Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Off Course
AUTHOR: Bailey Bradford
PUBLISHER: Totally Bound
LENGTH: 164 pages
BLURB:
Gideon’s worst night ever starts out with a bang that will change his whole life.
Gideon Wells has been cast out of his bear shifter clan for being a curse, and he’s inclined to believe they’re right. After all, everything from fertility rates to shifting abilities have gone down the tube since he was born. Then when his car catches fire and mutant scorpions—he thinks they’re mutants, anyway—almost get him, he’s more certain than ever that he’s bad news.
Not that he’s just going to roll over and die.
Ignoring a prophecy might not be wise, but coyote shifter Miller Hudson has seen and heard too many false prophecies to put any faith in the one proclaiming him to be the alpha and, along with a mystery bear mate, the saviour of the now-defunct coyote den he grew up in. Besides, there’s no need for the den to be brought back together. None of them can shift, so what’s the point?
Then the buzzards circling overhead on the far edge of his property lead him to the very last thing he ever expected to find.
REVIEW:
This may have been the strangest shifter story that I have ever read.
This story starts out with Gideon (bear shifter) driving to parts unknown. You get the idea immediately that he has been kicked out of his bear shifter den what you don’t know for sure is why. After his car starts smoking, Gideon throws himself from his vehicle before he has the opportunity to put it into park. So it bursts into flames and also ignites a field in the middle of nowhere. Gideon, on the ground, panting realizes there are scorpions, everywhere. He gets up, starts running and he feels like they are chasing him. The author never explains the scorpions. They come back for a brief part later in the story and again they are never explained. I want to know the significance of the scorpions. Why did they look mutant? Why did they seem to have more legs then regular scorpion`s? Why do they seem to be following him?
So, unaware of how long he has ran/walked and unaccustomed to the hot Texas heat he collapses. This is how Miller (coyote shifter) finds him. He is incredibly dehydrated, sunburned and on the verge of death. Miller takes him home and doctors him up.
The attraction between Miller and Gideon is almost immediate. Miller has a thing for big men and Gideon happens to be a bear shifter, so he is large. Gideon loves men that take control in every situation. Just because he’s big, physically doesn’t mean he’s dominant and he loves how Miller is very dominant. The sex scenes are ok, hot, but I did feel like something was lacking. It’s was like they went from hand jobs to talking about fisting in a blink of an eye. I missed the build up that usually comes with something that big.
There was also a lot of talk about some “prophecy” that Miller and Gideon were a part of. Again, the back story lacked a lot. Apparently, something happened which causes Miller’s den to lose the ability to shift and essentially all of their shifter abilities. Apparently, Gideon and Miller’s mating would help heal the den dynamic and allow them to live up to their full potential as coyote shifters. Again, a lot of that was not clear. So we were left with a lot of questions.
There was also a homophobic, psychotic cop thrown into the mix just to add another layer of….WTF??!?!?! I don’t know. After reading this I was left with a lot of questions but not in the way that I’m dying for the next book to get the answers. I have questions but I just don’t care enough to ask and that’s unfortunate because I think this could have been great. It just wasn’t.
RATING: 
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