Kendall McKenna

3.5 Stars

I would say that this was one of the more angstier of McKenna's works. She continues to write what I assume to be a realistic portrayal of all things military, and she always does this well. Despite the story not being smack dab in the middle of a combat zone, she does touch on the ramifications of war on its soldiers and how they cope (or don't) with PTSD. Overall fans won't be disappointed with the palpable UST between the 2 MC's, and the frequent smex is of course, good. This was another win in my book.… (mehr)

synopsis:
adam doesn't know a lot about werewolves, but somehow ends up becoming friends with some when he is driving trucks in iraq. the wolves at the camp are running amok, and when adam learns that dawson, who is his older brother's personal aide, is being sent over to deal with a pack that has gone wrong, he's angry at what he feels is his brother's interference. he's unwillingly attracted to dawson, mostly because of the association with his brother and the feeling that he can never measure up. when dawson arrives, things immediately change for the wolves, as dawson tries to bring order. as adam and dawson get to know one another, adam starts to feel that maybe he does deserve to be alive, and that maybe he can be a contributing member of society.

what i liked: i liked seeing adam grow past his hurt and pain from when he was younger. i liked seeing his relationship with his brother slowly knit together. i also liked that adam wouldn't let dawson tell him any myths or legends, but made him just say what he meant. i liked how strong adam became mentally, and i liked how much dawson believed in adam.

what i didn't like: the editing. i also didn't really like how much time adam spent agonizing over whether or not dawson liked him, instead of being as straightforward with dawson as he wanted dawson to be with him.… (mehr)

Upped to 5 stars per resolution.

synopsis:
lucas has never dealt a lot with shifters, but his platoon is augmented with shifters, and then he gets the true alpha of the marine pack. lucas doesn't know how to deal with him, and his commanding officer doesn't really provide support, so lucas does what he can to be dominant but understanding. he doesn't understand his reaction to noah, the true alpha. as the two get to know one another in combat situation, lucas has to overcome his human sensibilities and realize that wolves think and react differently.

what i liked: i liked noah and lucas together. i liked that lucas was willing to learn and didn't think that he knew everything about wolves. i liked that wolves were not a secret society, and i liked the relationship between humans and wolves. i liked that noah was so protective, and i liked the build in relationship between all the characters, not just lucas and noah. i liked the story and how the strengths of the characters shone through.

what i didn't like: the commas. oh, my, goodness, the, commas. so, many, unecessary, commas. just ridiculous. i would usually put this in the editing/grammar section of my review, but it really is the only thing that stopped me from rating this 4.5 stars or higher because it annoyed me so much… (mehr)