Shifter Romance/Alpha MC/Fated Mates/Muli PoV
SYNOPSIS (of Duet): Both books are quite short and could be combined in a single book. The story is set in a world where shifters live alongside unknowing humans. The FC, Josephine/Joey, is about to head off to college and she and her father are in town wanting to join the MC’s pack. It is here that Joey meets the MC who turns out to be her fated mate, an older Alpha, Lucien. For reasons never really explained, Lucien immediately rejects Joey who then runs off to find her father. The story fast forwards 4 years to where Joey has just been released on parole having spent the last 4 years in prison for vehicular manslaughter of her father. She has no memory of her life before prison or of Lucien and just wants to move on with her life. As luck would have it she is given a job in one of Lucien’s hotels and it is there that they bump into each other again. Lucien quickly realises that Joey has no memory of him and what happened. It turns out he quickly regretted rejecting Joey and has been missing her ever since having been told she was killed in the accident that killed her father. Book 1 covers the evolution of the MC/FC’s relationship and how they fall deeper for each other whilst in the background the MC’s old girlfriend is trying to make life difficult and Lucien feels guilty about hiding the FC’s past from her. Book 2 covers how, now that Joey has regained her memory, she learns to forgive Lucien after a lot of grovelling whilst they both fight against enemies that have appeared and deal with betrayals.
HEAT LEVEL: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/🍆🍆🍆🍆 There are a lot of graphic, hot scenes. Whilst they do not go on for pages and are pretty vanilla there are plenty of them and they take over to an extent. This is one of those duets that leans more towards to the sex than the story or romance. In fact there is limited romance and more emphasis on heat.
SUMMARY: This Duet is decently written and edited but with a focus on the sex rather than the characters or the story - although there is a decent enough story to hold everything together. There isn’t much depth and some parts don’t really hang together but it is an enjoyable read if you are looking for a very alpha, possessive, slightly psychotic older MC and a strongish young FC. There are some violent scenes with one in particular in Book 2 that is quite graphic although not long. There’s drama and action but with some angst.
There is limited backstory for the MC/FC so not much character or world building. Whilst there are a few secondary characters such as the MC’s brother and the FC’s best friend neither of these are fleshed out and seem to be there just to allow parts of the narrative to play out. As this is a fated mates story there is also no real relationship building with the MC jut going straight to overbearing and possessive and the sex starting almost straight off. The result is that whilst the story is engaging enough I felt little real buy in to the characters or understanding of where they came from. You get hints about the FC’s time in prison and some references to some trauma on the MC’s side but nothing substantive. The other characters, such as the MC’s father and mother, are superficial and actually pretty pointless in terms of narrative or story evolution.
The FC is likeable and intelligent enough with a strongth of character although there is a scene where she does that thing where an FC does something just so stupid you want to smack your head (or her) and which results in the MC suffering. 😖 The MC is overly psychotic and possessive and seems to go from 0-60 at the drop of a hat. It felt a bit over the top and I didn’t really manage to connect with the MC or understand, outside of the fated mates point, why the FC or anyone would want to be with him. Unlike many fated mates stories where you see a relationship develop outside of the FM link this story seems to have little to show that the MC and FC would be together without that link. It was a shame.
The author tries to write a decent action based story arc but unfortunately it doesn’t fully work. The starting point, the rejection by the MC, seems fundamentally flawed as there is no reason given for why he would just reject the FC out of hand without any thought or interaction and you never get a full explanation. The result is that, as a reader, you conclude this was just a mechanism for the author to then write a rejected mates redemption story. One of the biggest issues I had with the story ****SPOILER ALERT**** was also the timeline of how anyone could find out about the MC and FC being fated mates and then try to get rid of her. I mean, the MC and FC just discovered they were fated mates, the FC immediately ran after being rejected, jumped in the car with her father and is then run off the road which results in her being sent to prison and disappearing for 4 years. How did anyone find out they were fated? How did they then have time to run the FC off the road? How did they know where the FC was headed? None of these questions are answered which was very frustrating and lazy on the part of the author. You also never received an explanation as to why the individual who ran the FC off the road felt that the MC was better off without her despite knowing nothing about her. Again, very frustrating. **** END OF SPOILER****
In conclusion, this was an enjoyable, angsty read if you can overcome your frustration with the gaping plot holes 😬