Rating: 5 ‘Sexy Alpha’ Stars

Publisher: Knight Ever After Publishing

Genre: Gay Paranormal Romance

Tags: Age Gap, Fated Mates/Insta-Love, Family Issues, Mpreg, Pack Politics, Paranormal, Romance, Shifters, Series

Length: 171 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon.com

Blurb –

M/M Shifter Mpreg Romance. 

When wishing for a new life, Elam finds out the hard way that he should’ve been more specific. 

A year in the Alaskan wilderness was supposed to help nature photographer Elam determine his next move. However, hitting his head and being rescued by one of the hottest men he’s laid eyes on in a while is not getting him off to a great start. Elam is starting over and staying away from sexy guys is part of his new regime. He has a career to nurture in addition to repairing his bruised ego after his rat of an ex cheated on him multiple times. 

Nicolai is a rare, blue-eyed white wolf shifter. He’s also an Alpha and the expected heir to his pack in the Alaskan Wolf Alliance. Much to his father’s dismay, Nic has stepped aside as ruler and ceded his spot as future head of the pack to his younger brother. As a gay shifter, he’ll never be able to provide a biological heir and has no intention of claiming a female mate for the sole purpose of giving him a pup. Instead, he’s made a life for himself miles away from the pack in his own section of woods. 

However, fate intervenes and puts Nic on a collision course with a human mate. While Nic’s wolf might be on board with the idea, Nic wants no part of it. Why would he want to get tangled up with the stunning Elam only to have his cold heart ripped away once Elam decides it’s time to leave Alaska for good? There’s also the small detail that humans know nothing of the existence of shifters. 

When chemistry, love and the truth of what the growly Nic is blindsides Elam, he has some tough decisions to make. Does he let Nic turn him? Never go back to his old home? But the biggest surprise is yet to be revealed when Nic and Elam discover the new life Elam had hoped for is more than just his own—and that there are wolves who are frothing at the mouth to destroy it. 

Author’s Note: Rescued by the Alpha is Book One in the Alaskan Wolf Alliance series and features an Alpha and omega who are fated to have lots of steamy, knotty fun and to make beautiful babies together. This suspenseful, action tale does include some peril to Dad and baby. But, there’s a fluffy, feel-good HEA and we all know wolves don’t cheat, so no worries there! 

Review –

I’ve read so many mpreg books this year when I think I’d read exactly one before 2019. Honestly, I’ve read so many back to back that I’m pretty much over them. Rescued By The Alpha came up as a rec on Amazon. I liked the cover so I got it. Imagine my surprise – no, shock – when I discovered that this book is absolutely nothing like any of the others I’ve read. At first it kind of seemed like it. One of the main characters (that would be Elam) is headed to Middle of Nowhere, Alaska to get away from a cheating ex. A snowstorm hits, he has some kind of accident, then he’s rescued by the shifter who turns out to be his mate even though Elam is human.

There are lots of books set in the mountains slash wilderness with characters exactly like I just described. Gay romance, het romance, and even (as I’ve discovered) a bunch of reverse harem type books.

Elam is a nature photographer. He’s just gone through a bad breakup and is wanting to get away from everything, especially his cheating ex. A snowstorm hits quicker than predicted and he’s forced to stop his rental vehicle to throw on tire chains in order to keep going. He gets out of the SUV, slips and hits his head, and is rescued shortly after by a wolf shifter who scents him from pretty far away.

See? Similar to the others, right?

Maybe in the beginning but not as the story plays out.

Nicolai, as the blurb states, is a rare white, blue-eyed wolf shifter. He was supposed to be the heir-apparent to his father, the Alpha, but he stepped aside so his brother could take his place when the time comes. Nic is gay, and without the ability to have an heir, he doesn’t believe he could fulfill his duties as Alpha sufficiently. He has no desire to be with a woman so he makes the difficult decision to turn that duty over to his brother, Artur. While he remains close enough in proximity to the pack, he builds a house that’s far enough away to keep him out of the day to day workings of it. For a decade or so he’s been content enough being alone. He’s close to his father, sister, niece, and nephew and is a short run (in wolf form) or four-wheeler ride away from them. Artur, on the other hand, not so much. Artur is power hungry and eager to take his dad’s place as Alpha. He’s jealous of Nicolai because he knows that every pack member would prefer the big brother over him.

Nic, in his wolf form, is out for a run. The snow has gone from a few flakes here and there to an all-out snowstorm. He’s heading back to his place when he scents somebody who’s not supposed to be there. His wolf is telling him that he’s scenting his mate. He manages to find Elam just in time. He’s unconscious next to his SUV and already covered in snow. After a little wiggling and shifting, he manages to get Elam in the vehicle, chains on the tires, and drive them to Nic’s home.

Elam wakes up confused and with a headache. Nic is quick to assure him that he’s safe after giving him the details of what happened. Nic’s not much of a people person. He’s been alone for so long that his voice often comes across as being gruff. Elam doesn’t care. Hurt or no, there’s some major lust happening for his rescuer. He fights it because the whole point of him going to Alaska was to be alone after breaking up with the last guy he was with. Nic, knowing Elam is his mate, has to fight to keep from making a move. Thankfully, they both get it together a day or two later but Nic refuses to penetrate Elam or even let him blow him. If Nic ejaculates inside Elam that begins the turning process. With him being his mate he will need to be turned eventually, but Elam has to be told Nic’s secrets first.

That went over about as well as could be expected. One minute Nic’s a man and seconds later he’s a beautiful white wolf.

This is the first shifter book I’ve read in forever where the mate has to be turned. Most of the ones I’ve read have the human feeling the mate bond strongly, and some even sharing some of the shifter’s abilities, but they don’t get turned into a shifter as well. While the way it happened was a bit unconventional (via body fluids and the mate bite) it was still pretty cool and thankfully the author didn’t drag things out for too long before these two guys started coming together (in more ways than one… *snort*)

When the Elam is finally convinced that he’s Nic’s mate he’s willing to go through the process. The first time they have sex Nicolai knots, something he’d never done before.

Trouble’s brewing in the pack. Nic’s father is getting older and forgetting things. A scandal has just occurred involving Nic’s brother Artur. It’s also starting to look like a rival pack is planning to overthrow Nic’s dad. Nic’s asked again to take over as Alpha but he’s still balking because he can’t produce an heir. It also doesn’t help that Artur is being beyond difficult and acting like he may be involved in some bad things that could affect everybody.

Elam is accepted by all in the pack except one. But then he starts getting ill. He and Nic are convinced that it’s possibly as a result of him being turned. Nobody has been turned in memory so there’s not exactly a manual to go by on what happens to the human in the days after. Unfortunately (or fortunately in this case) Elam continues to get worse until Nic finally takes him to the healer.

You can guess what was ‘wrong’ with him. 😉 That’s another major first but it was written in prophecy, according to the healer.

This is a great start to a series. I loved both Nicolai and Elam and I enjoyed watching them dance around each other before finally getting it together. The pack politics are interesting, as are most of the secondary characters. I like how it wasn’t common AT ALL for men to get pregnant and how Elam was a special case of sorts. And for the first time EVER the actual birth of the child was explained – as in how it occurs outside of a c-section. Usually that stuff is off-page leaving the reader to ask, “How did the baby come out?” 🙂

A great book. I can’t wait to read more in the series and by this author.