SUNNY: ARC REVIEW "Claiming His Mate" by Savannah Stuart

SUMMARY:
She thought the house was empty when she broke in…

When jaguar shifter Lauren Hayes breaks into an alpha’s home to steal back what rightfully belongs to her pride, she doesn’t expect to be tackled by Max McCray, second-in-command of the Kincaid wolf pack. As punishment for her crime the sexy wolf shifter demands that she stay with him for one week. Knowing she’ll start a war between her pride and his pack if she doesn’t, she has no other choice but to agree, even if the thought of being near him 24/7 makes her scared that she won’t be able to hide her growing attraction to him.

Now he has a week to make her his…

Max has waited months to make a move on the sexy jaguar shifter and now that she’s broken shifter rules, he’s not letting her go. He doesn’t care that he’s a wolf and she’s a jaguar, claiming her forever is the only thing that matters. Unfortunately, not everyone likes the idea of him being with a feline shifter. Max is forced to choose sides between Lauren and members of the pack he’s sworn allegiance to in order to protect the woman he knows is his destined mate

REVIEW
Short and sweet and right to the point, this randy adventure is about Max finally getting the opportunity to "pursue" the shifter that caught his attention six month ago.  Lauren is a jaguar shifter to Max's wolf.  This is an unusual pairing as shifters normally do not cross species.  Their pairing is progressing along merrily until a conniving villain is trying to keep them apart.  

There is always a challenge to writing a novella.  If the characters are part of a larger series, and if they have already been introduced in a previous book, their is little time for a full character history and the new reader doesn't get the emotional ties with the characters.  I liked both Lauren and Max but they both felt rather one-note.  He's all alpha male, all bossy, all controlling.  She is a spunky, but there is really not enough there to really root for her.  

IN A NUTSHELL: 
If I look at this story as a side dish instead of the main dish, it is a nice spicy complement.  So now it is up to me to go order the entree.  I'm curious to read more about the series and put this story into perspective.