alpha male – Odd and Bookish

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Rating: ★★★★

I received this book for free from the publisher (Harlequin) as part of their bookstagram publicity campaign.

This is the first book in a new spin-off of Rhenna Morgan’s Men of Haven series. If you haven’t read that series you can still read this one as a standalone. Some characters from Men of Haven do make an appearance but it is not imperative that you read their books first. I’ve only read the last book in the Men of Haven series and was able to enjoy this book just fine.

This was a great contemporary alpha male romance. I’ve never read a book about a modern day mobster so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I ended up loving the dynamics.

I loved how protective Sergei was of Evette and her son, but also how sweet he could be. Evette was a nice leading lady. She had spunk and I loved that she was honest with Sergei. A lot of times in romances, characters will not tell the person they’re dating about something super important and all it does is just create unnecessary drama. Luckily this book does not fall prey to that. Evette was smart!

Overall, this was a solid to start to a sexy new series and I am looking forward to reading the next installment.

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Rating: ★★★★

I received this book for free from the publisher (Harlequin) as part of their bookstagram publicity campaign.

I just want to preface this review by saying that I haven’t read any of the other books in the series so I can’t compare it to the others or say if this was a satisfying conclusion to the series. Even though I didn’t read the other books, I was still able to read and enjoy this as a standalone.

I was initially interested in this book because the main character, Axel, reminded me of Axl Rose, one of my favorite rockers. They’re The guy on the cover even sort of looks like him too.

As a whole, this was a solid contemporary romance with some BDSM mixed in. It wasn’t super heavy on the BDSM (and was fairly tame), so don’t go in expecting something super crazy. The story was a very classic alpha male plot, which I tend to really like. I loved Axel and how loyal and protective he was.

Aside from the romance, there is a secondary storyline about Lizzy’s ex. To me, that part felt a little…meh. It kind of added something to the story but at the same time it kind of didn’t. That’s my only critique of the book.

Overall, this was a fun read, perfect for anybody looking to read a steamy alpha male romance.