Publisher: Samhain
Publish Date: Sep 4th
How we got this book: eARC from author
Sera Sinclaire is a New Orleans rarity: a submissive coyote trapped in a town overrun by dominant shapeshifters. Worse, she lacks the willpower to deny the alphas-in-shining-armor who need her soothing presence, even when their protectiveness threatens to crush her hard-won self-reliance.
The only shifter she doesn’t want to push away is Julio Mendoza, a wolf so dominant he’s earned a place on the Southeast council.
Julio doesn’t have the luxury of indulging in the vacation his psychic shrink insists he needs. He can’t turn his back on responsibilities he’s beginning to wish he’d never shouldered. When an obsessive ex endangers Sera, though, instinct drives him to get her out of town. Watching her come to life outside the city makes him feel like he’s finally done something right, and her touch ignites desire he doesn’t want to ignore.
But soon, lighthearted flirting becomes a dangerous game of seduction, where every day spent falling into each other is another day avoiding the truth. Sera’s ex isn’t the only one who’d disapprove of their relationship. There are wolves who would kill to get Sera out of Julio’s life—starting with his own blood kin.
Product Warnings
Contains endless summer road trips, family drama, redneck werewolves, sexual power games and a taboo love affair between a submissive coyote who’s among the last of her kind and a dominant wolf who loves his heroine’s ass. Literally.
This blurb came from Goodreads.
E: I am a die-hard Moira Rogers fan and as the Southern Arcana series has continued we have been treated to all sorts of combinations involving strongly alpha women and men finding their HEA in the midst of deadly politics and realizing that in order to live in an environment where weaker individuals were not exploited they had to rule. This is the first one with a submissive heroine, not a weak person but one that showed exactly how dominance isn’t everything in a healthy structure. I loved how she had to change her self-perception while allowing others to realize her as an individual not just someone to protect. Not to mention that the sex scenes were extremely hot.
MinnChica: I too have been a long time fan of Rogers, and the Southern Arcana series is one of my all time favorite paranormal romance series. Add in Julio, the sexy alpha I’ve been dying to get more of since the moment he walked into the series. And Sera is one of those heroines that I’ve been waiting for her to get her HEA. And like E said, it was a change of pace for this series to focus on a heroine who was more submissive than dominate. It was a fun twist for both Sera and Julio and the overall tone of the series.
E: Impulse deals with a lot of the aftermath of the previous books and how some things have lingering effects on people. It also deals with the intense drive for survival. Not just of an individual but as a species. The combination of those two things made Julio and Sera very complex characters. Throwing in the overall disfunction in the ruling structure not to mention some nasty people out for revenge and the entire world continues to be extremely fascinating. While Julio and Sera’s relationship is mainly between the two of them, their actions have reverberations in the larger world just like that world impacts them. As I think about all of the different threads that have been spun and how they continue to come into play I am really in awe. Yet with all this complexity I never felt lost as a reader.
MinnChica: One of the things I love most about this series is that it really does take a look at the social structure of the overall world. Rogers doesn’t sugar coat things. The world is gritty and unfair and full of complications that are constantly being addressed by the characters. I loved and hated watching Sera have to go through the pain and heartache of what is expected of her, and what she truly wants. With Julio at her side, she really seemed to come more and more out of her shell. She stuck up for her desires, her needs instead of pushing herself into the background of what was best for the “greater good.” Plus, the fact that she and Julio sparked up the page with their sexy times was just another added bonus! 🙂
E: Sera’s character development was amazing. I also really loved watching Julio come to grips with himself, his past, and what he actually had the power to control. The self-control he had to allow/support Sera’s growth was truly impressive. I think one of my favorite scenes with them was when he basically told Sera that while they would have sex, if she wanted, it wasn’t going to be quick. He wasn’t just talking about the physical act but the entire build up from becoming comfortable around each other, flirting, making out, and not over the course of an hour or so but stretching over days. My heart completely melted then because it had been evident just how much he desired Sera and had for months. That same patience carried over into his dealing with the much smaller, poor, scattered packs across the south.
MinnChica: Agreed, that was probably one of my favorite parts as well. Julio and Sera just meshed so well together. Their romance built up over time, even though it was obvious in the last book that the two were attracted to each other. They took their time becoming friends before lovers, and it made their journey that much sweeter. But also on the political front they were perfectly balanced. Sera was the calming presence, she had an almost den mother quality to her as they traveled around. And then Julio would take over the father role, nurturing and providing and yet stern when it was needed. The book really just worked for me on so many different levels!
E: I never would have guess they would have made such a perfect combination when it came to politics but as Impulse unfolded I loved seeing them work together. Like MinnChica said this worked on so many different levels. It hit all of my book happy spots while continuing the storyline and providing hints for future events, struggles and relationships. Even after re-reading this specifically for the review I found myself unable to escape the spell that Rogers had cast and just enjoyed reading it again.
I give Impulse a very strong A.
MinnChica: All in all this might have been one of my favorite Southern Arcana books. I absolutely loved and adored Julio and Sera together, and not just in the steamy moments, but in all the tender ones too. They worked so well together and I just loved their romance and their relationship and everything they had to go through to be together. Although I love everything Rogers writes, I secretly wish they would put me out of my misery and just write Southern Arcana books back to back to back. 🙂
I give Impulse an A
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Very nice review, thanks ladies! I have only read the first two books, and will certainly read the rest. Even though there should be too much hotness in there for my tastes.
@aurian: I love this series. SO MUCH!
@aurian: Glad you liked the review. Just like MinnChica I love this series :).