You Had Me At Jaguar by Terry Spear
Heart of the Shifter #1

First in a new Paranormal Romance series this book has a collection of shifter groups that police and care for other shifters. We meet Howard Armstrong and Valerie Chambers, jaguar shifters, immediately as they train for their jobs as enforcers. A year passes and then they are thrown together again and the interest they originally felt for one another is given an opportunity to flourish as they do their best to bring down some bad shifters. I never really related to this group of characters, saw what Howard and Valerie saw in one another or became invested in the story and ended up feeling the book was okay to good but that it didn’t add anything new or different...kind of predictable and no doubt just what some readers look forward to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablance for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

This is book 1 in the Heart of the Shifter series. It's about Valerie (Val) Chambers and Howard Armstrong. Val and Howard met years ago when they were going through training to become Enforcer's. But once they were fully agent's, they never saw each other again. Val has been given the mission of finding a shifter who murdered his wife and eliminate him to protect all shifters. Howard and his team have been asked to be her backup, even though most enforcer's don't have backup. From the moment they meet up again, they have chemistry like no tomorrow! But when the mission gets much more involved than either of them expect, can they not only finish it but figure out that they are perfect for each other?

I really liked this book. Val and Howard made me laugh at points with their antics with each other. And there was plenty of action to go around. There were only a few things that kinda made me iffy about things. It was a little slow at parts. So while it was a good read, I felt like some things were just unnecessary and just made it drag out. And I felt almost like this book was already part of a series instead of being book 1. I even went back to check to make sure that I hadn't missed a book. I was slightly confused about that. But on a whole it is a good read, it was just little things that got to me. I would still read it again!

(3.5) I have read Terry Spear before and will read her again. This one for me was not quite as fantastic as others I have read by her and I am not 100% sure why. I realize its book 1 in a new series so she has to lay some ground work. I enjoyed Valerie, she was intelligent, quick thinker and I appreciate the fact that Howard was all for that aspect. There were twists and turns, which I always love in any book and Terry delivered. There was indeed the hot sex that so many love and require, but the connection wasn't there for me. Thank you NetGalley for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The concept for this story was intriguing but I felt the execution of it fell thru. Val and Howard had fun banter.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.

I feel like I should have liked this one better. Val and Howard's romance was just so so for me, I never felt like they had great chemistry. For me they worked better as work partners. The way the two different groups went after the bad guys and kept on task while encountering one crazy thing after another. They adapted on the fly, re-working their plan time and time again. I did like how they finally got the bad guy and the reward they all got when done.

A man who murdered his wife, trip to Belize. An attraction they can't deny. A mission that turns out to be more complicated than it seems. Can they find love, fight the bad guys and still complete their mission?

Howard was attracted to Valerie as soon as he laid eyes on her during a training session for the Enforcers, where Val is the first person to take down Howard when they're pitted against each other. He and his partner a year later are tasked with being Val's protection and backup on the mission she's on. She gets away from them only to be caught up to when they fly to Belize to follow the rogue shifter who turned then killed his wife. Val's parents are also in the area on another mission and are the ones behind her getting the backup she doesn't want. The more time she spends with Howard the more attached she gets and realizes that working with a team isn't so bad. They find themselves getting closer and working together so naturally that it seems like they've been doing it forever. They two women make friends with the girlfriend of the man they're after. Val takes a hostage. They get a new temporary team member. A call from her parents needing help take them the drug dealer her parents were watching. Val gets help from a woman connected to the drug dealers. Howard chases after some criminals, killing one, and fighting the others. After her parents are taken care, Val lets someone go and receives information on more drug houses. She goes after Howard and helps him. They head back to their resort and check to make sure the bad guys haven't come back. A new jaguar shifter is born. Val and Howard must track down the new shifter and bring them back. The two of them finally come together and make love. They make a discovery about the new shifter and send her with Val's parents back home. The team adds one of their members and head out to check out one of the drug houses. They find the woman Val let go and must fight to survive. A trip to the airport sends a couple of people back home. They get two more team members for help. They had visitors while they were gone and set a trap. The new additions show up in the middle of fighting the bad guys in the jungle. Val and Howard decide to mate and get married. Val must protect Howard when he's injured in the fighting. The bad guys are taken care and while on vacation they clean up the stragglers. They head home and to the bar they hangout in and find the people they sent home. Val's parents retire. The team heads out on a new mission, including Val and Howard.

Terry Spear brings a couple of her shifter series together in this book about the Jaguar/Wolf police force. She has hot, sexy shifters who must face danger, and passion to find their way to love. She combines her Heart of the Jaguar and Wolf series into the newly formed United Shifters Force. The USF has wolves and jaguars working together to take down rogue shifters who have committed crimes against humans and shifters both. They take the most dangerous of the missions. I'm hoping the future more of her shifters will be included like the cougars and the white wolves, polar bears and what ever other hot passionate and sexy characters she can come up with to join USF. I look forward to more books by this wonderful writer of shifter books. Can't wait to read Rowdy's story in the near future. Terry Spear is almost a great read.

Valerie Chambers is a new Enforcer ut she has large shoes to fill - both her parents are Enforcers! She has a bit of a crush on an instructor on her training course but little did she know it went both ways!

Val is on the trail of a murderer and is not exactly happy when she realises that Howard and partner have been drafted in as her backup! But as the investigation unfolds she soon becames very grateful to the higher ups for allowing her to spend time with Howard. Soon their investigation goes international and it becomes apparent that two seemingly unconnected cases are actually intertwined!

Relly well crafted story, great characters and very well paced. Loved it!

This is book 1 in a new series and as a first book it was very good I absolutely love her Heart of the Wolf series so decided to try a book from a different series of her's and I wasn't disappointed. This book is just as good as her other series if you love her Heart of the Wolf series then you will love this one

I really enjoyed this book. Valerie is a determined, independent jaguar! As an enforcer, she doesn't need a partner. It doesn't matter that the man sent to protect her is amazingly hot and she feels drawn to him every single time she is around him. Their interactions were great! I loved the way each tried to out think the other.

Howard is going to watch Valerie's back, no matter how many times she tries to give him the slip. Their chemistry is undeniable. I liked seeing characters mentioned from other books and I'm curious where they will fit into future books and what happens to them. Great story and fun read.

It was a 4/5 for me.



Thank you to the publisher for the review copy of this book (via netgalley). I received this book in exchange for an honest review and the opinions stated above are 100% mine.

I have been a fan of this author for a long time. This book did not disappoint. Jaguar shifters have a draw all their own in paranormal romance for me. The intricate details in this book kept my attention all the way through. Val is strong, cunning and a bit mischievous making for a great read. I laughed out loud with the whole "angle of the dangle" situation. This is an excellent read.

Howard is a jaguar shifter and a member of a special police force. Val is also a jaguar shifter but she is an enforcer, she eliminates rogue shifters. Her next mission is to take out a jaguar that changed his wife and then killed her. Howard and his partner are tasked with watching her back but Val doesn’t like partners so she tries to lose them. When the mission takes them to Belize, they all work together because it turns out to be a bigger mission than any of them knew.
Lots of action. Surprises and sex. First book I’ve read about shifters where they didn’t bite to become mates. They just announced they were mates. Some of the dialogue was sort of stiff. It was a pretty good story. This review is short because I didn’t want to give any thing away.

While this had a really hot cover and a really intriguing summary, the actual story did not live up to its hype. The characters were superficially crafted into a high speed chase to fight rogue shifters. Val and Howard were attracted to each from the beginning but their romance left me thirsty for more. No raw passion that shifter romances are known for just a cheesey, cat and mouse game with some shifter mystery.
Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Terry Spear's shifter books are always a fun read! This one is noexception. I enjoy the setiings and the plots and of course the shifters.