Dr. Grace Shepherd is living her best life as a professor at a small liberal arts college in rural Maine where she teaches students the sexual values and mores of societies, while also running a micro-farm. But when FBI Agent Andrew Wolff shows up to investigate the poisoning of her estranged cult-leader father, High Shepherd Collin A. Shepherd, everything Grace has done to shake off her toxic … past goes up in smoke.
Now, Grace must return to her father’s home in Northern California—the Glen, residence to devotees of a centuries’ old sex cult—to help Agent Wolff gain access to the estate in order to solve her father’s murder, and hopefully discover a well-hidden secret from her own past. Unfortunately, access isn’t so easy to come by, particularly when Grace meets the sexy interim High Shepherd, Cordero Monteverde, and learns her father left her the entire Glen estate and a promise to reveal the answer to the twenty-eight-year family secret, under one condition. She must submit to Cord and the rules of the Glen.
Grace can either play the part of a Lamb to Cord’s sexually intense Shepherd, and acquire the information that will reveal her own identity and place in the world, or get in bed—literally—with Wolff in order to investigate her father’s murder, bringing her closure and the chance to return to her old life. Torn between two men, Grace must decide if her own thirst for answers is reason enough to maintain the secrets of the Glen or if it’s time to let her father’s legacy go once and for all.
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This book in one word? WOW!!!!
I had a huge book hanger when I was done with this book. It’s so gripping I couldn’t put it down. I read it clear into the night and finished it in half a day. This book is original, thrilling, exciting, sensual, addicting and informative (I learned a few things!). Rosemary’s writing and pacing grabbed me by the throat and kept me there the entire story.
This book is completely from the heroine, Grace’s POV. I found Grace’s character to be unique, warm, and approachable, but she’s also a strong, independent and interesting woman. I loved how she had a small farm in Maine that she tended (mostly by herself) AND that she had a PHD and taught sex and sociology. She’s intelligent and interesting and throughout the book there is so much layered in about her and revealed as the plot develops. Grace is written as a real person which makes the story so much more powerful. I cared so much about her… that by the end… well it’s a must read to see what happens at the end!
She was raised by an emotionally distant father, in a place where she knew something was “different”. Different was a bit undefined for her until she was older. She had a strong reaction to what she grew up in and around, and that was a key part of who Grace grew up to be. I loved how the author incorporated Grace’s past to make this incredible character we get to read about in the present. Grace now spends her life studying that which was hidden from her growing up.
This book includes stuff I would never have dreamed could make the thrilling, romantic, sensual, interesting and compelling story that Rosemary has woven: including a BDSM cult club, an FBI agent, a cult leader (or two), murder, and the daughter of cult leader trying to keep her life separate of it all.
This author is so good that “The Glen” (you’ll have to read to fully understand this place!!) becomes a place I want to know everything about! I even started to get annoyed with one of the leads (Drew) for getting in the way of Grace’s stay there. I didn’t want her to leave there!! This author is crazy good at making me believe things I wouldn’t think I could!
Even the secondary characters become a huge part of the overall story. Especially Web & Glenda who give such a warm face and family feel to the Glenn… something I would never have expected!! I was kind of expecting a bunch of BDSM sex from both our main couple and the club they are being exposed to. Instead they are shown as full, complete and interesting people who aren’t doing anything wrong or weird. I become interested in this society and even… liked them!! People who are part of the Glenn aren’t portrayed as sex-freaks or perverts as is so often written of this lifestyle.
This book also had a murder in it. So, this is the part that literally kept me clicking pages. I just had to know! Who did it? What are all the secrets? What won’t Court tell Grace? Why wouldn’t Collin tell Grace who her mother was? WHY??? So many whys… but they are sprinkled in just enough to give satisfying hints that kept me engaged and reading.
OH MY GOD! I wanted to throw my e-reader when I finished this book. I didn’t, but wanted to. I only react like that when the cliffhanger is amazing and I feel this huge need to read the next one NOW. The last I remember this strong of a reaction was with Jessica Sworenson’s Coincidence Series. It was that good of a cliffhanger & yeah, I so want to read the next.
This book has it ALL. This is Rosemary’s best work.
Dying for the next part!!!
Rosemary Rey hooked me with her first explosive pages of Shepherds and Lambs, and kept me madly turning pages until the very end. The author has created a fascinating world with this first book in her Onyx Menagerie series and I honestly can’t wait to see where she takes it in the next books. Heroine Grace is trying hard to reconcile her feelings at a turning point in her life, and it is clear her world will change depending on the decisions she makes. Her father, the head of a cult, has just died, and Grace barely knows what to think. Their relationship was always strained. When she learns her father was murdered, her emotions are once again put to the test. Added to that are the two men at the center of the investigation, FBI Agent Wolff, and the new cult leader Cord Monteverde. Grace develops feelings for both these enigmatic men, and it appears to be mutual. As she sorts through her father’s strange legacy, the reader is kept at the edge of their seat. If you love romantic suspense with a sexy twist, this book is for you.
Wow!! Shepherds and Lambs by Rosemary Rey is a phenomenal story about Dr. Grace Shepherd and the two men she’s involved with, FBI Agent Drew Wolff and High Shepherd Cordero Monteverde, leader of a Secret sex society that needs protection at all costs. It’s filled with on the edge of your seat drama, full of suspense, angst, sizzling chemistry, Murder, lies, secrets and deceit. This is a First by this author for me and I find that I was very impressed by her writing style. I highly recommend this book and author. Definitely can’t wait to read the next book.
Note: Sexual content and it ends on a cliff danger. Not intended for minors. 18+ only.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
What a fantastic mixture of drama, suspense and roller coaster of emotions. The characters are well developed and engaging and storyline flows smoothly. This was my first book by this author and can honestly say it won’t be my last.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
What a wonderful book! This story had me hooked from the first chapter. Sex cults? FBI Agents? Mysterious Lawyers? Murder mysteries? What’s not to love!
SHEPHERDS AND LAMBS is the first book of The Onyx Menagerie series, and although the ending isn’t stressful and is satisfying, this part of the story is a “To Be Continued…” AND I CANNOT WAIT TO CONTINUE!
Grace Shepherd is a strong character–smart, capable, independent. She knows how she wants to live her life. When her father, Collin, the leader of a mysterious community called “the Glen” dies under sketchy circumstances, she’s forced back to the world she’d left behind. See, the Glen is a place of sexual freedom… and lots of interesting sh*t happens there. I love how Ms. Rey humanizes the community. Is it a club for people to safely explore their desires, or a crazy cult that needs to be investigated?
Speaking of such investigations, SHEPHERDS AND LAMBS introduces the two male leads and a perfect love triangle for Grace–Cord and Wolff. Cord is the mysterious, sexy AF attorney and High Shepherd of the Glen, now that Collin has been murdered. Heat sizzles off of him. But don’t discount Grace’s feelings for Drew Wolff, the regular-guy FBI Agent who had me swooning too. Throughout the book, I don’t know who I prefer for Grace because I WANT THEM BOTH!
The plot of the story isn’t too complicated, and Ms. Rey has a wonderful knack for reminding me of what’s going on exactly when I need a reminder. The suspense and questions presented for the reader are clear and expertly designed throughout the book, giving the reader teases and hints along the way. It was hard to put this book down as I tried to figure out who to trust, and rooted for Grace to get her answers (and her men!).
If you love romantic suspense, sexy times, and a solid, entertaining whodunit, SHEPHERDS AND LAMBS is one you should pick up today! Just make sure you carve out some time to read, because you won’t be able to put it down.
Hard to put down. There is the main plot line and so many subplots to follow: The death of Grace’s father. Grace’s secret. Grace and Wolff. Grace and Cord. The Glen. Societal mores and norms regarding sexuality and romance. I actually thought I might have to put it down on paper to follow.
I found the rules for The Glen most intriguing, confusing, and the hook for me to keep reading. I kind of had the Grace, Wolff and Cord subplots somewhat figured out.
Thought this book was a cozy mystery. It is listed as romantic suspense. Still has a mystery to it.
This is my honest and freely given review. I did receive an ARC book.
This book is a definite page-turner! It’s the first book I’ve read by this author and she has produced an amazing plot and placed some wonderfully described characters in it. There is lots of suspense and drama to go along with the romance. The main lead character Grace is a very well-rounded character, she’s strong, educated and independent, the story is told from her point of view. This exciting, trilling story demanded my full attention from the get-go. I would liked to have given it more than the 5 stars that I am allowed!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.