Title: Blue Mountain
Series: Pack, Book 1
Author: Cardeno C.
Genre: Paranormal Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by author
Published: November 21, 2014 by The Romance Authors
Exiled by his pack as a teen, Omega wolf Simon Moorehead learns to bury his gentle nature in the interest of survival. When a hulking, rough-faced Alpha catches Simon on pack territory, he tries to escape what he’s sure will be imminent death. But instead of killing him, the Alpha takes Simon home.A man of action, Mitch Grant uproots his life to support his brother in leading the Blue Mountain pack. Mitch lives on the periphery, quietly protecting everyone, but always alone. A mate is a dream come true for Mitch, and he won’t let little things like Simon’s rejections, attacks, and insults get in their way. With patience, seduction, and genuine care, Mitch will ride out the storm while Simon slays his own ghosts and Mitch’s loneliness.
Reviewed by: Crissy
Why I Read This Book: Shifters. Alpha male. Stubborn mate. It’s almost enough said. I love paranormal romance and yes I have a weakness for alpha males, headstrong characters, and broken characters. This story is filled with all of the above so I dove in.
In A Nutshell: A sweet story of destined attraction combined with temper, attitudes, and independent shifters. It’s a lovely story of patience and working through problems before jumping head first into the hot moments.
The Setup: Mitch Grant is an alpha playing a beta role who has always longed for a mate, someone to share his life with—much like what his brother and sister-in-law have—but is pretty sure a mate is not in the cards for him since he’s gay. Then Simon Moorehead shows up, an Omega who was once cast out of the Blue Mountain pack and is back to honor his mother’s last wishes. Sparks fly, mostly the explosive kind from their constant head-butting, when Simon makes it clear he doesn’t want a mate, especially Mitch, and Mitch keeps Simon hostage to prove to him they can be good together.
What I Liked: I like that this story both is and isn’t what is considered the norm. You see, we get the usual alpha, beta, omega, pre-destined mating things, but the common aspects are refreshed with twists the author brings to this world, some subtle and some not so much. The history of Omegas in a pack and how sexes are treated so differently within a pack plays a major role in this story. It’s Simon’s history, after all. But it’s not only that, it’s the relationship between alpha and omega, Mitch’s status as an alpha who chooses to play beta, and the conflict between Mitch and Simon.
What I Also Liked: The relationship between Mitch and Simon is explosive—in every sense of the word. Simon is hard headed and independent. I like that where their mating should be simple, it’s far from it. Simon deals with a ton of issues stemming from the way he was treated as a younger wolf and how he’s been treated his entire life. The fact that this author allows the pair to find their way slowly makes this story that much better. And I have to say, it’s not easy for them. Mitch cracked me up a lot of the time with his forcefulness. I mean who practically kidnaps their mate to prove they were meant to be together? Mitch. That’s who.
I like these characters so much. Simon’s probably my favorite for his difficult past and trust issues. He’s surly and stubborn throughout the first part of the book, but he slowly turns into this motivated, snarky powerhouse. He’s funny and helpful and once he finds his purpose, he’s motivated to discover new things about himself instead of always looking over his own shoulder or running away. Except for the fact that he is afraid to leave the cabin, he’s kind of all over the place—in a good way. And Mitch is his counterweight. Mitch from the beginning is the stability of the story. He knows what he wants, and (although his way of getting it may cross the line of crazy just a tad) he goes for it and doesn’t give up. He is alpha in every sense of the word. Where most couples would be sedate, they are, as I said before, explosive in the very best way.
What I Didn’t Like: The story wasn’t long enough. There were a few things left unsaid and unanswered. The group that discovered Simon in the first place, the pack members who roughed him up, what happens to them? There’s a lot of talk but it would have been nice to see a confrontation—good or bad—between Simon and the men to resolve the tension between Simon and the Blue Mountain pack. Then there’s the whole family situation with Mitch and his brother Frederick. I like them a lot and I really like Frederick’s wife, but there’s a stain in the relationship between Frederick and Mitch that is just barely resolved before the story ends. So I’m hoping there might be another story to join this one to at least resolve the open-ended tensions.
And that’s just it. The story ends so quickly. There’s a big build up with the whole Thanksgiving (which by the way is perfect timing for this story) but we get to seen none of the actual Thanksgiving celebration—not Simon’s reunion with old friends, not the family getting together, nothing.
In My Opinion: I liked this story—a lot. I adored the characters and their slow building romance and as always I enjoyed the banter between the characters, but there were a few things I just couldn’t get past, some things I wanted more of.
Crissy’s Rating:
4,5 frogs? On my TBR list ;)
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