Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Until Forever Comes
SERIES: Mates #2
AUTHOR: Cardeno C.
PUBLISHER: The Romance Authors
LENGTH: 204 Pages
BLURB:
A sensitive wolf shifter and a vicious vampire challenge history, greed, and the very fabric of their beings in order to stay together until forever comes. Plagued by pain and weakness all his life, Ethan Abbatt is a wolf shifter who can’t shift. Hoping to find an honorable death by joining his pack mates in a vampire attack, Ethan instead learns two things: draining his blood releases his pain and his wolf, and he has a true mate – a vampire named Miguel.
Over four centuries old, strong, powerful, and vicious, Miguel Rodriguez walks through life as a shadow, without happiness or affection. When a young shifter tells Miguel they’re true mates, destined to be together, Miguel sends him away. But Ethan is persistent and being together comes so naturally that Miguel can’t resist for long. The challenge is keeping themselves alive so they can stay by each other’s side until forever comes.
REVIEW:
I’ve read the Mates series previously and this second book is by far my favourite. With the whole series being re-released, I jumped at the chance to review Until Forever Comes and throw some love in Ethan and Miguel’s direction.
Ethan Abbatt knows that he doesn’t have long to live. All his life he has suffered pain and dealt with the scorn of his pack mates. He’s a weak shifter who can’t take his wolf form and even as a human he doesn’t have the same strength as other shifters his age. Dying while protecting his pack from vampires seems the only honorable course to take, but instead of finding death at the vampires’ hands, Ethan finds his mate. Miguel is an old vampire, unprepared to have his life turned on its head by the young, determined shifter who is claiming to be his true mate. He feels an undeniable pull towards the little wolf, but he doesn’t believe that he can offer Ethan what he needs to be happy. Between Ethan’s pack who will never accept a vampire mate and Miguel’s vampire friends who seem set on killing them both, Ethan and Miguel don’t have a clear and easy path towards their happily ever after.
Ethan Abbatt is one of my very favourite characters ever! He has such a simplistic view of life, but he’s not narrow minded, just a little naïve perhaps when it comes to right and wrong, good and bad. He’s unshakably loyal and trusting and when he makes a decision he throws his whole heart into it. On top of all that he’s just so darned adorable, what with his cute little size and his hick way of speaking. How could anyone not fall in love with him?
I’ve always loved the stereotypes of the sweet little virgin and the big bad alpha, and though Miguel is a vampire rather than a wolf, you don’t get much more alpha than him. As a rule I’m not fond of vampire stories but that never once put me off this story. Our two main characters are ridiculously hot together, especially when Miguel is feeding from Ethan, and though I said I like the big/little, experienced/virgin contrast, I loved that when it came to sex there was no automatic designation of roles. There’s nothing hotter than an alpha’s alpha who’s willing to bend over for his well-hung virgin mate.
This book is set…about fifty years?…before the first book in the series and can definitely be read as a standalone. In fact I read this book first. The whole series can be read in any order you choose but I do recommend reading all three books at some stage. I seriously doubt you’ll be disappointed.
RATING: 
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