Review: Bound by Nature by Cooper Davis
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 19, 2010
The same type of cute characters Cooper Davis had in her previous novel, Boys of Summer, are again in this new novel, even if this time the genre is different, Paranormal instead of Contemporary. But even if the men involved are werewolves, nevertheless they are innocent, almost naive, and it's strange since both of them should be Alpha males, usually the strongest and toughest of the pack.Hayden and Josh are born and raised in the same small town in Wyoming but in different packs. They are both first son of their respective Alpha, and so destined to be heir the power, but like in ordinary society, even in werewolves pack there are different classes, and Hayden is from a privileged one, wealthy family and with a paved path in front of him, Ivy League college and brilliant future, where instead Josh is little more than a blue collar, with only an handsome look helping him to distinguish among the crowd. But like in an old romance of the '50, the wealthy offspring is desperately in love for the boy from the wrong side of the city, and Hayden would do everything for a simple look from his unrequited love.There is a constant change in balance between Hayden and Josh: Hayden is richer and more clever than Josh, WASP good boy next door against blue collar bad boy; Josh is apparently more "lived" and experienced than Hayden; Hayden is a strongest Alpha than Josh, but Josh is more lively. If one excels in something the other outdoes him in something else, and then there is the common ground, both 22 years old and both Alpha heir of their packs.As the swing between the two of them, there is also a swing in the timeline of the story: two storylines, one about them at 22 years old and one 5 years after. Something happened in the middle, and little by little, the first storyline give elements to the second to reveal a very dramatic truth, probably the only sad side of the story. Other than that, the story is very sweet, and very sexy: there are some sex scene between Hayden and Josh that are really good, enough detailed but not vulgar, the main feeling I had from them it was of tenderness; in it plays one other of the change of balance between Hayden and Josh, Josh can be the more experienced of things of life but when you narrow the focus on man on man love, it's Hayden the one with the knife by the handle, Josh is a total "virgin" and he needs to be lead step by step by Hayden. It's important for Hayden, it gave him strength and courage; after this experience, nor Hayden, or Josh, or the reader, has any doubt of who the real Alpha is.Again, I'd like to highlight that, even if dealing with Alpha males, and two of them actually, the story maintains a sweet and playful tone, with just the right dose of high emotional involvement, and basically all the insecurities of two young men who are facing first and true love.