Mark Dauphin loves his nephews, Sam and Logan, and he'll do anything his brother-in-law Cole asks, but when Cole wants Mark to play nice with Stefano Magnussi, Mark isn't sure he can comply. Stefano is hotter than fire, but Mark can't see past the fact that Stefano is one of those guys, the type of men who date guys half their age, the type of guys who made Mark give up on dating.<br><br>Of course, a little wine and several cocktails later, Mark finds himself dropping more than his defenses with Stefano. But when Logan and the rest of Mark's family surprise them in the morning, Mark and Stefano are suddenly at odds.<br><br>When Logan's ego is wounded, not only does Mark find himself desperate to fix his relationship with his nephew, but he also questions whether his night with this beautiful man meant anything to either of them. Mark isn't given much time to reflect though, as the war that's been brewing between the shivers comes to a violent head, and he soon learns that sometimes you just have to trust in those around you.

Mark's Midlife

“You can do it, Sam,” Mrs. Worthington said, rubbing the top of his head.


I don’t know whether it was that gesture, or whether that was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back, but suddenly Sam’s eyes seemed to regain focus. The intelligence was back. He took a quick dive, and he and Mrs. Worthington were gone. The water around us bubbled ferociously, and within a minute or so, they were both back next to me.


“Now, this could be a little dangerous,” I said. “Three of us in human form in a sea full of bloody sharks.”


“Should we go to the boat?” Sam asked.


“Maybe for a moment, but you’re going to need to shift back into your karonden form if you want to end this,” Mrs. Worthington said.


“I know you can,” she said. “I know it the same way that I knew you were going to be a karonden today.”


Chapter 44