Review: Needs work. Somewhat interesting.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 4, 2014
I received a copy of this book via Goodreads' Don't Buy My Love program in exchange for an honest review.Kane is a strong lead. He's a gay wolf shifter who has stuck out on his won after being run out of his pack by his father, the Alpha, for being gay. Being an Alpha wolf is something one is "born to" and Kane becomes the Alpha of a pack of five gay shifters--one being his long-time friend Griff. They all work together in an auto/motorcycle restoration business small western town, called Cloverleah.One day Kane pops into the local diner and is overwhelmed with the scent of another wolf. One that sends his libido racing. Kane had long been told that gay wolves had not "true mates" but his body disagrees. Meeting Shawn, Kane senses something different--beside the fact that Shawn clearly wants to bolt.Unwilling to let Shawn run in fear, Kane gets his packmates to visit Shawn at work, to let him know they are harmless to him. They may be, but Shawn's father isn't. He's sent hunters after Shawn for the past decade. See, Shawn's a wolf--but he's also MORE. A Shifter Guardian who holds a crapload of magical powers. The hunters shoot Shawn and Kane's the one who can reach into the magical haze and pull out the spelled slugs.The two men claim each other as mates leading to a "war" between packs. We get interference from Kane's home pack--and resolution of old grudges and alliances newly forged.What I liked:Kane and Shawn are both strong leads. They are interesting and compassionate. Supporting characters play important roles and have their own mini-arcs in the story. The story is interesting, if a bit verbose.What I didn't like:The instalove was too INSTA. We barely met Kane and he was obsessed with an unknown party.The complete lack of "American" diction in this "American" tale. Lookit, I'M AMERICAN. AND YET I LOVE BRITISH BOOKS. Do not write in British slang and slap in a couple of city names like Denver and San Antonio and expect this to be translatable. IT IS NOT. The characters sound like "blokes" I'd find in Liver-freaking-pool, not the American West. There is a cadence and syntax specific to idiom and colloquial speech. Men in America do not sound like the men in this book--not even the gay men. Sorry.The book needs a complete line edit. There are multiple mistakes per page with regard to spelling, word choice, grammar and punctuation. It is a travesty and demonstrates to me, an avid and voracious reader, that the author has little respect for my comfort or enjoyment. Because, frankly, it is painful to have to continually mentally exchange the proper word, or intimate the intended meaning from a poorly punctuated statement. It tells me the writer is a poor editor and needs to shell out some cash to someone competent in this enterprise. Also, if the book is to be set in America, I would suggest finding a US editor--one who could assist in removing any and all Briti-cisms from the text.