Review: A Hot Mess From Start to Finish!!!
Rating: 1 out of 5
Date: 04 2, 2014
I've never wanted to find an author and punch them as much as I did after having read this book.  I get the sense JJ Black had what is admittedly an interesting story to tell, and just sat down and started typing.  This book was so poorly outlined (if it was at all) that what is presented is more akin to a stream-of-conscience series of events rather than a coherent, cohesive storyline.  The inconsistencies and continuity issues in Accepting the Alpha had me flipping back and forth through the book so much it gave me whiplash.  As I stated before, the premise of the book is interesting (even though some of the plot lines and characters are a bit cartoonish), and the spelling and grammar are tight with few if any errors.  But that's really where the praise for this work ends.  I could write at length about the inconsistency issues (mainly because every other page conflicted, contradicted or made no sense with what came before it), but here are the highlights:- Right off the bat we learn that Eli is a straight man who's never had sex with another man before...ever.  He meets his mate, Kellan, and sparks fly.  Fine.  Great.  I've read plenty of m/m shifter books to buy into that premise.  What I don't get is in his first EVER sexual encounter with another man Eli is basically raped, and is just honky-dory-OK with it afterwards.  No deep reflection afterwards...no easing into the act...just, BOOM, butt sex!  Really really violent butt sex. Seriously?!?- As another reviewer pointed out, in Eli's phone conversation with Carl he keeps mentioning the look in Carl's eyes and other facial features.  It's a phone call!!!  On a phone!!!  The error is so blatant I just can't imagine how any competent editor overlooked it.- The confrontation with Carl at Jai's apartment was just a sequence of events I couldn't make heads or tails of.  Noah (Eli's brother) is apparently lying half-dead on the floor (other reviewers have already pointed out the inconsistency in the timeline of Noah's injuries, so I won't go there) , but apparently Eli and Kellan take a break to cuddle and Eli further decides it'd be a great time for a shower (Note the author never writes about Noah being taken out of the apartment)?!?  Next, what seemed like half of Kellan's pack shows up to back up Eli when Carl arrives, yet literally minutes later none of them are around to witness Carl's escape and kidnapping of Eli (again, the author never lets us know what happened to all these people)?!?  And finally the author makes a show earlier in the book of relaying Eli's time in the Marines, and his successful security business.  Yet he's cowed (and ultimately subdued) by a "twink" half his size?!?  This section of the book made up the bulk of the page count, and it just gave me a headache trying to keep track and make sense of what I was reading.- With all my flipping back and forth I was able to tell (pretty easily) that the entire book takes place over 6 days.  Yet near the end of the story Kellan keeps going on and on about the WEEKS he's gotten to know Eli.  This isn't a long book.  Someone should have noticed this.  This oversight is either (again) incompetence on the editor's part, or laziness on the author's.I stated that I wanted to punch the author, but the person I suppose I'm really upset with is myself.  I downloaded the sample and enjoyed the first few pages.  And after having looked at the ratings, I decided to take a chance.  I wish I'd taken a moment to really read the reviews that had been posted.  I now notice that even the 3-star reviews are pretty critical of the book (which begs the question "why give it a 3-star rating", but that's a fight for another day).  At $5 (Kindle version) this book is EXTREMELY overpriced.  If the author is planning to continue this story in a series, then some serious attention needs to be paid to his/her sequencing and timeline in future installments.  As things stand I would caution anyone from buying this book.So very very NOT recommended!!!