Huh... The rejection scene was... not kind. Poor Ashley. Unfortunately, on the day of her transition, Phoenix struck her with his brutal rejection. This shapes her accordingly and leads to the fact that she does everything in the following 5 years to avoid him.

- Well, if Mister nomad biker didn't lay an egg with it himself. Because at some point you can no longer escape the pull of the mate bond. He also has to realize that Ashley interpreted his words completely differently than he meant them.
- So what to do? - Grovel (Big time)! And be sneaky (The big boy plays the alpha card here).
... Ah.. I really liked that part. Also that the plot primarily revolves around the couple; without other distractions. That fitted very well here. The story was nice to read.

I have read the entire series and this might be the best one yet. When Ashley is 18 she gets her wolf and finds her mate, Phoenix, reluctant alpha of her pack. Phoenix is 40 and a nomad and doesn't think he wants a mate and cruelly rejects Ashley. Ashley then spends the next 5 years avoiding Phoenix when he comes into town and considers leaving the pack. Phoenix spends those 5 years regretting his decision but since he grew up among humans he had the human mentality that he thinks that he is just too old for Ashley. What he doesn't realize is that he words he said that day when he rejected her, had lasting hurt for Ashley. Phoenix spent most of the novel proving his worth and devotion by quite a bit of groveling to get Ashley's forgiveness. Ashley is no pushover and it takes her some time to get past the cruel words and actions from 5 years before. There was a depth of emotion in this book that is sometimes missing in past books in the series. I also liked the character development and the groveling and that Ashley didn't give in to easily.

Yep, still love Sam Crescent. The conflict resolved in a way that seemed realistic and Phoenix's reasoning became clear and semi-understandable

Eh not a favorite. What’s the point of having these characters be wolf shifters when they don’t even shift during the book? I would have loved for there to be more depth between Phoenix and Ashley. Also, the heroine’s name was Ashley Simpkin… lol