Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  Without Reservations

SERIES:  With or Without #1

AUTHOR:  J.L. Langley

PUBLISHER:  Samhain Publishing

LENGTH:  268 pages

BLURB:  

Sometimes love just catches you by the tail.

Chayton Winston is a veterinarian. He is also a werewolf. Much to his Native American parent’s chagrin, he has always dreamed of a fair-haired, Caucasian mate. However, he never imagined his mate would be male. As a heterosexual man, he’s not quite sure what to do with a male mate, but more than willing to find out.

Keaton Reynolds wakes up, in wolf form, and finds himself with a mate. He’s instantly attracted, but not so thrilled to find out the man is straight. Having been in a relationship once before where his partner professed to be “Not gay” left a bad taste in his mouth. Keaton wants to make a break for it and pretend he never set eyes on Chay-but Chay is not ready to let him go.

Together the two work to solidify their shaky relationship and battle the prejudices against homosexuals. Chay must deal with not only his mother’s prejudices against gay men but also her hatred of white people.

When a power struggle in Keaton’s pack threatens Keaton’s life, the two men learn to depend on one another and their relationship to get them through it.

REVIEW:  

Without Reservations was the very first m/m book that I ever read. So it should be no surprise that it holds a very special place in my heart. It was the starting point for me finding this great community, and as such I basically sing its praises whenever I can. It (and the rest of J.L. Langley’s books) are also among my top rereads. There is something so very comforting about coming back to them time and again.

One of the reasons I think this story makes a great stepping off point from m/f to m/m is that it takes a lot of the common tropes in both genres and makes them fun again.

Chay is pretty sure is is straight. He is also sure that he has a mate out there just waiting for him to find them. Granted, he kinda assumed that they would be female. Which makes him finding a wolf (only males become wolves in this universe) in his veterinarian practice in need of care–who is also his mate–kind of a surprise. But what I like is the hints that Chay may might not have been as straight as he claims at the beginning of this book. In fact, I’m pretty sure he is at the very least bi. It is the ease and gusto in which he accepts Keaton (his mate) that I really love. It is not a big deal to Chay and so it makes the reader feel more comfortable falling into this new (at least to me) m/m space for the first time.

I admit after 10+ rereads that the mystery is really not all that mysterious anymore. I still do remember, though, really enjoying trying to figure out who is stalking Keaton. And even after all this time I don’t have any problems just sitting back and watching the story unfold, even if I am well aware of how it all ends.

And the appearance of Jake and Remi (the MCs of book 2, my favorite book in this series) are always a nice way to goad me to just keep reading whenever I finish this one.

This is just a great, light read. It is sexy, slightly mysterious, and I always seem to fall back in love with these MCs whenever I pick up this book. And while my past with this book kinda makes me biased, I honestly think everyone should read it at least once.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Samhain

Amazon

ARe