When He Dares by Suzanne Wright

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Get painfully rejected by true mate. Check. Join a website for shifters seeking an arranged mating. Check. Schedule a meeting with a prospective match. Check.

Quinley Bevan doesn’t expect to get smacked in the face by intense sexual chemistry during the meeting, but Isaiah Hale sets off all her hormonal fireworks. More, as a dominant shifter, the enforcer pulls at her submissive nature and calls to her inner cat. Their agreement is pretty standard: If they don’t imprint on each other within two years, they’ll dissolve the mating. But with his cat holding back, danger lurking around corners, and her true mate making a reappearance, things might be more complicated than they bargained for.

When he first joined FindYourMatch, Isaiah wasn’t confident he’d be paired with someone who truly fit him. But he feels a kinship with Quinley. Still, he doesn’t expect to feel possessive of her so fast. But as soon as he puts the claiming brand on her neck, everything in him screams mine. His cat, though, doesn’t view her as its mate. The animal is still angry at being unable to have the female it was predestined to claim. But when Quinley’s own fated mate comes sniffing around and she becomes a target of their enemies, the cat is finally in agreement with Isaiah on one vital thing: Quinley belongs to them now, and they’ll never let her go.

When He Dares

Imperfect Mates, Unbreakable Bond

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💚💜💙❤️🩷
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Chemistry: 🧪🧪🧪🧪
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌏
Character development: 😋🙂😘🥰
Narrator(s): 🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration type: Solo Narration

🦸🏻‍♂️ Hero Spotlight: Isaiah

Isaiah is a pallas cat shifter and a formidable enforcer in the Olympus Pride. Years ago, he met his fated mate—a human woman engaged to another man and completely unaware of the shifter world. For a time, Isaiah held onto hope that fate might intervene, but when she and her fiancé began IVF treatments, he knew the door had closed. Resigned but not defeated, Isaiah turned to a shifter matchmaking app, seeking an arranged bond that could offer companionship and stability.

🦸🏼‍♀️ Heroine Spotlight: Quinley

Quinley, a submissive black-footed cat shifter, met her fated mate at sixteen. Summoning her courage, she confessed the truth to him—only to be dismissed. He was older, from a prestigious family, and had already planned to mate with the alpha’s daughter, securing his future leadership role. Quinley was left heartbroken and humiliated. Years later, determined to move forward, she signs up for the same matchmaking app, where she crosses paths with Isaiah.

🔥 Plot Pulse

From the moment they meet, Quinley and Isaiah share a quiet understanding and mutual respect. They agree to a two-year trial mating period, hoping to imprint and forge a true mate bond. But their journey is anything but simple. Isaiah’s cat still yearns for his fated mate, and Quinley carries emotional scars from her past. They’re virtual strangers stepping into a deeply intimate arrangement, knowing it may take time—and patience—to build something real.

Quinley continues working at the pride-owned salon with her sister, even after moving to Olympus Pride to live with Isaiah. Her hope? To avoid crossing paths with her fated mate and his chosen partner—the same woman who’s made a habit of bullying and belittling her.

❤️‍🔥 What Hit Home

• I appreciated how both Isaiah and Quinley enter this relationship with eyes wide open. They know it won’t be easy, but they’re committed to trying, supporting each other through the uncertainty.
• Quinley’s decision to leave behind the pride that hurt her and embrace a fresh start with Isaiah felt empowering and emotionally honest.

🤨 Room to Grow

• I struggled with the premise that, in a world where fated mates exist, Isaiah and Quinley aren’t each other’s. It added tension, yes—but also a lingering sense of emotional dissonance, especially when Quinley’s true mate reenters the picture.

🎧 Narration Vibes

Told in dual POV, the audiobook is narrated solo by Samantha Cook. Normally, I gravitate toward dual or full-cast narration, but Suzanne Wright is one of my auto-buy authors. Her world-building—from Phoenix Pack to Mercury Pack to Olympus Pride—is consistently immersive, and I’ve devoured every installment. I wasn’t about to skip this one, even with my usual narration preferences.

📝 Final Thoughts

This story explores what it means to choose connection over fate, healing over history. Isaiah and Quinley aren’t perfect, but they’re trying—and that makes their journey worth listening to.

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