Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Bitten by Design
SERIES: Regent’s Park Pack
AUTHOR: Annabelle Jacobs
NARRATOR: Antony Ferguson
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 9 hours and 18 minutes
RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2020
BLURB:
When the last thing you want, is everything you need….
Seb Calloway isn’t interested in shifters. After his best friend bonded with one, he avoids getting involved with them—no matter how hot they are—to prevent the same thing from happening to him. Why take the risk for a few hours of fun?
Tim Walters is the pack doctor. Considered to be mild-mannered and non-threatening by pack standards, he prides himself on being able to stay calm and maintain his control at all times. Desperate for a bond of his own, he knows his interest in Seb is an exercise in futility, but he can’t seem to help himself.
When news emerges that threatens Seb’s safety, he and Tim need to fake a relationship to keep Seb safe. Despite Seb’s refusal to be anything other than friends with benefits, what starts out as pretend, quickly becomes more—for Tim at least. If Tim doesn’t want to end up heartbroken, he needs to prove to Seb that loving a shifter doesn’t mean losing himself.
REVIEW:
Note: This is book 2 in the series and as such has major spoilers for book 1.
Seb is a human whose best friend was accidentally bitten and then bonded to a shifter. Before Jared bonded to Nathan, he wanted nothing to do with shifters due to a bad experience. Seb had a front row seat to the the whole fiasco and therefore has a bad view of shifters and definitely does not fancy ever being involved with one himself. He’s taken over Nathan’s old flat once Jared has moved in with Nathan and it seems that the neighboring pack has been keeping an eye on him. But one evening after a particularly heavy drinking outing, Seb falls down the stairs and rather seriously injures himself. With wolves around, Nathan and Jared’s pack need to protect Seb.
Seb is none to happy to be at the mercy of others for help after he breaks his ankle and wrist after falling in a fright. Tim, the pack doctor who has a bit of a crush on Seb, volunteers to take him to the hospital. His brother is a nurse at the hospital, so they are able to get fast-tracked. While recovering, Seb stays with Jared and Nate, but it’s driving him crazy being with them. They are still in the honeymoon phase and he’s not good at having others take care of him either.
After the rouge shifter issues that have occurred and the other pack being around, Nathan’s pack decides it would be good if Tim and Seb faked being a couple so that the pack would have a good excuse to watch over and protect Seb. Seb’s not too keen on it and Tim is also worried because his feelings for Seb are anything but fake. Seb eventually agrees and they end up getting up close and personal very quickly and very steamily 😉 This only feeds Tim’s feelings for Seb. Seb however is absolutely unwilling to entertain anything except the deception with Tim.
As things go on, there are political issue with the pack. Tim and Seb and thrown into the middle of the rivalry between the packs left over from the previous fight. Cam, Nathan’s alpha and the alpha of the rival/reluctant partner pack are locked in a battle over what should happen to the attacking wolves. In the meantime, Seb is injured again and he’s sick of it. Tim’s made his feelings plain to Seb but Seb still will not acknowledge anything but gratitude to Tim for keeping him safe and being his doctor.
But once there is a threat to someone else Seb loves, he pulls a 180 and decides he wants the bite and to be changed. He’s still not willing to come clean about his feelings for Tim and that really hurts Tim. But he steps aside to let Seb have what he wants, even though it’s killing him to do so. Thankfully there is some straight talk with Seb before he makes a huge mistake!
So I really like this series. We med Seb in the first book and he’s a suspicious sort. He was not thrilled about Jared getting together with Nathan – until he saw them together and understood their connection. Then he’s jealous, but he claims he doesn’t want that type of bond for himself. He’s got all this latent hostility towards shifters because of Jared’s previous relationship. He is attracted to Tim, but he doesn’t want to admit that he might want more and he’s particularly leery of a bond that he feels he’d have no control over. This is all understandable. He does kind of take Tim for granted though. Tim is head over heels for Seb, but he’s trying not to be too aggressive about it knowing Seb’s feeling. He’s as honest as the day is long which eventually Seb realizes. I like the world the author has built. As to the narration, I have to say it doesn’t add anything for me. Having read these books, I was looking for a new level in the audio, which sadly for me isn’t really realized. As usual YMMV. Still it is recommended – it’s a fun universe to join 🙂
RATING: 
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