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js_reads's review against another edition
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
romancejunkie1025's review
5.0
so freaking sexy and beyond sweet. I just loved seeing Noah and Nix finally get their HEA and find a way to be together once and for all. cannot wait for what's next in the series.
hycinthos's review
1.0
yikes. i'm all for trashy romances but this was just bad. the pace was inconsistent, noah was a walking cliche, and the spelling & grammar was questionable at times. when nix said "let's don't make it about money" i took pause, but i tapped out when nix's homophobic dad showed up out of the blue (like, honestly? the man doesn't see his son for years, but the moment nix is open about being with another man his dad appears) claiming he wants to make amends because he found god.
the best part is when noah starts licking nix's nipple while he's asleep after it had just been established that nix was suppressing his sexual desires and wasn't ready to be with noah. it's ok though! nix woke up and they had mind-blowing sex. by the way, the nipple licking was described as "[...] tiny nub, making sure to molest it as thoroughly as possible" which is hilarious. talk about a lack of self-awareness.
the best part is when noah starts licking nix's nipple while he's asleep after it had just been established that nix was suppressing his sexual desires and wasn't ready to be with noah. it's ok though! nix woke up and they had mind-blowing sex. by the way, the nipple licking was described as "[...] tiny nub, making sure to molest it as thoroughly as possible" which is hilarious. talk about a lack of self-awareness.
audiobookmel's review
3.0
My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.
I had mixed feelings about reading (or well, listening) to this book. There has been something going on between Nix and Noah for a while now. There is definitely a connection between the two. However, Nix has never, not at a single point in this series, shown any interest in guys. Noah is openly gay and very proud of it. He is almost a cliche, in his pink and glitter. Nix, however, has shown no interest in guys, even though he knows that Noah is his mate. This bothered me. I didn’t like the idea of pairing a homosexual and heterosexual together as bonded mates. That just seems wrong to me, so I almost skipped this book. I’m glad I didn’t in part, because that is not what was going on here.
Nix has always been gay, however, his father is a homophobic prick. He knew his son was gay, even though Nix never came out about it. Nix’s father threaten to torture and kill any partner that Nix choose, so Nix decided that it was better to be single than to take the chance of his father finding out about it. Even after he had been declared dead by the military when he was turned, he still kept his distance, just in case. Seems a little sketchy to me, considering the security that surrounds him, but okay, I’ll buy it for now.
Early in the story, Noah is attacked by a tiger shifter who woke up in the hospital and was disoriented. Nix all of a sudden becomes very protective, which he should because Noah is his mate. They go through the recovery and Noah goes back to Nix’s room for further recovery. They have sex before they discuss Nix’s issues. I have a problem with this. I, personally, would want to know why I had been rejected so much, not only publicly but privately, before I was willing to have sex with someone, especially since no one knew that Nix really was gay. Not to mention that this isn’t the first time in this series where we have injured people who are still recovering have sex. At least there was some recovery time in this one. In a previous book, it was right after a fight scene.
Lastly, it comes out that Noah is a halfling. He is half human and half fae. He has some powers which make him more than human. Personally, I’m not really sure what was wrong with Noah being just an ordinary human, but he has powers. When he comes out to the entire group with this information, Nix doesn’t take it well and throws a fit. Noah storms off and is kidnapped. There is some drama and I won’t give away any more just in case you want to read this story.
I don’t think you need to read story to continue with the series. I am glad that I read it because I was concerned about forcing a hetero and homosexual together, which is not the case. I do feel like this story could’ve been much better flushed out. At only two hours long (105 pages), it doesn’t have a lot of time to cover a full romance. I think a romance as complicated as this one needed a longer story to cover it all.
Narration
Once again, I think Marguerite Gavin does a great job with the narration of this series. She is a joy to listen to. This book, being an M/M romance, was mostly male voices and she handled them all with ease. She is a narrator that I love and will always recommend.
**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
I had mixed feelings about reading (or well, listening) to this book. There has been something going on between Nix and Noah for a while now. There is definitely a connection between the two. However, Nix has never, not at a single point in this series, shown any interest in guys. Noah is openly gay and very proud of it. He is almost a cliche, in his pink and glitter. Nix, however, has shown no interest in guys, even though he knows that Noah is his mate. This bothered me. I didn’t like the idea of pairing a homosexual and heterosexual together as bonded mates. That just seems wrong to me, so I almost skipped this book. I’m glad I didn’t in part, because that is not what was going on here.
Nix has always been gay, however, his father is a homophobic prick. He knew his son was gay, even though Nix never came out about it. Nix’s father threaten to torture and kill any partner that Nix choose, so Nix decided that it was better to be single than to take the chance of his father finding out about it. Even after he had been declared dead by the military when he was turned, he still kept his distance, just in case. Seems a little sketchy to me, considering the security that surrounds him, but okay, I’ll buy it for now.
Early in the story, Noah is attacked by a tiger shifter who woke up in the hospital and was disoriented. Nix all of a sudden becomes very protective, which he should because Noah is his mate. They go through the recovery and Noah goes back to Nix’s room for further recovery. They have sex before they discuss Nix’s issues. I have a problem with this. I, personally, would want to know why I had been rejected so much, not only publicly but privately, before I was willing to have sex with someone, especially since no one knew that Nix really was gay. Not to mention that this isn’t the first time in this series where we have injured people who are still recovering have sex. At least there was some recovery time in this one. In a previous book, it was right after a fight scene.
Lastly, it comes out that Noah is a halfling. He is half human and half fae. He has some powers which make him more than human. Personally, I’m not really sure what was wrong with Noah being just an ordinary human, but he has powers. When he comes out to the entire group with this information, Nix doesn’t take it well and throws a fit. Noah storms off and is kidnapped. There is some drama and I won’t give away any more just in case you want to read this story.
I don’t think you need to read story to continue with the series. I am glad that I read it because I was concerned about forcing a hetero and homosexual together, which is not the case. I do feel like this story could’ve been much better flushed out. At only two hours long (105 pages), it doesn’t have a lot of time to cover a full romance. I think a romance as complicated as this one needed a longer story to cover it all.
Narration
Once again, I think Marguerite Gavin does a great job with the narration of this series. She is a joy to listen to. This book, being an M/M romance, was mostly male voices and she handled them all with ease. She is a narrator that I love and will always recommend.
**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
wendylynnm's review
4.0
3.5 stars
I'm so glad that Noah finally got his wolf, it was a long time coming. With that said I can also say I wanted more. I wanted this novella to be a full book, and as good as it was I thought it was rushed with so many things thrown in at once. Phoenix rejecting Noah was heartbreaking when it was clear that he wanted the other man and no one at the compound had a problem with them being together. Struggling to overcome his past only made Nix push his future away until it was almost too late.
My only hope is that this couple has more page time in the next books in the series and Nix chills out just a little.
Book provided by Netgalley
I'm so glad that Noah finally got his wolf, it was a long time coming. With that said I can also say I wanted more. I wanted this novella to be a full book, and as good as it was I thought it was rushed with so many things thrown in at once. Phoenix rejecting Noah was heartbreaking when it was clear that he wanted the other man and no one at the compound had a problem with them being together. Struggling to overcome his past only made Nix push his future away until it was almost too late.
My only hope is that this couple has more page time in the next books in the series and Nix chills out just a little.
Book provided by Netgalley
cranberrytarts's review
3.0
There's a lot of angst packed into this short story. Nix and Noah are mates, but Nix has been avoiding Noah and pushing him away for some time, because he grew up with an uber religious father and he doesn't want to accept he's gay. He's fine with being bi, but to come out as an openly gay person is hard for him.
Noah figures if he can just prove he's good enough, Nix will finally mate-claim him. When an old enemy of the pack suddenly strikes again, Noah is caught in the crossfire..and Nix realizes he's wasted precious time.
I've been reading these books intermittently and out of order. I feel like I've missed some major things by not reading all the books, but I wasn't so lost I didn't feel like I could keep going with the story. I liked both Nix and Noah separately, but together they needed a lot of work. Because of Nix's upbringing, it was understandable why he had such a hard time accepting his mate was a man. That didn't excuse his terrible behavior toward Noah, however, and I admit there were several times I wanted to smack him.
Noah was openly gay and more than willing to mate with Noah, but I wish he'd been a bit more confident in himself. That Nix made him feel like he had to prove himself - be better than he was - before he'd be a good enough mate really made me angry, at both of them.
In this case, I think the sex came at a detriment to the romance. When they were together they were having sex, and it felt like that was all there was between them. We saw flashes of the couple they should be, but there wasn't enough focus on their emotional connection as there needed to be to make their One True Love believable.
Ultimately, I think it was the page count that really hurt this story. If they'd had a bit more time to develop their relationship, I think it would have been more believable.
For all that, this wasn't a bad read. I easily fell into the story and, like I said, I liked both Noah and Nix. I just didn't completely buy their romance.
Noah figures if he can just prove he's good enough, Nix will finally mate-claim him. When an old enemy of the pack suddenly strikes again, Noah is caught in the crossfire..and Nix realizes he's wasted precious time.
I've been reading these books intermittently and out of order. I feel like I've missed some major things by not reading all the books, but I wasn't so lost I didn't feel like I could keep going with the story. I liked both Nix and Noah separately, but together they needed a lot of work. Because of Nix's upbringing, it was understandable why he had such a hard time accepting his mate was a man. That didn't excuse his terrible behavior toward Noah, however, and I admit there were several times I wanted to smack him.
Noah was openly gay and more than willing to mate with Noah, but I wish he'd been a bit more confident in himself. That Nix made him feel like he had to prove himself - be better than he was - before he'd be a good enough mate really made me angry, at both of them.
In this case, I think the sex came at a detriment to the romance. When they were together they were having sex, and it felt like that was all there was between them. We saw flashes of the couple they should be, but there wasn't enough focus on their emotional connection as there needed to be to make their One True Love believable.
Ultimately, I think it was the page count that really hurt this story. If they'd had a bit more time to develop their relationship, I think it would have been more believable.
For all that, this wasn't a bad read. I easily fell into the story and, like I said, I liked both Noah and Nix. I just didn't completely buy their romance.
melaniebopp's review
2.0
This is a partial review! Full review available on All About Romance - http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=10905
think I picked this novella up because of the interesting mix of paranormal tropes - we have bond (soul) mates, shapeshifters, the fae, and more, all packed into a nice, short novella. Fans of the Alpha Pack are practically rabid in their enjoyment of the whole series, so I was excited to see a M/M entry into what has been an M/F world. The problem is that all those tropes combined with a whole boatload of gay stereotypes just doesn’t work.
Noah Brooks knows and loves his fated bondmate, Phoenix Monroe. Unfortunately for Noah, Nix is determined to ignore their bond - he is strictly a ladies’ man, thank you very much. But that doesn’t stop either of them from caring. And it certainly doesn’t help when Noah, a nurse in a community full of shifters and other paranormal citizens, is attacked by a confused patient who shifts into a tiger and mauls him.
While this certainly brings out Nix’s protective side, it doesn’t take care of the underlying issues. Nix’s father was violently homophobic, and although he’s no longer in his life, Nix can’t help but bring those issues with him, and keep his own desires a secret. That doesn’t work so well once Noah’s hurt, though, since Nix feels the need to actually have them live together. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s an evil lurking around that is definitely interested in taking Noah away.
The basic premise is good. The problem is, everything happens so quickly. The end result is that instead of feeling action-packed or romantic, it book just feels rushed. I feel like I blinked and Nix got over most of his issues, then turned the page and Noah was upset about something again, and then Nix’s issues were all back in full force a couple of paragraphs later. It’s confusing.
think I picked this novella up because of the interesting mix of paranormal tropes - we have bond (soul) mates, shapeshifters, the fae, and more, all packed into a nice, short novella. Fans of the Alpha Pack are practically rabid in their enjoyment of the whole series, so I was excited to see a M/M entry into what has been an M/F world. The problem is that all those tropes combined with a whole boatload of gay stereotypes just doesn’t work.
Noah Brooks knows and loves his fated bondmate, Phoenix Monroe. Unfortunately for Noah, Nix is determined to ignore their bond - he is strictly a ladies’ man, thank you very much. But that doesn’t stop either of them from caring. And it certainly doesn’t help when Noah, a nurse in a community full of shifters and other paranormal citizens, is attacked by a confused patient who shifts into a tiger and mauls him.
While this certainly brings out Nix’s protective side, it doesn’t take care of the underlying issues. Nix’s father was violently homophobic, and although he’s no longer in his life, Nix can’t help but bring those issues with him, and keep his own desires a secret. That doesn’t work so well once Noah’s hurt, though, since Nix feels the need to actually have them live together. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s an evil lurking around that is definitely interested in taking Noah away.
The basic premise is good. The problem is, everything happens so quickly. The end result is that instead of feeling action-packed or romantic, it book just feels rushed. I feel like I blinked and Nix got over most of his issues, then turned the page and Noah was upset about something again, and then Nix’s issues were all back in full force a couple of paragraphs later. It’s confusing.
hyacinthos's review
1.0
yikes. i'm all for trashy romances but this was just bad. the pace was inconsistent, noah was a walking cliche, and the spelling & grammar was questionable at times. when nix said "let's don't make it about money" i took pause, but i tapped out when nix's homophobic dad showed up out of the blue (like, honestly? the man doesn't see his son for years, but the moment nix is open about being with another man his dad appears) claiming he wants to make amends because he found god.
the best part is when noah starts licking nix's nipple while he's asleep after it had just been established that nix was suppressing his sexual desires and wasn't ready to be with noah. it's ok though! nix woke up and they had mind-blowing sex. by the way, the nipple licking was described as "[...] tiny nub, making sure to molest it as thoroughly as possible" which is hilarious. talk about a lack of self-awareness.
the best part is when noah starts licking nix's nipple while he's asleep after it had just been established that nix was suppressing his sexual desires and wasn't ready to be with noah. it's ok though! nix woke up and they had mind-blowing sex. by the way, the nipple licking was described as "[...] tiny nub, making sure to molest it as thoroughly as possible" which is hilarious. talk about a lack of self-awareness.
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