Reporter, Bre Hayne, is on the hunt for a story. Finally, her big career break has fallen into her lap, and she has a chance to get the scoop on one of the notoriously private shifters. Not many of them exist, but one Holt Lachlan has put an ad out for a mate, and Bre is up for the challenge. She’ll pretend to be interested, gather intel on him, and then scoot out of Uncertain, Texas just as fast as her old junker truck can speed her back to the news station. But the deeper into the story she goes, the more she realizes maybe Holt isn’t the one who is the monster. Maybe it’s her. 

Alligator shifter, Holt Lachlan, is the center of an unfortunate legend. His family name has been tarnished by these swamps for generations, and he has to go outside of the town to try and find a mate. Desperate for something to occupy his inner animal, he meets up with a spunky beauty named Bre and tells her the rules. The most important rule? Pretend he’s normal. Ignore the growling, don’t pay attention to his eye color, and definitely don’t go anywhere near the waters of Uncertain’s swamp at night. He’s protective of his territory, but the more he gets to know the bold and beguiling woman who has answered his ad, the more he thinks she just might survive his dark secrets…but will he survive hers?

This is an adult 18+ story that includes language, violence and sexual situations geared toward an adult audience.

Titles in the Keepers of the Swamp series include — Swim Deeper – Dig Deeper –

You may know T. S. Joyce mainly from her Damon’s Mountains universe.  But she’s just started a new world in the swamp, so hold on to your e-readers it’s gonna be an amazing ride. For a complete listing of all the series and links to the reviews done here at Shifter Haven, please visit our T. S. Joyce page.

Title:  Swim Deeper
Series:  Keepers of the Swamp #1
Author:  T. S. Joyce
Published:  July 8, 2019
My Rating:  4.5 stars

I’ve sat here for about fifteen minutes trying to figure out how to start this review.  It should be easy, and in many ways it is, just dive right in.  But SWIM DEEPER made me think.  I’ve been addicted to the Shifter Worlds of so many talented authors over the years, yet I read mostly about big cats, lions, leopards, tigers, cougars or bears, grizzly, black, brown, polar or wolves of any type, and dragons, lots and lots of dragons — but not reptiles.  And I do not really know why that is.  Perhaps it’s because there aren’t a lot of reptile shifter romances out there, but there are some – I’ve passed them by I thought because I wasn’t familiar with the authors… but now I’m second-guessing myself.  Aren’t shifters simply a human and animal sharing the same space in their existence?  Isn’t it the human romance about them that I crave?  Their animals are entertaining, but it’s the human parts falling in love that attract me – so why not reptile shifter romance?  Let me introduce you to Holt Lachlan, alligator shifter, and maybe you’ll be rethinking your shifter romance choices as well.

SWIM DEEPER begins T. S. Joyce’s newest series, Keepers of the Swamp with a tale that will break your heart before healing it, and the characters, so much better than before.  Shifters are known in the world, yet not a lot is known about them so there is still some fear attached.  Especially in Uncertain, Texas where a legend has grown about the swamps, the Lachlan family, and the alligators in their swamps.  One very private man has advertised for a mate, a human mate, in an underground matchmaking service.  He’s not looking for love, he has very specific rules that cannot be broken, he is looking for someone for his animal to protect, and not to fall in love or raise a family.  What came knocking at his door is not what he expected, and Bre is about to change his life forever just by being her true self.

Bre has spent her career as a television reporter doing fluff pieces, she’s good and she wants so much more.  She’s been offered a story, one that can make her career.  All she has to do is lie, pretend, and betray a man’s trust.  But he’s just an animal, right?  It shouldn’t bother him one little bit but this story will spring her and her crew to the big times.  At least, that was her thinking as she approached Uncertain and Holt.  It didn’t take long to see the man beneath the gruffness, to coax a smile out of the grump, or to begin to see just how wrong what she was sent to do really is.  She has a change of heart, but will it be too little, too late?

I loved everything about SWIM DEEPER.  Holt, Bre, Liam, Holt’s Gram… just everything.  What an amazingly addictive tale this is.  It brings you in slowly but steadily to one man’s reality and one woman’s quest to change not only herself but how a town thinks of one of their own.  Yeah, I’m definitely hooked on another series again with the Keepers of the Swamp, and I’m going to dive into DIG DEEPER just as soon as I get my hands on it.

Not into reptile shifters?  For this one book set aside that thought – I believe you’ll discover a story well worth your time, and maybe find a new series to follow.

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Available for the Kindle