Book Review: Savage Awakening by J.D. Tyler

Title: Savage Awakening (Amazon)
Series: Alpha Pack, #2
Author: J.D. Tyler
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: bought
Published: April 3rd, 2012 by NAL/Eclipse

A group of former Navy SEALS, the Alpha Pack is a top-secret team of wolf shifters with Psy powers combating the greatest dangers in the world. But sometime those dangers are more intimate than they bargained for…

After a mission goes wrong, Aric Savage is taken prisoner. Half-dead and despairing, he makes a stunning discovery: his Pack mate Micah Chase, who was reported dead, is a fellow captive. When the Alpha team goes into full-rescue mode, accompanying them is an absolute stunner with sable hair—and a spine of solid steel.

LAPD officer and Psy Dreamwalker Rowan Chase has one priority: her brother Micah’s recovery. Still, she can’t help but be drawn to Aric, the ruggedly handsome wolf shifter who pleasures her as no man ever has—however fleeting their affair is destined to be. But when Aric’s life is endangered, Rowan must ask herself what she’s willing to sacrifice in the name of love, for the man fated to be her Bondmate.

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: This is a great second installment in a new shifter series. The romance is a perfect combo of sexy and emotional and the strong mystery plot will keep readers’ attention.

The Set Up: Aric is part of a Navy SEALs team who are turned into werewolves with Psy abilities but he’s captured and tortured in their last mission. He doesn’t expect to find his packmate, Micah, in the same facility but he knows the Alpha Pack will rescue them both. What Aric doesn’t expect is Micah’s LAPD cop sister, Rowan, to be working with the Pack to rescue them. As Micah begins his healing journey, Aric and Rowan tentatively begin a relationship, even while the Alpha Pack’s archenemy closes in on them.

Why I Read this Book: I *adored* book one in the series, Primal Law, and it ended with Aric’s capture so I had to see how it played out.

What I Liked: I love the community of the Alpha Pack. This team of shifters and other assorted paranormals live together in a compound and form their own family who fight and love each other simultaneously. These men and women are fascinating and mysterious with such great camaraderie that I can’t wait to read all their stories. I know the series is only two books in so I can’t anoint it as the next great paranormal series but the seeds for such are here.

What I Also Liked: The romance between Ro and Aric is super sexy but still emotionally intimate. Aric is the classic injured male but Ro calls him on his $hi! and makes him communicate and be emotionally open to her. I liked both these characters and enjoyed watching them find their happiness and peace in each other. The bondmate concept will be familiar to readers of paranormal romance so don’t expect any freshness with that. Still, Ro and Aric have such strong emotional intimacy that this mating that draws them together worked, in my opinion.

What I Didn’t Like: I should have expected the cliffhanger ending since book one ended that way too but I detest cliffhanger endings in series. I think it’s a cheap ploy to keep readers coming back to the series when I think authors should use their world building and characters to hold readers’ interest. (Sorry, got on my soap box a bit there!) At least the cliffhanger ending doesn’t involve Ro and Aric so their story is wrapped up which is good.

IMO: Fans of great paranormal romance should absolutely read this book, as well as book one; I know they’ll become series fans like me if not already.

J9’s Rating: