Title: Wake Me Up Inside
Author: Cardeno C
Series: Mates, #1
Narrator: Charlie David
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 7 hours and 20 minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (08-19-13)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5 Hearts
Blurb: Zev Hassick is surprised and confused when he finds himself attracted to his best friend. His very human, very male best friend. Zev is the son of the pack Alpha, regarded as the strongest wolf in generations, born to lead. And everyone knows a male shifter has to mate with a female of his own kind to keep his humanity. So shifters can’t be gay, right?
Jonah Marvel wants a relationship with Zev, his best friend, the man he has loved since childhood. It wasn’t easy to maintain that relationship over years spent living apart while Jonah studied to become a doctor. And then things grow more difficult when Jonah becomes his own patient. Before he can make a life with Zev, he has to understand his past and cure the unexplained ailments that plague him.
Zev and Jonah know they’re destined for each other, but they’re facing traditions ingrained over generations and long-buried secrets that may threaten any future together.
Product Link(s): http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Wake-Me-Up-Inside-Audiobook/B00ELJQLHC
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4170
Reviewer: Tams
Review: Zev Hassick, future alpha of his pack, is an anomaly. He shifted before his first birthday, he is able to stay in his wolf form far longer than any of his pack members and Zev is very open-minded, wanting to change some of the more archaic laws of the pack when he becomes alpha. At just one year old, Zev met his best friend, the love of his life, his true mate Jonah. It will be close to thirty years before he actually stakes his claim to Jonah, but the bond is formed and bound on that first day.
Jonah Marvel has only ever loved one person, his best friend Zev. The hardest thing he ever had to do was leave Zev to go off to college, but Jonah wants to be a doctor almost as much as he wants Zev. Over twelve years the two grow both individually and as a couple, experience a lot of firsts and struggle with the separation.
While both men carry the burden the separation causes, it seems to physically affect Jonah almost inexplicably. Nightmares, insomnia, weight loss and an overall sense that something is missing from his life.
Zev is certain that once Jonah comes home and they bond that everything will click into place, that they’ll find a way to deal with everything else, as long as they are together. But there are secrets buried in Jonah’s nightmares, secrets that someone will kill to keep hidden.
CC really writes some of the finest Shifter stories, and manages to bring something new to the worlds she creates every time. I was so intrigued by how Zev and Jonah were connected to each other in such a unique way very early on. There were aspects to their story, their relationship that I saw coming from the start, but there were a lot of surprises as well.
There was a bit of angst peppered throughout the story, but since these two met as toddlers, some angst would be expected as they grew up together. Their romance was sort of epic though, Zev was very old-fashioned in a sense, refusing to literally mate with Jonah until they could be together, but never giving up on him, on them at the same time. Rest assured, there is a LOT of heavy petting over the years.
Narrated by Charlie David who is such a fantastic storyteller. From subtle nuances to slight tone inflections at just the right points in the story, and he enunciates his words clearly as well, which is music to my ears!
This is a must read for anyone that likes paranormal romance and shifter stories, especially if you are looking for something different at the core of the story.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *