Gage: The Outcast Bears Book 2, Emilia Hartley

Prankster, trouble-maker, irresponsible, hot-head.  Gage is used to all these labels and plays them up, owns them.  That doesn't mean some of them don't bother him, though.  When he's stuck back in his home town supporting the pack that ousted him and his brothers years ago he's at loose ends and doesn't know where he fits or what could possibly keep him here.  But there's someone that needs him and when he finds her none of that other stuff will matter as much as giving her a place to belong and the confidence to embrace it.

Gage has felt abandoned by everyone important to him.  His friend gave him up to the police to save his own skin, his father and pack kicked him out because he couldn't be a good little soldier, his oldest brother discarded him in favor of being alone, his other brother deserted him for a woman and a new pack; what's left except his own bravado and his devil-may-care attitude?  Until he finds a small coyote shifter lost and confused in an alley.  Something about her calls to a deeper part of him and he's not about to let her go until he figures it out.

Kaylee has lost everything that she built.  Sure, she's got family that loves her.  And yes, her talent is still in there somewhere.  But what good are either of those things if the feelings of betrayal and hurt have sent her to a tiny town far away from everyone and everything she's ever known?  Well, that mess has got nothing on the trouble that's staring at her through vacant yet blood-lust filled eyes and a mouth of sharp teeth.  Waking up to a world of crazy sets her on the path that could heal her hurt, give her a future worth keeping, and a new self to empower her forever.

I enjoyed the interplay between Gage and Kaylee.  It also gave me greater insight into Gage's individual antics growing up and why his brothers and their old clan viewed him the way they did.  While I felt there was a bit of a lack of resolution with Kaylee's career history as well as Gage's more emotional history, there were enough mentions of both to give a relatively complete "big picture" feel that made their relationship feel solid going forward.

This was actually a great book.  Depending on how book three turns out this could very well be my favorite of the series.  There was plenty of humor, heart, affection, steam, and drama to make this a well-rounded story.  Kaylee is fierce, independent, and understanding.  Gage is funny, caring, a bit hot-headed, and considerate.  They have the ability to balance one another and together give Cohen a purpose, a home.  I'm really looking forward to his story and how they'll all fit together.

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*Gage and Archer find a home 

in a place they thought they'd left for good.

Read Archer's story to find out what he left behind,

what should have been his from the start...

Archer had no plans to return home. Not after the dramatic exit he'd made. An arranged marriage to settle the feud between two packs sounded alright on the surface, but he'd be damned if he were to be mated to someone he didn't love. When Archer and his brothers left home they didn't plan on ever going back... That is until he received a call from a familiar voice years later urging him to return home to fix a problem that could destroy them all.

Joanna loved him. When she found out she was going to be mated to Archer, she couldn't contain her excitement. He was the most kind, generous and sexy man she'd ever met. It was like a dream come true. Until he crushed her heart on the day of the ceremony. She was broken and had never really recovered from the betrayal. And now the bastard had the balls to return to Stonefall all these years later? 

Who was she kidding, she couldn't stay mad at him. If she was honest with herself, she'd admit that Archer was and always will be the only man to occupy her thoughts... and hopefully her bed.