ALL OF ME

ALL OF ME by Cardeno C.

 

Pages: 54

Date: 17/06/2014

Grade: 4

Details: Received from Dreamspinner Press

            Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Bonded by their parents before they were conceived, Abel Nasa and Zakai "Kai" Berura adored each other since they were children. As teens, the two future Alphas took the next step in their bonding process and vowed to remain true to one another until Kai came of age. But when tragedy struck, Abel felt betrayed and ran from Kai instead of completing the mating bond.

Years pass with no contact between the two, but Abel never stops yearning for the man who was supposed to lead by his side. When Kai returns, broken and on death's door, Abel must look past what he saw and trust his heart so they can fulfill their destiny and merge their packs.”

-------------------------------------------------------

My thoughts:

Some novellas are exactly the right length as well as much too short. “All of Me” is one of those for me. I really enjoyed the story and the characters in it. Everything we need to know is told in a smooth and unhurried way. And yet I couldn’t help wishing for more time with Abel and Kai; I had gotten quite attached to them over the course of 54 pages.

We get the story from Abel’s perspective and seen through his eyes all his decisions and his pain make perfect sense. I could feel how badly he was hurting when he made his shocking discovery and understood how it still had an effect on his thoughts and actions even a decade later.

Of course, once we find out what exactly happened to Kai it was impossible not to feel sorry for him as well as impressed with him for everything he had gone through. (I know I’m being somewhat obscure here but I don’t want the spoil the full story for those who haven’t read it yet).

One thing I always like in Shifter stories and loved in this one is the bond between two mates destined to be together. It is hard to imagine anything more romantic than that. Of course the bond being unbreakable has a flipside; not even betrayal or a long time apart can diminish the pull. The one he was meant to be with is lost to Abel and with it his ‘joy de vivre’.

The reunion and reconciliation was a bit too quick and easy for my liking. On the other hand, their actual bonding after all the secrets have been revealed and forgiven was wonderful and just about right as far as pacing and detail were concerned.

Overall this was a rather sweet, well written and very sexy paranormal romance by an author who is slowly claiming her place on my ‘must read’ list.