Rating: 1.5 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novel
Carlo Montefiore was fifteen when his father, alpha of the Montefiore pack, was killed in a tragic accident. Being the next alpha is Carlo’s birthright, but it was taken away from him by the person he most trusted when he was removed from his position at twenty years old and shipped off to California to attend college. Angelo was like a brother to Carlo. His father raised Angelo to help run the pack, to help Carlo, but now Angelo is alpha, and Carlo is alone.
Carlo has been in California for two years, but now he’s back home. Well, he’s living at his island home with Ted, his best friend and college roommate, and Joey, his oldest friend. Carlo wants no part of his birth pack and he feels betrayed and hurt. Pack politics are beyond him. He only wants to be left to live his own life with his friends.
But just because he wants to be left alone, doesn’t mean he will be. The pack wants him to return as alpha and refuses to take no for an answer. Digging up the past only brings Carlo’s old pain to the present. While dealing with Angelo and the pack, Carlo is also forced to deal with his unruly mini-pack of Joey and Ted. And when both problems collide, Carlo may have to choose between the pack and his friends in order to keep them all from being exposed to the humans next door.
I don’t even know where to start. I’m hoping the summary makes some sort of sense, because I’m still not sure what this story is about. It feels like only part of a story, but all mixed up as if the authors maybe weren’t on the same page. I finished the book even more confused than I was when I started.
First off, I’m pretty sure this story is supposed to be about Carlo and maybe his relationship with Angelo, but they weren’t in much of the book. The book mostly focused on the relationship between Joey, Ted, and humans Kevin, and Grady, which was weird overall. Back to Carlo. I found him whiny and immature, refusing to grow up and take responsibility, instead stomping off like a hurt teenager. He is only playing Alpha with Joey and Ted, when he has the potential to be so much more. Then Angelo. I felt he was overbearing and conflicted, like he couldn’t have a conversation without accusing Carlo of some wrong doing. And are they supposed to be mates? I think that was hinted at, but I’m not really sure.
So, I brought up Kevin and Grady and their strange relationship with Joey and Ted. It was so awkward and confusing. First Kevin and Grady want to be together, then they want to be with Joey and Ted, then they want to be together again. There were flashbacks of first kisses and first sexual experiences. I’m not sure what Joey and Ted’s relationship is or what it had to do with anything. It’s kind of a friends, but not really friends…acquaintances with benefits.
There are so many holes and unanswered questions in this story, I’m not even sure where to start. What was the big secret? Why did Carlo leave California? Why did he feel the need to bring Ted? What’s Ted’s story? Why is he so powerful? What is Carlo hiding? Why did he cut all of his friends off? Why did he come back to South Carolina at all? What’s going on with Angelo, and why does he keep Francesca around?
The world is lacking structure. I get the pack structure – the alpha, beta, enforcers, even the elders. I’m confused about the consultants. Why are there consultants? What exactly is their job? I get the need for the pack lawyers. Why are the elders basically running the pack? Shouldn’t it be Angelo? How does it work with Angelo in the Marines? The whole Marine lifestyle came out of left field and doesn’t really fit into the storyline. The world just feels like a big mish-mash of stuff, but no real structure.
Yeah, so I’m sad to dislike this book so much. I have been a fan of Sara York in the past, although this is the first time I’m reading any of L.E. Franks’ work. I just can’t get passed the jumbled up, confusing plot line…or lack thereof. The characters are all over the place and the world is not very structured. I expected more. I know that this book is part of a series so I’m hoping that my questions will be answered in the next book, but there are so many unresolved issues, so many holes and unanswered questions in this book a that it’s hard to say if I will read the next book or not. Sadly, I cannot recommend Prodigal Wolf by L.E. Franks and Sara York.
Cover: The highlight of this book is definitely the beautiful cover by Jared Rackler, which attracted me to this work in the first place.
