Alpha wolf and loner Jonathan Waine was comfortable and content in his loner lifestyle. Thrown out of his pack by his father for being gay, he had finally found peace. Until the night he decided to go for a drink. That one decision changed everything: his solitude, his home, his happiness, and his future. Now, everything rested on one beautiful blond.Ethan Gregory learned long ago that if he let … if he let people in, he always ended up hurt. He has been moving from place to place for years, never allowing anyone to get close. On his way home from work one night, a stranger comes to his rescue, and he realizes that this man is his fated mate. He does the only thing he can think of. He runs.
When the past comes back and literally bangs on the door, will Jonathan and Ethan get their happily ever after? Or, will they even survive long enough to find out?
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Love L.N. Manning and her books. Super hot and you never know where this plot will end up! Go get a copy NOW.
I love how this series is going, I loved getting to know the characters Jonathan Waine & Ethan Gregory, can’t wait to read more. Love #ParanormalRomance, bring it on #Author L.N. Manning 🙂 5 Stars
This is a debut novel for this author. I do not usually go for M/M Romance but I love shifters so I decided to give it a try. I was wonderfully surprised by the main characters Joanathan and Ethan. There is a twist that you really don’t see coming. All in all it was an enjoyable read with a decent amount of steamy scenes. The secondary characters were well developed and I am looking forward to Bulldogs story next.
You can’t undo the past. But with the right mate, you can fix the present.,
This promises to be an awesome series! The world is alive and vibrant, the characters well thought out and intriguing. The action- packed plot moves quickly. I could not put it down! I loved this book.
This series is meant to be read first. But if you read the Broken Oaks Pack book 1 first, you will find this book familiar, just told from a different point of view.
This is Jonathan and Ethan’s story. Banished from his birth pack 100 years ago by his father, the Alpha, for being gay, Jonathan has given up on ever finding a mate to love. He ends up saving his fated mate and it changes his life forever. Ethan is all he never knew he needed. Ethan is broken. Badly beaten and thrown out of the same birth pack, he desperately needs the safety and love of a mate. Jonathan doesn’t want anything to do with his old pack. He just wants to keep his mate safe. That changes when his cousins, Lucas & Marcus, show up on his doorstep. Lucas is on the verge of death. While challenging Jonathan’s father, he is stabbed with a sliver- laced knife, to ensure he does not win. Jonathan cannot sit on the sidelines any longer. The time to take a stand against his father’s tyranny has come. He must help Lucas overthrow his father in a fair fight. With Ethan firmly at his side, and loyal friends willing to help, the outcome is assured. Throw in an unexpected Fated mating in the midst of it all, and the excitement revs up. You will love this book!
Triggers: there is violence and death, & recallings of past abuses. None of this is gratuitous. There is also joy, steamy sex and HEA.
This book contains adult themes and language, violence, mm sex and is intended for mature readers only.
Family comes in many forms
I wouldn’t mind having Jonathan design my home. I must say I like the idea of scent mates as it’s a fascinating concept. Ethan and Jonathan have a lot in common when it comes to their pasts, which is sad and I really just want to cuddle Ethan. It was so cute watching them play around as wolves and they have an amazing chemistry together. What I loved most about this book was watching Ethan grow into himself and the different types of bonds everyone had. It was wonderful seeing all the people who came to support Jonathan and for him to realize that there are many different kinds of family. I’m curious about Bulldog and I approve of his style of humor. I imagine his story will be full of reveals. An ending full of action with some surprises you won’t want to miss.
Escaping Their Pasts is the first book in The Crescent Edge Pack series by L.N. Manning. I love the story here and it definitely makes me want more books in this series. The characters, Jonathan and Ethan, are great… I love their chemistry and interactions. There is a little humor, some sweetness, some drama… it’s a great story. Definitely worth the read.
Some books you read. Some you reread. Done you reread a few times, and the chosen few you reread obsessively. This book, for me, fits in category 3. I actually read this twice before leaving a review, and it was better in the second reading because I understood what I was and wasn’t getting. Let me explain.
Maybe I’m a lazy blurb-reader but I felt the blurb suggested a full-book focus on the getting-together part of Jonathan and Ethan’s relationship. I was expecting a slow, leisurely (probably quite sexy) development with some challenges to overcome and ultimate HEA success.
This is not that book. I’m sure that book would be great, but this book is so much more. It isn’t as slow-burn-romancey as I thought it’d be, and I found that jarring in my first read (which is why I’m currently skirting the suburbs of spoilertown). The story has Jonathan and Ethan as the MCs, yes, but actually focuses on a bigger cast as they team up with others to face the challenges of their pasts (which also affect others) and save Jonathan’s father’s pack from said (dickish) father. There is lovely sweet romance and hot sex, but also cameraderie and brotherhood and violence and right and wrong and hard choices and secret magic that I really hope Manning explains in later books. And there is quite definitely scope for later books. They’re going to happen, I can feel it.
All in all, recommended and a good start to a new author’s first series. I think subsequent books will be even better.
Received as an ARC. The above is my honest review.
I was lucky enough to get an ARC for this one. It had everything! Wolf shifters, a sprawling ranch, good food, Fated-mates, and sexy time! I’m not saying any more since I hate spoilers, but I really enjoyed this one. Oh and Ethan was amazing. I wanted to hug him throughout this story. Great character growth with him, too! So, read this!
4 stars
Heat Level: 4
Thrills, wolves and fated mates. What more could I ask for!
A great debut story! I love finding new authors and L.N. Manning has created a great world. This book is short, concise, heated, sexy, thrilling and wonderful.
This book follows fated mates Johnathan and Ethan as they find each other and have to confront their pasts to keep their family, friends and each other safe. This is a thrilling story as they gear up to fight their former Alpha and Johnathan’s father, George. Their bond is tested and their love blossoms as L.N. Manning introduces you to her world of shifters. The book is a great start to the series and sets up and introduces many of the characters to feature in future books. I look forward to more from L.N. Manning and can’t wait for Bulldog’s story next!
Thanks for reading!
If you like a good shifter book filled with hot men, action, and the magic of fated mates, this is the book for you! Escaping Their Pasts is my first endeavor reading a m/m book and I’ll definitely be reading more. An absolutely fantastic story that kept me turning the pages long past bed time to finish it. Y’all will not be disappointed. 18+ is recommended.