4.5 stars rounded up.
This was AWESOME!!! Wolf Shifters and Knotting inside! Buy yourself a copy - you won't regret it!
This should be all the review you need, so I'm gonna end it here...
Just kidding. Imma tell you more about this fabulous start to a new trilogy anyway.
Sawyer Holt is an Omega Wolf, running away from his current pack after the new Alpha has challenged and supplanted Sawyer's Alpha father. Forced to choose between running or entering a farce of a marriage to the new Alpha to cement the man's claim to the throne, so to speak, Sawyer decides to run.
The Beta wolves sent to capture him catch up to him in Kismet, CO, a small, somewhat sleepy town. Trying to escape what seems almost inevitable, Sawyer follows an enticing scent into a not-yet-open coffee shop and comes face to face with Dez Sullivan, a Special Forces veteran, who was honorably discharged after a terrible injury, who's also a newly bitten Alpha wolf and possibly suffering from PTSD. Who also just might be Sawyer's fated mate if Sawyer believed in that old wives' tale...
The author has done a fantastic job with the world-building, weaving information about the mythology and the backgrounds of the wolves seamlessly into the narrative, thereby avoiding the dreaded info dump, and takes the reader on a journey that leaves one at once breathless and in awe.
Sam Burns creates characters that feel real. They're not perfect, they have flaws, and fears, and worries, but they mesh and they love and they communicate. Obviously, I expected a bit of a slow burn, seeing how these two had only just met, and Sawyer needed to feel safe to even contemplate a relationship, especially considering that Dez has two friends, Gavin and Ash, who are also Alpha wolves, and whose easy friendship confounds Sawyer at first. The three Alphas trust each other explicitly, and upon seeing Dez with Sawyer in the coffee shop, defending the young man from the pursuit of the Betas, they immediately step in and make arrangements to take Sawyer home with them to protect him.
The first kiss - OHMYGAH!!! And when they finally, finally get it on - whoa, them's some burning sheets.
The story is told entirely in dual third person POV, switching between Sawyer and Dez easily without ever confusing the reader as to who's talking at any given time. There are humorous moments, there are dramatic moments, and there are deeply emotional moments for both Dez and Sawyer.
I absolutely loved this book, and I can hardly wait to read Ash's story and Gavin's story, who, I presume, will each get their own book. Soon, I hope.
Buy this! You won't regret it!
** I received a free copy of this book from the tour organizer in exchange for an honest review. **