Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Hidden Oaks

SERIES: Hidden Oaks #1-3

AUTHOR: Ana Raine

PUBLISHER: Changling Press

LENGTH: 238 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 29, 2019

BLURB:

The Secret of Hidden Oaks: While working on his Master’s degree in psychology, Carson is offered an internship at a private research hospital. But Harbor Oaks hides a dark secret. His patients are Changelings, shape shifters, being held against their will, and Carson soon discovers he’s really the subject of the scientist’s experiments. His only hope of escape is Tate, a shy, quiet doctor with an agenda all his own.

The Secret of Harbor Springs: Carson and his mate Tate team up with Gaven and Lily to escape Federal agents who are trying to bring them back to Hidden Oaks. Carson holds an unusual power over other Changelings — a power the Federal task force charged with rounding up Changelings will go to any ends to make their own.

Liberate: Carson and Tate have been running for months, trying to evade the JIA so they don’t end up lab specimens for the ruthless organization. With their future on the line, Carson realizes the most important part of his life will forever be his mate, Tate, but how can he trust a man who never tells him the whole truth?

REVIEW:

I’m a little on the fence about this series. The first book, The Secret of Hidden Oaks, kind of threw me off quite a bit. There was no easing into things about how things worked. The therapists or whatever they were seemed often cruel. And when the secrets were finally found out, the main secret was kept from one of the main MCs and he should have been told immediately instead of beating around the bush and having one of the researchers make him feel like he was just being used for his body.

Carson was under the impression he was going to be an intern at an institution, like for mental patients and such. But when he got there, the main therapist was acting weird, hurt a patient in a cruel way, and that was only the beginning. The main researcher automatically started hitting on him from the minute he saw him and it really threw Carson off. Everything about this place just seemed wrong. And when he found out why, he was shocked. Especially when he found out, he was a part of it. And didn’t know. And now they have to stop what’s going on.

Man, if I was Carson, I would have ran from the minute I met the first doctor. That place was bad. Especially when Carson found out the truth about everything. And it was upsetting to see how patients and people were treated. It was just a bad situation. I just honestly didn’t like how any of it was handled. From all of the drs and from Tate. It was just all wrong. I hope the next book is better because so far, I’m not a happy camper.

In the next one, The Secret of Harbor Springs, Carson has learned he has a special gift through the other changelings and the government against the changelings want to use that power against the changelings. Carson wants to help end the torment against all of them but it’s too strong of a power against just a few of them. And even with Carson’s power, it’s not enough. And Tate is against the whole thing. The rest of them want to save the ones in Harbor Springs and they try but it comes at a cost. 

I was not happy with Tate in this book. I get they are hormonal from being mates and sex is on the brain and it’s a mate thing to protect each other, but Tate just seemed to not care. It was just one of those situations where he seemed not to care at all about his own kind. And being a researcher and seeing what was and is being done to his kind, you’d think he’d care more to help. I understand them not wanting Carson anywhere near these government punks, because of his gift, but still, there has to be something that could be done somehow. He’s helped people escape before. And I get that Harbor Springs is a much bigger place and heavily guarded. I do get some of his thinking. I really do. But he just seems not to care. And that to me is just off. Carson at least wants to help. He just knows he’s dangerous. 

I don’t know. This series is just off to me. I hope you guys like it. I hope that it’s just me that’s off and not reading it wrong. 

I was really hoping this last one would be a changing point for these stories, but it wasn’t. Liberate was the better of the three in my opinion but it still lacked for me. At least they finally made it to a place where things could change and the specialness of Carson could be used in a way to help all of the changelings. But the cost was another high one. And on top of it, Tate has been lying to Carson, on and off their whole relationship. And with the way he’s been lying, mate or not, I don’t know if I’d be as forgiving as Carson. Because a lot of what Tate has been hiding and lying about has been severe. I don’t know. Tate has just not impressed me in this series. I know he’s Carson’s mate and they’re supposed to be in love and yada, yada, but yeah, I’m not impressed. For me, Tate just made things worse in this book and I think Carson would have been better off without him. The only thing they seemed to have going for them was the sex. See what you think.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

amazon

changelingpress