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A review by cadiva
Bitten by the Alpha by Annabelle Jacobs
5.0
Best one yet! Full review to come tomorrow when I'm at the laptop.
Righty. So Cam and Gareth. I've been dying for this one (even more than Alec's story) ever since Book One and I have to say Annabelle delivered it in spades!
Alpha Cam Harly hasn't had life easy in the past 10 years, he lost his human wife in the Pack Wars, his Pack's unwanted feud with the neighbouring Primrose Hill Pack has resulted in prison for their ex Alpha and the merging of the two packs, and he's closed off his inner wolf to anything other than business.
But it's never that simple.
One of the other great things about this world setting is the lack of drama over sexuality, the pack's don't really care who hooks up with who in most cases, but in this one, the prime driver of the secondary plot revolves around an old-fashioned Alpha who has issues over wasting the chance of offspring when his daughter falls for Rachel, daughter of the neighbouring pack's Alpha and a Beta in her own right.
I really liked Rachel, who is sent off to the Regent's Park Park to get her out of the way of the temptation of her potential bond with the unflexible Alpha's daughter Sara (and I actually wouldn't mind at all a book which gives her a HEA!)
Gareth's been in love with Cam for years but, as one of his trusted Betas, he's buried those feelings deep inside. Rachel's arrival in the Pack, as he doesn't know about her relationship with Sara, brings an involuntary reaction when his wolf identifies her as a potential threat as a mate for Cam and suddenly he can't hide them any more and now his Alpha knows his secret.
I've always loved how Cam was willing to put himself above all else but he's not a martyr to his cause, he truly believes that the Pack should be first in all things. He's had love, and lost it, and he's so scared of living with the pain again that he ignores his feelings for his steadfast Beta.
Wolf shifter behaviour in this series has always fascinated me as well, Annabelle's shifters aren't driven by their animal in quite the same way as in other books I've read. Their animals are inside them, a conscious awareness which influences but which they can usually control.
But when it comes to potential bonded mates - a fairly rare occurrence - all bets are off and Gareth's wolf isn't going to passively let the chance of forever slip by. The results are unintentional but when Gareth's jealousy bursts out I have to say I was cheering inside! Then the MINE takes over and the heat ramps up!
There's a lot of emotions in this Regents Park Pack series and it works perfectly. Their wolves are emotionally driven, whether that's positive or negative, and there's all sorts of delicious tension ramping up between the two men as they continue to deal with the fall of out of Alpha Newell of the P-Pack's treacherous behaviour.
The bonding process isn't smooth either and both Cam and Gareth are stuck in a kind of limbo until, inevitably, the emotions boil over and suddenly they're sexing all over the place and I have to say, I don't think there's many shifter books I've read which are as good as Annabelle's at laying down the intensity of a mating bonded pair going for it ;)
When Cam and Gareth finally give in to their wolves while out on a full moon run, let's just say it burns up the pages and hits combustible levels. The mate bite scenes are erotic and powerfully emotional.
I really, really, really hope this isn't the end of the Regents Park Pack shifter series. I've loved every single one of the books in this setting and there's still potential for more. Luke, Jason, Will, Harry, Rachel...
#ARC kindly provided by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review
Righty. So Cam and Gareth. I've been dying for this one (even more than Alec's story) ever since Book One and I have to say Annabelle delivered it in spades!
Alpha Cam Harly hasn't had life easy in the past 10 years, he lost his human wife in the Pack Wars, his Pack's unwanted feud with the neighbouring Primrose Hill Pack has resulted in prison for their ex Alpha and the merging of the two packs, and he's closed off his inner wolf to anything other than business.
But it's never that simple.
One of the other great things about this world setting is the lack of drama over sexuality, the pack's don't really care who hooks up with who in most cases, but in this one, the prime driver of the secondary plot revolves around an old-fashioned Alpha who has issues over wasting the chance of offspring when his daughter falls for Rachel, daughter of the neighbouring pack's Alpha and a Beta in her own right.
I really liked Rachel, who is sent off to the Regent's Park Park to get her out of the way of the temptation of her potential bond with the unflexible Alpha's daughter Sara (and I actually wouldn't mind at all a book which gives her a HEA!)
Gareth's been in love with Cam for years but, as one of his trusted Betas, he's buried those feelings deep inside. Rachel's arrival in the Pack, as he doesn't know about her relationship with Sara, brings an involuntary reaction when his wolf identifies her as a potential threat as a mate for Cam and suddenly he can't hide them any more and now his Alpha knows his secret.
I've always loved how Cam was willing to put himself above all else but he's not a martyr to his cause, he truly believes that the Pack should be first in all things. He's had love, and lost it, and he's so scared of living with the pain again that he ignores his feelings for his steadfast Beta.
Wolf shifter behaviour in this series has always fascinated me as well, Annabelle's shifters aren't driven by their animal in quite the same way as in other books I've read. Their animals are inside them, a conscious awareness which influences but which they can usually control.
But when it comes to potential bonded mates - a fairly rare occurrence - all bets are off and Gareth's wolf isn't going to passively let the chance of forever slip by. The results are unintentional but when Gareth's jealousy bursts out I have to say I was cheering inside! Then the MINE takes over and the heat ramps up!
There's a lot of emotions in this Regents Park Pack series and it works perfectly. Their wolves are emotionally driven, whether that's positive or negative, and there's all sorts of delicious tension ramping up between the two men as they continue to deal with the fall of out of Alpha Newell of the P-Pack's treacherous behaviour.
The bonding process isn't smooth either and both Cam and Gareth are stuck in a kind of limbo until, inevitably, the emotions boil over and suddenly they're sexing all over the place and I have to say, I don't think there's many shifter books I've read which are as good as Annabelle's at laying down the intensity of a mating bonded pair going for it ;)
When Cam and Gareth finally give in to their wolves while out on a full moon run, let's just say it burns up the pages and hits combustible levels. The mate bite scenes are erotic and powerfully emotional.
I really, really, really hope this isn't the end of the Regents Park Pack shifter series. I've loved every single one of the books in this setting and there's still potential for more. Luke, Jason, Will, Harry, Rachel...
#ARC kindly provided by the author in return for an honest and unbiased review