jude_925's review
5.0
This book was more than I expected. taboo brother PNR romance? yes please. The younger is the alpha and the older brother the omega? Mindblown. I love that dynamic too much for my own good. I just loved this. LOVED IT!!!
starbook2's review against another edition
5.0
WHOA!!! Iโm just going to start by saying this is a 5 โญ๏ธ and 5
10111111111's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
***Second Read***
Rating: 4.5 stars (9/20)
Spice: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ
Tropes: brother incest, younger alpha x older omega, rescue mission, it's always been you but I didn't know, knotting and breeding ๐๐ฆ
Review:
I was in the mood for emotional and smutty, and I found that this is a story I want to come back to for just that. I enjoyed this just as much the second time around, and I feel like I got a better understanding of the world this time around too. I am still so excited for Keenan and Ellis' story, but I also forgot about Locke and Jaiden last time, and I am very curious if we will get a story about them at some point too. As always, the brother trope is just so tasty and I loved how they were as close as brothers could be, but once the mating mark was made, their relationship and love just grew so much deeper. I enjoyed the interplay between human logic and animalistic instinct, and how Shiloh could respect and treat Riley as an equal, but also appease the alpha instinct to take care and own. I liked there was depth there in those tropes. If we get an audiobook of this one day, I will go feral.
***First Read***
4.5 stars (9/10), ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ
This is my first 'taboo' story, but definitely not my first time reading brothers (I was a hard Durincest shipper back in the day). I always enjoy a good shifter romance, and I really enjoyed this one too. Shiloh in a 22 year old alpha, and when his older omega brother Riley went with the alpha of a dwindling pack to help stabilise them, Shiloh realised quickly through their bond (before it was broken) that something was very much not right with Riley, and so goes AWOL to rescue him back. The act of stealing another pack's mated or intended omega is basically an act-of-war, and this alpha, Garrett, is in hot pursuit of them as they try to escape back to their pack. However, given the newly formed bond between Riley and Garrett, they are easily tracked down, and in a desperate bid to rid them of that bond, Shiloh has no choice but to mate bond with Riley to sever that connection.
First of, I found the ABO dynamics in this story interesting, and it is always something I enjoy reading about, to see how the author decides to interpret it. I think the idea that the primary sex characteristics of the people determine impregnability, whereas the secondary sex characteristics determine bonding, was an interesting choice, but I didn't hate it, especially as I didn't exactly want mpreg between two brothers. They had grown up together and were already best friends. Neither were happy when Riley left and already felt bereft without them, but there had never been anything between them before, at least not consciously. When Shiloh had first presented at 15, he was sent away from home whenever Riley went into heat, not necessarily because he wouldn't be able to control himself, but it also wasn't outside the realm of possibility that Shiloh's wolf, who had to try and find this new balance between being submissive to his older omega brother but also being an alpha, may have made things harder. While the two of them had worked out their dynamic while brothers, once Shiloh mated to Riley, it was another thing again to re-establish their relationship with Shiloh now being Riley's mate and alpha, and for Riley to still have his agency and authority, which Shiloh's human mind understands, but also now submitting to Shiloh's alpha which his wolf struggled with. I found the balance and interplay between equals and partners with the added A/O dynamic interesting, and I think it was dealt with really well.
The plot of the story was interesting, but it did resolve a little earlier and more easily than I thought it would. I honestly expected the story to be a bit more angsty, but I'm definitely not complaining as we got a good deal of time afterwards with the two of them finally being safe and at peace to continue establishing their bond, as well as join the pack again, see their family and friends, and exist happily with their new dynamic. I found the relationship between Jeremy and Bailey to be adorable, and I don't know if we will ever get to focus on their story, but the vibe between Keenan and Ellis was hilarious, and with them having mate bonded at the end, almost seemingly on a dare with each other to show that it wouldn't overcome their brotherly bond, but with it having now been made abundantly clear that they were very wrong about that, I'm very excited to get their story when it is written. I enjoyed the vibe of this story in particular because of the older brother omega and the younger brother alpha, but with this story between Keenan and Ellis, we will get seemingly straight older brother jock alpha and younger brother bratty omega, which will be very fun as well. I'm curious to read more of Odessa Hywell's stories, but I'm not necessarily willing to go beyond the brothers realm of taboo, methinks.
Rating: 4.5 stars (9/20)
Spice: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ
Tropes: brother incest, younger alpha x older omega, rescue mission, it's always been you but I didn't know, knotting and breeding ๐๐ฆ
Review:
I was in the mood for emotional and smutty, and I found that this is a story I want to come back to for just that. I enjoyed this just as much the second time around, and I feel like I got a better understanding of the world this time around too. I am still so excited for Keenan and Ellis' story, but I also forgot about Locke and Jaiden last time, and I am very curious if we will get a story about them at some point too. As always, the brother trope is just so tasty and I loved how they were as close as brothers could be, but once the mating mark was made, their relationship and love just grew so much deeper. I enjoyed the interplay between human logic and animalistic instinct, and how Shiloh could respect and treat Riley as an equal, but also appease the alpha instinct to take care and own. I liked there was depth there in those tropes. If we get an audiobook of this one day, I will go feral.
***First Read***
4.5 stars (9/10), ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ
This is my first 'taboo' story, but definitely not my first time reading brothers (I was a hard Durincest shipper back in the day). I always enjoy a good shifter romance, and I really enjoyed this one too. Shiloh in a 22 year old alpha, and when his older omega brother Riley went with the alpha of a dwindling pack to help stabilise them, Shiloh realised quickly through their bond (before it was broken) that something was very much not right with Riley, and so goes AWOL to rescue him back. The act of stealing another pack's mated or intended omega is basically an act-of-war, and this alpha, Garrett, is in hot pursuit of them as they try to escape back to their pack. However, given the newly formed bond between Riley and Garrett, they are easily tracked down, and in a desperate bid to rid them of that bond, Shiloh has no choice but to mate bond with Riley to sever that connection.
First of, I found the ABO dynamics in this story interesting, and it is always something I enjoy reading about, to see how the author decides to interpret it. I think the idea that the primary sex characteristics of the people determine impregnability, whereas the secondary sex characteristics determine bonding, was an interesting choice, but I didn't hate it, especially as I didn't exactly want mpreg between two brothers. They had grown up together and were already best friends. Neither were happy when Riley left and already felt bereft without them, but there had never been anything between them before, at least not consciously. When Shiloh had first presented at 15, he was sent away from home whenever Riley went into heat, not necessarily because he wouldn't be able to control himself, but it also wasn't outside the realm of possibility that Shiloh's wolf, who had to try and find this new balance between being submissive to his older omega brother but also being an alpha, may have made things harder. While the two of them had worked out their dynamic while brothers, once Shiloh mated to Riley, it was another thing again to re-establish their relationship with Shiloh now being Riley's mate and alpha, and for Riley to still have his agency and authority, which Shiloh's human mind understands, but also now submitting to Shiloh's alpha which his wolf struggled with. I found the balance and interplay between equals and partners with the added A/O dynamic interesting, and I think it was dealt with really well.
The plot of the story was interesting, but it did resolve a little earlier and more easily than I thought it would. I honestly expected the story to be a bit more angsty, but I'm definitely not complaining as we got a good deal of time afterwards with the two of them finally being safe and at peace to continue establishing their bond, as well as join the pack again, see their family and friends, and exist happily with their new dynamic. I found the relationship between Jeremy and Bailey to be adorable, and I don't know if we will ever get to focus on their story, but the vibe between Keenan and Ellis was hilarious, and with them having mate bonded at the end, almost seemingly on a dare with each other to show that it wouldn't overcome their brotherly bond, but with it having now been made abundantly clear that they were very wrong about that, I'm very excited to get their story when it is written. I enjoyed the vibe of this story in particular because of the older brother omega and the younger brother alpha, but with this story between Keenan and Ellis, we will get seemingly straight older brother jock alpha and younger brother bratty omega, which will be very fun as well. I'm curious to read more of Odessa Hywell's stories, but I'm not necessarily willing to go beyond the brothers realm of taboo, methinks.
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