Waiting for Raine

Comet Lake Chronicles #1

by Layla Dorine

Every Gathering, Raine hides from potential mates, knowing that in a society where tri-bonds were the expectation, a wolf wanting a mate all to themselves was an anomaly.

Enter Gabriel. They’d met two years before, both left disappointed when no bondmark appeared on their wrists at that time. Gabriel’s been hunting, but there’s been no sign of Raine, outside of the one brief visit that didn’t end the way he’d hoped for.

Fast forward to the present Gathering. He’s stumbled onto Aiden, a wolf miserable in his own pack due to the way he’s treated. Born with a disability, he knows he can’t keep up, but no one has taken the time to teach him where his true potential lies—until Gabriel that is. Gabriel’s protective instincts kick in almost immediately.

Now Gabriel has one wolf he desperately wants to care for and another who has been hiding from him. Unfortunately, it might not be a challenge Gabriel is up for.

Genres: Paranormal, Shapeshifters, M M Romance, Menage, Polyamory, M M M, Romance

ebook

First published September 27, 2021

About the author

LAYLA DORINE lives among the sprawling prairies of Midwestern America, in a house with more cats than people. She loves hiking, fishing, swimming, martial arts, camping out, photography, cooking, and dabbling with several artistic mediums. In addition, she loves to travel and visit museums, historic, and haunted places.

Layla got hooked on writing as a child, starting with poetry and then branching out, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. Hard times, troubled times, the lives of her characters are never easy, but then what life is? The story is in the struggle, the journey, the triumphs and the falls. She writes about artists, musicians, loners, drifters, dreamers, hippies, bikers, truckers, hunters and all the other folks that she’s met and fallen in love with over the years. Sometimes she writes urban romance and sometimes its aliens crash landing near a roadside bar. When she isn’t writing, or wandering somewhere outdoors, she can often be found curled up with a good book and a kitty on her lap.

Reviews

[livia · Rating 2 out of 5]

See, as an avid reader and writer on ao3, it’s no surprise that this book seemed, on paper, to be right up my alley. I love werewolves stories, and I love poly romances even more, and there was definitely a lot here that could’ve been something good. That’s the frustrating part, I think; the failure to reach expectations.

The thing with writing poly is that there’s a very tightly held balance that you need to watch in order not to have a particular pairing overwhelm the others by the end. And at first, I really thought the author was doing something interesting as far as exploring tension in the relationship, dragging the angst between Gabe and Raine. But in order to convince me to move on, to trust their relationship and the premise that they loved each other equally, there needed to be a lot of work put into building Gabe’s relationships with his mates. Instead, the opposite happened.

I feel like making this book so Raine centered really screwed that up. We did get to see some of his relationship with Gabe improve, but never to the depth of Raine and Adrien’s. And as far as Adrien and Gabe, it’s was even worse — with the exception of those very early chapters, it really did feel like the author went out of their way to make sure we knew Adrien felt more connected to Raine. It was bothering me how every intimate scene, every kiss and make out happened between Adrien and Raine, but it really icked me out by the last chapter, especially with the ‘I love you’ scene. What the fuck was that? What is the point of having Adrien and Raine talk about how much and when they fell for each other and then have Gabe just what, third wheel them?

Besides that, the writing just isn’t that good. A lot of tell-not-show, an astounding lack of any plot, and episodic chapters that felt so weirdly disconnected I would not be surprised if this was in fact previously a fanfic, new chapter every couple of weeks.

Honestly, as much as the next book’s premise kind of intrigues, I don’t think I trust this author with a poly couple anymore.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up
The story of Raine, Gabriel, and Aiden is an interesting one. Triads are the norm. Raine doesn’t want to conform to that and does his best to never have to. However, he is no match for the other two wolves who want him.

This book had some surprises. Totally different world building centered around wolf shifters. Nicely written and easy to read. Angsty but enjoyable. I’ll be looking for the next book.

This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review. Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.

[b3ttherthanwords · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Juna Ratnam · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know it’s a good book when I’m still thinking about it more than a month after I read it. Waiting for Raine was a delicious mix of two of my favourite tropes, a MMM relationship and werewolves.

Some things I loved:

Gabriel, Aiden and Raine were endearing, and the banter was wonderful. I liked that the existence of mates didn’t mean that the relationships were magically perfect. The characters had to work for their happy ending and it was very satisfying. Mama G and Mama K were also adorable.

I liked the concept of the mate marks, but I wish we’d got a better description of what they looked like. I also loved the intersex representation and the cool take on the usual omega tropes. I especially loved that Raine was the protector of his little group.

I loved how Aiden’s character wasn’t reduced to his disability. I liked the matter-of-fact way the narrative described his use of a cane.

Trauma, both past and present, was handled very well. I liked the inclusion of therapy sessions after the bear attack (most werewolf books just skip over the psychological side of surviving a fight to the death).

The prose was also really nice:

For someone who still eyed the vehicle like it was something from the farthest recesses of hell, Raine sure had an easy time falling asleep in it.

What I didn’t like so much:

I didn’t get why Gabe was suddenly so mean to Raine in the beginning. I mean, I know that Raine had just snapped at his other mate, but it seemed out of character for him to try to exclude Raine.

I’m not sure exactly how their economy works (?) It’s supposed to be based on barter, which is super cool, except I don’t get how they pay humans for things werewolves can’t produce by themselves?

I received this book from NineStar Press in exchange for an honest review.

[Laura ~Passion flower · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Exciting, Emotional, and Heartwarming Shifter Story

Waiting for Raine, by Layla Dorine, is a captivating, indescribably gut-wrenching, incredibly beautiful, sexy, heart-warming, completely unputdownable read of three damaged and lost souls and the discovery of their true potential.  I loved this story as the bits and pieces of it came together in quite the mesmerizing heart felt read. 

Wow.  What an amazing story with it's gorgeous eye-catching cover and it's gripping storyline that kept me reading even through it's heart-breaking triggers and surprising twist and turns.  

I adored the main characters, Gabriel, Aiden, and Raine, with their dedication, love, and absolute devotion for one another and newly found family members.  Even the secondary characters were just as addicting as their equaled strength and loyalty was so wonderful that it contributed nicely to the overall plot and storyline.  The beautifully unique world building, realistic dialogue, intermittent humor, and excitement was en pointe.

Gah, Waiting for Raine was such a heart-pounding, beautiful, exciting and emotional read that despite having a few typos, a need for a bit more development, and the existence of a few vitally important loose ends, I loved this story to bits....:)



*star rating: 4.45 'I really, really liked this story' stars*


   

[Samantha Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

It really got me in my feels at times. Super cute ❤️

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read pretty much any mmm I can get my hands on, and I love werewolf books so I knew I needed to try this one. It had an alright premise; I was nervous it would be too angsty but it wasn't horrible. I liked the idea of everyone having two mates instead of the typical one.

But the story was all over the place. The characters were all over the place; their personalities constantly changed. The main focus seemed to be on Raine and his issues, but sometimes the author would remember that Aiden had a bad foot and shitty home life too.

Lots of things were thrown in. Like intersex and Mpreg and trash talking werewolves and family members who were uncomfortably open about sex talk. It just felt like a hodge podge of random stuff thrown together.

Overall, it was an okay read but I had to push through to finish it.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no expectations when I downloaded this book. I definitely didn’t expect a story that tackled child abuse, polyamory, bullying, physical disability, and intersexuality. WEW. The author really ‘aims for the fences’ with some heavy topics but it WORKS. This bittersweet story with a HE is about found family and learning to love yourself without prejudice and despite the pressure of societal ‘norms’. It’s about overcoming trauma and not letting your past or disability dictate your happiness. I could really see this story as a full length novel. There is a potential here to delve deeper into these characters and relationships. Every town needs a ‘Doc’. Every family needs a Mama G and Co. Every partnership needs an Aiden. Every child needs a Floofy. Read it and found out why.

[Laurie Krebs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't even explain how much I loved this book! It had an original story, and I completely fell in love with all 3 main characters, flaws, and all. Being a counselor, I have a really hard time reading books that detail trauma because most of the time, it's over exaggerated and very plot reliant. This book handled the trauma with care, which I appreciated. The character growth detailed throughout the story was crucial in realistically growing the relationship between them and was done really well. I was left feeling all gooey and warm after finishing the story. I seriously can't wait to dig into book 2.

spice: 🌶 🌶 🌶
slow-burn
why choose (poly m/m/m)

[mike bullock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutally beautiful in every way!!!😍😍😍

Gah!... Raine, Gabe, Aiden are a triple threat! Smart and sexy is only the beginning. The obstacles they need to overcome lead to so much hurt that you truly want to dive into their universe and whisper encouragement! I fell into this book immediately. Layla Dorine created a deep and lasting impression on my heart!. This will live rent free inside me forever! It's that good. I highly recommend adding this to your fated mates library!😘

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take on the Wolf shifter story. Enjoyable although quite a few editorial errors. This story could really do with another chapter or an epilogue. Would have been nice to see the story through to the birth of the pups and maybe an in person reconciliation with Raine’s father and his siblings. Would have got 4 stars if those were included.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Healing each other

I really enjoyed the main characters building their life together. Good secondary characters just were icing on the cake. Just wish we had seen how many babies.

[Diana Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

This was a wonderful book. I had a very hard time putting it Down. I will definitely be trying to Find a Second book. It was very well written.

[Jandee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down

This is a sweet story. I had my heart in my throat for some of it. It's definitely a hard won HEA. I love Raine and his mates.

[Perle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story !!

Not a lot of plot but a lot of character development 👌

[Ida Umphers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can always count on Layla Dorine to put an interesting spin on any trope she decides to work with, and this book is no exception. Here, we have a shifter society where the norm is to have two fated mates. Raine, for various reasons in his past wants only one mate and won't consider any other option. This is the story of what happens when Raine finds his mate - one already bonded to another. The characters are all ones you want to know better, the backstory makes their behavior perfectly understandable and I just have to say that nobody writes poly relationships like Dorine. Every person involved in the relationship feels ewually loved and respected for their own unique characteristics, the everyday negotiations are beautifully described and the steam level is off the charts. This is a do not miss shifter/fated mates book!

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

this story has 3 main characters Raine, Gabe and Aiden who happen to meet at a gathers for potential mates. through internal and external struggles these 3 bond and become a triad.

the author wrote each character with such depth and compassion that it takes you along in their struggle from start to finish.

this is book 1 of the new series Comet Lake Chronicles by the author. this is a M/M/M story line.

[Vintage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Figuring it all out

I did enjoy a lot about this book. There were great elements of found family and reconciliation sprinkled throughout and interesting relationship dynamics fueled by the cultural norms that shifters lived by in this story. The challenge for me in this story was that characters seem to dramatically change their personality as the story went on which kept taking me out of the story a bit.

[CMLH · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for a shifter story with a twist, this is the one for you. In a world that triads are common, Raine doesn't want one and does his best to hide. Gabriel had hopes that Raine was his mate but that didn't happen. Then he meets Aiden. If you want to find out what happens next, read the story. You will not be disappointed and this book grabs you.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a different kind of good!