Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
King Howler is wealthy, powerful, and the leader of the informal shifter council. He runs a BDSM club and expects his subs to follow his commands. King isn’t an easy man and so that is why he makes it a rule to never play with humans. They are too fragile and King’s tastes too intense for it to ever work between them. Not to mention that as head of the council, King has enemies that want to see him, and anyone he cares about, harmed.
When King sees a drunk human at his club about to be hurt by a group of lion shifters, he is quick to step in. But once he gets close to Emerson, King finds himself immediately drawn to the man. Emerson is intoxicating to King, and while he knows he shouldn’t have anything to do with a human, he can’t help his attraction. When King’s family ends up taking Emerson home to recover and the men spend more time together, Emerson makes it clear that he would very much like to be King’s sub. King knows it is a bad idea. Emerson is new to submission and King is not the guy for him. But he also recognizes that he is nowhere near ready to give Emerson up.
The two men begin to explore a Dom/sub relationship and it is everything both have been craving. But King is keeping a lot of secrets, including why he feels that Emerson’s life is in danger by staying with him. Yet Emerson knows his place is with King and refuses to be pushed away. Now that the men have fallen for each other, Emerson must convince King that the connection between them is worth pursuing, and that the best thing King can do is claim his mate.
Claiming Bite is a super sexy, kinky shifter story with some really nice world building. I enjoyed Violet’s take on the shifter world, as shifters are known to humans but have been mostly pushed into illegal enterprises. King comes from a powerful, incredibly wealthy shifter family, and he is trying to bring them, and all the shifters, to the right side of the law. But that plan is being met with resistance and King knows there are many who would like to take them down — and those he cares about along with him. While the story here mostly focuses on King and Emerson, Violet does nicely round the book out with some interesting and creative shifter lore. I also really enjoyed the interplay between King and his brothers. It is clear his family is very important to King and I liked the way they all supported him, but also gave him a hard time when they thought he was wrong.
The main focus here is on Emerson and King’s developing relationship. It takes King a bit before he is comfortable pursuing things with Emerson, thinking him too inexperienced and humans too fragile for his type of play. I loved for all that King is strong and aggressive and dominant, Emerson is not a pushover. He may be submissive and willing to turn things over to King in the bedroom, but he also stands up for himself and for his relationship with King. King is so used to being in charge in all aspects of his life, and I loved that Emerson gives him that bit of a nudge out of his comfort zone. I also loved that we see Emerson taking care of King, not just as his sub, but as his mate. He helps King to relax and enjoy his life and they are a super sexy, but also sweet, combination.
It sounds like this is going to become a series and Violet has given us a great supporting cast and lots of interesting pairings that would make great follow up stories. I really liked the tone and style of this book and loved Emerson and King together. I’d definitely enjoy reading more in this world.
