I really wanted to like this paranormal romance more than I did. The writing is descriptive and I enjoy the fated mates trope.
But the world building was underdeveloped. Maybe more is in a previous book. The heroine was bland and put herself in danger so much that I wasn't surprised when she was attacked, more than once. The feelings were told, not felt.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC from Netgalley.

I received this Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher through Netgalley, for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

This book is the second in the series, the first is Bloodlines: Shifters of Rishard, and as this is a continuation of the same story, just focusing on different characters, you really need to read the first book for it to make sense.

We first met Bethany and Davis in the first book, but they weren’t the main characters. Bethany is the niece of the former leader of the European Clan. She met Davis when her deranged brother tried to kill her, as Davis is a member of the North American Clan, when she visited Wyoming to be with the man her brother murdered. When Bethany wants to return home to Glasgow, Davis insists on returning with her as he believes she is in danger from her brother’s accomplice. Bethany doesn’t agree with his assessment but he gives her no room to disagree.

Bethany returns to her clan in upheaval as her uncle didn’t name an heir. Her cousin is determined to take over and rule, but he is vastly unsuited to the job. The Clan’s spiritual advisor wants to hold an election to see who becomes leader and he is standing in the election. Both men want Bethany to support their claim.

As with the first book, the plot aspect of this book is good. There is quite a lot of detail about the people of the European Clan and how Bethany interacts with them. Her place in the Clan is important to her and it is important to the plot. Finding out who Bethany’s brother’s accomplice was, is a big task and Davis gets little help from the Clan. In the end he gets help from the Council and having only two people running around trying to find out whodunnit means there are gaps where the bad guy can act.

In addition to this part of the plot the romance section of the book is much less annoying than in the first book, hence the higher rating. Davis is a bit of a stereotypical rubbish male about his emotions, which always feels like a bit of a narrative shortcut, but he wasn’t horrible or offensive. He was very focused on keeping Bethany safe but his alpha male tendencies got in the way of the relationship a bit.

Bethany was a very well defined character, probably more so than Davis, because he was introduced in more depth in the first book. She was calm, compassionate and reasonable, though she was a little insecure. She learned from her mistakes with her brother and wanted to learn how to take care of herself, but she wasn’t willing to become untrusting, or doubt her own judgement as a whole because of his actions. I really liked her.

Their relationship journey wasn’t a grand tortured romance, it was a more gentle revealing of feelings, though there were some difficulties.

Overall the book is a quick easy read that is pretty entertaining.

This is my first book by this Author but will not be the last .
As this is book two in the series think reading the previous one would be of benefit .

This is a shifter book with a difference ………….. many can shift into more than one animal ……………. and there is an Alien backstory that takes it to another level .
The story picks up with Bethany travelling back home after being betrayed by her brother ………. Davis , a member of a different clan , presents himself as her bodyguard and escort . The attraction between them seems to be slow to realisation - are they fated mates ?
Bethany has more than her attraction to Davis to worry about ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, there are more betrayals and threats to her life in her clan home ……… can they both survive ?

This was an fast paced , enjoyable read with an HEA that leaves the series open to more books in the future

I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Davis volunteered to escort Bethany back to her clan because he wanted to see what was happening in the this other clan. Bethany's clan hadn't voted in a new leader after the old one had been killed when Davis got her home and there were two guys who wanted her vote but she kept her allegiance to herself. Her cousin Aaron was a real jerk and seemed to want to belittle and boss everyone around. I don't know why anyone would vote for this guy to be their leader. Heyes seems nice but I wasn't sure if he's up to being the leader. When Davis reports back home that things are unstable there, he's ordered to stay from his leader and report back to his clan what's going on. Aaron is not happy to hear that he'll be staying for clan business but there's nothing he can do about it.

When Bethany finds herself in danger, Davis decides that he is her protector and stays with her in her flat which is small. Having them in such close quarters and around each other all the time made them face the facts that they were attracted to each other. It's not long before they are acting on their attraction and they both figure out that they're mates. Not knowing how the other feels about that little shocker revelation makes things a little awkward.

Davis is a wolf shifter and Bethany is an owl shifter. I've read plenty of wolf shifter stories but not many with owl shifters in them so this was interesting. Someone keeps trying to kill Bethany but she has no idea why or who it could be. I didn't have a clue who could be trying to get her out of the way until the culprit was uncovered. It was a surprise to me for sure. There was a nice little twist at the end of this book that really made the story better and I loved how this ended.

Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book via NetGalley but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Davis Campbell has orders from his Alpha to escort Bethany back to her clan in Scotland. She’s fully healed from her injuries and the North American Clan don’t have cause to keep her from her home. Davis senses there is more to this request than his Alpha is letting on, but he agrees. Once they arrive, both he and Bethany are met with suspicious activities and persons, any of which may have been working secretly with her treacherous brother. Multiple attacks on her riles up Davis and he vows to protect her, even from herself. There’s someone who wants Bethany dead and will stop at nothing to carry it out. Will Davis keep her safe even though it might cost him his family, freedom and his heart?



Scent of Betrayal is one of the most original paranormal romances I’ve read in a long time. The world building is a blend of aliens and shifters, where clans are classified geographically not by shifter species. Soul mates tend to be different species and honestly, I found it a fresh, new approach in a well-established genre.



But this story is so much more than a shifter romance. The suspense sub-plot propelled me to read faster as I whipped through the pages. As Davis investigated, I kept trying to figure out who was responsible and when I finally got it, Denise Carbo revealed who it was. She kept me guessing until the very end. Brilliant!



The romance between Davis and Bethany is slow burning which added to the depth of the characters. The push and pull as they sorted out their feelings added a realistic tone to the story. Sure, their banter heated things up but the HEA was more fulfilling after all they went through together.



If you’re looking for a new twist on the shifter romance genre, pick up Scent of Betrayal. Yes, it is technically book two in the series, but Denise Carbo fills in the backstory seamlessly, so you know what’s going on and what has happened before. Highly recommend!



Disclaimer: I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley in the hopes I’d review it.



My Rating: 5 stars

A Good Story Amour 2 clans,the solving of .a murder.. And how two People who are ment for wach other fall in love.

What a wonderful new series! I admit, I stumbled upon this series already in progress, starting with Book 2. While not optimal under any circumstance, I was able to walk into this already built world and enjoy the story without any issue.

This world is unique in that it blends a bit of alien backstory with shifters as most people know them. Called Shifters of Rishard, they are born with their powers and abilities to shift into different animals (some more than one). It doesn't appear to have anything to do with what their other family members can shift into, and clans are formed more by geography than type of shifter they are. Bethany, the lead here, has had a bit of drama in her life. While out trying to meet up with shifters outside her clan, she ended up being betrayed by her brother.

All that appears to have wrapped up and we join Bethany as she is making the journey back to her clan. Davis, a member of a different clan, can't seem to let her go, so essentially makes himself her bodyguard and escort back home. Bethany is so wrapped up in all of the fallout back home that it takes her far too long to recognize the attraction between them. There's an element of fated mates thrown in here, but what Bethany should be most concerned about is even more betrayal and threats to her life at home! This poor girl just could not get a break. Don't worry about her, though, because this book gives a nice HEA. There was a lot of introduction to some pretty entertaining characters along the way, so there'd better be more coming from this series so we can visit them, too!

I was a little disappointed when I realised this was the second book of the Shifters of Rishard series, as it so often better to read pack type books in order. That said, the story held its own and the plot and character building was interesting and flowed well. I may go back and read book one, just to ensure I haven’t missed anything, but overall this was an easy to read and enjoyable story.

This was my first time reading this author, will be looking for other books. Characters and plot were good, is a nice quick read. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wildrose press, for the advance read.

Davis was in his wolf form enjoying the last run he would have for awhile. He than leaped to an enormous boulder and sat. His friend Greer sat close to him. Greer asked him why he volunteered to escort Leitner’s sister back to the Euro clan? Davis said “Why not?” He was curious to see what was happening now that the leadership of the clan is up for grabs. He added he thought it best to keep an eye on what the other clans were up to , especially after Donald’s murder. Davis said he knew he did the deed but his journal left some questions. Greer said the person may have gone into hiding or is one of them battling for power over the clan and will eliminate anyone who gets into his or her way. Greer added he wanted to make sure davis understood what he might be heading into.Than he asked about Bethany- Leitner’s sister- and how her existence raises several possible scenarios. Davis added someone had to volunteer had to accompany bethany. Greer didn’t have much use for people and let it be known when davis said he would always volunteer. Davis thought how her eyes had been haunting his dreams since he’d first seen her. Her face stuck in his brain after tracking her for weeks. She was a gentle beauty. He’d wanted her from the minute he laid eyes on her and that enraged him. Greer asked if bethant was his mate and davis said he hoped not. On the plane Bethany couldn’t sleep- what would she find when she got back to Glasgow and the compound ? Her cousin Aaron was next in line to rule but the clan’s spiritual advisor-Gregor - had challenged Aaron’s right to rule. Malcolm had insisted she needed and escort back to her clan. Davis came with her. Bethany thanked davis for escorting her as they talked she said she was an engineer. Bethany thought that if the clan didn’t evolve and accept their differences and even grow to appreciate them, weren’t they doomed to repeat past mistakes? She said no way of life is perfect, whether it be a person, family, clan, country, culture. Her clan wasn’t perfect but her clan was family. Aaron had never demonstrated any qualities needed to run the clan. She was home, there had been moments recently when she thought she would never see her home again. Davis was not sure bethany would be safe and wouldn’t leave he was sure or took her back to his clan. -North American Clan. Bethany was an owl shifter. Davis called his pack leader and said he was staying awhile as things didn’t feel right there. He was told to watch his back and to report anything unusual or he felt necessary to the council. He told Bethany he was there to make sure things didn’t get out of control with her clan. Davis would simply be reporting to the council. Her clan would know exactly why he was there. Kate and celeste were Bethany’s best friends, none of them had been born in the compound.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved Davis and Bethany together and how they interacted. I really liked the plot. I loved that Bethany was willing to give up the leadership of her clan and her clan to be with him and Davis was willing to leave her rather than take Bethany from the clan that needed her and than willing to stay with her and leave the only family-his clan-he had ever known. I loved the relationship between Bethany and her two best friends -Kate and Celeste and how they became friends as they hadn’t been born in the compound and had to work on fitting in. I did find this dragged for me a little at times and needed a little editing. I wish I could rate this a 4..50 or a 4.75 as it was almost a perfect read for me. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend it.