Review: Breaking the Storm
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 18, 2013
My Thoughts:I am torn in my feelings about Breaking the Storm. There are parts that I enjoyed and parts that I didn't.What I Liked...I enjoyed the character dynamics in the story. The easy flow between Stormy and her cousin, Light and between their mothers, as crazy as they were, was even and easy. I really liked the premise of the story as well. A man coming back to claim his woman after years apart. What's not to love about an alpha male on the "I'm coming to take back what's mine" war path. Loved it!Now, What I Didn't Like...My first and second "dislikes" are connected. First, the use of "slut"...hated it. I ground my teeth every time Knox said that he was going to make Stormy his slut. He only said it twice, but that was two times too many for me. I get it...he was making a point with Stormy. Telling her without telling her that she was his and would always be his. But, I'm thinking "slut" wasn't the best "term of endearment" that he could have used to gain her submission and acquiescence. The way he said it was not sexy but rather demeaning, in my opinion.Moving on...the second dislike for me was the insertion of the D/s theme in the story. Again, I get the mechanics of it but it just didn't fit well for me. I have read plenty of BDSM romances and I am in no means a prude but the theme in this story did not feel organic to me. Light and Stormy's mothers were Dommes and Knox and Ryker were Doms. Why? *shrug*...I didn't get it. And honestly, other than Knox telling Stormy where to be and what to wear, I didn't get his Domness. He was alpha for sure, but not a Dom. One of the basic tenets of a D/s relationship is trust. Trust is always established between a Dom and a sub and there was zero trust between Stormy and Knox. Knox nothing to establish it. He tested Stormy's limits but those limits were based on her desire for him and not any trust between them.>>>There is a slight spoiler in the next section so please skip ahead if you don't want to be spoiled.<<<Moving on...again...Stormy *sigh, what can I say about Stormy? I was firmly put her in the too stupid to live category on a couple of instances. She just was clueless when it came to the Otherness around her. Again, I get it...she was a hybrid and was more interested in being human than other. But, I wanted to shake her when she saw Knox's tattoos -- his wolf tattoos of a wolf pack and a single wolf with striking green eyes, like his human eye color. I think I was screaming at her by that point. It was just too obvious and she totally missed it. But I really lost all patience with her when she actually saw Knox in wolf form, green eyes and all, and it still took more than a nanosecond for her to clue in that it was him. She thought it was Ryker.That's a wrap...Although I had a few issues with the story, I didn't hate. It contained a solid premise and I believe it set a solid foundation for the series. I would have liked to see more by way of the supernatural though. There were only two instances of obvious supernatural activity in the entire story. I would have enjoyed seeing the Fae-witches do something Fae-y or witch-y. But, as this is the first book in the series, it is understandable that the author had to lay the groundwork for what is to come. I enjoyed Light's teaser at the end and look forward to read about the Clash of the Titans: Light vs. Ryker. Now, THAT should be a fun story. Overall, I give this book solid marks for being vivid, detailed, and interesting.Ratings Detail:Rating for female protagonist: 2★Rating for male protagonist: 3★Rating for secondary characters: 3★Steam Level: 3★Plot Viability: 3★General Storyline: 3★Story Ending: 3★Ease of Reading: 3★Cliffhanger: No.Overall rating: 3★