Solstice Heat

Eileen is finally finding peace and happiness. As a teenager, she found love with Garth Gray and mated with him. Her parents were determined that she not be mate to an abomination, a werewolf who is more wolf than were. They spirited her away during the night, whilst she was unconscious, moving the entire family to a pack an area that Eileen did not know. They convinced her that Garth’s father did not believe her to be good enough for his son, giving her a falsified letter to that effect. After four years, they managed to convince her to mate to another, Bill, brother to the alpha of their new pack. Doing so elevated their position within the pack – but left Eileen miserable. Bill was an abusive husband, though he never hit her – until she miscarried their baby. He beat her badly, turning on his sister when she tried to intervene. Eileen and Jill escaped and sought sanctuary with another pack. Eileen repudiated her mate and Jill found love. Having Belle, Garth’s sister, as the pack’s female alpha was not something Eileen had foreseen, but she was glad to be close to her old friend again. When Garth turns up out of the blue, she has never been so happy to see anyone in her life – but she is fearful that when he finds out what she has done, he would turn his back on her. Does Garth leave her alone when he finds out she mated another in his absence? Or does he see that she had little choice and made her decision from the limited options she had available to her?

Garth has been alone since his mate disappeared from the pack. He has remained faithful, never mating to another. He has gotten on with his life, but there remains a hole in his heart. For the past five years he has been working for the CIA. His father put him in contact with another were in the organization, Ken Cover, who became his supervisor. When Ken was injured, the new supervisor, Emil Sorescu, became suspicious of him, finally coming to the conclusion that Garth is a werewolf. Of course, he’s right but has no proof. For the past two years Garth has been on the run, determined not to let himself be used as the weapon that would force all weres into the service. When he visits his sister, the last person he expects to find is Eileen. He is ecstatic to have found his mate – but angered when he learns she mated another. Upon finding out she did so at the coercion of her parents and that her mate abused her, Garth is no longer angry with Eileen but wants to rip her repudiated mate limb from limb. When Bill turns up at the pack, determined to drag Eileen home and teach her never to disobey him again, Garth has the chance he has been waiting for. Does he seize it? Or does he let Bill live? What of his own troubles?

Judy Mays is a fabulous author. I love her Heat series and have been anxiously awaiting this tale for many months. The Gray family is a closely knit bunch, though it doesn’t shine through as brightly in this novel as it did in the previous tales. Although this did have the effect of further enhancing Garth’s preference to be a loner, on his own rather than part of a pack. The characters are all simply superb; well developed and very affable, I would love to count among my own friends. Ms. Mays deals with a fairly sensitive social topic in this story: spousal abuse. Though not focused on in overly much detail, it is a fundamental part of the plot that fits in with the storyline and is written about in such a way as to make the reader sympathize with Eileen and hope her luck with men improves. There is sex in this novel, but it is not described in as much detail as it was in the previous Heat tales. This is a must for any Mays fan, particularly followers of the Heat series. If you haven’t read a Judy Mays tale before, I suggest you do so. You will soon find yourself a Judy Mays convert and will be looking with eager eyes towards her next novel – as I am.

Reviewed by: Elizabeth