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A review by yazaleea
Exhale by Joel Abernathy
4.0
I don't know if I actually liked this as much as I think I did, and I am still hesitating between rating this 3 or 4 stars... It might be because it's the first book that's not a sweet and harmless college romance that I read in a while? But this was so intense? I was invested in this story??
This was messy and a little dark and emo. Jack's wife was found murdered and when he finally gets away from the small town he'd lived in all his life for a fresh start, his daughter Ellie gets kidnapped. Not a great time. He only has one suspect in mind: the mysterious man who seemed to have a romantic past with his wife. And when said man, Nicolae, comes to his door telling him he knows exactly who killed the woman they both love and took his daughter, Jack has no choice but to follow this man. The hate is instant and intense for both men, but they have to work together to get Ellie back. What he doesn't expect is to be thrown into a whole new world of werewolves and magic. His wife was a werewolf. His daughter is a werewolf. And so is Nicolae. But Jack would do anything to get his daughter home. He'd withstand Nicolae's anger, humiliation and contempt. He'd mate with Nicolae out of obligation to prove to some Werewolf Court that Ellie is theirs. But when lies and unexpected revelations unravel everything they thought was true, the relationship between Jack and Nicolae shifts into something... different.
That was a wild ride, and I am saying this for soo many reasons. At first this was lowkey a bullying romance between two grown ass adults, as Nicolae's hatred of Jack translated into some crazy shit. Nicolae is the alpha alpha even if he does soften at the end. And I'm sorry but i didn't mind it that much?? Maybe because Jack held his own, he was so dedicated to doing everything to protect those he loves, namely his daughter, that he'd just stubbornly fight back when he could or just go through things with gritted teeth. I just really liked Jack. And while his relationship with Nicolae went from legit hate sex with pain kink (involving a dick described to be as thick as a soda can, which made me laugh during the whole painful thing), knotting and begging, right to love. The transition from hate to love was a liiiittle fast to my taste but again, I enjoyed the whole thing enough not to care too much about that. I loved to see them whipped for each other and even got a little emotional at the end, because they were so cute and even if this whole thing was fucked up, I liked them together and I want to read more.
Some stuff felt a little weird and I didn't understand the whole thing of having multiple destined mates and everything, but ey, I read this with my heart not my brain and that was a fun read for dark romance girlies who are still softies because it wasn't that dark when i think about it, Nicolae was just an asshole and werewolves are weird bloody mfers lol.
Also: I loved how supportive and loving Jack was towards his trans daughter. He always showed his unconditional and unwavering support to her and it made me appreciate his character so much. I just really liked Jack.
This was messy and a little dark and emo. Jack's wife was found murdered and when he finally gets away from the small town he'd lived in all his life for a fresh start, his daughter Ellie gets kidnapped. Not a great time. He only has one suspect in mind: the mysterious man who seemed to have a romantic past with his wife. And when said man, Nicolae, comes to his door telling him he knows exactly who killed the woman they both love and took his daughter, Jack has no choice but to follow this man. The hate is instant and intense for both men, but they have to work together to get Ellie back. What he doesn't expect is to be thrown into a whole new world of werewolves and magic. His wife was a werewolf. His daughter is a werewolf. And so is Nicolae. But Jack would do anything to get his daughter home. He'd withstand Nicolae's anger, humiliation and contempt. He'd mate with Nicolae out of obligation to prove to some Werewolf Court that Ellie is theirs. But when lies and unexpected revelations unravel everything they thought was true, the relationship between Jack and Nicolae shifts into something... different.
That was a wild ride, and I am saying this for soo many reasons. At first this was lowkey a bullying romance between two grown ass adults, as Nicolae's hatred of Jack translated into some crazy shit. Nicolae is the alpha alpha even if he does soften at the end. And I'm sorry but i didn't mind it that much?? Maybe because Jack held his own, he was so dedicated to doing everything to protect those he loves, namely his daughter, that he'd just stubbornly fight back when he could or just go through things with gritted teeth. I just really liked Jack. And while his relationship with Nicolae went from legit hate sex with pain kink (involving a dick described to be as thick as a soda can, which made me laugh during the whole painful thing), knotting and begging, right to love. The transition from hate to love was a liiiittle fast to my taste but again, I enjoyed the whole thing enough not to care too much about that. I loved to see them whipped for each other and even got a little emotional at the end, because they were so cute and even if this whole thing was fucked up, I liked them together and I want to read more.
Some stuff felt a little weird and I didn't understand the whole thing of having multiple destined mates and everything, but ey, I read this with my heart not my brain and that was a fun read for dark romance girlies who are still softies because it wasn't that dark when i think about it, Nicolae was just an asshole and werewolves are weird bloody mfers lol.
Also: I loved how supportive and loving Jack was towards his trans daughter. He always showed his unconditional and unwavering support to her and it made me appreciate his character so much. I just really liked Jack.