Reviewed by PizzyGirl

TITLE: Rome and Jules

SERIES: Dreamspun Beyond #15

AUTHOR: Tara Lain

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 242 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2018

BLURB:

Two werewolf households, both alike in dignity….

Rome Siracusa, youngest son of the alpha of the nouveau-riche Siracusa pack, wants to be a faithful son and pack member, but he’s got two big secrets. One, he’s blessed with enhanced hearing, vision, strength, and the ability to shift at will. Second, he’s gay, a fact he can’t admit to his deadly homophobic father.

Rome crashes a party at the mansion of his pack’s greatest enemy, the ancient, pure-blooded Havillands. Jules, the gay son of the drunkard alpha, is being married off to a rich entrepreneur. Smitten and moved by the beautiful male’s plight, Rome tries to find a way to save Jules—while digging himself deeper into pack politics and navigating his own arranged marriage. Secrets climb out of the caves as the werewolf gods speak through the mouths of their children, and the two great families clash, suffocating the hopes of star-crossed lovers.

REVIEW:

This was definitely not what I was expecting from a Romeo and Juliet type story. Yes it hit the high points of star crossed lovers from warring houses, but that was about it. This story threatened to take a tragic path but from the very beginning I could tell that’s all it was, a threat. That this story end much happier than Shakespeare’s original.

I liked learning about werewolves and the politics and the pack structure. It was well done and really is what carried this story for me. I loved the alpha advantage and the way things were gradually revealed. The surprises made for a nice bit of excitement in an otherwise steady story.

I wish more time was focused on the romance instead of it being a fated mates thing. It worked well as it was, but I found that the love between these men wasn’t as connectable because it went from utter strangers to mates so fast. I never had time to feel the pull or connect with their romance. It just was and while it was well represented and gave the story that gooey bit necessary, I never felt like I was a part of the love.

It may also have been an issue because Rome and Jules didn’t really spend a lot of time together on page. The pack drama and politics dominated to the point that the romance almost felt like it was inserted in as needed to meet a quota. It didn’t feel as natural as many of the other Tara lain stories I have read in the past.

I did love Rome’s grandfather. I am so glad he FINALLY pointed out the obvious solution because I was getting kind of annoyed that Rome and Jules were so intent on being martyrs they couldn’t see the easy road. But grandfather was awesome and was honestly my favorite character along with Yolanda. She could kick some ass and I LOVED seeing her do it.

Overall, I enjoyed my reading experience. It was interesting and left me feeling happy. I just felt like the romance wasn’t as developed as I needed it to be to fully say this story left me satisfied. But as always, you should check it out if you want to make your own decision.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon