Reviewed by Vicki

 

TITLE: Strength of the Mate

SERIES: The Tameness of the Wolf #3

AUTHOR: Kendall McKenna

PUBLISHER: MLR Press

LENGTH: 356 pages

BLURB:

Rampaging werewolves cause the True Alpha to send his Omega, Dawson Rivers, to bring them under control. Can Adam Madison help or hinder Dawson’s mission?

 

Adam Madison is in Iraq, driving supply trucks for the Marines, but he still can’t outrun his personal ghosts. Outside the wire, insurgents are a relentless threat. Inside, renegade werewolves are a constant danger.

 

Dawson Rivers is on a mission for the True Alpha—bring the rampaging shifters under control. Adam proves to be invaluable to his task. Their intense mutual attraction explodes into a powerful physical, and emotional connection.

 

Their future together is in peril, when Adam’s convoy is ambushed. Can they learn to rely on the strength of their bond? Adam staying alive long enough for Dawson to find him depends on it.

 

REVIEW:

Wow… I love the details in this book! This is what makes Kendall an amazing writer. I totally believe everything I’m reading in this book. I believe her military details, I believe werewolves would behave like these do, I believe this plot is realistic in this world. It seems so real and authentic.

 

Marine Corp Base Camp Fallujah is not a great place to be a human, either a Marine human or a civilian human. The pack leader is an ass, letting his wolves run wild, assaulting weaker wolves and humans. The humans don’t seem to know that it’s not ok, not having a lot of experience with werewolves, they don’t know that all bases aren’t this way. They all just hide the night and day of the full moon and hope for the best. Most of the wolves are fine, not picking on the humans, but a few take advantage of the freedom and act like animals. The ones that don’t agree with the behavior, seem to be clueless to a certain degree, not realizing things are as bad as they are, just ignoring it and going along.

 

Adam Madison is a civilian working for a cargo company that moves fuel in the area. He is the somewhat pissy brother of Tim Madison, the werewolf expert from a previous book, a Marine, who is mated to a wolf. Adam was a bit of a snot if I remember correctly, although I haven’t read the last book since it came out. So Adam knows very little about werewolves, intentionally ignoring what his brother does and knows, running back to Iraq to get away. He likes to live dangerously, is a loner, with an attitude. But under there is a decent man, looking for friendship and acceptance. He is just beginning to make friends with some of the Marines, both human and wolf. He is annoyed to hear that Dawson Rivers, a wolf he met through his brother, is being sent to Camp Fallujah. He assumes his brother has sent Dawson to keep an eye on him, freaks out and calls to yell at Tim. Tim rationally points out that he didn’t know where Adam was working, and that Dawson had been sent by the True Alpha to handle the rampaging werewolf situation. Adam is mollified and asks Tim to send him goodies.

 

Gunnery Sargeant Dawson Rivers is an Omega under Noah, the True Alpha. He is fairly dominant, enough to kick some ass when he needs to, but is a level headed peacekeeper. He is sent by Noah to Camp Fallujah to figure out what the hell is going on and solve it. The most expedient way to do that turns out to be for Dawson to challenge the current pack leader and take over. He comes in all cool, finds out what is happening, meets Adam, and that’s it. Sex. Hot werewolf/human sex happens, and damn, it is HOT. Yes, I know, I said hot twice, but it really is! The first encounter between Adam and Dawson is hard, and hot, and yummy. Gah! But that is not all this book is about. There is a serious, deep story here. There is werewolf drama, they are in a war zone so that generates huge drama and action, the big guys are bullying the little guys and get punished. In the midst of it all there is Adam and Dawson, with their own issues and issues as a couple. There is nice drama mixed with great sex, and relationship building. Adam is completely out of his usual world, dropped right in the middle of werewolf politics, in addition to dealing with nasty convoy runs through a very dangerous war zone. This all works very well, I am there with Adam every step.

 

The early part of this book is really spent setting the scene, getting us well acquainted with the characters, both the main ones, Adam and Dawson, but the secondary ones as well. There is a very nice cast here, supporting werewolves of Dawson’s pack, the friends Adam has established, the men they work with both Marines and civilians. The setting is well built, nasty desert, heat, dust, danger, I swear I can see the base. Smell the stink, hear the sounds. Kendall uses just enough words to describe her settings and such, but not so much we are bogged down with minute details. Enough details but not too much is hard to do, but she does it. Once the setting and dynamics are established the true story gets going. And it is powerful.

 

I can’t talk more about the plot, other than to say it is excellent. I even got a little emotional a couple of times, over these bad-ass men! But I think I can tell you about the dirty talk… Holy crap Kendall! That is some hot nasty words coming out of Dawson’s mouth. Damn. I absolutely love it. Dawson is vocal, Adam is not, it works so well. Geezus! I love sex between two strong men, obviously, I read almost exclusively gay romance now, and this is how to do it right. The build up, the strength, the need. Whew. I’m flushing! It’s a hot flash I’m sure.

 

The story is fantastic, detailed, exciting, dramatic, everything I like in a book. Paranormal but contemporary. It pushes all of my buttons, werewolves, military, alpha men, amazingly erotic sex scenes, dirty talk, and a happy ending. A perfect storm for me. If any of these things push your buttons, then buy this book! Read the others first though, they are equally as wonderful.

 

RATING:

 

BUY LINKS:

MLR Press

Amazon

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