Phoebe Devine has loved Jake North for years, but she’s kept her feelings hidden because she didn’t want to ruin their friendship. Jake is a sexy, smoldering mountain lion shifter who’s put his life on the line to protect Catamount shifters. Catamount has held the secrets of mountain lion shifters for centuries, but the town has been thrown into turmoil on the heels of a surprise death that upended trust among shifters in the community. Phoebe is one of the few people Jake trusts—completely. She’s also tempting beyond all reason—delectably curvy, passionate, and so sexy her mere presence rattles Jake’s control. He’s denied the depth of his desire for her, but once he has a taste, unbridled passion swirls around them, engulfing them in its power.

Jake knows beyond any doubt Phoebe is meant to be his, but she has her own reservations. She’s loved him in secret for so long, she’s afraid to put her heart on the line. On a journey that spans from Maine to Montana, Phoebe and Jake face their feelings for each other and chase the secrets that threaten everything Catamount shifters hold dear. While Phoebe grapples with whether she can trust in Jake’s love for her, Jake tries to keep her safe as events around them thrust them in the path of danger. In a love story filled with passion, steamy romance, adventure, betrayal and secrets, Phoebe will have to discover if she has faith in the love Jake offers. Can best friends find their love in time for the magic of Christmas?

Sexy shifters and their feisty mates who aren’t shy about loving each other – so, this is an adult, 18+ reader tale.

Titles in the Catamount Lion Shifters series include:  Protected Mate – Chosen Mate – Fated Mate – Destined Mate – A Catamount Christmas

Title:  Chosen Mate
Series:  Catamount Lion Shifters #2
Author:  J.H. Croix
Published:  December 3, 2015
My Rating:  4 stars

Chosen Mate pretty much picks up the woven story thread where we left off at the ending of Protected Mate.  The lion shifter community is still reeling from Callen death, and his apparent illegal activities.  While each story has it’s own tale to tell, they all are tied in with the mystery thread dealt with a bit in each story.  While you “could” read this as a stand alone story, you’ll get much more pleasure from the experience if you follow the series from the start as characters from the first story do show up later on as well.

Jake and Phoebe have been dancing around their feelings for each other for years.  She may be human, but she has shifter relatives so what Jake is does not matter one bit – but she’s scared that her feelings aren’t returned and who wants to risk a great friendship is he doesn’t feel the same way about her.  Jake feels that Phoebe is his mate, but one bad experience has him questioning his own judgement.  They’re best friends and if he’s wrong about how he thinks she feels about him… well, he’s got a lot to lose.  Yet passions cannot remain dormant forever and eventually Jake and Phoebe will take that chance on each other – and what an amazing, hot, tightly bonded couple they will become.

The mystery of Callen’s death and his activities continues bringing more danger to this community.  Mistakes will be made.  Reckless decisions soon regretted but the mystery deepens with lots of enjoyable action and twists.

I enjoyed my time in this world very much.  Each book adds just a bit more to the adventure and I’m looking forward to reading the next in line, Fated Mate.  I’m doing some serious catching up on series, but the time between reading the first story and the second hasn’t changed my enjoyment of this series at all, if possible it’s enticed me to read faster.  I would definitely recommend this series to any Paranormal Romance or Shifter Romance reader.

I read this story through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Available for the Kindle