Julius Vega never wanted a mate. The four Vega brothers were all traumatized by their father’s experience with his mate and all vowed to be single forever. They have just returned from fighting overseas in the Shifter Special Forces to find out that their father has just died, and bad news turns worse when they find the will which states that all four brothers must get married and find mates within a year or they lose their beloved family ranch forever.

After polishing off a bottle of wine to wash down the pain killers for the root canal that she just had, Ava King is feeling a little loopy. She OD’s on some inspirational quotes on her Pinterest account and is feeling on top of the world. But when she wakes up her whole world comes crashing down. In the fog of her headache, she remembers that she left a message for her boss, quitting her job, sent a text to her deadbeat boyfriend, breaking up with him, and signed up to a mail order bride website in another state. So when she gets a call for a date, she has nothing to lose and drives the eleven hours from Seattle to Colwood, Montana.

Ava and Julius meet on the mail order bride website and quickly hit it off. But as they’re starting to fall in love the truth comes out and it rips them apart. Julius is in danger of losing the Vega Ranch but that’s nothing compared to the threat of losing his mate. 

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

The Bear Shifters of Vega Ranch series includes:  Vega Brothers: Julius – Vega Brothers: Khan – Vega Brothers: Alexander – Vega Brothers: Hannibal

Title:  Vega Brothers: Julius
Series:  Bear Shifters of Vega Ranch #1
Author:  Kim Fox
Published:  May 23, 2016
My Rating:  4 stars

The four Vega brothers have finally left the special military unit behind and returned home, unfortunately not before their father passed away.  They each mourned in his own fashion and set about running the family ranch together.  But… dad had a different idea.  The boys’ mother, although mate to their father, had done the unthinkable – she’d left them all and took off for her own life far from her mate and her children.  The brothers really only had the memory of the fights, the belittling and the leaving them to have any feeling about what a mate could or should be in their lives.  They’d vowed to remain mate-less because who needed that kind of pain.  In a recording of his will, their father laid out to them what a mate could be and he was not letting them go through life with only their brothers for support.  No.  In order to inherit the ranch and keep it from being turned over to the state, each brother had to find his mate within one year.  Airtight, no way to break this will.  Oh, and the first brother had to be mated within one month.  To say there was an uproar at the Vega Ranch would be an understatement.

One should never, ever mix the medicine given for a root canal along with pain pills and wine.  She’d been told not to do exactly that but  Ava hadn’t listened.  As a result, in her uninhibited, totally drunken state of mind she’d done some serious damage to her life.  She’d broken up with her boyfriend, who she suspected was sleeping around on her anyway, left a detailed voice message explaining her thoughts about her boss and her job on her boss’ phone.  And to top it all off, according to the sexy voice on her phone this morning after, she’d also signed up for a bridal service kind of dating site – where she was the woman looking to become a bride.  Never again would she mix pain medication and wine.

Vega Brothers: Julius was a fun introduction to the brothers and their situation.  Each brother has a vastly different personality, and each reacts differently to the news that they must find their mates.  One brother is so near to out of control, so angry that he’s going to be endangering them keeping the family ranch by his actions.  Julius is the first brother to need to find his mate and he goes on a dating site and sees a picture of a woman who makes him sit up and take notice.  His intention is to date, mate and divorce any woman once the deed is in their names… but Ava was turning out to be someone that he could care about, could see himself settling down with and the bond sense pretty much told him he’d found his true mate.  Now he had to convince her that his love for her was real and not some scheme to keep the ranch.  And it wasn’t going to be easy.

I’m enjoying this series and am heading over to pick up the next one in this series.  If you enjoy Shifter Romance, sexy times, an interesting story line and characters who will capture your attention and your heart – then this set of stories should be on your reading list.

I read this story through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Available for the Kindle