Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Jared is single and has made it known that he will never get involved with another shifter. His last try with that was exceptionally bad and he is completely off limits to all shifters. When Jared meets Nathan, he can’t hide his attraction, but he refuses to engage another arrogant, overbearing shifter.
Nathan is committed to his pack and he’s committed to being single. He’s confident and knows that humans are attracted to him and he has no problems hooking up with them often. He often specifically pursues humans as the chance of forming a bond with one is substantially less. However, when Jared is thrust into his life, every single thing changes.
While Nathan is chasing down a rogue shifter, his scents get crossed and Jared’s neck meets his teeth. The men are then forced to stick close together until the next full moon, a full twenty-eight days, to see exactly what may happen to Jared. While Nathan wasn’t expecting any of this, he certainly wasn’t counting on the crazy level of attraction and bond that is in full force between him and Jared. But the full moon is approaching and there are things coming that could potentially change everything once again.
For this week’s Genre challenge, it’s a shifter book for me. It’s not that I haven’t read any shifter books, but I’m still looking for the one that will astound me with a great balance between shifting as well as the relationship. This book was good. There were certain areas that worked much better for me, but the overall story didn’t completely blow me away.
What worked extremely well with this book were the bonded feelings between Jared and Nathan. To back it up a bit, the story takes place in England and this is a world where humans co exist with wolf shifters. There isn’t a tremendous amount of world building. We do know that there is a law stating that all new bites have to be registered and breaking this law could result in incarceration or death to the shifter.
Nathan gets himself in this situation with Jared, he panics, and he makes a choice that leads to further choices as he tries to cover up what’s happened. This part was completely entertaining to me in the almost comical lengths that Nathan is driven to in order to conceal mistake number one. Jared isn’t as amused. The focus of the story gets narrowed down to Jared and Nathan. The main question here is whether Jared will become a shifter at the full moon and whether their bond will remain as there are several variables that could play out. So they wait it out–together–in close quarters with Nathan’s enzymes running through Jared and once they touch they cannot keep their hands off of each other. This area was well written as these guys feel physical pain when they are not near each other and when they touch they can’t seem to make themselves stop.
The overall larger arc of the story didn’t play out quite as well for me. Nathan’s pack is explained in a largely unemotional way and while Nathan respects the hierarchy, he seemed to just be a worker in a larger pack and the interactions didn’t add much to the story for me. There’s also the story line with rogue shifters and I wasn’t impressed with what I saw as a lack of support shown from Nathan’s pack. This area also had a few holes for me as threads were opened up but then not tied off with a resolution. As far as actual shifting, I thought there was going to be some here when Nathan half shifted early on. But that wasn’t to be as there was minimal shifting with just mainly images of claws and teeth shown.
So this book would get a recommendation if you are looking for that bonded feel with two guys who cannot keep their hands off of each other. But as far as shifting and world building and what it’s really like inside the mind of a shifter, for that I will keep looking.
This review is part of our September Reading Challenge Month for Genre Week! Leave a relevant comment below and you will be entered to win a fabulous prize from Less Than Three Press. Three lucky winners will each receive a selection of print books. Commenters will also be entered to win our amazing grand prize sponsored by Dreamspinner Press (a loaded Kindle fire filled with DSP books!). You can get more information on our Challenge Month here, and more details on Genre Week here. And be sure to check out our prize post for more about the awesome prizes!
This book is not calling to me, but I do thank you for the review, Michelle.
You’re welcome.
Thanks for a nice review. I’m not a shifter fan but I have read some great ones, like the Thirds series from Charlie Cochet or the Tales Of The Harker Pack Series from Tara Lain.
Thanks Cyntia. I am caught up with THIRDS and there’s definitely a lot to like there.
This is a new title to me and an author I’ve only seen but not read, so I’m glad to learn about this one. I wouldn’t say I’m a huge shifter fan, as in I reach for them as soon as I find out it has shifters, but I’ve enjoyed quite a few by authors I really enjoy. I wish this had been the one to wow you, Michelle, but I can definitely see why it wasn’t. I know for some people, the main relationship is of primary concern, but I really do need the whole storyline to work for that wow to happen, too. I don’t think I’ll be adding it to my list, but I’m glad to hear there are good things about Jacobs’ writing.
I would still be open to trying something from this author in the future. Thanks for your thoughts, Carolyn.
Thanks for the review, Michelle! I like strong world building, so this one doesn’t sound like it would be for me.
Hey Jen. There is minimal world building here so it then wouldn’t be a good match if that’s what you’re looking for. Thanks!
I admit that it is a bit difficult to find a very good world build in MM shifter world. To be honest, I found more satisfying shifter books in MF :(. Thanks for the review, Michelle
Thanks for your comment, Ami.
So sorry the book did not work for you, Michelle. It sounds good to me, though. I have read other books by Annabelle, and enjoyed them a lot. I’ll keep this one in my TBR list. Thank you for the review!
There were aspects that did work for me and if you’ve liked other books by the author certainly give it a try. Thanks for your comment.
I saw shifter and I got stuck on the one word, lol. I love shifter stories. I haven’t read this one yet but I’ve had my eye on it. Thank you for the review =)
You’re welcome! It’s always great to know what you like.
I don’t necessarily seek out shifters…like BDSM books, I’m more interested in the device as a way to develop the dynamic between characters. So, I don’t know if this would be my first pick…
Thanks Trix.
I usually like Annabelle Jacobs but I don’t think I’ve read anything of hers that’s paranormal. Hopefully you’ll find the shifter book you’ve been searching for (and share it with us). 🙂
I will most certainly do that! Thanks, Barbra.
I read this one a while back and generally agree with you. Thanks for your review.
Thanks for your comment, Toni.
I enjoy shifter stories overall, but I prefer them to have rich world building like Charlie Cochet’s THIRDS. Thanks for your review.
I also enjoy and often search out shifter stories, but I want world building too. The ‘mistake of errors’ does sound pretty funny, so this is a definite ‘maybe’ for me.
I picked this one up on KU a couple of months ago on a whim and started reading with few expectations – and ended up really enjoying it. I agree with what you mention about limited world building, but in some ways I kind of liked the fact that this was simply the ordinary world of contemporary London – where there just happened to be shifter packs!
I have read and loved books by Annabelle Jacobs but i haven’t read this one so thank you for the review.
This sounds like a fun one, and I do like Annabelle Jacobs, so it’s going on the list. Thanks for your review! Good luck finding the ultimate shifter book. 😀
It’s really hard to find shifter books with decent worldbuilding, sadly. I’m sorry this one didn’t quite work for you.