Ava Dorset is back in town on the pleading of her brother. He’s calling in big flavors for her to fix the finances of the local Two Claws Ranch, but she’s wary. She hasn’t been back to her small hometown in years because there’s something off about that place. That and Trigger Massey, owner of the Two Claws Ranch, is too mysterious for his own good. There’s something wrong with that man. Too snarly, too moody, and every time he sets his eyes on her, he looks downright hungry. But the more she gets to know him, the more she thinks she might have been wrong about him all this time. Sure, he’s an outlaw, but there is something else he wrestles with. Something monstrous that he’s kept everyone protected from, and her respect for him grows by the day. She can’t afford to fall in love with an outlaw, and especially not one as dangerous as Trigger, but the longer she stays in Darby, Montana, the more she thinks she can handle his life… if she can only survive it…

Trigger’s had his eye on Ava since they were kids, but he made sure she never knew. That beautiful little spitfire was always going to find a big life away from their small town, and away from him. All he wants is to keep her safe, but she’s digging her claws into his ranch and his heart. But Ava doesn’t realize… the real danger to her life… is him!

Titles in the Outlaw Shifters series include:  For The Love Of An Outlaw – For The Heart Of An Outlaw –

Title:  For The Love Of An Outlaw
Series:  Outlaw Shifters #1
Author:  T. S. Joyce
Published:  November 16, 2017
My Rating:  4.5 stars

It’s always an exciting moment for me as a reader when I open up the first story in a new series by an author I enjoy.  Outlaw Shifters is T.S. Joyce’s newest series, and it does not connect, so this one is a stand on its own feet series.  (at least for now, who knows what the future holds)  But I have to say this right away – I had a startled laugh out loud moment rather early on when mention of a wall plaque with four familiar numbers was hanging on a wall in the hero’s cabin.  Now, if you’ve followed any of the other connecting long series, then you’ll recognize that number.  It made me smile and I kept that smile for the rest of the book.

Ava couldn’t wait to be old enough to shake the dust of her small hometown off of her boots.  She”d left and not looked back, leaving her brother and one infuriating male behind.  Now Colton was calling in a favor, asking her to come back for a short time to help pull the ranch out of financial troubles with her magic with numbers.  She didn’t want to do it, fought against it but in the end this would be a one and done favor then she could once again get out of town her debt to her annoying brother paid.  Only… things didn’t quite work out that way, for in the years that she’d been gone a lot had changed – but the draw of Trigger certainly hadn’t.

Ava was Trigger’s kryptonite.  She always had been.  He knew they tossed sparks off of each other the annoyance kind, and the attraction kind as well.  He’d done a lot to help her during her growing up years, things she had no clue about and he wanted it kept that way.  But right now she was in danger because of him – and the faster she was gone the better.  Trouble was having her close was killing him and thinking of her gone made it worse.  If she stayed she’d be right in the middle of a shifter war and he couldn’t guarantee her safety although he’d die for her… but that would leave her vulnerable without him.  So either way Ava meant a heap of trouble.  And she was just stubborn enough to stick around.

For The Love Of An Outlaw brings us to a very raw, dangerous small town and two men who are caught between a rock and a hard place.  Friends, clan mates even, Colton and Trigger were fighting a losing battle to keep the Two Claw Ranch up and running – and fighting off the nasty antics of a rival clan as well.  With Ava returning the stakes got higher for Trigger, for he’d always thought of he as his.  Now he’s going to have to explain what he is, the secrets of this small town and why it’s best if she leaves… and he has no hope at all that she’ll listen to him.

There is a little bit of world building, there has to be for a new series, but it flowed easily into the story.  These are true outlaws, scars, fights, and all – but their fights aren’t for the fun of it but a necessity of keeping alive.  Trigger is such a wounded soul, he truly feels he’s losing control of his bear and fears what he might do to the people he cares about.  Ava has to change her perception of her life in this small town from what she thought she knew to what was reality – never an easy thing.  These three will make a stand, and how that works out is still up in the air, but what a ride it’s going to be.

I would highly recommend For The Love Of An Outlaw to any Paranormal Romance or Shifter Romance reader who enjoys a solid story, strong characters and those touches of danger that always seems to attract outlaws.  I’m enjoying the ride, and looking forward to the next story in this new series.

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Available for the Kindle