Alpha Unleashed

While i haven't read all of D.J. Heart's books (yet), this was one of my faves. Relationship building was great and sex scenes were hot as usual. As a horror fan also, I really enjoyed getting to see the werewolves actually be werewolves and cause some damage. Violence wasn't overly graphic, but it was there to help resolve the story. Some of the reviewers are saying that these werewolves are nicer to their new pack mate than in other books by D.J., but I think that was purposeful in order to show both sides of their personality and make the characters deeper. How they deal with their pack and how they deal with outside threats are entirely different. Just because they're capable of violence doesn't mean that they have to crave it in their everyday lives. Overall, it's a great book that I'm sure I'll be reading again soon.

I know that you maybe thinking that I must be mistaken because this is a DJ Heart story, but I am not. This story was really sweet. Sebastian basically so!d himself to pay for his mother's health care to a werewolf matchmaking service. The good news was that mom got better but the bad news - Viggo takes one sniff and chooses him. When Sebastian gets to Viggo's house, he finds out that there is a husband, Bjorn who is feral. Unlike most of the other stories in the werewolves world, this one had safe words, concern for the human, and very little on page funtimes. There were graphic descriptions at times but no leather worship, and the wolf in a uniform was the nice one. There was talk of boot worship, but it did not go far. I really did like the muscle worship though, that was done really well.

I was not sold on this when I started reading it but hot damn did it pull you in quickly. D.J. Heart crushes at world building along with some added spice and steam. I almost walked away from this book a couple times because it felt like the ML was being emotionally neglected during certain meaningful moments throughout the book, however, desperate moments breeds desperate actions. The characters grew and righted wrongs along the way while trying to ensure no person was pushed too far physically or emotionally. Their love bloomed so organically and had pitfalls like ALL relationships and it was beautiful to see. Glad I stuck to the end of the story - it was worth it but I am definitely going to have a wicked book hangover. Well done.

As a long time fan, I was relieved to discover that Heart hasn’t stopped writing. His work is my guilty pleasure. Yeah, he can get a little dark, which is perhaps why I enjoyed this as much as I did; its like a much needed palate cleanser. If you’ve read his other books, this one will surprise you. It was enjoyable but not my favorite. Romance is hard to get right. Heart does lust very well. This is a good effort but as a romance it falls flat. Spoiler alerts: These two are hands down the nicest Werewolves he’s ever penned. It makes me wonder if he received a lot of nasty reviews or comments from his other books - “too violent and sadistic” - and this is some form of penance. Probably unlikely. Maybe it reflects a change in his own life. Whatever the cause, this one is written differently. I think anyone familiar with his work will agree. The sex scenes are just okay, the hottest in my opinion being the one that takes place in the restaurant. I guess there’s only so many knotting scenarios to be told, so you have to mine the narrative around it for something new. But the reluctant human/omega story line is nothing new. Buying a human is basically the equivalent of buying an omega - a common trope in the alpha genre. But the alpha-werewolf thing gets a bit conflated and confusing. Why does a werewolf need a human mate to begin with? It’s not as obvious as it is in an omegaverse world without werewolves. Heart is obviously relying on readers to be familiar with the basic…

I really enjoyed the characters and relationship building. The mystery twist added a nice layer to the story and characters too. Loved the sex scenes and stress on responsible BDSM play.