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Having lost part of his leg in an oilrig accident, Nixon Tucker accepts his friend’s offer to join Norseton’s new wolfpack. At the age of forty-one, Nixon is finally ready for some stability, but the wolf goddess doesn’t make things easy for her favored ones. She drops a broken single mom of two kids onto his path, and immediately, his inner beast takes notice. In spite of Esther Denis-March bearing another man’s bite and scent, Nixon is more than willing let her complicate his life. She could give him the family he craves.

With her abusive husband dead by her hands, Esther arrives in Norseton hoping her brother’s pack won’t send her away. She’s certain that Nixon is the rightful mate her husband wasn’t, but there are no guarantees he’ll keep her. Wolf women aren’t supposed to fight back, and she fears that telling Nixon what she’s done will send him running.

She doesn’t know that Nixon’s got insecurities of his own. He thinks a woman like her deserves a physically strong mate. He was once a threat to other alpha wolves, but he doubts he ever will be again.


This Norseton Wolves story contains allusions that some survivors of domestic abuse may find triggering. Please take care.

___
-Part of the Reckless Desires collection of stand-alone shapeshifter romances.-

In the darkest corner of an alpha's broken heart, fate ignites a flicker of hope. From lusty wolves and burly bears to decadent dragons, these alphas hunger for inner peace which can only come from finding their perfect mate. Seven best-selling authors each bring you a series of standalone books filled with redemption, love, and reckless desire -- not to mention a whole lot of primal growling as these alpha heroes claim their fated mates.

129 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 8, 2016

25 people are currently reading
82 people want to read

About the author

Holley Trent

152 books301 followers
Holley Trent is a romance author who spins campy yarns set in North Carolina. She has a wicked sense of humor and regularly puts her story characters into unexpected situations.

When she's not writing, she's reading or eating Twizzlers.

Her contemporary and fantasy romances have been published by Crimson Romance, Calliope Romance/Musa Publishing, and she has work due for release by Lyrical Press.

2013 brings a change of pace with her self-published series of paranormal novellas: Shrew and Company. Five women, five romances, one big bear of a problem. Check out boss-lady Dana's story in THE PROBLEM WITH PADDY, available now.

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
3,237 reviews69 followers
April 23, 2021
The abused h is at the end of her tether, doesn't trust anyone. The H was great with her from their first meeting. He gave her her space, and helped her children feel safe. I loves this world but dislike how short the stories are.
Profile Image for Coco.V.
50k reviews135 followers
Want to read
October 14, 2018
💝FREE on iBooks today (10/14/18)!💝

Blurb:
Having lost part of his leg in an oilrig accident, Nixon Tucker accepts his friend’s offer to join Norseton’s new wolfpack. At the age of forty-one, Nixon is finally ready for some stability, but the wolf goddess doesn’t make things easy for her favored ones. She drops a broken single mom of two kids onto his path, and immediately, his inner beast takes notice. In spite of Esther Denis-March bearing another man’s bite and scent, Nixon is more than willing let her complicate his life. She could give him the family he craves.

With her abusive husband dead by her hands, Esther arrives in Norseton hoping her brother’s pack won’t send her away. She’s certain that Nixon is the rightful mate her husband wasn’t, but there are no guarantees he’ll keep her. Wolf women aren’t supposed to fight back, and she fears that telling Nixon what she’s done will send him running.

She doesn’t know that Nixon’s got insecurities of his own. He thinks a woman like her deserves a physically strong mate. He was once a threat to other alpha wolves, but he doubts he ever will be again.
Profile Image for Annie.
1,883 reviews13 followers
June 7, 2021
Loved Nix and Esther
Nixon Tucker, 41, is a Alpha wolf and a friend to Adam Carbone's pack. A roughneck and ranch hand, his age is catching up to him and he is ready for a change when Adam tracked him down and offered him a job as his Lieutenant. His first job is to pick up Adam's niece and her kids from the bus station. Esther was given permission to leave her pack after the death of her abusive mate and she heads to Norseton to her brother and Uncle. Nix, has long been ready to settle down and find a mate, with a bad leg he no longer sees that as a possibility, but his wolf as other ideas when he meets Esther and her kids.
I loved Nix, he is a very laid back Alpha and made sure that he was clear with Esther on what he wanted and forced her to make her own decisions. He was so sweet with the kids.
Esther, had been beaten down by her mate and the dynamics of her former pack, but she found her strength in Nix, her family and new pack mates. Nix finds the family he gave up hope of having and a place in a pack with old friends and a chance to be a part of a new kind of pack.
Profile Image for Jamoz23.
5,391 reviews46 followers
March 8, 2020
Read in the box set RECKLESS DESIRES.
It is lovely to get two more mature main characters in a story and both of them with big secrets and heavy baggage they are loath to share.
I found both Esther and Nixon very likable and strong and thought the children were really great.
I have not read any of this series but plan to go and read them all.
1,499 reviews4 followers
July 14, 2020
❤️ 📚 👍 one of my favorite series and author.
Profile Image for Smhlavelle.
308 reviews3 followers
November 2, 2020
Loved it

I loved this story. I loved the characters, their past, and how they created a relationship. As the rest in this series, I would have liked more detail, but great story.
Profile Image for Karen.
1,424 reviews2 followers
June 5, 2016
Nix and Esther
This series, along with Shrew and Company, remain among my favorites by Holley Trent. This book comes alive on the pages, bringing the reader into its reality. Few authors can capture and hold my attention the way Trent does. And while the books can standalone, after reading it I would want to read previous books. Trent gives suggestion for prior books in the series that give helpful background. She also provides a caution for potential triggers for survivors of abuse because of disclosures of the abuse in the character's thoughts and dialogue. I have read books by other authors in which certain scenes in the present are brutal and graphic, and where no warning was given. So I appreciate the caution and integrity displayed.
Esther Denis-March is a woman on the run with her two young children. Mated to her alpha's choice of available male wolves at age eighteen, her experiences with wolf shifter males and pack life hasn't been positive. So after her mate's 'accidental' death, when her dictatorial alpha told her to leave, she left family and friends behind before he had a chance to change his mind. Physically scarred from her mate's long term abuse, Esther is unbroken, but unnaturally thin and anxious. She has pinned all her hopes of refuge for herself and children on her aunt and uncle's pack in Norseton, AZ. If they refuse her status with theIr pack, however, her only remaining option is to return to her home pack as a widow, again under the tyrannical alpha's thumb. Now at the end of the bus ride from New Jersey to Albuquerque, she finally makes the phone call to her Aunt Lilith and waits.
Nixon Tucker is a long time friend of Adam Carbone, alpha of the Norseton pack. Nix has spent his adult years as a ranch hand and oilfield worker, but after an accident took part of his leg, he has felt the pull of pack. Accepting Adam's latest invitation to join him, Nix heads for Norseton via Albuquerque. While there he gets a call from Adam asking him to go by the bus station and verify the identity of a woman claiming to be Anton's sister and Lilith's niece. A few smart phone pictures later, Esther's identity is confirmed and they are on their way. But Nix quickly realizes something is off with Esther, though her children appear to be healthy. She is wary, anxious, exhausted and much too thin. But she still has fire, and Nix is determined for the first time in his forty one years, in spite of his physical limitations, that he is going to claim a she wolf as his own. What he doesn't anticipate is that Esther may have an even bigger, darker secret than his own. A copy of this book was received in return for an honest review.
Profile Image for Ingrid Stephanie Jordan.
1,862 reviews25 followers
May 16, 2016
Title:  Elder 
Series: Norseton Wolves
              Reckless Desire
Destination: Book 6,  StandAlone
Author: Holly Trent
Reviewer: Ingrid Stephanie Jordan
Genre:  #Paranormal. #WolfShifters
My Score:   #4stars  ☆☆☆☆

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Another first for me this, is my first book that I have read and reviewed for Holley Trent. And I thought it was really good to be honest with you, the only problem I had considering this is my first with his father this is book 6 from the Norsemen Wolves Series consequently I missed a lot of stuff  plus I don't like to start in the middle. I like how she mixes her characters, but we make sure with the Goddess helps with the mates.
Norseton Wolves are completely different from the regular wolves I've read. But you'll have to read yourself to find out. Though this is a standalone novella you can just read this but you missing out like I did. I would like to know the history of the Norseton Wolves.
Also this book shows you that women who are abused can still stand up.. That's right if you have 10 children and beaten to a pulp, mentally abused, Hold your head up take your children and walk. There people who will help, you are never alone... This is a proven fact.
Nixon Tucker had a oil right accident destroying part of his leg. His friend from the Norseton Wolves Pack wanted him to be a pack mate. Which was a good thing and the Goddess had plans for him..
Esther Denis-March takes her two children and
hopes her brother of Norseton Pack will let her stay and not kick her out. Her mate was so abusive to her, she had to take matters into her own hands. Not every women is strong like Esther, but they need to be. Esther needed a new life, a mate who would cherish her not hurt her. I was gifted this ARC for an honest and truthful review.
Profile Image for Tanja.
741 reviews16 followers
May 11, 2016
two broken people, two pasts that last their scars literally and physical!
when esther is given permission to leave the pack with her kids after her husband/mate died, she doesn't know how fast she has to leave!
with bearly any belongings with her she only knows one location to go to but getting there is hard. she has no means to actually contact anyone there and she doesn't have any current numbers. getting as close as her dwindling money gets her, she knows she is close. weary, tired and close to giving up she makes one last effort and with her last few credits on her phones she contacts a number, she found be sheer luck, in norseton. she doesn't know how fast she has to tell everything, who she is, who she's looking for and that she has no means of getting further.
enter nixon, a wolf heading back to norseton, asked to sent proof that esther is who she says she is and to bring her with him, together with her kids. being one of the older single wolves there is something about esther that has his wolf on high alert, despite the of another male wolf marking her as taken. when he hears her mate is dead he dares to think of something more. but her past and his own proof to be some obstacles they have to overcome before both belief that lady fate means well with pairing the two of them.

this was a wonderful story about embracing the future, dealing with the past and so much more emotional stuff. liked that these characters were already older and with a heavy past that wasn't all sunshine and butterflies.

free copy given in exchange for an honest review
Profile Image for Ana.
2,038 reviews6 followers
May 21, 2016
In Book six of the Norseton Wolves series. Nixon Tucker has accepted the offer of his friend Adam to join the Norseton pack, what he has not told anyone that he had his leg amputated below the knee after a terrible oilrig accident. Will Adam still allow him to be Lieutenant of the pack after he learns he is a broken wolf?

Esther is running before her old Alpha changes his mind about allowing her to leave the pack in NJ with her son and daughter after the suspicious death of her abusive husband. She is headed for the Norseton Pack in New Mexico where her brother Anton and aunt Lilly and uncle Adam live.
But will they accept her once they learn the truth about her departure?

Nixon can't believe he is feeling so much attraction towards this scarred beauty. Is the Goddess finally looking down on him and will he be able to prove to Esther that she is not a lowly female like she has been led to believe all her life. More importantly will she accept a broken wolf like him?

Proving that no matter how broken, be it mentally, or physically love will always prevail even for a wolfl!
Profile Image for Christine Karmelreads2665 W..
1,824 reviews6 followers
May 10, 2016
Received this book for an honest review.

Tucker is a wolf with a permanent injury looking headed to as pack that takes in loner or rejected wolves. He does not know what to expect as he has kept that fact he is missing part of a limb from the alpha. He is use to freedom and not belonging.

Ester must leave her current pack with her children in tow to give them a better life. Her hope is that the old alpha does not request her children back. She is a wolf mother with a fierce protective streak when it comes to her children. She is use to hiding her true nature and being submissive.

Can these two put away their past to embrace a future together? Will they recognize that they are stronger together than apart.

This story is different from Holley's usually stories as it tugs at the heartstrings for what each has gone thru.
Profile Image for Linda Levine.
4,646 reviews25 followers
May 10, 2016
I have read almost all the books in the series and really loved this one. Nixon and Esther are older members coming to the community. They both have had difficult pasts. Nixon feels less than whole and Esther is coming to terms with her abusive marriage following the death of her mate. Neither of them expected to find someone but they both feel safe together.

I always love Holley Trent's stories and this one was really touching. Nixon and Esther are hurting and find comfort and love in each other. They both deserve happiness.

It is a great series and I encourage you to check it out. You can start with this story or go back to an earlier edition. They are each standalones and easy to jump into anywhere in the series.

I received a copy in return for a honest review.
Profile Image for Barbara.
19.3k reviews8 followers
May 12, 2016
Book six of the Norseton Wolves series. Nixon Tucker has accepted the offer of his friend Adam to join the Norseton pack , what he has not told anyone that he has had an amputation to his leg, so he does not know if they will really accept him! Esther Denis-March and her son and daughter are on their way to Norseton to be with her brother after the death of her abusive husband . Nixon is asked to collect them on his way to the pack! Esther has been taught that women do not fight back in her old pack ,will she be able to live a better life in this pack? Will Nixon and Esther see that even though they are both damaged that they belong together and are fated mates? I was gifted a copy for an honest review barwatts@telus.net
Profile Image for Jennifer McGurk Finn.
2,101 reviews54 followers
September 22, 2016
This is the sixth book in the Norseton Wolves series. Esther Denis March is Anton's (Beast) younger sister, she has two children, Kevin 7 and Darla 3 and she's just been asked to leave her pack in New Jersey. Her abusive, alcoholic mate/husband has fallen off their apartment balcony and died so her Alpha (Ashley's (Scion) Father) made her leave his pack. Having nowhere else to go she packs up her kids and travels to New Mexico in hopes of finding her brother and her aunt and uncle. Nixon is a lone wolf, he's been on his own for a long time and he's finally agreed to join his friend Adam's pack in New Mexico. While driving from Texas to Norseton Adam calls Nixon and asks him to stop in Albuquerque and pick up his niece and her two kids.
18 reviews
December 7, 2016
5 Beautiful Stars

I've never read this author before, but I have to say that this won't be the only one!

I loved the ages of the main characters. As a 57 y/o woman, sometimes it's hard to relate to the very young H/h, but Nixon was in his 40s and Esther was maybe 30s.

I fell so hard in love with Nixon and thought Esther was the perfect mate for him. She needed his goodness and love so much, and he needed her just as much!

Now I have to go buy the rest of this series, because when you find an author that makes you believe you are right there, a part of the book, you have to find everything they've written!!!
Profile Image for Lory.
3,280 reviews33 followers
May 10, 2016
This is the first book in the Noreston Wolves series that I have read and even though I was a little confusing in the beginning but the story flowed really well. Nixon and Esther both are dealing with their own emotional baggage but they seem to find comfort in one another. Neither of them expected to fall for one another but happen to be exactly what the other needed to be happy. Overall a good read I will be definitely checking out the other stories in this series.
Profile Image for Lynn Vincent.
653 reviews4 followers
September 25, 2016
Elder (Norseton Wolves) by Holley Trent: This is the seventh book in the Norseton Wolves series. This is another great Norton Wolves story. Nixon has decided to return to a pack after and accident leaves his leg weak. His new alpha has a neice Esther who was abused by her mate. Nixon must pick her up and bring her back. Esther and her kids have had a hard life. Will moving to Norseton be a blessing or her worst nightmare? I enjoyed reading this great must read. 5 stars
Profile Image for Crystal.
1,334 reviews10 followers
May 30, 2016
Furtastic!

This is a terrific shifter romance, full of healing, both physical and emotion pain, and learning to love again. Esther has emotional trauma to heal from and her kids help her, along with Nixon a wolf she just met and instantly feels safe with. Nixon is healing from physical wounds and wants love, but want to make sure he can fully protect a mate.
Profile Image for Tracy Zullo.
549 reviews1 follower
December 2, 2016
Really liked these characters. I wish we had a little more time with them before the hook up. 3.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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