DNF @ 7%.

I typically love paranormal fantasy stories, but detest romance. So I should have realized this would probably not be for me, but the idea of a strong female and brooding guy butting heads with chemistry (and werewolves!) piqued my curiosity. Plus, the cover reeled me in (yes, librarian here saying I DO judge books by there covers). Unfortunately, the narrative voice and romance-book-feel was not something I could connect with.

This is like Fabio meets Twilight, and I'd recommend it for readers who want their YA romances to be a little more scandalous.

I’m giving this book 4 Stars because I enjoyed the story, it was a fun wereworlf ya-romance, and I would read more books by this author especially if it turns into a series! I really hope it does! There are so many fantastic stories she could tell, and even have some pre-quells that could venture into a historical paranormal romance genre! That would make me very happy!!

With that being said when it comes to character and plot development, at this point, and the writing style it should get 3 stars. It’s target audience is probably ya/na cusp. I feel there is a lot of amazing potential!

As a thirty something I wish the author would have just pushed the content into romance level maturity since it naturally flowed there. Combine that with characters delving into deeper feelings, and the reading experience would completely be upgraded.
It has some brief sexual content, occasional language, and some violence.

I cannot wait to read more!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

This is the debut novel by Alyssa Brandon. I enjoyed the overall story. There were a few issues I had with the book itself. I thought there was a few holes in the book that maybe the author might close if there are more stories coming later? I'm not sure if there will be.

Anyway. The writing and the story flows pretty well. The story focuses on Magan and James and their mating bond. She want's to consummate it he doesn't. There are many reasons on both sides. Their lack of communication brought on some difficult moments for the two during their story.

Overall, if you like werewolf stories, I'd say give it a try. Just know there's some pieces you might get stuck on like I did and would love some more answers about a few things in the story. Hopefully there will be more to come with this band of warrior wolves!

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

Bound to You by Alyssa Brandon
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Publication Date: April 10, 2018
Rating: 5 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

A teen werewolf finally meets her destined soulmate only to discover that he's not quite what she expected in this steamy debut romance.

She's met her mate . . . and he's met his match.

Megan Ross has been waiting her whole life for her mate to come and sweep her off her feet. But the wolf she meets on the beach is NOT the sweet gentle boy she's been dreaming of. Instead, he's a warrior, one whose suffering has led him to lock his heart away in a prison as cold and hard as a diamond, who fights to resist the bond and their deep sexual attraction.

Far from home, with a soulmate who is still a stranger, Megan learns that the path to true love isn't quite as straight and easy as she thought . . .

What I Liked:

Typically I don't read review books four months in advance, because I always want to put out a review within one or two days - and typically publishers want to see reviews a month before publication. But I couldn't wait, with this book. I received it unsolicited from the publisher and I hadn't known much about it before picking it up. For some reason, I wanted to read a paranormal romance novel, and I dug this one out on a whim. It was a great decision because I ended up loving this book!

This novel is set in modern times but with a twist - werewolves exist! Megan is an alpha werewolf who is trying to find her alpha mate. She has been looking for two years but to no avail. On her eighteenth birthday, at her party where all of the eligible werewolves in the area were invited, she meets her mate - James. But James is none too thrilled to finally have a wait. He is a warrior wolf, different from Megan and her father/her father's clan, and he lives far away near Quebec. Megan has always wanted a mate, and she has always wanted someone to love her like no one else exists. But James isn't the Prince Charming she was expecting. She is far from home and living with a stranger - can she find love? Or is she destined to be mated but never loved?

I never used to be a fan of werewolf paranormal fiction but maybe it has been so long since I read one. I found this one to be wonderful! There are werewolf customs and traditions and rules that are included in the story, and the werewolf world and setup made sense to me. I had no problems with this werewolf story (in terms of the werewolf aspect)!

A disclaimer of a sort: this book is 100% paranormal romance, emphasis on the romance bit. If you don't want to read a story heavily focused on romance, pass on this one! I love PNR and I was in love with how much romance there was in this book (i.e. how much of the story was focused primarily on the romance). One of the complaints I always have with Swoon Reads books is that they are never actually swoony - but this book certainly is!

I get ahead of myself though; I'll talk about the romance in a few paragraphs. I always start with the characters. I adored Megan; she is sweet and kind, and a little naive, but she grows into her strength and stubbornness. She is an alpha but not an aggressive or violent one, though she forges her own path and sticks to her ground. I personally loved that she knew exactly what she wanted (a mate - someone to love her). Some might say that this is backwards and/or old-fashioned, but I thought this was lovely. She clearly knew what was best for her and had good reason to make the decisions that she did, regarding leaving home and going with James. It wasn't just tradition for her.

I also really liked James. He came across as a rude, cold jerk, but it was obvious from the start that he had baggage and was putting on a front. I'm not excusing his cold behavior but it was something that, for me, intrigued me and made me want to puzzle him out. He is a good guy, with a selfless and noble streak, and he was always a gentleman with Megan. He just wasn't always the nicest guy. But I loved his dominant, protective personality against her sweet and stubborn personality.

There were a number of secondary characters that I really liked! My favorite is probably Lucy, an elusive young girl living in James's castle. She becomes a friend to Megan, and Megan really needed that. I also liked James's pack, especially Tommy (who also becomes a friend to Megan). And James's father was a fun one.

The romance! I loved the romance. It's a hate-to-love, enemies-to-lovers, "arranged marriage" type of romance. Personally? I love these two tropes. It's not technically an arranged marriage since they didn't get married, but they are fated mates and they secured the bond in several different ways as the story went on, so you know what I mean. I loved the tropes of the romance. I also loved the slow-burn, sexy chemistry of the romance. James and Megan were throwing off some serious heat! They both really wanted each other, but were holding back for personal reasons. But that led to a lot of push and pull, and a lot of "almost" scenes. The chemistry was super hot!

And when there were finally some physical chemistry manifesting on the page... let me just say that this has to be the swooniest and steamiest Swoon Reads book I've read yet. I'm NOT saying this is an R rated book! The author has written everything in such a way that things are vague! But everything that can be inferred by what isn't written is some steamy stuff. Take my word for it!

No love triangle! I promise there is no love triangle or square or harboring feelings or weirdness with the best friends or anything of the sort. No external drama of any sort. As soon as James and Megan meet (which is within the first few pages), it's over for them - meaning, there is no chance of anyone else walking into the picture. They have a lot of chemistry, and a lot of curiosity for each other. And their bond is strong from the start, even with their hate-to-love relationship happening.

The story isn't just a romance, though the romance is huge. There are other conflicts, like Megan adjusting to life far away from home, and conflicts with wraiths attacking werewolves. I won't give too much away but I will say that I liked the other subplots that weren't primarily about the romance. I was never bored while reading this book - in fact, I practically flew through this book!

The ending is very satisfying! I wouldn't mind an epilogue or a check-in of some sort in the future, but I was really happy with the ending. It seems like this is a standalone novel which works for me!

What I Did Not Like:

I don't have anything specific that comes to mind! Maybe a little bit more with Lucy and her future, and a broader resolution to the wraith conflict, but honestly I wasn't too bothered by these things!

Would I Recommend It:

If you like YA paranormal romance, definitely give this book a chance. You might be like me and not really into werewolf books; but trust me, this book was fantastic. The romance is so steamy and swoony and you will fall in love with James and Megan falling in love! This book is steamy but definitely still teen-appropriate.

Rating:

5 stars. I rarely give out this rating but this book made me so happy and I had so few complaints. Everything about this book worked for me - characters/character development, romance, chemistry, story, secondary characters, writing. I wouldn't mind seeing a companion novel in the horizon! Even a direct sequel wouldn't be bad, but I kind of like this book as a standalone, as it is. In any case, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be rereading it!

This book was based loosely on Twilight with werewoves, mating, and the like

Here's what I liked.....that the book is done.

Here's what I didn't like....the main characters had no real cgemustry. Everything was either avoid and wait or give in to primal urges. I did not like the plot of this, failure to develop secondary characters, or the repetitive phrases used and lack of resolution to some of the minor consequences.

This book was not my favorite. It is very interesting at the beginning and sort of goes downhill from there. The characters were a little hard to root for. Megan was a nice enough character if a little naive. She wants to find her wolf mate so badly because she wants unconditional love. While I feel bad for her that she had felt passed over by her family, it bothers me that she thinks her mate will solve all of her problems. She meets her mate, James and it is nothing like she expected. I appreciate that she tries to start looking for other things to do besides pine over James, her mate, after things do not go the way she wants with him.

Speaking of James, I had a really hard time liking his character. He was so mean to Megan. For a lot of the book, he is so cold and indifferent to her. The chapters that are from his point of view show him mostly wanting her because of his wolf self. He would rather be done with her all together. Even though we learn why he is so cold towards Megan, it was not enough to make me like him. He eventually does start to come around but it takes a while. Romance where the characters "hate" each other and then fall in love is fine, but I want more than just sexual tension. I want to see how the characters fit or at least have good banter. For most of the book, this is lacking.

There were some interesting aspects to the book such as the wraiths, but I felt as though this part of the story was unresolved and more could have been added to make it more interesting. This is a fast paced book, but most of the book was centered on either James or Megan denying their feelings and not enough time spent on them actually enjoying the time they spend together.

Received an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review from MacMillian Children’s Publishing Group via NetGalley.

When I receive an ARC and am having a hard time getting into it I really try to get through it to be able to give an honest review. I stopped this book at 40%. I just could not force myself to read it anymore.

The book started fine. After Megan and James are mated and go to his home things just get weird. There is a teenage girl that is not taken care of that seems to haunt his home, he is a special type of werewolf that hunts wraiths and someone in his past hurt him. Because Megan reminds him of this person he will not let himself get close to her. A lot of loose ends that I'm sure are wrapped up by the end of the book. It was just taking soooo long to get there.

It's been a long time since I've read a werewolf romance book, but this caught my attention because it didn't seem like the ones I've read in the past. Which is good - I wanted something different. Being the daughter of an Alpha pack leader, Megan is given a party in hopes that she will find her "mate." But, this werewolf story is not the happily ever after Megan was hoping for when she finds her mate in a Warrior Alpha named James. When James realizes he and Megan are "True Mates," he practically wants to run away. He loathes the idea of not being in control of his emotions (and life), and having Megan follow him around like a lost were-pup (so to speak), makes it even worse. Megan doesn't understand why James is so distant, but she is determined to give their relationship a chance - even if James doesn't want to.

The story is mainly centered on the relationship dynamics between Megan and James, which is fine if you purely want a romance story. However, there is a part of the story line that was a bit confusing to me. The enemy of the werewolves are these creepy creatures called Wraiths. They apparently feed on people and werewolves, but only come out in the city and at night. This is fine, but there was no background or solutions of any kind at the end regarding this threat. They fought them and that was it. There was no plot regarding these beings. So, recommended if you like a werewolf romance that is not an obsessive love story, but an actual growth towards developing feelings. So, a little more authentic then your average romance in this genre.

*Received a DRC for an honest review.