Alpha Instinct by Katie Reus
Moon Shifter #1. Paranormal wolf shifter romance. Lightly rewritten and republished 2023. Original version 2012.
Ana Cordona is the current leader of her pack, after a devastating poisoning killed all the men. Her pack is also under threat from the Sean Taggart, the devious alpha shifter that owns the closest ranch. She can turn down his offers but he’s not above blackmail or force to get what he wants. Surprisingly, Connor Armstrong returns to her lands with a group of warrior alphas. He is prepared to offer his protection. He’s always known that Ana is his mate, and he also knows he needs to move carefully to convince her to give him a second chance. He had a reason for leaving the first time but sharing it and getting her to trust him will take time. Additional threats to Ana and her family have the timetable changing to fast forward.

Dark and obvious manipulative moments had me really disliking Taggart. I wasn’t sure Connor was any better with his less than subtle demands but he eventually proves he has the packs best interest at heart and that he really does care for Ana and her family. Alpha men. Love em or get rolled over by them. Ok, that’s a little harsh. Connor and his men do have their softer feelings and vulnerabilities and I took a little too much pleasure in their trying to go slowly or proving their worth.
Suspense and investigation, steamy drama, retribution and so much more. Not a cliffhanger but clearly more stories, more enemies, and more pairings of these alpha wolves and women to forge their lives and futures together. ( )

Super-natural

While I had a couple of qualms in regards to frequently repeated phrases (Reus really liked to bring up how badass the Council's Enforcer is) or concepts (I understand that Ana wouldn't be considered a true Alpha, it doesn't need saying every time she talks about the difference between herself and Connor) overall I really enjoyed the first book in her new series. The issues I had with her shorter story, DESTINED MATE, were pretty much answered and fixed in this longer book in fact (they are not set in the same universe).

What I liked a lot about it was that while its clearly the first book, and thus has a lot of character introducing and history telling and such, Reus snuck in several side stories that would make for great novels on their own, or work as secondary plots for future books/stories. I counted no less than 4 plots that could easily be made into their own novels, with at least two others that I wouldn't mind reading about either. Yes I did just ambitiously hope for another 6 books in this series (at the very least), but I really liked these Cordona women and the Armstrong pack.

Despite some repetition, Reus conveys a lot of story and world information in this novel. As I said she puts forth not only Ana/Connor's story, but lays the groundwork for a few other stories (including the next book PRIMAL POSSESSION, which is about Connor's brother Liam and his rather problematic mate). Each character was given a personality; though Ana and Connor got a lot of the attention, I felt as if I knew Liam, Ryan, Teresa, Carmen and all the others just as well. Even the bad guys (of which there was three elements competing for who can be the worst evil) were rounded out well enough that they're motivations were all obviously different.

I do question the fact that there was three separate, but equally important to the storyline, elements of bad. A rival pack, the cause behind the Cordona pack's illness and then a third element of bigoted jerkwads who just want the complete genocide of all things supernatural. The vying components muddled the story instead of, as I suspect Reus meant, playing red herring to each other. While it did go a fairly good job of covering who was the one who poisoned the Cordonas at first, by about halfway through it ceased to matter because everyone outside of the Cordona-Armstrong Pack seemed to want them dead.

And that I think is why I didn't devour this as quickly as I should have. The constant POV-shifting (not just Connor and Ana, but also Liam, Liam's mate, Bad Guy 1, Bad Guy 2, Bad Guy 3, Bad Guy connected to Bad Guy 2, a couple other members of the pack...) began to grate on my nerves. While the characters themselves were individual, their goals began to bleed into one and other. Some events would be seen from several different viewpoints, but reveal very little new information.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this book because Ana and Connor are both strong characters. They were the true highlight, even with some obvious misunderstandings, their relationship came across so genuine and warm that I just wanted them to snuggle together. The secondary characters were also a strong draw, so much so when tragedy struck I felt the pain and misery they all must have felt. Hopefully the next books focus less on outside POV's and more on the core characters. ( )

This really was just OK. There are entirely too many things going on in this book. There is the Cordona pack led by Ana. All the men & pregnant wolves were killed off prior to the book starting. So Ana is, basically, the only one strong enough to run the pack. Then there is the evil next door neighbor werewolf who wants to rape/own all the women in the Cordona pack and who is running a meth lab. Then there are the crazy anti-supernatural human supremacists that are trying to kill/kidnap anyone even remotely associated with the wolves. Then there is the mysterious poisoner. Then there is the return of the hot & sexy Alpha warrior wolf who is a total asshat who, of course, wants to mate with Ana.

I understand that much of information in the book is world building. But the presentation of the overarching conflicts was chaotic. The mystery of the poisoner completely fell flat. As in, by the end of the book it was obvious who was NOT the poisoner because of how many times the protagonist mentioned that she believed he WAS the poisoner. When you add in the human supremacist storyline and the evil meth making & raping neighbor, there were just TOO MANY VILLAINS.

Also there was the unintentional lulz situation of the ENFORCER. Mentioning his name every time the word ENFORCER was mentioned eventually made me laugh. If there was a drinking game surrounding this book, you'd take a shot every time you read ENFORCER - JAYNE BLAH BLAH BLAH.

I just wanted to finish the book. Skipped all the sex. I think that right there says something. ( )

Alpha Instinct
3 Stars

The world building is very similar to other series' focusing on wolf shifters (and other supernatural creatures), particularly Jennifer Ashley’s Shifter’s Unbound. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, the writing is repetitious, the hero and heroine are not particularly likable and the plot is convoluted.

Connor is a sexist jerk even for a dominant Alpha - he claims that he wants Ana as a partner when in reality, he wants a bedmate and little else. He never fully opens up to her and keeps secrets even at the end. When he does eventually let her in, it is very rushed and superficial. The heroine, Ana, is not much better. She is supposed to be a kick-ass Alpha female but is all about finding someone who can “make her feel safe”.

The secondary characters are underdeveloped and it is difficult to work up any emotion about them even some are murdered. The villains are one dimensional and predictable.

The plot is comprised of three storylines jumbled together in a confusing mish-mash of shifting POVs from the obnoxious shifter neighbor to the racist, white supremacists and finally, the poisoner bent on destroying Ana and her pack. As individual stories, they each have potential but fail to work as parts of a whole.

All in all, the Moon Shifter world has potential and the secondary couple is interesting enough to read the next book.
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