Mongrel

Outcast Mates

De: Lee Colgin

Narrado por: Tom Zadoyko

Mongrel, a creature more wolf than man, leads a lonely life on the fringes of pack society—until the night a handsome vampire shows up with a mysterious request.

Bowie, a vampire cursed to a life of endless nights, maintains close ties with his human family. When young girls in their village go missing, he must act quickly. But to find them, he’ll need to convince the local werewolf pack to loan him their best tracker—a wolf known as the Mongrel.

Though he hates the slur, Andras is used to being called Mongrel. When Bowie refuses to refer to him by anything but his given name, Andras can’t help a flicker of unexpected trust toward the stranger. He volunteers to help Bowie, risking banishment.

Can two tenderhearted men overcome their traumatic pasts and work together to rescue the girls before it’s too late? Or will the world’s most prolific killer snuff the flames of their passion along with the lives of the captives?

***This steamy love story spans the country of Hungary as Andras and Bowie journey through cities and wilderness on their quest to right a villain’s wicked wrongs. Mongrel features a sweetly possessive werewolf, a cinnamon roll of a vampire, and the worst killer in history. A surprisingly fluffy MM Paranormal/Historical Romance considering the subject matter.

HEA guaranteed with loads of laughs along the way and no cliffhanger ending!

©2021 Jana Colgin (P)2024 Jana Colgin

Captivating and Immersive Storytelling!

This is my first Lee Colgin’s book and I’m SO SO happy that I went with the audio as my first foray into her world. Lee’s paranormal version of 17th century Hungary was so immersive, I don’t think I could have done it justice to read it without the authentic pronunciations from Tom Zadoyko who made enjoying the world sooo much easier for me. (Also ENJOYABLE! his vocal range is impressive and his performance was SO GOOD!) Lee’s world had such a Witcher feel imo and it made all the European folklore, history and settings feel so real. I was SO SO impressed with the level of research and attention to detail made to bring this paranormal romance historical story to life.

But back to the story, it’s basically a precious Mission!story where upon discovering that a bunch of village girls have gone missing, a once noble Vampire, Bowie, entreats with the local werewolf pack to borrow their best tracker, which happens to be a mongrel (a werewolf that still has ears and tail 🥲🥹 in human form) named Adras. Together they trek the breadth of the kingdom of Hungary hunting one of history’s worst killers, Erzsébet Báthory.

On the way, they share beds, hugs, flirt (their playful flirtations are EVERYTHING) and fall in love (while being completely possessive and protective of one another’s difficult existences) I should mention that Tom’s voice for Bowie is absolutely swoon worthy and I ADORE how doting he is of Andras. Please, they are BOTH cinnamon rolls. And it is SO CUTE.

And when they finally… FINALLY hook up? Please. 🙏🏻 I melteth away I COULD NOT HANDLE THAT, LEE. there was just SO MUCH UST. 😭🥲

Anyway, the hard earned HEA is just perfect for two perfect fluffy outcasts with the sweetest most tender hearts to ever exist.

Read this in audio. 💯 worth it if you’re like me and you’re useless as pronouncing ANYTHING in your head when you read. Let Tom do it for you and make it sound SO much better and authentic.

5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good tale

I really enjoyed this story. It was such a different take on a vampire and shifter story. Not to mention where it was set! Mongrel and Bowie were a breath of fresh air.

So sweet

Andras and Bowie are absolutely adorable!! I love them so much. There was such an innate sweetness to this book.

The mission they went on was fun. The world building was good and the cast characters is entertaining.

Love this series

I loved Andras, he is a mongrel, a very unflattering name for someone who’s father is an actual wolf and his mother was a shifter. He is hated by his packed and treated horribly. Bowie is a vampire who has a heart of gold. He is just a sweet man. Even after everything Andras has gone through, it never destroyed his heart. Bowie comes to the pack looking for their best tracker and the Alpha begrudgingly agrees for Andras to go with Bowie. Other than Ava who is so sweet to Andras, Bowie is the first one to only refer to him by name. Bowie needs his help to find missing children. We then have them trying to figure out who stole the children, where they were taken to and how to get them back. The bad guy is really evil and I wanted to see some torture, I mean punishment. Along they way, our MC’s fall in love and they made such a cute couple. Along the way we meet some interesting characters and I can’t wait for the next book. I hope we get to see Bowie and Andras again.

Struggled

I loved reading this book. In fact, I’ve reread it about 5x. But I honestly struggled listening because of the narrator. I hated the voice for Bowie. Hated it! It made him seem so weak and timid, and I ended up not liking him as much… when I absolutely LOVE him in the non-audio version. Otherwise, the narrator’s tone was just emotionless and drawling, so I struggled feeling attached, even in a bit faster speed. I ended up pausing this story too many times, yet I can hardly put it down on my kindle. Bummed.

Great take on the Erzebet Bathory fascination

Both the author and the performer are new to me and I found this listen interesting alone for the world building - geological and historical references aplenty. I've always had a curiosity of the alleged crimes committed by Bathory so at the first mention of girls going missing in this title I already figured it was because of The Blood Countess. The supernatural creatures introduced were also interesting and I enjoyed following Beau and Andres on their perilous journey to their HEA. Tom has a great voice and I enjoyed his performance enough that I looked up other titles performed by him.

4 starz - worthy of a repeat listen

Love padded softley

I enjoyed the narration of this audiobook. Both MCs dedication to stopping the disappeared and their growing love for each other was explored well.

Unexpectedly cute!

A surprisingly sweet story of a shifter and a vampire. Even more surprising was to see what a cinnamon roll that vampire was 💕 It’s a review on the audio version and the voices for all characters were perfect! I immediately pictured Bowie & Andras and immersed myself into the book.

Honestly, I expected a totally different experience even though I’ve read the blurb :)

The future couple is going on a mission to save kidnapped kids. Will those kids be alive? Where are they? What is happening to them while they’re there? Despite the suspense of those questions all in all it’s a looow angst and heartwarming book! Even though the people who Andras lived with were morons 😑

The ending was perfect for them, oblivious but hopeful till the end, cozy and full of promise 💛 HEA for the couple.

It is not a common thing: I loved side characters as much as MCs ☺️ The families are very lovable indeed! Supportive, kind and understanding. And entertaining too :) I felt at home with them myself. Loved them!

Good

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook of "Mongrel" by Lee Colgin. It was a nice, fairly calm listen. I like the characters of Andras (aka "Mongrel") and Bowie. Their building relationship is nice and not immediate. There is an instant attraction but the romance and relationship takes time to build, and that is nice with so many books having "insta" style relationships.

This is a book that shouldn't be read for historical accuracy. It's set in Hungary but not much fits the setting. There are place names, and a few character names, but most of the characters don't have Hungarian names, and the overall language and feel is very modern. Also, not much happens in the book. It's a bit of a bookended story with events at the beginning and end but not much in the middle. The middle is mostly them travelling and finding shelter. It's not much but it also is the time where their relationship is allowed to grow. So part of me likes the slower pace of the book for that reason.

The narrator, Tom Zadoyko, is nice to listen to. His style easy to listen to and brough the characters to life.

I received a copy of this audiobook and this is my honest opinion.

This was an interesting listen.

This was an interesting listen. The paranormal people and the storyline were definitely unique. The post notes make the storyline even crazier!!