What got me to read this book were the high ratings it received and I was reading it along with Emalie. I figured, “This book has an average rating of 4 stars, the cover looks awesome, the synopsis is interesting and it’s only $0.99… can’t be that bad. Why not?!”

Here’s why not… the book starts off pretty slow. After about 50 pages, I was kind of bored and thinking WTF?! After about 100 pages I thought, “Welp, saw that coming…” Some of the characters were likable which helped me continue reading the story. One of the problems for me was that the character that should have been likable… wasn’t. Lexi made some dreadful choices and some of the narrative that’s given through her perspective made her seem materialistic.  She just seemed very confused about what she wanted and that caused her to lead Austin on; which was not fair to him.

Here’s a breakdown of characters:

April – a very sweet young woman that works in the candy shop with Lexi. She’s shy and reserved, but loyal to Lexi. There’s obviously something more to her story, but this isn’t the book you’ll find out about her.

Austin – Wes’s best friend and Lexi’s crush. He’s a shape shifter in the form of a wolf… alpha male. His entire family is shape shifters. Extremely loyal and protective of Lexi as he has been her entire life. Comes back to town unexpectedly, but came to stay.

Beckett – grade A asshole. Self-professed meathead. Works as a bouncer at a night club where his boss hates him. He’s Lexi’s ex-boyfriend. He had an affair with a woman in the backseat of Lexi’s car. He’s also crazy and possessive. At one point, he actually tried to kill Lexi. Austin arrived in time to save her life.

Denver – one of Austin’s older brothers. Fun-loving and free spirited. Forms a protective bond and friendship with Maizy. Quite possibly the best character in this book… and he’s not a main character.

Lexi – the “heroine” of the story. I think my issue with her is she always needs saving. Her choices sometimes gets her into trouble because she doesn’t like to listen to advice. However, she is the glue that holds the family together after Wes’s tragic death seven years ago. She has a close bond with her sister, Maizy. At the age of 27, her life is taken for a whirl when she finds out (from Austin) she’s a shape shifter as well. This plot twist we saw coming. A better plot twist would have been Lexi being in love with Austin all of her life and finding out he’s gay…

Lorenzo – another alpha male shape shifter of a different pack. He’s hella creepy. He shows up unexpectedly ALL. THE. TIME. He’s attracted to Lexi, but only because he thinks she’s beautiful and another female that could warm his bed at night. He is protective of her, but everything about him is wrong. He lives a very lavish lifestyle and he uses that to try to lure Lexi to be with him. He and Austin are enemies.

Lynn – the mother of Wes, Lexi, and Maizy. She’s held it together for the most part, but she hasn’t really been the same since Wes died. On the anniversary of his death, she holds a dinner in memory of him. Half way through the story, Nelson, her ex-husband, kidnaps her… but she is eventually found.

Naya – Lexi’s neighbor and friend. She is also a shifter… works at as a dancer at a club. She’s very likable and always keeps an eye on Maizy when needed. Unfortunately, her being a shape shifter added nothing to the story.

Nelson – Wes’s dad and Lynn’s ex-husband. Was thought to be Lexi’s and Maizy’s father as well, however Nelson isn’t all he seems. Nelson is a hit man for the “Shape Shifting mob” and has seemed to fall off the map. He manages to piss the mob off by stealing from them…

Maizy – Lexi’s 6-year old sister that believes in the princess fairy tales… that one day her prince will come and rescue her and will live happily ever after. Why shouldn’t she believe in that?! She’s 6… she forms a close bond with Denver after she was kidnapped with Lynn by Nelson. Nelson dropped her off on the side of the freeway because she wasn’t his kid. She was found by an alpha shape shifter from a local pack and safely returned to Austin.

Wes – Lexi’s older brother and Austin’s best friend. He found out Austin was a shape shifter and wanted in on the lifestyle. Nelson brought him in on his lifestyle as a hit man. The problem… Wes didn’t want to be paid with cash. He wanted immortality. His first assignment was to take out a young alpha shape shifter. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. He tragically paid the price with his life instead.

The writing wasn’t bad, but the decisions that the female lead made were just plain frustrating. … it seems like the author started with the main idea about shifters and decided that wasn’t enough. Let’s add every idea I’ve ever had and throw them in too. Let’s create a love triangle… where there isn’t one. (If you’re looking for Lexi and Austin to finally get together… you have to get to about 77% of the book)…  Let’s add a plot twist to Maizy… but we’re not going to explore it. If this review seems all over the place… welcome to my world… This is what it was like reading it. This was my first introduction to this author. I have to say even though it didn’t end in a cliff hanger, it didn’t make me interested to read the next books that follow… except Denver’s story… if he even gets one.