Planning your ex’s wedding? Yeah, sounds fake—until the groom turns out to be your baby’s father.
Roman Blackthorne marked me, broke me, and vanished. No goodbye. No explanation. Just silence. Now he’s back. The golden Alpha-to-be. And I’m stuck planning his damn engagement party.
I keep it cool. Smile. Nod. Pretend I don’t flinch when he says my name. But then he corners me. Looks at me like he wants to wreck my lipstick and my life in the same breath. And the worst part? He’s already paid off my dad’s debt. Bought back the house I lost. And yeah— a damn DNA test.
Now he wants a rewrite. But this time, I’m holding the pen—
I’ll rate this a strong 3.5 stars. It had me in a chokehold during some parts. (Possible spoilers ahead) The main reason I deducted from the ratings was because I felt the whole “you rejected me” plot line went on a little too long. It took the MCs way too long to figure stuff out. I’ve also decided I’m going to deduct 1 star everytime a shifter book has somebody gets kidnapped. (Can authors please quit doing that? It’s so ridiculous) There is no shifting in this book. Booooo
This book starts where h has a 4 year old son. There’s some mention of her drunk, dead father and tons of debt he left her that she’s struggling to pay. She’s a wedding planner and she’s been set up to help some bitchy, rich OW plan her wedding. h shows up for the meeting and oops! H is there and he’s the soon-to-be groom. We know they USED to be fated mates, but he rejected her (OW doesn’t know)
So… we start getting flashbacks from 5 years previous. H has a brother named Victor. Victor hired h (victor is the older brother, but H is the alpha heir 🤷♀️) H saw h, knew they were fated mates, and basically took her and made her his employee. They also embarked on a love relationship for months. Naturally, H’s dad was not happy.
20 years previously, H’s mom just disappeared, so he deals with the trauma of being abandoned. Dad likes to pit the two brothers against each other.
We find out in one of the flashbacks, h found out she was pregnant. She was happy and planned to tell him later that night at some event. He had ignored her all day and when she showed up at the event, H confronted her in front of everybody. He had “proof” she stole 2 million dollars, and he had pictures of her in bed with another guy. 🤨 He wouldn’t even listen to her. He humiliated her. Ugh I felt so bad for this poor woman. (I wanted to BANG H’s head against the wall, the big dum dum)
Now back to present time- H is all over h- he wants her bad, but then he’s calling her a thief in the next breath. OW has them going to tour venues and such. 🙃🙃 We know his arrangement for marriage with OW is political and for a huge contract with OW’s dad. OW is not a nice person at all.
H does see the kid (when he returns a Labubu doll) and suspects it’s his kid. h denies, denies, denies! He’s sneaky and gets some hair for a DNA, but it’ll take a few weeks to get those results in. BTW- the kid looks just like H.
Victor runs into h and tells her he’s sorry about what his brother did to her years ago and for the record, he NEVER believed any of lies told about her. Awe, so sweet. Then he asked her out. 🚩🚩
All in the background, she’s dealing with this thug who wants h to pay her dad’s debt. They are basically like some gang members. There is a *main leader* h hasn’t met yet.
There is definitely what I’d call cheating in this book. Mostly emotional cheating, but the MCs do kiss and rub up on each other a couple of times. He’s engaged until about 80% in.
h is angry through 90% of this book! At one point, she decides it’s smart to go out with Victor (ya know? So she can move on with her life) but during one date, h picks up some major red flags from him.
H is starting to suspect he may have been fed wrong info years ago about h. He has his man checking NOW (ugh, why didn’t he check then?)
H find out about the money h owes the gang and her other money issues. He pays it all off. He also beats the gang up. 😂 (the leader is not revealed yet. I snorted because I already knew who it was)
The DNA comes back and H finds out he’s a daddy! SURPRISE! H and h have a powerful showdown. Like…..she rips his heart out with her words. I *almost* felt bad for him. There’s no good reason for why she didn’t tell him, but I did sympathize with her.
*sidenote* the little kid is hardly in the book. h’s friend, Val, watches him a lot.
The day before the wedding, all hell breaks loose. OW overhears h, H, and H’s dad arguing. (H’s dad is calling h all sorts of nasty names) H calls off the wedding. OW shows up at h’s house calling her names and she pulled her hair. 😂😂😂 H shows up later that night and they finally have smex.
H’s life starts to implode. His big business deal, his alpha seat, his brother. BUT all the secrets are starting to come out. H’s mom returns.
Major spoiler So basically, H’s dad was garbage. He made H’s mom disappear after he killed her true fated mate. Yes, she was cheating on H’s dad, but when she explains her side, you do understand why, sort of.
Victor is the main guy in charge of the gang. He is the big bad villain. He was so jealous of his brother. He set this all up so he would eventually get h and run the show🤷♀️ Victor was the one who stole the 2 million and pinned it on h. He also photoshopped the pictures of h in bed with a guy. (Victor had a whole room with nothing but pictures of h in it)
Victor kidnaps the kid. h is not smart and walks right into the trap he set up. Now Victor has h and the kid. we get a 2 for 1 😂 H arrives and Victor wants him to sign over the company and his alpha seat. Wut? H is shot with a silver bullet. Victor is arrested.
6 months later and we get the update that Victor has been sent to prison for 20 years. H’s mom is now a part of the family. H’s alpha position is fine. H’s dad retired???? (Not sure on this part because it never really explained) H proposes. Then they have smex and he marks h.
*sidenote* h is a V when she first hooks up with H. It didn’t mention if H was. When they reunite 5 years later, h has been celibate. It never mentions if H was
This one started well, but I always have a problem with moms who keep their kids a secret from their fathers based on the assumption that the father will somehow hate the kid. Unless they are actively committing criminal acts or are known publically for being a bigot, that father should know about the kid. The woman wasn't scared for her son's life, she was butt-hurt because she was rejected. Then, when danger shows up and puts her son in its way, instead of calling the kids powerful, rich father to help them, she continues on with the wounded "whoa is me" schtick without considering the truly expedient cure.
That said, the book was okay aside from that stupidity.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
We start in the present then have flashbacks hear and there from 5 years prior in certain parts that are important memories tied to certain places or things. Rollercoaster for Leila from start to finish and Luca goes from cold and indifferent to a ruthless protector. Can blood become the villain traitor or is there someone else targeting Luca????
Leila Carter, only daughter to her drunk and gambling addict father (mentions suicide and what Leila dealt with after his death, reasons why she's looking for money to pay off a syndicate hence the wedding planning), her mother passed when she was born. She has big dreams for what she want to do for a living and her job 5 years ago could give her said dreams when she was 23. Her boss, Luca is her fated mate and spent 5 months together, when the unthinkable happened. Now 5 years later fate brings them together but she's got to plan a wedding for the Bronx's Alpha's daughter not knowing who the groom was until she sensed him before she saw Luca. Planning a wedding thats slowly killing her and keeping her 4 year old secret from Luca... Will she survive this heartache and keep her walls up when all he wants to do is tear them down????
Luca Vaughn, youngest son but is also titles Alpha heir to the Manhattan Pack, early 30s, agreed to marry an Alpha's daughter in exchange for something her father has that Luca needs. His oldest brother Victor, his father and Luca was raised to never let a women make them weak due to the boy's mother and what they think from what they were told, you have to read this story to see how Victor and their father are really like and later what you will find out the truth of the why with their mother, there will be a trigger and it isn't drugs. 5 years ago Luca was told and shown something to cause him to reject Leila and presently when Luca firsts sees Leila talking to his fiancée, this stone cold Alpha will have his life being pulled from all sides and when he figures out the truth, well.....
Alpha-Ex Wedding Ruse begins the Rekindling the Past series with Leila and Luca, as secrets and deceptions from the past explode into the present… and an unbreakable mate bond can, perhaps, find a way to heal two hearts torn apart by lies.
Luca and Leila’s story is full of steam, danger, and so many lies that watching them reconnect was often filled with heartbreak and even rage at what was done to them.
Told between the present and flashback to five years ago, we get a chilling picture of what they’ve both gone through and where they stand today. This couple had found that rare thing, a true mate bond, not just an advantageous match. From different positions in the pack, their young romance rocked the boat for many within the pack. One lie, one betrayal, and one mate who believed the worst would separate them, each to try to rebuild in their own way. Each with an empty place in their lives that neither would dare think on for too long.
A politically arranged marriage will put them both back in the other’s orbit as the mate bond flares once again, and even more deception, more lies, more danger will be revealed before the truth will finally come to the surface.
I enjoyed Alpha-Ex Wedding Ruse by Flora R. Leigh so much. It’s well-written, emotional, intense, and so full of past pain and future hopes that it becomes quite an emotional rollercoaster ride for not only Leila and Luca but for the reader as well. If that sounds like your kind of Shifter Romance, then you’d enjoy this one.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review, giving my personal opinion about this book.*
So, I have so many issues with this one. The blurb being the very first, all the way to the end where we realize that this is a shifter book... where literally no shifting occurs. Inconsistencies are everywhere, and some things just don't add up.
The blurb is wrong. It mentions Roman Blackthorne (who isn't a character in this book) and that he ghosts her. Take out that entire paragraph in the blurb that includes the name Roman, and it is close enough, but that extra bit in there doesn't belong.
At the beginning, and several times throughout, it is mentioned that the pack will revolt if he names her Luna. Yet, of course, at the end, he does this and we never hear about any fallout. Was this not true to begin with?
Leila's loan - she was supposedly paying $3k/wk for a year, but the week she was late was $10k?
The amount she supposedly stole from Luca originally was $2m but then later it is $5m?
Luca gets upset because she doesn't want him, but does his brother, and he can't figure out why. How can he not understand what he did to her? Why didn't he investigate more before throwing her away?
And he expects her to just, what? Forget it all happened and just fall into bed with him again?
It annoys the crap out of me that she ultimately takes him back after he barely even apologizes.
There was absolutely no shifting in this book. This while book reads like a mafia book that was converted to shifters. The blurb issue and inconsistencies all point to a shifter book because in my experience, they are usually very poorly edited (if at all), but it has the vibe of a mafia book. Add in the fact that there is no shifting, and... make your own conclusion there.
I did enjoy the writing slightly, but I will not read this book again, and probably wouldn't recommend it to someone as a shifter book. MAYBE as a wannabe shifter/wannabe mafia book that doesn't really hit either genre well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Leila and Luca are fated mates but he rejected her five years ago. Wouldn't listen to her claims that she didn't cheat or steal. No. Nothing worked. She had their son and struggled to pay bills and make ends meet. And hoped to never see him again.
But then he walked into her first appointment with bride Elena. Meaning, he was the groom for the wedding she was supposed to plan. What a mess, right? Different trope from the other rejected mates books I've read. And just different enough to be interesting.
Inconsistencies were all throughout the book. Elena wanted to be an interior designer (and was hailed as remarkably gifted by Luca's standards), but doesn't like puzzles or Legos? How's that make sense? The missing funds. How could they go unnoticed for so long? Luca learns that his father not only lied, but forced himself on Luca's mother nightly to get an heir. And then later his only crime seems to be lying?
Typos and errors galore. Really wish the author would utilize better editing services.
Leila has accepted the opportunity to plan a wedding for Bronx Alpha's daughter. What she didn't expect was the groom to be her ex, Luca, her fated mate who rejected her. This situation alone was overwhelming and heartbreaking. His cold indifference added so much tension, and their bond was electrifying, which made every interaction highly charged. The twists and turns were heart-pounding and kept me invested. I could not get enough of this thrilling read.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A great story full of fated mates, mistrust, rejection, romance, misunderstandings, betrayal, second chances and love, with a wonderfully strong willed FMC who just wants to protect her son, a careful but protective Alpha MMC, a wonderfully sweet four-year-old, flashbacks, some great twists (some expected and others not) and a HEA.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I enjoyed reading this story. The characters and storyline were full and believable. I wasn’t a fan of keeping what broke up our couple initially hidden for so long. Both lead characters struggled in their own ways but thankfully they recognized that being fated mates would bring fulfillment and a rightness to their lives. There is a villain and kidnapping in case you have triggers. There is a happy ending. Read On!
This book was very good, high in suspense...the who dunnnit.. You know someone orchestrated this plot against this couple, it was a long ride finding out who. On behalf of shifters everywhere, I thought alphas would be a little smarter than this guy. He's so stubborn, the MFC should have thought twice about taking him back, but he did have a lot of people working against him that shouldn't have been at all. But geez..lol
I enjoyed this book. It was different and well written. One of the best paranormal romance I have read. I will definitely check out this author’s other books!