Reviewed by Tara
TITLE: Strange Addiction (The 12 Olympians #4)
SERIES: The 12 Olympians
AUTHOR: Sandrine Gasq-Dion
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 135 pages
BLURB:
Brock Holloway has it all — money, friends, a bitchin’ car and a promising football career. At least, that’s what people see. Inside, though, Brock is fighting for something he knows he can never have: Unconditional love. As the child of Aphrodite, he is worshipped, admired, wanted – but never loved. Zack Duran is a wolverine shifter — and not a nice guy. Zack’s shifter side is always in control, often making him heartless and unfeeling. When Zack is assigned to guard Brock Holloway, his tactless wolverine tendencies become even more prevalent and Zack has to fight his shifter personality AND his genuine feelings for the beautiful football player. A near tragedy shakes him to his core, and Zack can no longer fight the feelings he has for Brock. But giving in to his emotions may come at too high a price. A startling secret charges Brock with the nearly impossible task of taming Zack’s beast. Is he up to the challenge? Can Zack give him what he needs? And with danger working overtime, can they finally be together as they were intended?
REVIEW:
This is the fourth book in the Olympian series following Lux Ex Tenebris and I do not recommend this as a standalone. We were introduced to Brock Holloway way back when, as the man loving football player that didn’t seem to turn away any man that paid him attention. At first glance he seems to be shallow, self centered, a man who has everything within his reach, but underneath all of that is a man who is in pain. Finding out he was the child of Aphrodite only made things worse. He longs to find someone that will love him for who and not what he is. His adoptive parents after only giving him money instead of affection; throw him out as soon as they found out who he is. Finding out his guardian is Zack Duran the man who once told him he smelled like he rolled in jizz, well that was the icing on the crap cake.
Zack Duran, wolverine shifter aka asshole, we met him when he was rescued in Siberia and went to live with the two alphas Jonas and Jackson. After suffering abuse that he won’t allow himself to remember, Zack’s wolverine runs the show. The wolverine is cold, callous, and doesn’t allow Zack to get too close to anyone. Since the shifter’s DNA is so unstable, some of the team worries about his ability to control his wolverine. After both James and Wayne say that he is to guard Brock, Zack becomes infuriated. Every time Brock goes off with another guy, he gets angrier and doesn’t want to face that he may have feelings for Brock.
Brock and Zack collide at every turn. Brock trying to hide how everything affects him and Zack being as abrasive as possible makes it extremely difficult when they both don’t want to give in too easily. Fortunately fate always has a strange way of figuring things out. A troubling event occurs that forces Zack to face his fears and admit his feelings for Brock.
This book has more of a love story that is reminiscent of her earlier works. Although the danger is certainly present, it focused more on the love aspect and the development of what is to come. Of course we still have all the favorites peeking in for example Nikolai, Elijah, and Jaxon. We also get to see more of Jordy, Brock’s roommate, and what his story could be. I had been looking forward to their HEA for months. I immediately fell in love with Brock so long ago and for him to finally get his story told pleased me to no end. We get to see the layers pull back and see how caring and even fragile he is. All Brock ever wanted was to love and to be loved unconditionally for who he is. I adored seeing Zack grow into someone who could be that person for Brock. We get to see Zack’s inner struggle with his feelings, and how he overcomes his very DNA to love Brock. Although I would have loved more action, I do understand why it was written this way. Faithful fans will not be disappointed and to the newbie’s out there please do pick up this series from the beginning.
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