Book Reviews

Book Blurb

A Broken Alpha. A Reluctant Mate. A Battle to Survive.

Six months of torture couldn’t break him—but love just might.

Marcus Criswell was once the strongest Alpha in North America. Now, after half a year in chains, starved and scarred, he’s a shadow of the leader he used to be. When his captors abandon him to die, Marcus is ready to welcome the end…until fate steps in.

Nathan Grant never wanted this life. Raised by humans and taught to fear shifters, he’s kept his distance—until the day he runs as a wolf and stumbles across a man barely clinging to life. Saving Marcus means shattering every rule Nathan has lived by…and binding himself to a mate he doesn’t understand.

Danger still stalks them. Marcus is broken, Nathan is untested, and enemies lurk in the shadows. But when destiny calls, will they risk everything for a love worth fighting for?

 

First edition published at Pride Publishing, April 2011.

Book Review

'Reckless', the third book in this increasingly fascinating series, is the most amazing of them all for me. I loved the storyline, the depth of feelings Marcus displays (both in captivity and during his painful recovery), and the heat and need between him and his newfound mate, Nathan.

Marcus is used to being in control, being further up the wolf shifter hierarchy even than his younger twin brother Aidan. The situation he is in requires him coming to terms with the fact, not only of his torture, but also of his helplessness. That is hard for him to accept, and his recovery is slow. The stages he goes through and the obstacles he encounters are harsh, but very believable.

Nathan is a wounded man as well, but in a very different way. Having been told shifters are bad all his life, he’s now faced with being mated to one of them. Everyone expects him to fit right in, but it is not easy for him to deal with Marcus and his issues, as well as his own. It makes for some great tension and had me glued to the pages.

If you like shifter stories with powerful villains, intense, lovable characters and deep emotions, you will probably like this book. But it is more than a shifter story. The way emotional trauma and how people deal with it comes to the fore here as does the role love and acceptance play in healing wounds of a physical and emotional nature. I loved this book, even though it had me shuddering at some of the brutality that was referenced. A great read, and I sincerely hope there will be a next volume - soon!

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. The first edition of this book was provided by the publisher for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 269 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	22-October-2025
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Reckless-Southwestern-Shifters-Book-3-ebook/dp/B0FK33F28J