His Caged Wolf

Shifter Falls (Love is Love: M/M Shifter Romance) #1

by Alex McAnders

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I was a lone wolf without a pack–– could my fated mate be a human?

I don’t know what it is about Cage Rucker that makes my wolf howl. Yeah, he has a body that’s been chiseled from marble, and a smile that melts my heart, but it’s more than that. There’s something about the way he smells. My wolf knows.

Does that mean that this boy is going to fall all over himself to find out? No way. Cage has a girlfriend. I don’t fall for straight boy… anymore. I wouldn’t even have talked to him again if he hadn’t offered me an exchange I couldn’t refuse.

And now that I’m seeing him every day and he’s making my wolf go wild, what am I supposed to do? I’ve worked tirelessly to suppress my wolf since it got loose and killed someone. Can I trust it now? Can I trust myself around Cage considering the way he makes me feel? Will I have a choice when I learn his secret?

I used to think I’m the only wolf shifter in existence. Am I be wrong? Could Cage be my fated mate?

‘Caged Wolf’ is a scorching hot MM wolf shifter romance with laughs, crackling tension, and enough spicy sizzle to leave you satisfied at its HEA ending.


This book is a part of the author's 'Love is Love Collection', meaning that it is available as a spicy romance in 'My Tutor', a wholesome romance in 'Going Long', a steamy wolf shifter romance in ‘Son of a Beast’, and a Male/Male romance in 'Serious Trouble' and a spicy MM wolf shifter romance in ‘Caged Wolf.’

Genres: M M Romance, Shapeshifters, LGBT, Paranormal, Fantasy, Werewolves, Audiobook

404 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 8, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: Alternate name of Alex Anders.

Alex McAnders is the author of steamy, funny, tear jerking gay and bisexual romances. When Alex isn't rock climbing or playing games with friends, he's debating the pros and cons of being single, and writing sexy male/female romances as Alex (MF) McAnders, steamy male/female shifter romances as Alex (Shifter) McAnders, and clean male/female romantic comedies as Alex (Sweet) McAnders. To find more of his MMF and MM romance, check out his website at www.AlexAndersBooks.com where you can also sign up for his newsletter and receive free books.

Reviews

[Lucie · Rating 1 out of 5]

AI work, like 4 other books

[Steph ☀️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

well…

It started off well, but then it things slowly declined. Well, that was until the end, when I feel that Cage’s character became a bit ridiculous, and then I was lost. Also, some of the parts in the story seemed to come out of nowhere.

[Sarinha M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conclusion, definitely a mixed-bag. Some good, some bad & a whole lor of illogical & unresolved issues.

Cage constantly states that Quinn is a good guy, however when Cage finally has something to celebrate in his life, Quinn makes it all about himself & about how he's feeling about it, rather than understanding that this is a big change for his BF & NONE of it is about him!

I thought the 3rd act break-up had been outlawed as I haven't encountered one in quite a long time & TBPH, this book could've really done without as it's a book of 2 parts.

We start off with Quinn thinking he's the only shifter in the world & then at around 70-80%, we find a community of Paranormals... this should neither come as a surprise nor be considered a spoiler as the title of the series is Shifter Falls & all the remaining protagonists, going by the synopsis are also shifters, mostly wolf shifters.

But, far too much of the book is spent on inconsequential matter that does not really bring anything to where we found ourselves at the end of the story.

I can't stand Quinn's BFF, who although is meant to be a ride or die, comes across more as a dick. If your friend's life is threatened, you call the police... you do NOT blame the person who was comatose when this happened 🤦‍♀️

Once we (FINALLY) get to Shifter Falls, it all feels rushed & far too much is crammed into the last hour of the book. As this is the world that we're meant to focus on, I could've done without all the school/gaming chapters that ate up so much of the story.

Both school subplots became irrelevant to the final story! Nothing that happened during their school days mattered an iota at the end of the book as technically they're both school dropouts...

We never get a conclusion to the Dragon shifter subplot.

Planes don't operate like that, they don't just turn back around 🤦‍♀️ & the entire "The Bodyguard" scene (I almost rolled my eyes out of my socket at that one) would NOT have played out like that IRL. The guards would've shot him.... dead as him running on the runway is a real hazard. An FOD (Foreign Object Debris), even as small as some leftover rubber from tyres, for example, can cause a (fatal) accident as planes can't/don't break in the same way that cars do. It's more of a progressive break that takes hundreds of MILES to come to a full stop. They can't turn, like cars nor reverse.

Put it this way, even if a domestic dog is loose, for whatever reason, on a runway, the airport authorities don't try to capture the dog, it's basically (sadly& unfortunately) shot down on sight, as ANY kind of foreign body/debris on a runway is a real safety risk as it affects planes landing AND taking off!

The explanation for Quinn's dad's reasoning was beyond illogical. WHY would you let your son grow up with that kind of guilt when the truth was infinitely less burdensome for your son 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ & naturally, I spoke too soon.... it wouldn't be an MM Romance story if we didn't get an evil mother 😒😒😒😒😒😡🤬😡

Also HOW Quinn came to be is also never explained. IMHO, for me, there's enough "mystery" surrounding both Quinn & Cage for this to be a trilogy or preferably, a duology, about them & then a spin-off interconnected series with a few other characters, like Titus & Nero for example, because TBPH, the story didn't feel complete as there are WAY too many loose directly connected to both MCs by the end! 🤷‍♀️

I'm not a fan of the BFF & he's not a named MC on any of the other books in the series & I hope it remains that way! 🙏🤞

This has ONE sexy scene, then we're told they had sex & a very blink & you'll miss it other sex scene, which is described as the most erotic experience of one of the MC's lives, but I definitely did NOT agree... 🤐

So the claim that it's a scorching HOT series is definitely false advertisement... 😶


-------- start of original review ---------


So far, it's been a half & half game for me.

There are elements that I do like, others which I'm not really a fan of.

Quinn is a Gary Stu 🙄 every single man who crosses his path (kids, mostly 😬) get a crush on him... give me strength & naturally every single male anywhere in the vicinity of our MCs is gay 🙄!

Lordy, it becomes a tedious trope in MM Romance books that absolutely EVERYONE, EXCEPT the female gay man's bestie, however they also never have a relationship of their own, they simply exist to act as cheerleaders for the MC... sorry, I'm starting to get fatigue from the rampant misogyny in MM Romance books... are always gay! No straights allowed, I've taken to calling that particular phenomenon 😒

Because if you stop to think about it... there are never any straight couples (in the background, naturally 😒) because that'll mean that a man is with a woman & we can't have that! Women must be reviled at all costs, unless they're in their 50s upwards & then they can be the (ALWAYS) single 🙄 "doting grandmotherly" type!

Don't Romance authors realise that their MAIN audience ARE women?!? It's an MM Romance, naturally none of the couples are straight, but the fact that there are never ANY straight couples in the background is something that I DO find ludicrous, concerning & it never allows me to fully submerge as it's also illogical & nonsensical 🤷‍♀️


To start off with, something that I've noticed as I've been on an MM Romance binge, is the (more often than not internalised) misogyny which is rampant in MM Romance stories.

As we all know, the majority of Romance authors are women, in this case it's a male name, which means nothing, as too often it's a female author with a male pen name, which is something that WAS necessary back in the day, but which I find insidious nowadays... kinda like they feel they'll only have credibility if they use a male name, but I digress...

The things that I DID like, was that too often in Bi-awakening stories (which are one of my favourite tropes), the MCs struggle with their sexuality, my preferred stories are when they maybe do have a moment of confusion, but accept it quickly enough without too much angst.

However, it IS a common trope in these stories that the MC then has a "meltdown" over being gay, which is something that I DO find extremely irritating.

That MC is BI or PAN or DEMI, not gay... if you've spent your entire life attracted to a specific gender & now are attracted to your own gender, you're not gay as you're not wholly or simply just attracted to men, you're also attracted to women.

In this, I really did appreciate it that the author DID make that distinction clear.

I also liked that there wasn't any real angst over the I'm attracted to a man... kudos for that!

However, we then enter into the misogynistic tropes which are all too (unfortunately) familiar in MM Romance books... the I'm now going to be with a man because my GF is a bitch-trope!

The author didn't delve TOO deeply into that specific trope, but it was skin deep enough that it still left a sour taste...

I also was NOT a fan of the I'll only consider breaking up with my GF if the guy that I'm in to tells me that he reciprocates my feelings. I honestly could've done without that subplot.

You're unhappy with your GF, break it off for THAT reason alone, NOT basically using her until something better comes along.

Another common trope in MM Romance is that EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER that the MCs encounter are also gay 🙄 Lordy, forgive me, but I find that as tiresome as all straight series in (modern) Romance books, which I've found HAS become a rarity.

I've been on a break from M/F Romance & been on an MM Romance binge for nearly a year. (I've got both PTSD & fatigue from the generic 5ft nothing, skinny as a twiglet, TSTL FMCs that authors come up with) so, I've encountered many an F/M interconnected series, where one or more couples ARE a gay couple or throuple or bi or trans, etc... which are the only instalments of that particular series that i DO read, however, I HAVE noticed that being straight in MM Romance is almost taboo.

Even the parents or siblings "become" gay as the series progresses. I understand no straight couples being featured as the MCs, but there definitely SHOULD be straight characters in the background, which is NEVER the case from what I've experienced.

I also like it that the author DID not go the usual (misogynistic) route that basically goes like this;

The only examples of good mothers in MM Romance are dead mothers, in which case they're angels!

Mothers who are alive & still married to the father are always overbearing, the MC claims to love her, but they do EVERYTHING in their power to avoid their mother like the plague. The dad is the angel in these cases.

If the mother is still alive & NOT still married to the father, they're either the outright villain or simply downright abusive.

In these cases, the mother has ALWAYS abandoned the MMC as a child & the dad raised them & they're an angel.

I did like ke it that the author did kinda break the mould in this story. Both mothers are deceased, neither is thought of as the angel, but neither are the dads.

One of the dads is beyond abusive & the other dad is borderline.... so definitely not the usual.

Like most women, I do have a thing for shifter stories... love them! I absolutely adore wolves, the actual animal & they're one of my favourite animals as they're the descendants of my absolutely favourite animals, which are dogs. I love cats & most other (mammals) animals, but absolutely nothing tops dogs IMO & wolves are a part of that!

However, I also LOVE fantasy, myths, etc... & no other animals is more mystical IMO than dragons...so, I'm not really a fan of their portrayal as inherently evil & villainous in this particular series.... not a fan at all!

Hopefully, there's a bit more expanding of the world building as it all has kinda come off left field.

I genuinely cannot believe that the shifter MC hadn't been a target from other shifters all his life seeing as his dad outed him to the world when he was a little kid...

There isn't really a genuine relationship progression beyond I think he's hot from the moment they met.. I know the author did try to portray it as 2 friends falling for each other, but it still felt REALLY rushed without any real reason behind it. I get them being attracted to one another NOT that they're in love.

The author did toy with the cheating trope, but again, I'm glad to say they did only dip their toes rather than dive into that particular trope, which I'm grateful for...

All in all, a mixed bag of good & bad.

The narrator is not bad per se, but he isn't great either... both the volume settings keep changing throughout the recording & he keeps flip-flopping between the different voices, so you do need to pay attention to know who's actually meant to be speaking, but it's not all the time, however it really breaks you out of your immersion whenever it does happen, which is more frequently than something I can overlook 🤷‍♀️

[Larry · Rating 1 out of 5]

The writing is plain awful. We start with Quin who is one of a kind. (wolf shifter), who is hiding at university. Then we meet Cage, the extrovert quarterback of the football team, and they hit it off. Same old nerd and jock fantasy that has been done a million times by writers everywhere, with nothing new or imaginative. There are huge plot holes, and the writing takes huge leaps without substance.
Also, I must wonder if this book is a rewrite where the pronouns were just changed from m/f to m/m. I found a passage in the book where the pronouns went wrong. “It latched onto my wolf’s paw and dragged us towards the opening. With her claws free to dig into the ice, it scratched itself out of the water and into the air. Clawing, he pulled us out. When he was lying on his belly next to Cage, he sprung to her feet.” Pg. 235 There were only three people in this scene. Quin, Cage, and Titus, none of which are female.

Since writing this review, it has come to my attention that this may be a rewrite another of his books - Serious Trouble - Snow Tip Falls (Love is Love: M/M Romance) #1

[Manny · Rating 3 out of 5]

​I gave the book a shot, and honestly, the fact that I was able to finish it says enough. Overall, I liked the story. It wasn't bad, and both Quin and Cage felt fully fleshed out. Being the first book can be hard, so I've given it some grace, but there were some issues with the plot that felt unfinished.

​Let me start with the best part of this book.
​To its credit, was the romance aspect which was actually really good. They have great chemistry.

My only gripe is that the third-act breakup felt a bit rushed. It was still believable, but I would have liked a slightly slower pace.

​Now, for the whole shifter aspect of the book: it’s not horrible, but Cage’s shifting felt a bit too convenient. However, I agreed to suspend my disbelief given the nature of the genre. So it wasn't too big of an issue.

​I couldn't help but feel a tad disappointed by the dragon subplot, though. It started excellently we got a great moment with our dragon shifter but then, all of a sudden, we go on a trip and there is no follow-up. Instead, this subplot loses all steam.

While there is a line suggesting, "I think it's dead, I think it petrified," we eventually come back to a clean house. Which is okay, but what about some sort of confirmation? I wanted to see rock or ash residue to better portray that to the reader.

​I did stick around for Book 2 to see if it got better because of the "unknown father/hidden brother" plotline. So, stay tuned for my follow-up on Book 2.

​But overall, the author fine tunes everything by the third book. The second one is an improvement for sure.

[Afy · Rating 2 out of 5]

IBA POR BUEN CAMINO... PERO... 🤔

La historia empezó bien. La vida universitaria de dos chicos que iba bien pese a sus vidas fuera de clase.
Quin, un cambiante que creía ser el único y odiaba a su lobo y buscaba la forma de deshacerse de él además de ser tímido y tener un solo amigo, que buscaba que Quin tuviera más vida social y por qué no una pareja y tratando de seguir el consejo de su entrañable amigo fue como conoció a Cage. Este también viviendo su vida universitaria y jugando al fútbol pero no es feliz por como ha sido su vida.
Pero la verdad es que la historia siento que iba por un camino y después como que se fue por otro. Y no entendía quienes eran los protagonistas o la historia central porque todo tan radicalmente que se perdió la historia en sí. No se si leeré las siguientes.

[Sussu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes I read a book that's so bad that it makes me angry that I'm wasting my time on it. Then there are books like this one that are so bad they make me laugh out loud at how fucking stupid the writing is.

I now understand all the comments about this possibly being AI written, considering this is exactly what I would imagine AI to write if it was fed the entire KU mm shifter catalogue and given generic prompts based on some very handwavey plot ideas.

And because this made me laugh, even if completely unintentionally, I'm rounding the rating up to two stars instead of one.

[Catherine GT · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

New Adult shifter MM

This book is sweet. The characters are sweet, the story line is sweet. Overall, a sugary confection! Just enough mystery to keep the plot going.

A lovely little escape that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Being New Adult, the prose are light. Editing needs some work.

[Jimbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and somehow didn't add it to my goodreads.
It's a very passionate urban fantasy romance. the rest of the series is as strong as this one. A genetically altered wolf shifter meets his fated soul mate and finds a whole pack of magical beings.
Good storytelling. Great world building. Great characters and lots of romance and exotic scenes.

[Rachel Misero · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was pretty poorly written. i’m not sure it went through any sort of editing process. the plot was ridiculous, things were just happening for seemingly no reason and just like huge chunks of time were brushed over. it genuinely did not make a whole lot of sense whatsoever. that being said, 4 stars.

[Meical · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually quite liked the book up until about halfway through. But I was invested and made it through, even though most of it annoyed me.
Then I came here and realized it was written with AI and now I'm pissed...

[Ashley Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautifully written.

[Maggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not recommended

It was all over the place. The book contained a lot of inconsistent and repeated information. I do not recommend.

[Betsy]

more info can be found in this post

[never going to read this authors's books/never going to support this author]

[Tina Martinez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Riddled with typos, poor execution, plot holes, and awkward writing overall. I wanted to love it because the premise is up my alley, but I just couldn't. Even the spicy parts couldn't save it for me.

[Azazel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was cute and just what I needed to get out of my reading slump.

[J. Lee Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too many typos.

This could be an interesting read, if the typos hadn't gotten in the way.

Find a good proofreader.

[Theresa Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you read/listened to the M/M version this is literally just a repeat as shifter.

[James Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caged

This is a good book. I will give it a 4/5. I still have questions about it but I will read more books from this author.

[Agnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Noting special, I hate 3rd act breakups that are unnecessary and it left many unanswered questions

[Mats Perming · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit like reading a good book but never getting really engaged in the story. Sweet but also like just grazing the surface.

[Veronica R · Rating 1 out of 5]

was this written by a child? The writing style is actually terrible, I couldn't handle it, I felt dumb reading it.

[Lisa (Pedersen) Steele · Rating 2 out of 5]

The drama between Quin and Cage kept me reading. Unfortunately, the best parts of the plot were very predictable and the twists were just too out there. Some of the details, like Cage never having shifted before, are never really explained. This book could have potential, but just didn't get it done for me.

[Kelly E. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is literally a carbon copy of his other book Serious Trouble

[Gabrielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

No para mí.

[ReadToFilth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the worst story in the genre that I've read. I did find the science verse magic discussion could have used more depth but was a nice touch. I like that Quin was good in that their confidence grew, but not so much that it wasn't believable. I think the Cage character was mercurial and made for inconsistent story arcs.

Dr. Tom was frustrating in their inconsistency.

The big reveal was actually a disappointment.

There was obviously no proof reader for this story. Having Lou call Quin "Lamb Chop" or "Lamp chop" was just one of the issues with the proofing.

There is a GLARING plot hole that is just dropped but it integral to the story.

All that aside the book has some elements I liked. The story touched on topics that, given more space to shine, could have been really interesting. These topics were believable character motivations had the author chosen to explore them.

[Tyler · Rating 2 out of 5]

3rd Act Breakup

I do not have words to describe just how much I despise a 3rd act breakup at times. It's even worse when there is little to no resolution to the problems that caused it in the first place. That is exact what happened in this book and really detracted from the enjoyment that I had while reading most of it. Without the ending I actually would have given this a 3.5 but the 3rd act breakup, the little resolution, and the fact that both mcs are just plain idiots really made me dislike it and dropped my rating to 2 stars. I am at this point unsure if I will be giving this author another shot.

[Lechell · Rating 2 out of 5]

It could have been a good read. The late twist to this story was not enjoyable on the path to the HEA and essentially ruined it for me. It felt as though the author wanted some kind of angst but didn't know what plot line to use to get there, which made for a rushed ending based on a subpar idea when there were so many other angles to utilize. So many questions were still unanswered about both the main characters and their background. The happily ever after was barely mentioned, and the epilogue did little to rectify that. Sadly I won't be revisiting this series based on the synopsis of the others.

[Alice Piacenza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro interessante... Inizialmente pensavo fosse abbastanza semplice, un romance come tanti anche se con un lupo mutaforma inserito in uno sport romance.
E poi invece sorpresa! Capitano cose che non ti aspetti, e ti chiedo dove stia andando la trama. E devo dire che è piacevole non sapere dove ci stiamo dirigendo, proprio come i personaggi che per la maggior parte del tempo non hanno idea di cosa stia succedendo...
Comunque leggerò anche il secondo perché sono curiosa dal momento che sono rimaste aperte alcune questioni.

[Laura M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... not gonna lie, it was definitely heartfelt BUT it was not the greatest read and had a lot of plotholes. It's warm and fuzzy if you can get past the lack of proofreading. I intended to keep up with the audiobook series - a bit more bearable than reading it - buuuut the only character I'm attached to is Lou, and that's the only other book I'll read. I'm glad it's with Titus, the only other decent guy lol