Rayne has never fit into the shifter community of Wolf Ridge, being labeled defective or runt and subjected to bullying and harassment for just existing without a wolf. When her mom marries Logan Woodward, a member of the (as Rayne calls them) pack royalty, she hopes that her new stepbrother, Wilde, remains on the other side of the country at Duke where he plays college football. But luck never seems to be on Rayne's side.
For some reason, Wilde feels compelled back to Wolf Ridge and he ends up back on his father's doorstep, suspended from school with pending drug trafficking charges that may land him serious jail time. Wilde is angry that his father remarried his pregnant one-night stand. Especially given her relationship to the pack's defective runt. When he makes it back home, he's determined to make his new stepsister's life miserable, one horrible incident at a time.
But slowly and surely, Rayne burrows her way into Wilde's heart and mind. He finds himself protecting her, standing up for her against her bullies, and taking care of her. When she suddenly starts exhibiting the signs of a late wolf shift, he takes her under his wing -- wondering if she could be his mate. Except life isn't always easy and an unexpected enemy appears on the wings, ready to keep the new couple apart.
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Written in dual third-person POV, "Step Alpha" follows Rayne and Wilde as they battle against their new familial relationship while an unexpected, and forbidden, romance begins between them.
So, I read this book on Kindle Vella. And it's a pretty enjoyable book. The author announced in the final chapter release that the book would be out in paperback and Kindle Unlimited later in May. I'm not sure if everything I read will stay the same in the actual published version, but as the book is right this second, I think it's great. It's got that forbidden romance to it with a bit of enemies-to-lovers rivalry and new step-sibling squabbles.
Did I enjoy the taboo stepsibling romance? The stepsibling taboo isn't one that I usually gravitate towards, but the premise of this book made the idea of it seem really interesting. And honestly, it was good. It introduced the forced proximity really well and gave the characters a plausible reason to be interacting with each other, and it made Wilde's need to take care of her less noticeable until the romance was actually underway. It went surprisingly unchallenged the entire book and no one seemed all that fazed by the romance between the two characters.
Did the characters develop in a way that made me happy? Yes and no. Rayne grew very little, I really wanted her to grow a backbone and actually confront people for making her life miserable. But Wilde took care of all that for her, and she never really confronted her new stepfather or her mother for making her feel like an outsider in her own home or that she was like the hired help. I wanted her to challenge someone other than Wilde. but she didn't. As for Wilde, he figured himself out for the most part. After talking to Rayne, he figured out what direction he wanted his life to go and he decided to make decisions for himself instead of for the pack. I just wish he grew up a bit more and stopped acting like a Neanderthal when it came to Rayne.
The conflict in this book was introduced suddenly and was resolved just as quickly. Yes, there were hints that something like it would happen throughout the beginning of the book, but it just appeared in the narrative and was fixed in a few chapters. It didn't feel like there was enough build-up to make readers worried about it or that the stakes were high enough to really make it worthwhile. But it did get the characters together again at the end and we got our happily ever after.
The steamy scenes were good. Again, not a huge fan of the step-sibling taboo in general to the romance, but the romance and steam were built up by the interactions between the characters. Though there were a few scenes in the book that felt a little off in terms of consent and whatnot. Rayne is never outwardly distressed by them, but they left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. Other than that, consent was key and the steam was enjoyable for most of the book.
The pacing for this was just right. I didn't feel like there was too much filler or not enough build-up for the romance, which I sometimes have a hard time finding from Kindle Vella books. I just wish there were more interactions with secondary characters like Rayne or Wilde's friends. They showed up for scenes here and there, but I wish they added more to the characterization of Rayne and Wilde. I wanted Rayne and Wilde to feel like real people and that they need to rely on friends to sometimes figure things out. Especially since this is a heavily YA/NA book. But alas...
Still, this was a solid 4.25- or 4.5-star read, which is saying something.