Sexy Saturday Review: Alpha Instinct by Katie Reus

So, it has been a while since I’ve posted a paranormal romance review. It’s not that I have stopped reading the genre, I was just trying to figure out which direction the blog was going. It comes down to this: I love YA, Middle grade, and Adult genres. Throw the right amount of paranormal awesome or end of the world drama into a book that catches my fancy and I will do my best to review it on Bending The Spine. Some of my favorite authors write PNR and I am addicted to their books: Jeaniene Frost, Karen Marie Moning, and Nalini Singh. I am aware that not all my readers love PNR, thus Sexy Saturday Reviews are born! OK, I also liked the way it sounded :) Will I have a PNR review every Saturday? I have no idea, but when I have them I will do my best to post them on Saturday. Now on to today’s review.

Title: Alpha Instinct
Author: Katie Reus
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Signet
Release Date: February 7, 2012
ISBN-10: 0451236092
ISBN-13: 978-0451236098
Author’s Website
Source: Self Purchase

Ana Cordona has been a strong leader for the lupine shifters who survived after all the males and most of the females in her pack were mysteriously poisoned. As tough as she is, with no Alpha male, the pack is vulnerable to the devious shifter Taggart, who wants to claim both their ranch and Ana as his own. When Connor Armstrong comes back into her life, promising protection, it’s almost enough to make Ana forget how he walked out on her before—and reluctantly accept his offer to mate.

The minute Connor sees Ana again, it reawakens a raw hunger. He must have her for his bondmate—his wolf cries out for it. But his human side knows he must proceed with caution because of their complicated past. If he is to truly have her body and soul, he must go beyond his burning desire and win back her heart. Whatever it takes, he is determined not to leave her side again.

But Taggart and his rival pack are not their only enemies. A human element in town is targeting shifters. Their plan not only threatens Ana and Connor’s future, but the lives of the entire pack… (Goodreads)

Review

Y’all know I love a good shifter story. Alpha Instinct is the first book in the Moon Shifter series and I enjoyed reading it.

Ana Cordona has been taking care of her pack ever since her father, their pack leader, and all the other men in the pack died of poisoning. I liked Ana’s character for the most part. I felt for Ana, she has had to hold up her pack and stay strong for them through her parent’s deaths. Being a pack alpha is not what Ana was made to do, but she will do whatever it takes to keep her pack together. For that reason she is too scared to go to the council for help, because she is fearful of what they will do with the pack.

While Ana is being attacked by her neighbor Taggart, she is saved by Connor and his brother Liam. Connor and Liam had lived amongst Ana’s pack fifty years ago. I liked Connor. He came into Ana’s pack with all these ideas, then he sees her and totally messes it up by making demands of her. He is very much an alpha but not so much so that when he makes a mistake he can’t admit he is wrong, and I liked that.

Ana and Connor had great chemistry together. Yes, they followed the PNR formula and that didn’t bother me. The sexual tension between them was great. The thing that I didn’t really care for was how much non-talking was going on between them about their past. It got to the point of being annoying.

Connor’s brother Liam had a little side story going with the town sheriff’s sister. OK, I am just going to be honest with you here. I think I was a little more into Liam and December’s story than the main one between Anna and Connor. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that December is a human and that is a big faux pass in the shifter world.

“I’m Liam Armstrong”

She chewed on her bottom lip and devouring it. Liam wasn’t sure what had come over him when it hit him. Mate.

He jerked back at the word and tried to reject it. No. Impossible. She was human. That he was sure of.

 Mate.

There it went again. The word resounded in his head so loudly he was surprised she hadn’t heard it.

...

“I’m still waiting on your answer. And your name.”

“I haven’t decided, but my name is December McIntyre.”

“I knew you were a Scottish lassie.” Over the past century he’d learned to cover up his brogue, but he laid it on thick at the moment, hoping it would earn him a smile. He wasn’t disappointed. 

There was a lot going on in Alpha Instinct I didn’t really know were to rest my attention. For example: You know I am a big fan of having a great villain to hate if there is a villain in the story. There were so many villains I didn’t have anyone to blame all the bad on, so I just sort of  disliked a bunch of people…it was a bummer.

I enjoyed Alpha Instinct overall. I really liked the way Katie Reus described the town—it is very charming. I hope to see more of it in book two since that book will focus more on December and Liam. I look forward to reading it when it comes out in September.   

Happy Reading,

It's good. I had fun for the most part.

Recommended For

18 and up: For language, violence, and graphic sex.