Surrounded by Death is a prequel in the Mandy Harbin paranormal romance series involving the woods family, a family of mountain lion shifters. Eric, one of the five Woods sons is lonely after being forced into a life of isolation because of his family's dangerous need to mate any unmated females. He seems to be lonely and isolated. He reaches out to his friend Alex via webcam.I felt that Alex must have been an incredibly sympathetic friend because he allowed Eric to watch him have sex with his wife Simone. Even further he offered Eric the opportunity to ""spend some time"" with Simone while he was out of town. I thought this was a little far but being that Alex and Simone had an open marriage this was possible.Eric and Simone have steamy, hot sex multiple times. Mandy Harbin is truly gifted in her ability to give details on the minutest details of their sex acts. Trust me you will need to lower the temperature on your thermostat when you read this. Unfortunately, Simone reveals that she and Alex are divorced and Eric cannot control his ability to mate with her. Since there is no love but a whole lotta lust and distrust between them they fight to the death.I was really hoping that it worked out for Eric and Simone. I was disappointed but thankfully Ms Harbin has more brothers with more steamy sexy stories to tell. You don't want to miss this book or any in the series. I enjoyed every minute of this short story.Reviewed by Michelle for Cocktails and Books REVIEW: Surrounded by Death is the prequel novella in Mandy Harbin’s erotic paranormal ‘Woods Family’ series.The Wood’s family is a family of all male mountain lion shifters who know what it is to lose control. To keep themselves and the female population protected from harm and the Woods’ males, Eric and the others have secluded themselves on the family tree farm. But when Eric’s best friend’s wife announces their divorce, Eric’s lion sees only one thing-mate. And the ensuing battle to claim the female results in the death of two former best friends.Surrounded By Death is a very quick read-basically one short chapter in length but explains some of the background about the lion shifter’s need to mate. The premise focuses on the male mountain lion shifter’s inability to control his mating instinct and is willing to mate with every available female. To keep the women safe, the men have secluded themselves from the human population. Mandy Harbin pulls no punches with the sexual and graphic nature of her storylines, introducing the reader to her writing style within the first few sentences.