REVIEWED BY CINDY
TITLE: Until Forever Comes
AUTHOR: Cardeno C.
NARRATED BY: Charlie David
PUBLISHER: The Romance Authors, LLC
LENGTH: 5 Hours 54 Minutes
Blurb:
Ethan Abbatt is a wolf shifter who can’t shift. Plagued by pain and weakness all his life, he hopes to find an honorable death by joining his pack mates in a vampire attack. Instead, Ethan learns two things: draining his blood releases his pain and his wolf, and he has a true mate – a vampire named Miguel.
Miguel Rodriguez is more than four centuries old. Strong, powerful, and vicious, he 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 Miguel can’t resist for long. Once Miguel gives in, being together comes naturally. The challenge is keeping themselves alive so they can stay by each other’s side until forever comes.
Review:
I’ll start by being honest and saying I had read this book before and when the opportunity came up to review the audio book I jumped at it. I was curious to see if listening to someone else read it would invoke the same feelings in me as reading it did.
Until Forever Comes is the second book in the Mate’s series and it tells the story of Ethan and Miguel, who we meet briefly in the first book.
Ethan is about as pure and honest a character as I’ve ever seen. He’s sweet and kind and has lived his whole life as a bit of an outcast from most of his pack, who don’t know what to do with a shifter who can’t shift. His life is simple. He does what he can to help his family, and they all dote on him. His relationship with his older sister is a wonderful connection and she seems to be the only one who doesn’t see him as a little bit broken.
Miguel is a vampire who’s been living for 400 years in a constant state of overwhelming hunger. Even among his own kind, he’s a terrifying anomaly and his life is lonely.
A relationship between these two men should be impossible, but somehow it works. Ethan’s innocent honesty and his quiet bravery get Miguel’s attention, allowing the matebond that Ethan insists is real to take hold.
The pack that Ethan is a part of comes off as a sort of backwoods, hillbilly group who live in too much isolation because of their old-fashioned bigotry and it’s leading them into ruin, like it has for a long, long time. Their refusal to deal with the rest of the world is going to be their downfall and I think this part is a bit of a commentary on society. So often we see groups of people who think they are above everyone else and by the time they figure out that maybe they should have learned to accept other people for who they are, it’s too late to save themselves.
Ethan’s determination to be with his mate, no matter what the cost is maybe a little foolhardy, but inspiring none the less. You can’t help but fall for his sweetness and his naturally good heart. Miguel certainly can resist and once he stops fighting it, he becomes fierce in his love and protect and educates Ethan before helping him save the family he’s leaving behind.
Charlie David was the perfect narrator for this story. I loved the little nuances he brought to each character. Ethan’s southern twang as well as that of his family was spot on, as was the slight Latino accent he affected for Miguel. I liked that he didn’t really raise his tone and timber for the few female characters, just softened his voice a bit and it worked wonderfully.
I’m not sure I could make a habit of listening to audio books. For one thing, I’m used to going through a story at a much faster pace and while Charlie David made it compelling, I kept trying to fall asleep while listening because it was so relaxing.
Like everything Cardeno C. writes, this book has interesting characters who are easy to connect with and a story that knocks it out of the park. It’s no secret that shifter books are my favorite genre and this one rates at one of the best.
Congrats to the author and the narrator for coming together in a collaboration almost as perfect as Ethan and Miguel.
Rating: 
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