Title: Ben
Series: The Atherton Pack #2
Author: Toni Griffin
Genre: MM / Paranormal / Werewolves
Length: Novella
Publisher: Silver Publishing (May 11th, 2013)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥2 Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb: Tommy is coming to terms with abuse endured from his former Alpha, and a newly-found mate. Ben is happy to wait while Tommy heals and accepts their mating. Will threatening e-mails put a roadblock on their way to happiness?
Still suffering from nightmares due to the abuse he endured at the hands of his previous Alpha, Tommy Morgan is trying to come to terms with life and a newly-found mate.
The last thing Benjamin Taylor, Panneath Alpha of Australia, expected to find was his other half, bloody and broken at the hands of another Alpha. Now months later Ben is more than happy just to sit at his mate’s side while he gets his life together again and begins to accept their mating.
Threatening e-mails, though, set to put a hold on their happiness as someone wants revenge for the death of Alpha Kegan Wallis.
Product Link: https://spsilverpublishing.com/ben-ebook-p-1464.html?zenid=563e92f0721482597d7615f211fff498
Review: This book while not extremely bad, did not appeal to any of my tastes. First of the blurb pretty much tells the entire story except one detail. There was nothing to look forward to and the passion/intensity that would make you jump on the ride with both feet was totally lacking.
Ben is the typical (stereotypical) Alpha. Big and solid and domineering, causing everybody to respect/fear him while showing his sensitive side to his mate, being considerate and loving toward him and him alone. I’m afraid I’m quite tired of the type. I disliked their first time (and only time) together with a passion, and that was unfortunately the only time this read evoked any feelings from me. Ben had been so understanding during Tommy’s healing, holding his urges at bay only to erupt as the big, bad, domineering mate in bed with the incredible line “You will take what I give you” and reveling in the fact that his mate is understanding in him being in charge.
Tommy on the other hand is yet another typical mate to an Alpha. Smaller, slimmer, weaker (even if he’s called strong for surviving the beating) and literally a pup with a wagging tail. Something akin to Pavlov’s dog that had me reeling and not wishing to continue. Holding on for months he suddenly does a one-eighty turn and transforms from a victim in hiding to a sexy devil in the blink of an eye. God, it was just so fast…
Now this read could have a chance of getting to me if there weren’t so many lost opportunities to create a bond between book/characters and reader. We completely miss Tommy’s beating and healing emotion-wise. We don’t get to live it with him, rather being simply told and that desperation and pain is lost in the haste of the book. Jumping from event to event with a speed that did not allow getting into it, the bond between the mates was treated in the same way, so did their mating. The fact that Tommy appeared to be the “hair-trigger” character with more ejaculations in the same paragraph than I’ve ever encountered didn’t help either.
The action plot as I said is already declared on the blurb. An Alpha-bitch-wanna-be that had her sights on Alpha Kegan Wallis, the man responsible for Tommy’s beating and other crimes, comes to take revenge. And that plot just didn’t do it for me either. No matter how vengeful you are, you must be a complete idiot to go hunting the Panneath Alpha of Australia just like that. I mean werewolves are supposed to have some sense of preservation right? Anyway, there were simply too many things wrong with the plot, too many holes and illogical incidents happening that ruined it for me.
The last drop was the male werewolves being able to carry children. Not only that is not supported with some kind of (even make-believe) facts as to how can this be possible at all, but it just about undid me with the transformation of a male into some semblance of an androgynous creature whose emotions were way beyond my comfort zone. It was too much for me to handle.
In the end this was a story that gave nothing to me except an overwhelming amount of clichés and stereotypes. Definitely not my kind of read.