Wake Me Up Inside by Cardeno C. Series: Mates #1
Published by Dreamspinner Press Publication Date: August 15th 2012
Pages: 250
Also in this series: In Your Eyes
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Zev Hassick is surprised and confused when he finds himself attracted to his best friend. His very human, very male best friend. Zev is the son of the pack Alpha, regarded as the strongest wolf in generations, born to lead. And everyone knows a male shifter has to mate with a female of his own kind to keep his humanity. So shifters can't be gay, right?
Jonah Marvel wants a relationship with Zev, his best friend, the man he has loved since childhood. It wasn't easy to maintain that relationship over years spent living apart while Jonah studied to become a doctor. And then things grow more difficult when Jonah becomes his own patient. Before he can make a life with Zev, he has to understand his past and cure the unexplained ailments that plague him.
Zev and Jonah know they're destined for each other, but they're facing traditions ingrained over generations and long-buried secrets that may threaten any future together.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from Manic Readers in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
Lately, I’ve been “over” shifter stories. They all feel the same, and while they’re sort of sexy, I keep looking for something out of the ordinary in my reading. However, when I discovered that Cardeno C, one of my favorite MM authors, had written some shifter books, I was willing to go back and revisit the genre.
What I really liked about this story is the balance between present day and flashbacks. Zev, as a wolf shifter pup, meets with young Jonah in the woods when they’re very young. Zev follows a scent that he can’t resist, and it leads him to Johah in a very sweet scene. This sets the tone for the whole book, as we see different occasions from the past where the two boys/young men meet and become best friends. It’s frowned upon in the shifter world to spend time with humans, and Zev tries to reconcile his feelings for Jonah with what his family in the pack tell him about mating (or tying, in this case). They tell him if he doesn’t tie with a female in the pack, he’ll lose his ability to shift back into human form.
Meanwhile, poor Jonah suffers as well. He goes to college and med school and keeps up with the BFF/sexual relationship with Zev. Problem is, Zev won’t have actual penetrative sex with him, and Jonah wants that more than anything else in the world. This is my only real issue with this book. I know there is a certain amount of angst necessary to move a story along, but the long period of time in which Zev keeps Jonah in the dark about his reasoning had me feeling more than a little uncomfortable. I wanted to grab him by his wolfen shoulders and shake him!
The final 1/3 or so of the story makes up for the angst, though. Things begin to move very quickly then. There was a twist that I could see coming, but it didn’t matter because it was so well written, and the situation was so well fleshed out. Along with the action and intrigue, I have to mention the sex. Oh my goodness, but Cardeno C knows how to write a sex scene! I love dirty talk, and there is plenty to be had here. Zev and Jonah are tender with each other, but their union is HOT! Then there is the aforementioned “tying”. The shifter books I’ve read where tying is important to the story have always grabbed me by the heart (and other parts). To me, it’s one of the most intimate things a couple can do, and in this book, it’s perfection.
All in all, I found “Wake Me Up Inside” to be incredibly satisfying, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is into shifters, MM erotic romance, and characters who clearly need each other to survive.
