Her Orc Mate – Zoe Ashwood

The Black Bear Clan
0.5

With winter closing in, I wanted to keep my job at the village inn - but the large, brutish orc who came in one night has ruined that for me. Yes, he saved me from a handsy patron, but he didn’t have to claim me as his fated mate in front of the entire taproom, did he? Now we’ve been thrown out on the street in the middle of the night, and I have to start looking for a place to stay all over again. I’ve been alone for as long as I can remember, but this orc isn’t going anywhere. In fact, he claims I’m his to protect and cherish. But life doesn’t work like that. When things seem too good to be true, they usually are, and I don’t want to pin all my hopes on one male, no matter how fast my heart beats when he’s near.

This book contains:

Sexual assault
Attempted murder.

Rose lives and works in a small village tavern. While life isn’t perfect, she’s got a roof and a bed for the winter season to get her by, and unless she’s willing to risk losing that she puts up with the wandering hands and leering eyes of some of the local patrons.

Uram is a warrior Orc from the Black Bear Clan who’s recently been travelling. While he’d love to find his fated mate, he knows it’s a long shot, especially since he hasn’t met her after his travels and he’s now on his way home.

As it’s a short story there’s not a lot I can say here without giving it away, but basically Uram meets Rose while she’s working and discovers that she’s his mate. From there he’s committed to ensuring her safety and happiness, even if it doesn’t include him, but he hopes it does.

Knowing Zoe is working on the next full book in this series, I had to make an effort to read this now that it’s available as a standalone short story. I don’t know how, but Zoe has managed to pack Uram and Rose’s story FULL of drama and action.

How she did this in just 40 pages I have no idea. But it works. There’s a great balance of the drama and action alongside the softer romance that she’s known for (with some extra spiciness), which has you just flying through the pages wishing it won’t stop.

If you’ve been waiting for Her Orc Protector for a while and need your Zoe-flavoured Orc romance, you should definitely grab this for a quick fun read.