Review: Pleasantly Surprised!!!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 13, 2014
I didn't necessarily dislike this book, but I didn't love it enough give it five stars either, and let me tell you all why. This book was like watching a train wreck and not being able to look away. It was predictable, but I still couldn't help turning the pages out of sheer curiosity just to see if the villain would finally get what she deserved.A word of friendly advice...if you are someone like me then you want to read about the really, really nasty alpha male werewolves I suggest reading Kristen Ashley's "With Everything I Am", or Eva Langlais's "His Teddy Bear." The people who HAVEN'T read either of those can thank me for the advice on that later.Now back to this book...Where do I begin? I don't know there's so much to like and dislike about this book....First of all, I had to deduct some points because I caught myself skimming a lot just to get to the good parts. Secondly, the sex scenes between Kane and Elise didn't bother me as much as it did others, obviously. Elise was in a rough position, either abide by the ways and laws of her people, or in this case, obey the alpha wolf, or face the consequences and possibly be ostracized from the only home and family she's ever known. Therefore, Elise was in a situation that she had no control over which I totally got. Furthermore, in my own opinion, just to be fair, I don't really think their first encounter could be considered rape because she only said "no" after he breached her maiden's veil and she felt the pain which happens with virgins, but after the pain subsided she actually enjoyed what she was getting so much that she also got it twice more before the next day. However, what did bother me is Kane's blatant disregard for his new mate. I mean, he takes her away from everything she's ever known and leaves her to fend for herself. I know they were strangers when they met and mated but she deserved so much better from him. It felt like she was being used just as a warm body in order keep his sexual urges sated and nothing more. Kane just sleeps with her, disappears, and ignores her for obscene lengths of time. Other times he was just nonchalant and dismissive. I started to feel bad for Elise because she was just stuck having to deal with a new pack, fit into her new home with strangers, adapt to her new surroundings, make new friends, and learn how to roam new territory all on her own. Kane hardly made an effort to help her adjust to any of this, after he uprooted her from her life without her having any say-so in the matter, everything was just right back to business for him.Wait...it gets worse!The way her "mate" disrespects her by letting Marla walk all over her was just infuriating. I have never read a book where the alpha male was so stupid and so easily manipulated by a woman in my life. EVER. Marla played Kane like a fiddle, and Elise kept her mouth shut and tried to deal with him constantly putting another woman first. Say whaaat...Wait...I'm just getting warmed up!Despite her best efforts, Elise, kept trying to be a good mate by not complaining and proving what a strong woman she could be, but she came across as a doormat so many times because whenever she had a real problem with something, or in this case, someone, she wouldn't speak her mind. I know she meant well, and she actually tried dealing with a lot of this stuff on her own to her credit, but I wanted her to tell Kane just once to pull his head out of his rear end when it came to Marla. I get tired of reading books where these women constantly take crap from these alphas. There's nothing wrong with being submissive to the more dominant sex or species, but if he's being unreasonable then is should also be her job as his mate to let him know when he's being a complete @sshole.All in all, Elise doesn't get her apology from Kane for the set-up, but Kane does redeem himself quite a bit in my opinion. I know I have been really critical, but I really liked this book. Don't get me wrong, this book started out very slowly for me, but the ending was worth it so I'm glad I hung in there.