Book Review: Tiglon by the Tail by Tia Fielding

Title: Tiglon by the Tail
Series: Finnshifters, Book 2
Author: Tia Fielding
Genre: Paranormal Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy from publisher
Published: September 2012 by Dreamspinner Press

Before coming to the Jarvela Farm, a sanctuary located in Finland, jaguar shifter Noah Moore did something that terrified him: he fell in love. But he was brave and took the chance… and ended up fleeing the States to nurse a broken heart. Though he’s happy enough living among others of his kind, being surrounded primarily by happy couples reminds him of what he’s missing.

When Dallas, the biracial tiglon shifter responsible for Noah’s heartache, turns up at the farm, Noah gets the shock of his life. Though the feelings are still there, so is the pain. Dallas desperately wants to make it up to Noah and win him back, but he knows he has to do it on Noah’s terms—and only with the farm family’s approval. Can Dallas convince Noah to stop living in the past and move into the future with him?

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: Good second book in the short series but more because of the shifter community than the reunion romance.

The Set Up: Jaguar shifter Noah left the US for a Finnish shifter sanctuary five years ago after his mate broke his heart. So the last shifter Noah expects to see at the shifter sanctuary is Dallas, the tiglon mate who broke Noah’s heart.

Why I Read this Book: I liked book one in this series (my review) and want to continue the series.

What I Liked: The best part of this novella is clearly the shifter community. In this series’ lore, shifters live among humans but don’t do well without opportunity to let their animal sides out. So some human and shifters form alliances for safe zones or sanctuaries. This series features one in Finland, led by Mikael from book one. I love the farm sanctuary with a community of shifters that make their own family. They love and support each other and the dynamics of this family are stellar. Something extremely sad happens in this book that deeply wounds this makeshift family and I truly cared about the repercussions for all the characters, especially the two wolf alphas (book three I hope!) I also should mention that unlike a lot of MM romance, this one has female characters and they’re real people, not evil or stereotypes.

What I Also Liked: I like that Dallas and Noah’s romance isn’t just sex. I like erotic romance but I want romance with the sex and this book (and book one) offers that. The men have sexual encounters but that’s not the focus of their relationship or the focus of the book.

What I Didn’t Like: I’m no fan of the reunion romance trope and this book didn’t change my mind. The trope and this book both make me feel a little cheated out of the initial emotional connection. Dallas tells readers how they got together and broke up so other than Noah’s devastation, readers aren’t privy to his side of it all. Then in my opinion, the reconciliation happens more because of the life-changing accident on the shifter farm than because the men are ready to reconcile.

IMO: Though the romance didn’t wow me, the shifter community is so enjoyable that I will absolutely continue this series.

J9’s Rating: