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yogicath 's review for:

Her Rival Dragon Mate by Arizona Tape
4.0

This is book one of the Crescent Lake Shifters series and the main characters are junior property lawyer Alisha , a dragonkin, and Kendra, a dragon shifter, who have a one night stand. Alisha turned up for work, after yet another failed Crescent Moon ceremony, where she didn’t find a fated mate, not that she even knows if she might have one, not being a full shifter! It is a monthly ritual and only those unlucky enough not to find their mate turn up at work the next day. After a disappointing evening, her boss at Silver Law, called her in to share the good news that they had secured the Newmont Property Group’s (NPG) as a client for their new project for a shopping centre. Her boss tells her a new attorney would be joining their team directly, which was not the best of news and he wants her to show this new attorney around and make her welcome. It had taken Alisha two years to work up to the position she is in now and somehow this new attorney would be working directly under her boss Calvin, which is not the way you earned your stripes in this business!
The new attorney is Kendra Bancroft and when the two see each other, their one night stand comes to both of their memories and not one they agree on exactly. Neither knew who the other really was, nor even their names by the sounds of it! Alisha had invited her home from the bar, something she didn’t usually do, and Kendra had left in the early hours. But it is more the fact that Kendra is being pushed into Alisha’s case that gets to her and the secrecy Kendra is keeping about her dragon family name which makes her want to know more! Kendra actually comes from a family of lawyers and used to work for her father, but she wants to fly under the radar here and not have people know who she really is. Unfortunately, all her attempts to broker peace with Alisha seem to be failing, meaning she will just have to try harder and try something else. They are rivals being forced to work together and Alisha doesn’t want her on the team, as she is making very clear. When Kendra is asked to lead a meeting with NPG, that they had prepared to do together, Alisha sees red! It wasn’t Kendra’s wish, the boss wanted to use her family ties to show off to the client, so Kendra makes sure it backfires, leaving Alisha to do it herself. Alisha finds out just who Kendra really is, but keeps it to herself, finally realising that while Kendra might be a rival, she is also an intelligent and experienced lawyer and easy to work with once she allows her prejudices to be forgotten.
Kendra makes the effort to be nice to Alisha and is finally not left out in the cold, even invited to the usual associate’s lunch time haven. Kendra still has issues with her father, grandmother and even her mother, wanting her to come back to the family firm and this time, she has to make it plain to all that she isn’t interested in working there, whether the family consider it her legacy or not. It is her gran’s legacy and her father took up the mantle, that doesn’t mean she has to. The two become closer and even friends, with Alisha regretting how badly she treated Kendra to start with. Both are due to go back home ot visit family on the weekend of the next Crescent Moon ritual, and it’s nice for Alisha to go in Kendra’s comfortable car, than the two buses she would normally take. They decide to blow off visiting family and get something to eat together, then some cheap plonk to sit by the lakeside and drink. They have missed the ritual, but Kendra dares Alisha to jump into the freezing lake. Not being a shifter, she finds it freezing and splashes Kendra to make her come in as well! They get close, but pull apart before they cross the line of staying friends and being professional. Will the magic of the Crescent Moon and fate bring them closer together? Kendra isn’t looking for love, whilst Alisha has always hoped she had a fated mate out there. They missed the ritual, but maybe the magic of the evening has brought them closer than ever and played its own magic on their relationship. Another short read with a HEA ending, as the two women overcome initial rivalry to allow romance into their hearts. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.