Ellie Pond

I received a free advanced copy from Hidden Gems in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. Shifter stories, fated mates and even unrequited love are usually well-within the realm of my go-to reads, but I found most of the book to be just laden with frustration.

Aurora (a human) and Spencer (a shifter alpha) made a pact years ago that they would choose to mate (and thus, override fate's choice in a mate for him) if he hadn't found his match by his 32nd birthday. She dreads his birthday, as she believes he truly will find the person he's meant for, and she doesn't love him as anything other than the brotherly best friend he's acted like for their entire lives. His pack (and her close friends) are all aware of this agreement they've made, and that she is actually legitimately attracted to another one of their friends - one who is ACTUALLY very much in love with her. But instead of encouraging their alpha to look elsewhere and not hold Aurora captive to this childish pact, they come across as more condescending than anything else, with pitying glances, comments about hiding her arousal for someone other than their alpha when it's present, etc.

Even our main triangle aside, considering the book itself takes place on a cruise that is rumored to help true mates find one another, not a single couple in this story actually met and fell in love without some issue coming into play. Three-quarters of the book was straight-up drama, with the very last 25% introducing what I assume to be the overreaching plot for the series. While there were brief snippets of this conflict earlier in the book, it was so brief and so buried by the lovesick ache between the pages that when it was fully brought to attention later on, it almost felt out of left field.

This may be well-liked by others, but I personally just found the plot imbalanced and hard to get through.… (plus d'informations)