Review: Too Much, Too Little ....
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2014
I liked the idea of this story a lot more than I liked the reading of it.  MC club ... check.  Shifter .... check.  The problem for me with this novel was two-fold.  First, I felt like the author had a hard time blending the two worlds of MC and Shifter together, and as a result, gave too little of either world.  Not enough was really developed in the relationships of the MC or Shifter brotherhood or it's dynamics.  As an MC we know they rode bikes, they took protection money from the town citizens and Deke was Prez ... that's pretty much it.  As Shifters we know they all reported to the "Old Man" and he was the head honcho who had been acting strange for a while.  That also was pretty much it for a lot of the story. Secondly, once the action did finally kick in, everything felt like it was just all tossed in and scrambled around. At that point, I wasn't connected to the story and didn't feel like I could hold on through the chaos of it.  Finally, the thing that really did me in was that I couldn't connect with either Deke or Vera to really care about them by the time I finished the book.  I ended up liking the secondary ... and even other more remote characters better ... Houdini, Susan, Piper ... even Lina and Mr. Vega.  For me, it didn't feel as if either Deke or Vera really did anything memorable or leave a lasting impression.  I thought Deke was pretty much a wash-up as a President of his club because he had no strategy or tactical thinking ... didn't even realize the coup d'etat was happening until it was already over and he came across as somewhat clueless (I certainly wouldn't have followed him as my leader) .... and Vera just left no impression at all as an individual, other than to react to the circumstances that came her way.  As a couple I didn't feel like they really had any chemistry between them, in spite of the sex scenes that were written, so the whole "I'm feeling things now that I've had you and you are my mate" thing didn't work for me in this story. Even with the scenes written about the deepening of their mate bond and their empathic abilities with each other .... it all came across as wooden.  Complete step A, next is step B and next will be Step C, etc...  I loved the idea of this story, however, the execution of it just didn't do anything for me - like a meal you consume because you have to eat but never think of again. Having said all that, I hope the author continues to write and further develops her writing abilities with this series since I'd like to see where it goes.  My curiosity would be enough to perhaps invest in at least the next book in the series.