Another book I'm not going to finish. It lacks world building to the point where I'm not even sure how the werewolf portion of the book works (to be fair, I didn't get very far, but still) and there's pretty much no exposition and very few descriptions. It felt rushed and incomplete as a result, with scenes unfolding like on a conveyor belt without affecting me at all.

I didn't really have time to get to know the characters before I dumped this, but I can't say I'm all that impressed with what I saw. I mean, sure, I get if Grayson's werewolf is possessive and all, but NOT taking his new mate to a hospital after a serious car accident is just stupid. What if he has internal injuries? Or a concussion? Or something else more serious?

Also, what even is this sentence:

"Grayson leapt forward and hit the Beta's jaw, pushing it sideways across his face, short-circuiting the Beta's nervous system all the way to his knees."

Did he just dislocate the guy's jaw and pushed it across his face? And, sure, that will knock most people off balance, but why does it short-circuit his nervous system, of all things? And only down to his knees? I have so many questions and am so confused.

So no, I'm not going to continue. It's poorly written and I have other things I would rather read.

This review contains spoilers.

I should have DNF:d this one, but I kept waiting for it to get better. Instead it got worse.

The lore and setup didn't make sense to begin with. Only men are shifters, but when Grayson realizes that Reagan is his mate, we find out that it's "unheard of for an Alpha to have a human mate at all. Let alone a male." So if he's not expected to have a human as a mate, but the women are human, and he's not expected to have a man as a mate...I'll just leave that logic puzzle for someone else to solve.

The book then brought in some eye-rolling GFY with Grayson insisting that he isn't gay. But attraction to your mate overrides everything, which begs the question of why sexuality labels even matter to shifters. Some members of this insular pack don't even know the word gay ("Is that what humans call it?"), so they don't seem have the same view on sexuality as human society. But Grayson is adamant that he isn't gay. We also get some casual misogyny, as Grayson gets annoyed when Reagan is upset with him and thinks that "I thought I’d missed all the whiney wife bullshit." But don't worry guys, he's totally all for equality. At least among alphas, betas and gammas, who all happen to be men.

The fact that Grayson having a male mate meant the end of his bloodline was a conflict that seemed to be resolved at the end, when they both were content with Grayson saying that they didn't need to have kids. But then we get a mind-boggling epilogue where some random widow was moved into the house next to theirs and is now having their baby, which she offered to do, so they "shared" her. Despite Reagan being gay. Excuse me? Not to mention that there was never any on-page discussion about whether Reagan actually wanted kids or not (nor do we get his thoughts on it in the epilogue), and earlier in the book Grayson didn't even bring it up because he thought Reagan wouldn't be okay with a surrogate. But the author, for some reason, still decided to make this their HEA.

Honestly, Reagan should have stayed in Melbourne when he had the chance, and I should have DNF:d after the first chapter.

I got this book free during a giveaway and thank goodness for that as I would not have wanted to waste my money on this. There is so much wrong with this story including multiple homophobic comments such as "Luckily, Reagan didn't look gay or effeminate" and being called a Drama Queen because he didn't want someone touching him without his consent. There are also some seriously misogynistic comments such as:

"Grayson...assumed getting a male mate would include mostly logical conversation. But here he was, and it was obvious he wasn't missing out on all the whiney wife bullsh1t."

"How am I meant to have kids with you, huh? Unless you suddenly grow a pu**y, what am I meant to even do with you?" Is that seriously all the women in this pack are good for? Breeding?

Honestly, Reagan should have stayed gone after their third act break up as Grayson is the freaking worst. He's as bad as his fellow pack mate and alpha, Marcus but believes himself to be so much better.

DNF @ 49%

I got this because it was free on Kindle Amazon. I've been going through a slump lately, as in I've been wanting to read books, but nothing sounds interesting enough to hold my attention more than a few chapters. Saw this, looked like a short quick read, wasn't expecting anything good from it -- but holy hell, this was bad.

× This book needed an editor. The number of punctuation mistakes is ridiculous. There was also a conversation, where the characters were talking about something and it was like the entire thing was dropped within a sentence.

× Reagan is stupid and doesn't question anything beyond "where am I and what happened?" He also acts very nonchalant when these people just reveal they're shapeshifters. Isn't worried and doesn't consider running away when no one is watching him.

× "Magic" genes. Wtf. We're dealing with one of our main characters who is trying to become a doctor and the shapeshifting aspect is literally described as "magical genes". I can not! This was so hilarious and dumb to me.

× The side eye I'm giving this book for the way it treats women and people not in straight relationships isn't even a side eye. It's a full on glare. The only accomplishment women have in the pack are being doctors (something only one women has accomplished). What do all the other women do?And let me get this straight, if someone in the pack can't find their mate (of the opposite sex) they "settle" and go out to be in relationships with those of same sex?? I'm sorry...what?! And Omegas have no real purpose beyond...what, breeding? They rarely have mates but are crucial to the pack (which I'm assuming is to be used for breeding). Gross.

× So this book likes to body type Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. Alphas are all tall and muscular while omegas are thin and fragile, and betas are somewhere in the middle. They proceed to say this is because they take after their parents. It's all their genetics. Not their diet, not how much/little they exercise, no health related things, nope. Just all genetics. That must suck not being able to have some control over your body.

× Sex was so lackluster and boring. Also cringey. I felt like I reading about two teenagers who can't keep their hormones in check.

Ugh. Sorry, but this just wasn't for me.

This is a male/male romance. I always enjoy reading about romances that are not straight couples. It seems less done to death and I enjoy the new perspective. I am pro gay rights (no this is not a political forum so your disagreement can be kept to yourself if you have one) so I enjoy seeing other people acknowledge the love of people that are not the majority. (please no one take this offensively I seriously mean no offense). Anyway the love story is sweet and erotic all at once, hard to do for sure. its a continuing story line/plot with each book having a new couple but a continuing plot as all the alphas find their mates. i look forward to seeing how grayson bringing about change and Reagan being a catalyst to big things progresses.

Silly.

I finished this book so I could review it. I'll likely not read any more of this series. The fact that people shift into wolves becomes the most believable detail in the book when paired with the situational events, reactions, and dialogue. The first sex scene made me cringe and laugh out loud. HAIR GEL?!?