Book Blurb
Werewolf Natalya Stravinsky’s outspoken sidekick, Aggie McClure, is featured in this prequel novella. Before Agatha set foot in South Toms River, New Jersey, she had the fight of her life to face. Destined to be the alpha female over her Manhattan pack, Aggie was fully prepared to take on her role until her father arranges a marriage without her consent. She wants out–but the only way is with money–something her new controlling husband won’t give her to escape. But such odds never kept a wolf like Aggie down. To sever the twisted tie, she finds herself pitted against raging wood nymphs and backstabbing brownies in an underground supernatural fighting ring. With every victory, the sweet taste of freedom is closer, but her husband isn’t willing to let her go that easily. Until the very end, Aggie must fight for the one thing she’s never had: a choice.
BONUS SHORT STORY: NEVER BET ON A SUCCUBUS
Follow Heidi the mermaid and Abby the Muse as they try to help Lilith, a soul-sucking succubus and fellow supernatural therapy group member, find a date.
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Book Excerpt
Toot's Review
I don't think I have been so excited for a release
since.....ok I'm always excited for a book release that I've been dying to read
but this one in particular has a huge part of my heart. Why you ask???? Well
Shawntelle Madison named a character after me! No, the Fire Witch is not named
Toot's but my real nickname, Carey. Why am I telling you this? Probably because
I want to shout it from the rooftops and probably because I want you to be
forewarned that this review might be a little askew.
So first off because of my giddiness and probably the pound
of coffee I ingested this morning, I'll tell you about my character then I'll
tell you about the book, LOL. I'm a shady shopkeeper who's a Fire Witch. I've
burnt my shop down about a dozen times over the last forty-five years and I
play with matches that I have in my pockets. I also have fireworks and such all
over the shop, close to other flammable items. Here's my quote -"Let me do
all the talking. Carey is cool peeps, but she's eccentric." Ok, one more
quote and I'll move on - "While she spoke, Carey arranged a box of poppers
on the counter. Not far from a burning incense candle. No wonder this chick had
fires all the damn time." Mad love, right???? Keeping my fingers crossed
that "Carey" makes more appearances *grin*.
Ok as promised, I'll move on to the book. Bitter Disenchantment is a prequel to
Shawntelle's highly successful shapeshifter series Coveted. In the Coveted
series, the main character is named Natalya and her best friend and roommate is
named Aggie or Agatha. In the first book in the series, Coveted, Aggie just
sort of shows up on Nat's doorstep, needing a place to crash for awhile but
then becomes an integral part of the series and a wonderful voice of conscience
as well as the BFF we all want to have. There has always been a shroud around
why Aggie showed up on Nat's doorstep and where she came from and what's up
with her eating disorder (she hugely overeats) but we never got a back-story
until now. Bitter Disenchantment is Aggie's prequel story. Whew, that was a lot
of explaining *takes 'nother sip of coffee*.
So with all that being said, Aggie is a sort of Mafia
princess. Her father is the Alpha werewolf for a pack in New York. She's the only
daughter and has been lead down a path to follow in her father's footsteps but
as an Alpha Female. When the story begins, she is sort of working for him as a liaison.
She's definitely got an independent spirit, due to her very strong Alpha mother
but she's definitely lived the life of a princess. She's always well protected
because she's always under a threat of being kidnapped or used for other nefarious
reasons. The latest threat is that some spell-casters want to use her in a huge
spell they have planned. As time goes on, Aggie is informed that her father had
decided she is old enough to marry and he has picked out her mate. It's
basically a supernatural arranged marriage in the most classic of terms. In
Shawtelle's werewolf world, it's a very male dominated, old school rules, way
of life. The women are looked on by the men as not much more then breeders and
kept wives but times, they are a changin'. Aggie meets her would be
suitor/husband and soon they make a love match. She agrees to marry him but
soon after the marriage, her prince turns into a frog. She realizes that hubby
only wants her as a broodmare and could care less about anything or anyone
else. As his noose tightens, her independent spirit rises and Aggie realizes
that she needs to get the heck out of this marriage and away from New York but
when your money, means and life belong to someone else, what are you going to
do?
Being female, I found this story so empowering, I wanted to
hit my husband for just being male *I didn't of course*, love ya hubby! I loved
that even though the circumstances were something a lot of women find
themselves in, Aggie would not stop until she found a way out. She knew she
couldn't rely on anything or anyone to save her, so she did whatever she had to
do to survive and change her life. What Shawntelle specifically brings to this
story is the plight of abused women but not abuse in the physical sense. In
this story, there are 3 very different stories of women, sacrifice and horrific
abuse. She sheds a light on women who are emotionally, mentally and socially
abused. Women who are held captive by circumstances or because it's what's
expected or what's best for a crappy situation. Even though the subject matter
is hard to read, the strength that comes to light from these women in horrible
circumstances shines brightly through the ugliness. I applaud Shawntelle Madison
for taking on such a horrible but much needed subject matter and weaving it
expertly through her supernatural story. Aggie's story is one I am so proud to
have been made a part of, even in a small way and a story that I think the
world should know.
We women can overcome anything with the strength of our soul
5 out of 5 books!
Great review!
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