Garen: Shifter Romantic Suspense

Rubicon International, Volume 1

By: Ann Gimpel

Narrated by: Gregory Salinas

As an agent for an international espionage firm, Miranda has her hands more than full. Between secretly lusting after her boss, Garen, and making sure the dirty little secret about her double life as a wolf shifter remains hidden, she's still a virgin at nearly 30. Sent to eliminate the head of a human trafficking organization in Amsterdam, she barely escapes with her life. Injured, frightened, and under attack the second her private jet lands in the US, she's not certain where to turn. Garen's watched Miranda just as surreptitiously as she's been eyeing him. Unfortunately, the fact that she works for him is a dealbreaker. Plus, he has a few secrets of his own that have kept him single. When Miranda insists on heading up a covert operation, he can't come up with a plausible reason to stop her. Watching her sprint headlong into danger damn near kills him. He wants to hold her, love her, protect her. Miranda's life is on the line. Will Garen risk exposure to save her?

©2013 Ann Gimpel (P)2016 Ann Gimpel

Interesting mix

I found this audiobook had an interesting mix of action scenarios as well as sexual tension between Garen and his mate. I also enjoyed the bantering between Garen and his fellow agent/friend Lars. There was plenty of romance as well as a mix of the unknown. The performance was very well done as well. I found it to be a great listen.

I received this book as a gift in exchange for an objective and honest review.

Shifters working for international spy company

I enjoyed listing to this book even though I'm not usually a fan of a male narrator, he grew on me with the different accents for the characters. Ann Gimpel did another great job giving all of the background details of the story so I could easily picture everything that was going on and how Garen and Lars developed Rubicon International into a large corporation. Lots of steamy action and secrecy between Garen and Miranda as they discover the depths of their feelings for each other. Overall this book had everything I look for in a shifter romance; action, secrets, plenty of steam, revelations, and of course a happy ending.

Shifters and spy networks

This was a great story. The book starts out during America's revolutionary times and recounts the birth of Rubicon, a for hire spy network started by two shifters Lars and Garen. Fast forward to the future and you get inside the super secretive company and meet Miranda, a tough spy in training who Garen has fallen for. The rest of the story has a lot of action and hot sex. The only problem I had was that while I loved the narration of most of the characters, Miranda came across as sounding a little whiny and I don't think that was author's intention. All in all it was a wonderful story to listen to. I would definitely recommend.

Enjoyed the story...Ann Gimpel on the go...

If you could sum up Garen: Shifter Romantic Suspense in three words, what would they be?

dramatic, suspenseful, enticing

What did you like best about this story?

This story offers a different twist on shifter romance with twists and turns on the way to happy ever after.

What three words best describe Gregory Salinas’s performance?

Cadence slow, flat

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Shifters...international suspense

Any additional comments?

I like the storyline but was not crazy about the performer...his cadence seemed to be a bit slow for me and there wasn't enough inflection to his voice...seemed a bit flat to me. That is always a risk for an audiobook...sometimes you like the narrator...a lot...other times, leaves you wanting more. I still enjoyed the story but was left wondering what it might have been like with a different narrator.

Great Start to Series

This book is the first book in the Rubicon International series. I have read other books from this author and I was not disappointed in this book. This is a standalone. And no cliffhanger at the end though it is open-ended for future books. There is violence and hot steamy shifter sex. Definitely 18+.

The author packed a lot of emotion and action into this read. The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat that info here. The author managed to richly describe the background of the company which is the basis of the series, the characters, and get you caught up in the emotions between the main characters.

There is plenty of action as well as twists and turns in the book. I really enjoyed this book and storyline. I hope we see more of Garen and Miranda in future books.

I have both read the ebook version as well as listened to the audio version of this book. Gregory Salinas did an excellent job with his narration. This book has graphic sex scenes and I can't imagine having to voice them. They are sometimes hard enough to read but hearing them described had me fast forwarding at times.