me (and Cody) to find out Stefan had a wife and step-son. Which is how The Big Bad enters the picture. Stefan’s wife has a brother (evil villain) and he wants to take control of Stefan’s pack and become the Alpha. He uses the lame excuse that Stefan’s new mate and his being gay isn’t “family friendly” for their pack to challenge Stefan’s role as Alpha. I thought that reasoning, while flawed, was extremely relevant to today’s society and showed that werewolf society is a replica of regular society.
Plus there are two great additions to the series, Stefan’s wife, Leah. She’s a feisty little thing who loves Stefan like a brother and is fiercely protective of her son. I enjoyed seeing a strong female who isn’t a bitch in books like these. Now to the son, Aaron. He is the comedic relief in the novella, which did get a little angsty in parts. After meeting his step-father’s new mate, Aaron decides he also would like to bag a Morgan brother and sets his sights on Kelan, Cody’s older and unmated brother. There are a couple of amusing scenes as Aaron follows Kelan around like a puppy trying to flirt with him which Kelan ignores since Aaron is only 17.
As with her other book, Lavinia Lewis writes some seriously hot sex scenes. Cody and Stefan burn up the pages and the reader totally buys into their passion for one another, a key in making a werewolf bonding novel work in my estimation.
Overall, I enjoyed Cody’s Revelation. I thought Ms. Lewis’ writing had tightened up in this installment and the addition of new characters helped move the plot along. My only niggle is that still in every book in this series we have a crazy bad guy who fights the reigning Alpha (Stefan, in this case) and that plot point is really not needed. I think there is enough internal strife in the werewolf community to create drama, rather than falling back on tried-but-true clichés of moustache-twirling villains. I hope the next book, Kelan’s Pursuit, coming out June 27, 2011 doesn’t fall into that trap. Recommended to people who love the werewolf genre.
Shifters’ Haven Series
“…it was still a shock for me (and Cody) to find out Stefan had a wife and step-son.”
That was a big 😕 moment for me as well. But it worked well when the situation was explained so it didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.
As far as Aaron goes, if the author fast forwards a few years and writes his story I think it’ll make for an entertaining read.
In the meantime I’ll be waiting for Kelan’s Pursuit to come out. Can’t wait to see who his mate is after the hint from the end of Cody’s book.
Great review.
Thank you for commenting. Kelan’s Pursuit looks even better. 🙂
I like! And the cover is hot. Must have.
Sorry, brain not functioning ;-0
Okay, scratch that. This book was horrible. The plot way to simplistic and the characters too flat to be even called cardboard. Brrrrr.
Sorry you did not like it.
Nah it happens, but it showed promise, so i was disappointed. Not enough werewolf in it!
Lasha,
I like the werewolf genre. I havent read any of this authors work, but it sounds interesting.
Thanks for your review.
I like this book better than the first. Come back and let me know what you thought.
The good thing about werewolf romances is that once the identity of the mate is revealed, I as the reader can normally trust the lovers to get together , whatever obstacles are against them. This can be reassuring, which I love sometimes. This book looks promising, thanks for the review!
I am the same way, Feliz. I want my mated/bonded couple to be together forever. Cheezy, I know, but it makes me happy. 🙂
Lasha
I haven’t read any of these books and, like you, I love weres a lot more than human lovers most of the time.
I’ll definitely give this series a try because there are enough internal challenges to make it interesting.
Thanks for the review. I am a big fan of fur… so this series just made my to-read list!
:hurrah: