Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: First person from both the hero and heroine (probably more from the heroine)
When mains are first on page together: Chapter 11 of 81 for them to truly be together on page (It felt like forever to me)
Cliffhanger: Yes and as of this review, the next book is not out yet.
Epilogue: No
Format: bought audiobook (audible)

Should I read in order?
This is the first book of William’s The Tether Series so start here, but yes read in order as this is the beginning of the story and it ends on a cliffhanger.

Basic plot:
Willow is having dreams of a man who can read her thoughts, and is eventually pulled into his dimension.

Give this a try if you want:
- Fantasy romance (split between a contemporary Earth and a fantasy world with mixed technology)
- heroine describes herself as thick (though it’s not mentioned or talked about much)
- one room at the inn (not a big part)
-

celibate hero – it’s been 6 months

- hero can’t abide being touched by anyone
- tethered mates (fated!)
- telepathy – they can hear each other’s thoughts and talk in their minds to each other
- pets – both hero and heroine get wolves they connect with
- mid steam – 3 full scenes but they are towards the end of the book and might feel like a slower burn

Ages:
- Hero is 112, didn’t catch heroine but want to guess mid to late 20s?

First line:
The gun is not my enemy.

My thoughts:
I wanted to love this one, but just never got full invested in Willow and Caz as a couple.

This one felt pretty slow to me – and I get that could just be me because it’s fantasy and I don’t usually read a ton of fantasy. I know they can be a bit slow, time spent on world building, the relationship slowly progressing and maybe ending on a cliffhanger and taking multiple books to complete. But the world building and relationship growth didn’t grab me so it felt even slower than what it was. I found myself wanting to start something else but told myself to stick it through to the end.

I did like some parts towards the end more, so I’m glad I did. The steam here was by far my favorite part, and the only time I really felt the mains were connecting (ahhhh, figuratively of course). In between that, I felt like they just kept pushing each other away, pushing each other apart. Trying to keep themselves separated and I wanted them together more and want to be together. I feel like they really seemed to hone in on them being apart being the answer to everything when I don’t see how it would keep either of them safe. Or even why the heroine would want to go back to her life on Earth.

There’s a bit of mystery going on around their cold tether and the danger to them regarding it. It’s so rare they can’t get good answers. I felt the ending revelations were kind of a let down. I also wished there had been more of a build up to the heroine being able to touch the heroine. Sure, it took forever, but I wanted more of a...gut wrenching moment about it. Maybe more from his mind wanting and longing for her to touch him?

So I am not sure if I will continue this series. I’d consider it. I did like parts of this book, but I wasn’t in to the world building here or the society structure necessarily. So I think I’d like to try a different one of William’s books and see if I like that one more.

World building

- There is a link between the hero’s world and Earth.
- People have been linked through the two worlds and traveled back and forth (if they are a tethered mate.)
- Cold tethers have to be together or they die
- Cold tethers are much more rare than a regular tether.
- In a cold tether, the two mate’s mind and body are instantly drawn to each other.
- Their senses are heightened.
- When separated they have great pain and misery.
- Something hunts cold tethers for their bond, joy, and love and sucks them dry.
- The people in the hero's world can drink potions to keep themselves young

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- the heroine’s twin brother went missing while traveling 2 years ago
- abusive relationship
- scenes of alcohol, weed/bloom, and anti-depressant and other drug usage
- murder and gun violence on page
- remembrance of heroine’s mother ‘losing her mind’ and becoming suicidal when she was 3
- child rape – mentioned of happening to a side character and scenes of interactions with a character that committed it
- attempted rape on page
- forced drugging on page of heroine
- racism on page experienced by the heroine

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex: 

Hero pulls out and has been celibate for 6 months

Chapter 49 of 81 – kiss
Chapter 64 of 81 – kiss
Chapter 65 of 81 – 🔥 oral for her, doggy style, oral for her to finish at the cabin in the woods
”Turn over,” he commands, after wiping his come off my back with a towel.
“What?”
“Turn onto your back.”
“I thought we were finished.”
He cocks a brow. “Did you finish?”
I start to tell him no, but he grabs my hips and drags me towards the edge of the bed. To his knees he drops.
Chapter 70 of 81 – 🔥 fingering for her, counter sex in the armory, then he picks her up and holds her to fuck her, light praise, light holding/hand necklace, makes her beg
Her fingers comb through my hair and I reel her in by the hips, my tongue colliding with hers. She reaches down, groping my dick through my pants and I groan into her mouth, "Oh, your touch."
I groan, "Fuck, Willow, how am I so weak for it?" I unzip my jeans and lower them
Chapter 74 of 81 – 🔥 telepathy sex – mutual masturbation
”I can’t stop thinking about you, Willow.” His words make my heart hammer in my chest. I feel myself lowering my guard, anticipating his next words.
“Will you do me a favor?”
“What?” I wonder, as if bored.
“Slide your fingers into your panties and play with yourself.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“I’m dead serious.”
I fidget in the bed, then shake my head. “No. Why should I?”
“I want to try something.”
“Well, whatever it is, I’m not doing it.”
Caz is quiet again, and I think he’s not going to say much else, but then I feel a sensation down below and I squeeze my thighs together gasping.
“What the hell are you doing?” I whisper.
“You felt that, aye?”