Samuel is the voice of logic, of reason. He is a scholar by heart. Being born the son of a pack's alpha he was groomed by his father to be the best the next Alpha. But truthfully, his father was always a bit wary of the fact his son seems unable to comprehend emotions or to act upon them. He understands the laws and the just way he taught by his father, but genuine compassion seems alien to him not to mention he was never interested in his pack members, not as friends and not as a possible mate. Yeah he CARED about their well being as an "Alpha to be" but it was about responsibility, not about true emotion of caring for someone you value with your heart.
Korban's upbringing couldn't have been more different. Though he too was the son of a pack's Alpha, his father and him never got along, and not only because Korban realized early in life Samuel - a MALE shifter - was his true mate (something his father didn't accept as being "right"/"natural"). Korban's father have always been a cruel manipulative person, and Korban is an open, loving and joyful person who sees life in a total different way. When Korban was younger his father tried teaching him his ways but as Korban grew older and Korban's opinion grew farther apart from his father, his father started to push him away so he won't threaten his position as the Alpha.
Korban had other things on his mind.. He wanted Samuel, and Samuel couldn't been more oblivious to the whole thing. Korban's smile and easy nature unsettled Samuel whenever they met during the years. He didn't know what he was feeling, besides maybe confusion and he did NOT like it. Samuel's issues though were focused elsewhere, he had a loving upbringing and yet he struggled to handle his wolf, making it impossible to shift back into human form as the years went by. He NEEDED a mate. But though he searched, none caught his interest.
Then the tragedy hit. I think most of it was easy to guess from the synopsis, but no way to realize just how sick Korban's father is! He challenged Samuel's father into an Alpha duel to try and take over Samuel's pack and yet what he achieved in the end was somehow mistakenly bringing Korban and Samuel together. Samuel, broken hearted, missing a whole lot of sleep, being unable to control his wolf and worried about his pack finds himself taking Korban as a mate, he is horrified of his actions, of the whole way everything happened and yet, no matter how disgusted Samuel is of his barbaric behavior, he only gets acceptance and patience from Korban. I was in awe of how loving Korban was. He knew who Samuel was, he knew what he needed - mostly time.. and so he waited for Samuel to stop using his head and for ONCE let his heart lead the way and once he did that.. ~sigh~ beautiful.. so so beautiful..
I loved hearing Samuel's voice, his struggles, the way he saw the world, the things he WANTED to understand and yet couldn't and then seeing how much he changes with Korban by his side. At times I wished I could hear Korban's voice, but I"m just being greedy ;) I got a beautiful touching love story and I really couldn't have asked for more.
My only complaint, as was with the first two installment - sex.. WAY too much of it. I guess it started up around the middle of the book with the plot mostly being centered about Samuel's life and struggles before that, and yet when they finally came together, I felt as though we are getting too much sex, and not enough LIFE interactions. But though I'm complaining, I"m not REALLY complaining, because this is STILL a solid 5 stars read and actually I"m battling myself here with which one I loved better - this one or the first installment of Zev and Jonah.. NOPE! I"m NOT getting there.
I LOVED this series. Highly recommend it!
I'll be going through Cardeno's book-list soon (!) adding up more books by her :)
ABOUT THIS SERIES
Mates is a MM Paranormal Romance Series by C. Cardeno. Cardeno built a beautiful world with not only humans but shifters ("half wolves") and vampires which is a bit different from the usual way I was used to these two supernatural being portrayed.
Each installment brings a new couple together, the first being Zed and Jonah, the second of Miguel and Ethan is a sort of "explanation" to the occurrence prior to the first book and the third is mentioned the MCs from the previous books but like the other ones can be read as a stand alone.
I really enjoyed this series. Though you could call the whole "True Mate" concept an "insta-love" which I usually don't enjoy that much, the connection between the couple and the way it is build is truly a joy to read. Cardeno has a special tender way of bringing two opposites together, totally completing one another. My only complaint is there is too much sex in all three installments. I wish we would have gotten more "couple time" in a different way. That being said, I never reduced any rating to all three of them on this account.
Books:
1. Wake Me Up Inside [Zev Hassick & Jonah Marvel] (published 14 August 2012) ★★★★★
2. Until Forever Comes [Ethan Abbatt & Miguel Rodriguez] (published 19 May 2013) ★★★½
3. In Your Eyes [Samuel Goodwin & Korbin Keller] (published 13 July 2014) ★★★★★
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