Reviewed by Nikyta
Title: Control
Author: Cardeno C. & Mary Calmes
Heroes: Vy & Robert
Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance
Length: 220 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: April 18, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Vy Aleknos is the leader of a hawk shifter flock. Openly gay since he was a teen, Vy is proud and self-assured on the outside, while secretly worrying he’ll be forced to spend his life alone because two males can’t be mates. When bear shifter Robert Cimino appears in Vy’s small town, Vy realizes his concerns were unfounded — he has a male mate, and a sexy, dominant one to boot.
Robert is a bear shifter who refuses to shift. Immediately attracted to Vy, he deviates from his normal pattern and seeks more than a one off with the powerful, bristly hawk. But Robert’s affections are rooted in his human form, and when Vy discovers Robert doesn’t recognize him as his mate, he pulls away. If Robert wants to stay with Vy, he must convince a man deeply ruled by his animal instincts to give their relationship as humans a chance.
Review:
As an openly gay hawk shifter and the proud leader of his ket, Vy has an image to uphold. He needs to be strong for his ket and gain their respect for his authority. When he finally finds his mate, he’s ecstatic and overjoyed until he realizes that Robert doesn’t acknowledge him as his mate because of the way Robert refuses to shift, hindering his ability to see who Vy really is to him. Crushed that he can’t experience the true affects of a mating, Vy tries to push Robert away but Robert won’t be dismissed so quickly. Robert’s finally found a guy he’s willing to settle down with and he’s not giving up no matter what mate craziness Vy is talking. All Robert has to do is show Vy they could love each other as men and have a great life together with or without being mates.
There’s a reason I love reading shifter stories and this is a prime example of that. With mates, there’s always that possessiveness, that jealousy that one or both characters have that make the story so much more interesting for me. In this book, both Vy and Robert have those traits and have no issues with showing their ownership over the other when they want to and I LOVED that! Vy is a prickly, proud, stubborn little hawk. He’s arrogant at times, squeaky at others but he’s also vulnerable. He just wants to be loved and finally have someone who will take care of him. Robert is the opposite of Vy; he’s a gentle, charming bear who embraces being calm, collective and in control. He’s warm and friendly but he also has a temper that can get out of control if he’s not careful. More than anything, though, he tries to make everyone feel comfortable. I loved that Vy had so much of his hawk in him but I also felt sad that Robert was so traumatized by his bear side and I’m glad that, eventually, they both came to a compromise and worked through both their issues and fears.
While I really enjoyed the story, I did have a few niggles. My main issue was that the POV shifts from Vy to Robert (or vice versa) felt choppy. Most of the time, the shifts skipped to another scene instead of continuing where it was at from the other character’s perspective. I found I was a little disappointed in that because I would have liked to experience the rest of certain scenes from the other’s POV instead of being told about it days later. One scene that comes to find is when Vy meets Robert’s parents; we see Vy freaking out that the parents are coming over and then the POV shifts to days later so we never actually got to see their first meeting. Another scene that comes to mind is after a big showdown and experiencing how the wolf alpha reacts to that. Beyond that, the beginning was a little rough for me because there were a few mini flashbacks (meaning the flashback was only from a few days ago) that I felt would have flowed better if they weren’t actually told as flashbacks but instead continued on from the scene they were originally attached to. I’m not quite sure if that makes sense but I think those that read the book will understand what I’m talking about lol.
In the end, though, I really liked this one. Once I got passed the first 20% or so, I really got sucked into the book. I loved the contrasts between Vy and Robert with their personalities and their appearances and I loved that, while they had their difficulties, they got through them and worked out whatever their issues were (after a few life-threatening situations, of course). It was easy for me to tell the differences in the authors writing but I still felt like they merged well. I’m hoping that Mary and Cardeno will consider writing more books together especially if it means writing a sequel for Control because I can think of a few people within the book that need their stories told 😉
Overall Impression: I really liked it!
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
The Blogger Girls 