This is a combined review of the first two books in this series. I couldn’t bear to continue with the series after ploughing through the first two. I don’t care enough about any of the characters and the writing style was very off-putting for me. There’s a lot to say about it all; where do I start?
~The author uses the wrong words in context (eg. "infliction" instead of the correct "inflection". It changed the entire meaning of the sentence.)
~There is an insipid, stupid fmc who refuses to hear/see things that are said/done right in front of her (book 1), then spends ages wondering why things are happening that have literally already been explained to her face. She is feeble, inconsistent and so annoying, I wanted to reach into the book and throttle her. Then in book 2, she becomes a total powerhouse, adapting instantly to life in a species she had never even heard of a few weeks beforehand. I'm sure the feeble stupidity of the fmc in book 1 was there to contrast and highlight the power she acquired in book 2, but it's like she became an entirely different person and lacked any believable continuity for her character. Feeble, emotional, dimwitted virgin in book 1, then a strong, courageous, sexually confident leader in book 2.
~The fmc falls in love with 5 strangers on day two of meeting them, despite most of those two days being spent wondering why they are acting strangely and being concerned about their inclination to throw fists. They call her "mate" and introduce her as such, but she doesn't query it, just says "oh, how sweet they call me a friend." Presumably because the guys are hot and therefore no questions need to be asked. Also she doesn't wonder why the vet and the GP work out of the same office. She doesn't wonder why the big house is called the pack house, nor why there are SO MANY wolves around in a country which doesn't actually have a lot of (or any?) wild wolves anywhere. She brings a whole new level of meaning to the word "dim."
~The author, despite the blurb saying she lives in England, uses American terminology and words (math, not maths, nightstand, not bedside table, smelt [which does have a meaning in the UK but it does not mean the same as smelled], dreamt [again, should be dreamed], school credits [something which UK schools don't have], grades, not school year groups, etc) despite the story apparently taking place in a fictional county in the north of England. As a UK reader it is constantly jarring when Americanisms are thrown into an English story like that. It kept jolting me out of the fictional world I was trying to immerse myself in.
~There is one point in which the spelling of one of the MMC's names changes from Dillon to Dylan, then back to Dillon. Yes, we get it - the character was originally spelled Dylan but the author changed it to make it more interesting. It failed on two counts: it is the same name, no matter how you spell it and, if you don't proof read properly before publishing, it just looks ridiculous.
~There are random commas popping up where commas are not supposed to be - this interrupts the reading experience and pulls me out of the story. By the end of book 2 (I am not continuing with any more books by this author, I can't stand it) I was thinking about starting a support group for displaced and unnecessary commas. There were too many sentences ending with a preposition, which frankly is just shoddy writing. Also, I can only assume the author has never heard of "show, don't tell" since sentences such as "I felt sad" were rife. Anyone can write a story, but a truly good author will write that story WELL and get their spelling and grammar correct. This is, sadly, not the case here.
These are all reasons this series failed, for me. If you feel I’m nit picking and none of this stuff bothers you, and if you don’t care about anything exciting happening in your books, and if you don’t mind your spicy scenes being equivalent to a wet firework, they might be perfect for you.