Darkest Mate Blog Tour + Review

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the DARKEST MATE by Alexis Calder Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About The Book:

Author: Alexis Calder

Pub. Date: December 21, 2021

Publisher: Alexis Calder

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 346

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle

Weakness means death. Or worse.

After I was abandoned as a child, I was taken in by the Shadow Pack. A group of ruthless, lawless, shifters who have only one rule: never let anyone see your weakness.

In exchange for them keeping me alive, I owe them. The leader of the Shadows is as handsome as he is ruthless. And he’s offered to wipe my debt in exchange for marriage. He’d offer protection, but it would cost me my freedom.

Survival in the Shadows depends on back alley deals and shady alliances. It’s become a way of life that I stopped questioning years ago. When a routine burglary goes wrong, I find myself captured by the one family I never should have crossed.

The Umbra family owns this city. They make us Shadow wolves look like the good guys. They should have killed me for my crimes, but there’s a tiny problem… It turns out Madoc Umbra is my fated mate.

Instead of killing me, I’m a prisoner. The rest of the family doesn’t know of our bond and I intend to keep it that way. Madoc’s brothers want to end my life; he wants to break the bond. I just want to get the heck out.

As long as I don’t let them see any weakness, I might have a chance of making it out of here alive.

Darkest Mate is a full-length paranormal romance. 17+ for dark content, steamy scenes, and language. This is book one in a trilogy and is not a standalone. Mind the cliff.

Upcoming Release Dates:
Darkest Mate: December 9, 2021
Forbidden Sin: January 20, 2022
Feral Queen: March 3, 2022 

Ivy has never fit in with the rest of the pack. Her parents abandoned her, and she has lived as an outcast her entire life. She may be a shifter, but she hasn’t even shifted before so she hasn’t been included in any of the pack activities. Keeping her head down is the best thing she’s done to keep herself safe and it has worked so far. Well, it worked until the pack alpha’s son started to show interest in her. She wishes that she could be happy with him, but a mysterious fighter has also caught her eye.

Ivy was an interesting character. She didn’t seem to know much about the world she lived in, but most of that I believe was because the pack purposely isolated her and kept her in the dark. She lived a very isolated and lonely life, yet she had become somewhat self-sustained and successful at her job at the local bar. I definitely liked reading that she wasn’t totally reliant upon/constantly trying to be with those who had rejected her when she was a small kid. She’d moved on, she had found a way to be successful in her life, and she would have been just fine without the alpha’s son falling for her. I’m also not quite sure how the mating dynamic works in this universe, as some mates in this book just ignore one another while others seem to be in some sort of a trance as soon as they feel the bond and can only see each other. I’m sure this will be further expanded upon in the next book.

This book does set things up for a love triangle of sorts, which isn’t my favorite romance trope, but I can’t wait to see how things will play out in the end. I don’t think that this will be the annoying type of love triangle that I hate where the girl can’t make up her mind. I feel like this will be a triangle full of betrayal, secrecy, and forbidden love. One of the best kinds!

One complaint I have about this book is actually the synopsis! I felt like by reading the synopsis that I had already read almost the entire book from beginning to end. If you’re interested in reading this book, just pick it up. Don’t go back to reread the synopsis, it’s more fun when you find out that information throughout the story.

I’m a sucker for shifter romances and this one goes far more in-depth than your typical cheesy paranormal romance novel. There are true pack politics, shady business dealings, murders, generational secrets, arranged marriages/matches, kidnappings, and more that is sure to come in the next book. I can’t wait to see how this world expands and how Ivy grows throughout this trilogy.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a shifter adult romance novel.

I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 books.

About Alexis:

Alexis Calder writes sassy heroines and sexy heroes with a sprinkle of sarcasm. She lives in the Rockies and drinks far too much coffee and just the right amount of wine.

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Giveaway Details:

1 Winner will receive a $10 Amazon GC, International.