Title: Cat Scratch Fever Author: Sarah O'Rourke
Series: Standalone
Release date: May 8, 2017
(Sub)genres: Paranormal, Shifter
Buy: Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Rating:
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Beau LaForte felt an internal pull to the beautiful, innocent Alexa Davidson. Oh, this was not the typical boy-meets-girl story. This was anything but typical. You see, Beau was a shifter – a panther – and the alpha of the pack. What his panther wanted, his panther got. And together, they wanted Alexa.
But when Alexa finds the pretty kitty lolling on her bed, she is determined to get him out -- before he sheds more on her brand new sheets! Can Beau convince Alexa that she is his mate for life?
Instalove. Shifter romantic comedy. 23K words. Novella.
Sometimes I just want to read a sweet, over-the-top story without thinking about reality. Cat Scratch Fever by Sarah O’Rourke is just that, a short story with about a shifter who finally finds his mate. While reading the book I giggled, my eyes rolled a bit, but I like it!
“You’re really here,” she whispered. “This isn’t a fantasy or a dream, is it?”
Alexa is a sweet, somewhat naive woman who works in a coffeeshop. She likes her simple life, but she’s dreaming about more. More excitement, more everything. One her daily customers is the handsome Beaumont and she has kind of a crush on him. What Alexa doesn’t know is that Beaumont is a shifter, and he has a reason to be at the coffeehouse where she works. As the leader of his panther pack, Beaumont needs a mate, and he has found her. In the form of Alexa of course.
“W-what are you doing?” she asked quickly as his dark head began to descend toward her. “I find that as much as I want to continue this banter with you, I want to kiss my mate more.”
Like many other shifter books, Cat Scratch Fever is an insta lust/love story. The moment Beaumont makes his attentions clear to Alexa, their relationship takes off at record speed. The couple has to deal with some issues, but their attraction is a certainty. It’s sweet, it’s funny and at time way over-the-top and cheesy. But I don’t mind, not all my reads have to be heartbreaking, brutal or realistic. Sometimes I just want to enjoy a short read in the garden while my kids are playing.
“I want you here from now on, Lexie,” Beau clarified, reaching out a hand to run his hand down her side. “Where?” “Here, love! In my house. In my bed. In my arms. For always. This isn’t temporary, Lexie, and it’s not gonna end.”
I’ve enjoyed reading Cat Scratch Fever, I give it 4 stars.
Excerpt
Taking a deep breath, Alexa drew herself up to her full height and steeled herself for a battle. Although, since she stood just an inch over five feet, she knew her intimidation factor was virtually non-existent, but she had to start somewhere. It was time for her to quit stewing over decisions she could no longer change and instead concentrate on the concrete facts regarding her current situation.
And the fact was there was a flipping cat in her bed! A gigantic feline fiend apparently intent on wrecking what was left of her birthday. Because, yes, there was a cat in her bed, and it was stinkin’ immense. Since when did ordinary cats – even if they were frickin’ panthers – get that big?
The simple answer was they didn’t. EVER.
And an even better question was – Why wasn’t she scared of it?
God knew, it had fangs that promised grim death to anyone that provoked it. Oddly enough, though, she felt not a single ounce of fear or distress standing in front of it. It was like she instinctively knew this animal would never cause her a single second of harm. In fact, the longer she looked into its eyes that glowed in the darkened room, the more convinced she was that the purring beast would do whatever was necessary to protect her. It was like she and the animal had some kind of weird, unspoken connection. It was a bond that she didn’t want and had never asked to share, but one that she couldn’t deny and wouldn’t change even if she could.
How fucked up was that? Maybe this was some kind of voodoo curse one of her disgruntled customers had wished on her when she hadn’t served their coffee quickly enough. Personally, she thought that might be a bit of overkill, but caffeine addicts were serious in Louisiana, and one did not play around when it came to providing quality coffee in the bayou.
“Why couldn’t you be a dog? I could have handled this if you were a dog,” she muttered as she rolled her eyes toward the ceiling and hugged herself. “Especially since I’ve always been a puppy person,” she continued to babble as she shut her eyes and continued chafing her hands up and down her arms as a bizarre electrical charge seemed to ripple through the air inside the tiny bedroom.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say that you are now very much a cat person. Or, at least this cat’s person,” a deep, sexy voice rumbled from the bed. “More specifically, you’re this panther’s person.”
Alexa’s eyes popped open as that rich, deep voice seemed to vibrate through her being. Screaming as she spotted an extremely real — and from what she could tell (even in the darkness) was an oh, so very naked man in her bed — she quickly lunged for the nearest makeshift weapon she could find. Sadly for her, the closest missile she could find was only her television remote, and that merely bounced off her interloper’s sculpted chest.
“Ouch!” her prowler growled, batting away the remote as she continued to screech, blindly searching for another weapon in the mostly dark bedroom. “Alexa, chère, settle down!”
Wait a second? Why did her trespasser know her name? And why did that southern drawl sound so familiar? Making a half-turn on her not-so-steady feet, Alexa fumbled for the light switch on the wall, relieved when her searching fingers found what they were looking for. Flicking the switch, she squinted as her unfocused eyes tried to adjust when the room was suddenly flooded with bright, artificial light. Finally able to see a few seconds later, she couldn’t help emitting a small squawk as she saw the nude man lounging in the center of her bed.
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