Cameron’s Pride (A Thrown to the Lions Story 4) by Kim Dare

Cameron’s Pride is a good shapeshifter romance who revisited on reverse the classical romance theme of the prince charming and the pretty man/cinderfella; Cameron, nom de plum Caramel, is a shapeshifter lion who earns his keep officially as a stripper and unofficially, but quite clearly, as an hustler. He hates what he is forced to do, but he has not pride to protect/help him, and no art other than selling his body. Franklin is one of the patron of the clubs Cameron works for and he would be more than willing to be one of the men buying Cameron, for a night or even more. But unexpectedly Cameron, instead of accepting the offer, runs away. Franklin is no man to be denied a new toy and so he decides to contact the local lions pride to “buy” Cameron from them; only that not only the pride doesn’t know where Cameron is, they are as much interested as Franklin to find the renegade lion, and once they will find him, they have no intention to sell him out to a human.

As soon as Cameron is found, the story take an unexpected turn: it’s not Franklin who will master Cameron, it’s Cameron who makes Franklin his pet; and Franklin is unable to resist him, both I think since he is arrived to love the werelion, and also since he wants to pay back Cameron for all the hurt he received from men like him. It’s odd to see Cameron in the role of the Master since he has still a lot of anger in him, and one of the things I learned reading BDSM stories, is that a Master has to be in full control of his emotions. That is the main issue they have to resolve: for Cameron to be the right Master for Franklin, he has to forgive himself, but also the men who did him wrong in the past, and going even further in his past, his former pride who let him down.

Cameron not only needs to possess Franklin to prove that no one can hurt him, he has also to find a replacement for his former pride and family, and in Arslan, the alpha of the pride, he will find the fatherly figure he needs to feel save. Since Arslan will cover that role, there is no needs for Franklin, that at the beginning was a willing candidate, both since he has money, than since he is slightly older than Cameron (even if 2 years are not so much); actually all Franklin’s attitude of being older and more important is given all by his money, and once you remove this factor, he is exactly at the same level as Cameron.

Very good and nice interaction between the characters, and interesting shifting of power and personality.

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8/268-201-118-455-8--cameron-s-pride-by-kim-dare.html

Buy Here

Amazon Kindle: Cameron's Pride (Thrown to the Lions)
Publisher: Resplendence Publishing, LLC (December 17, 2010)

Series: Thrown to the Lions
1) Ryland's Sacrifice
2) Marrick's Promise
3) Ellery's Duty: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1227482.html
4) Cameron's Pride

Reading List:



http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Cameron’s Pride (A Thrown to the Lions Story 4) by Kim Dare

Cameron’s Pride is a good shapeshifter romance who revisited on reverse the classical romance theme of the prince charming and the pretty man/cinderfella; Cameron, nom de plum Caramel, is a shapeshifter lion who earns his keep officially as a stripper and unofficially, but quite clearly, as an hustler. He hates what he is forced to do, but he has not pride to protect/help him, and no art other than selling his body. Franklin is one of the patron of the clubs Cameron works for and he would be more than willing to be one of the men buying Cameron, for a night or even more. But unexpectedly Cameron, instead of accepting the offer, runs away. Franklin is no man to be denied a new toy and so he decides to contact the local lions pride to “buy” Cameron from them; only that not only the pride doesn’t know where Cameron is, they are as much interested as Franklin to find the renegade lion, and once they will find him, they have no intention to sell him out to a human.

As soon as Cameron is found, the story take an unexpected turn: it’s not Franklin who will master Cameron, it’s Cameron who makes Franklin his pet; and Franklin is unable to resist him, both I think since he is arrived to love the werelion, and also since he wants to pay back Cameron for all the hurt he received from men like him. It’s odd to see Cameron in the role of the Master since he has still a lot of anger in him, and one of the things I learned reading BDSM stories, is that a Master has to be in full control of his emotions. That is the main issue they have to resolve: for Cameron to be the right Master for Franklin, he has to forgive himself, but also the men who did him wrong in the past, and going even further in his past, his former pride who let him down.

Cameron not only needs to possess Franklin to prove that no one can hurt him, he has also to find a replacement for his former pride and family, and in Arslan, the alpha of the pride, he will find the fatherly figure he needs to feel save. Since Arslan will cover that role, there is no needs for Franklin, that at the beginning was a willing candidate, both since he has money, than since he is slightly older than Cameron (even if 2 years are not so much); actually all Franklin’s attitude of being older and more important is given all by his money, and once you remove this factor, he is exactly at the same level as Cameron.

Very good and nice interaction between the characters, and interesting shifting of power and personality.

http://www.resplendencepublishing.com/m8/268-201-118-455-8--cameron-s-pride-by-kim-dare.html

Buy Here

Amazon Kindle: Cameron's Pride (Thrown to the Lions)
Publisher: Resplendence Publishing, LLC (December 17, 2010)

Series: Thrown to the Lions
1) Ryland's Sacrifice
2) Marrick's Promise
3) Ellery's Duty: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1227482.html
4) Cameron's Pride

Reading List:



http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Eric Knight (April 10, 1897 - January 15, 1943)

Eric Knight (10 April 1897 - 15 January 1943) was an author who is mainly notable for creating the fictional collie Lassie.

Born on 10 April 1897, in Menston in Yorkshire, England, Eric Mowbray Knight was the third of four sons born to Frederic Harrison and Marion Hilda (Creasser) Knight, both Quakers. His father was a rich diamond merchant who, when Eric was two years old, was killed during the Boer War. His mother moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, following her husband's death to work as a governess for the imperial family. She later settled in America.

Knight had a varied career, including service in the Canadian Army during World War I and spells as an art student, newspaper reporter and Hollywood screenwriter.

His first novel was Song on Your Bugles (1936) about the working class in Northern England. As "Richard Hallas," he wrote the hardboiled genre novel You Play The Black and The Red Comes Up (1938). Knight's This Above All is considered one of the significant novels of The Second World War.

( Read more... )

First Book - Song on Your Bugles (1936): Song on Your Bugles

Last Book - The Flying Yorkshireman (1942): The Flying Yorkshireman

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Knight

( Dell Mapback )

Behind the Cover: Ron Lesser

"I'm trying to tell a story. I like people to look at one of my paintings and feel like they could step into the scene." --Ron Lesser

While growing up, Ron Lesser was recognized for his extraordinary artistic potential. Following his graduation from New York's High School of Music and Art, he studied at the prestigious Pratt Institute of Art and Art Students League of New York under the influential artist and teacher, Frank J. Reilly.
 




( more covers )

Drawing on his extensive fine arts background he is inspired by the marvelous 19th century classical military painters such as Edouard Detaille, Alphonse De Neuville, Ernest Messionier and others. Ron focuses on those artists whose paintings most represent a dedication to realism and technical skill. It is his affinity with the masters of military art that sets a Ron Lesser painting apart from his contemporaries.

As a successful and versatile historical artist, Lesser created Western movie art for "High Plains Drifter," "Paint Your Wagon," "The Way West," and the storyboards for the dream sequence in "A Man Called Horse." He has painted the covers of Western book authors such as Louis L'Amour, Luke Short, Will Cook, Gordon Shirreffs and others. In addition to his singular vision of Native American life he more recently has created a significant body of work documenting America's Civil War.

The highly respected New York Art Directors Club, in existence since 1921, has twice honored Lesser for Best Movie Art of the Year and The Society of Illustrators of New York, founded in 1901, has bestowed on him numerous Gold Medals for his paintings.

Collected by museums and discriminating collectors, he has been featured in many prominent art publications, including Art Business News, Art World News, US Art, True West Magazine, and Southwest Art Magazine.

http://www.pathsofthecivilwar.com/artprints.asp

Behind the Cover: Ron Lesser

"I'm trying to tell a story. I like people to look at one of my paintings and feel like they could step into the scene." --Ron Lesser

While growing up, Ron Lesser was recognized for his extraordinary artistic potential. Following his graduation from New York's High School of Music and Art, he studied at the prestigious Pratt Institute of Art and Art Students League of New York under the influential artist and teacher, Frank J. Reilly.
 




( more covers )

Drawing on his extensive fine arts background he is inspired by the marvelous 19th century classical military painters such as Edouard Detaille, Alphonse De Neuville, Ernest Messionier and others. Ron focuses on those artists whose paintings most represent a dedication to realism and technical skill. It is his affinity with the masters of military art that sets a Ron Lesser painting apart from his contemporaries.

As a successful and versatile historical artist, Lesser created Western movie art for "High Plains Drifter," "Paint Your Wagon," "The Way West," and the storyboards for the dream sequence in "A Man Called Horse." He has painted the covers of Western book authors such as Louis L'Amour, Luke Short, Will Cook, Gordon Shirreffs and others. In addition to his singular vision of Native American life he more recently has created a significant body of work documenting America's Civil War.

The highly respected New York Art Directors Club, in existence since 1921, has twice honored Lesser for Best Movie Art of the Year and The Society of Illustrators of New York, founded in 1901, has bestowed on him numerous Gold Medals for his paintings.

Collected by museums and discriminating collectors, he has been featured in many prominent art publications, including Art Business News, Art World News, US Art, True West Magazine, and Southwest Art Magazine.

http://www.pathsofthecivilwar.com/artprints.asp

Understanding the Past by T.A. Chase

I remember the prequel of this story, part of a collection about odd shifters, and I also remember that my only regret was that that story was too short. T.A. Chase revisits the same characters giving them a longer story and closing some loose strands.

The story is a mix of paranormal and sci-fi, meaning that the shifters in this story are not some mythological creatures but the dangerous experiment of a crazy scientist. Strangely enough, the separation between animal and human is more marked in these creatures than you usually find in an “ordinary” paranormal romance. You notice it in little things, like the small gestures some of them have when they are in their human self that are more like their animal self, the reactions and the behaviour, but also the physical built, reflecting their inner beast.

Among them there is Mason, a snow leopard shifter who is the only one who can touch Heinrich, the son of the crazy scientist who was himself an experiment of his own father. The idea they have is that Heinrich’s father “created” Mason as a special pet for Heinrich, to allow someone/something to be near to his son. But that was not done out of love for his son, but more like another experiment to understand how dangerous Heinrich could be.

There are different stories in the story going on, many of them quite interesting, like that among a shifter rave and a shifter bear, or the one barely hinted among a shifter coyote and a shifter timber wolf. Love and danger seem to be all over the place, and the shifters living in the safe shelter that is Heinrich’s ranch tend to find comfort in each other; this is not like a Noah’s Ark and so the shifters don’t find the only one that can match them, and they have to do with was is around, and so odd couple like a raven and a bear, or a lion and a bull, are paired; I think this is a metaphor with what is happening outside the ranch, with simple "humans" who are not able to accept who is different from them, while the dangerous "beasts" are able to live in peace.

As usual in a T.A. Chase’s novel, the sex is a great, a good, share of the story, and it’s sexy and naughty, with a love for little details that makes it graphically detailed without being a “medical textbook”.

http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/manlove/paranormal/understanding-the-past/prod_305.html

Buy Here

Amazon Kindle: Understanding The Past
Publisher: Aspen Mountain Press (October 11, 2010)

Series:
1) Understanding Forgiveness (in Shifting Perspective anthology): http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/172020.html
2) Understanding the Past

Reading List:



http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle