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A review by the_novel_approach
Bitten by the Alpha by Annabelle Jacobs
5.0
~ 4.5 Stars ~
I started reading Bitten By the Alpha only to realize I hadn’t read the blurb and had no idea what the book was even about, other than it was alpha Cameron Harley’s story I was digging into, which is a decent indicator of my faith that Annabelle Jacobs would deliver another solid read in the Regent’s Park series. She did. This novel is one more strong addition to an already well-constructed alternate reality, and at the risk of sounding cliché, I think the series just keeps getting better.
Cam and Gareth’s story has the advantage of much of the world-building already being done in the books preceding it. Knowing the pack structure and the rules in a -verse where humans and shifters coexist, even if they don’t often commingle on page, gives Jacobs the freedom to focus on the complications of crafting a believable romance between Cam, the pack alpha, and his beta, Gareth Stone. Cam is a widower who is firmly ensconced in lingering grief over the loss of his wife, Mia, who was herself human, vowing that he will never love another woman again. Which, ultimately, turns out to be true. He has filtered, compartmentalized and locked down his emotions so effectively since her death that he isn’t able to recognize that the love he feels for his pack is different than the romantic love he may feel for Gareth—who has done a decent job himself of beating back those feelings out of self-preservation, knowing Cam can’t and won’t love him in return.
As the relationship between Cam and Gareth shifts from the platonic love of the alpha for his beta to an all-encompassing imperative to bond, it’s done in a way that is neither immediate nor comes without a host of complications, increasing the slow burn of their relationship to the nth degree. Gareth believing his love for Cam is unrequited causes its share of pain and longing, and Jacobs does an excellent job of translating that without tripping over into melodrama. There’s not an over-abundance of angst for angst’s sake, either, even though there could have easily been. The setup for a Big Misunderstanding could also have materialized in the introduction of a new character who’s been handed over to Cam for reasons I won’t spoil. But, suffice it to say she isn’t there as a convenient device to create excess anxiety between Cam and Gareth, and in fact, I ended up loving her and wouldn’t pass up the chance to read her story if Jacobs chose to write it. But, back to the relationship that changes and strengthens between Cam and Gareth, it’s a testament to the mate bond—which Cam didn’t have with Mia—that it goes beyond the soulful, spiritual human capacity to love, and adds a preternatural aspect that defies definition.
The blending of the two London packs—the Primrose Pack being absorbed by the Regent’s Park Pack after the events that had been building up with its alpha since book one of the series—offers the friction and external conflict to the internal conflict of Cam and Gareth’s bonding and how it will be dealt with in relationship to Gareth now not only being Cam’s beta but also the alpha mate. The story arc which culminates in a face-off between Cam and former alpha Stephen Newell was excellent, offered up the danger and action and tension necessary to keep me glued to my Kindle and finish the book in one sitting, and led to the turning point for the integration of the new pack members.
While Bitten By the Alpha feels like it could be a definitive period at the end of the series’ sentence, I hope it isn’t. I’m more than greedy for more from these characters and the world where they exist.
Reviewed by Lisa for The Novel Approach
I started reading Bitten By the Alpha only to realize I hadn’t read the blurb and had no idea what the book was even about, other than it was alpha Cameron Harley’s story I was digging into, which is a decent indicator of my faith that Annabelle Jacobs would deliver another solid read in the Regent’s Park series. She did. This novel is one more strong addition to an already well-constructed alternate reality, and at the risk of sounding cliché, I think the series just keeps getting better.
Cam and Gareth’s story has the advantage of much of the world-building already being done in the books preceding it. Knowing the pack structure and the rules in a -verse where humans and shifters coexist, even if they don’t often commingle on page, gives Jacobs the freedom to focus on the complications of crafting a believable romance between Cam, the pack alpha, and his beta, Gareth Stone. Cam is a widower who is firmly ensconced in lingering grief over the loss of his wife, Mia, who was herself human, vowing that he will never love another woman again. Which, ultimately, turns out to be true. He has filtered, compartmentalized and locked down his emotions so effectively since her death that he isn’t able to recognize that the love he feels for his pack is different than the romantic love he may feel for Gareth—who has done a decent job himself of beating back those feelings out of self-preservation, knowing Cam can’t and won’t love him in return.
As the relationship between Cam and Gareth shifts from the platonic love of the alpha for his beta to an all-encompassing imperative to bond, it’s done in a way that is neither immediate nor comes without a host of complications, increasing the slow burn of their relationship to the nth degree. Gareth believing his love for Cam is unrequited causes its share of pain and longing, and Jacobs does an excellent job of translating that without tripping over into melodrama. There’s not an over-abundance of angst for angst’s sake, either, even though there could have easily been. The setup for a Big Misunderstanding could also have materialized in the introduction of a new character who’s been handed over to Cam for reasons I won’t spoil. But, suffice it to say she isn’t there as a convenient device to create excess anxiety between Cam and Gareth, and in fact, I ended up loving her and wouldn’t pass up the chance to read her story if Jacobs chose to write it. But, back to the relationship that changes and strengthens between Cam and Gareth, it’s a testament to the mate bond—which Cam didn’t have with Mia—that it goes beyond the soulful, spiritual human capacity to love, and adds a preternatural aspect that defies definition.
The blending of the two London packs—the Primrose Pack being absorbed by the Regent’s Park Pack after the events that had been building up with its alpha since book one of the series—offers the friction and external conflict to the internal conflict of Cam and Gareth’s bonding and how it will be dealt with in relationship to Gareth now not only being Cam’s beta but also the alpha mate. The story arc which culminates in a face-off between Cam and former alpha Stephen Newell was excellent, offered up the danger and action and tension necessary to keep me glued to my Kindle and finish the book in one sitting, and led to the turning point for the integration of the new pack members.
While Bitten By the Alpha feels like it could be a definitive period at the end of the series’ sentence, I hope it isn’t. I’m more than greedy for more from these characters and the world where they exist.
Reviewed by Lisa for The Novel Approach