3 shifty stars for THE CHANCE AT REDEMPTION.
As the Black Ridge Alpha, lion shifter Kieran Murphy is tasked with ensuring the safety of his people. He's wanted Josie Cadman ever since he rescued her several months ago, but he knows she's not his mate. When Josie meets Liam McMurtrie, she's got some hope that maybe she's met someone special, even though part of her heart will always belong to Kieran. But Liam isn't what he seems, and when he finds out that the other half of Josie's heart belongs to the man he's been contracted to kill, his own cousin, he's absolutely shocked. It doesn't help that the second he lays eyes on Kieran, the force of their mutual mating bond WITH Josie slams into him with the force of a freight train. Evidently, he was meant to share Josie with his previously unknown cousin. Danger is on the horizon, and it'll take both men, plus the rest of the pride, to keep their woman, their friends and the city of Chicago, safe.
I was blinded by the potential of MMF deliciousness when I picked out THE CHANCE AT REDEMPTION, but since I'm super picky about paranormal/shifter romance anyway, I should've done more homework. This book wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good either. The writing was stilted and riddled with editing fails, and the story didn't flow so well. Josie's character was like any stupid character who throws herself knowingly into unsafe situation instead of listening to her protectors, and I found it eye-roll inducing that the bad guys just spilled their guts about their plans all over the place. Witness:
"Well, fuck me! This has to be my lucky damn day. Not only do I get myself a soft, sweet-smelling plaything for the day, but the contract worth a cool three million to me makes it easier to cash in by walking straight up to me."
And talk about a bummer to find out the men were related and the potential for some MM interaction was up in smoke. I don't care at all for MFM between relatives, so that was another little bit of wind out of my sails. Overall, since many of the things I didn't like were personal preference and not a reflection of the work itself, I'll give the second offering in the
Retribution series 3 stars.
Bottom Line: MFM sharing (between cousins); no condom use; no BDSM/kink; no sexual assault; shifter violence/murder.
