A review by powerlibrarian
Alpha by Jasinda Wilder

3.0

This book has such an amazing premise, but it kind of falls flat. I wasn’t expecting it to be basically 50 Shades of Grey, but it really was. That said -- the writing was a lot better than the EL James book (I only read the first), and the plot made more sense than that one. I still wished that we’d gotten a bit better characterization. It doesn’t make sense how they fall in love, because not much is going on. I need a three-dimensional heroine to relate to, but we don’t get into her head enough for me to understand her. She’s clearly money motivated, because she needs to support her sick mother and her brother, yet she’s studying to be a social worker. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, BUT I would have liked for some reason why she is so driven to be a social worker, when clearly money is her main focus. What happened in her past to make her want to help others in this way? Being a social worker is incredibly emotionally taxing and you don’t make that much money. Honestly, her career is of so little importance to the book, that she should have been doing her MBA. These degrees are incredibly expensive, but with a long-term return, and it would have supported her character backstory as being a “supporter” for her family. It also would explain why the heck she just gives up her dreams the second a rich man shows up to sweep her off her feet. A person with a calling to be a social worker would not do that. #EndOfRant
There’s a twist at the end that’s quite shocking (the obligatory scene that “breaks up” the couple), but we literally get no time with them apart before she forgives him for a, in my opinion, quite heinous act, with very little apology on his end.
All this said, the sexy stuff is really quite sexy in this book. Even if that’s all there really is to this story. 3 stars.