Review of Wake Me Up Inside by Cardeno C.

Wake Me Up Inside by Cardeno C.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



My introduction to Cardeno C’s writing came after reading Perfect Imperfections, so I was quite excited by the opportunity to read the Mates series. I find m/m paranormal romances to be more of a miss than a hit for me as opposed to their contemporary romances counterparts, but I was hopeful that this one would be a hit. Fortunately CC’s talent for crafting a beautiful m/m romance transcends genres and Wake Me Up Inside was even better than I expected.

Zev is his pack’s Alpha. He’s strong. He’s intelligent. He’s dominant. He’s gay. And his true mate is human. Yep, those last two are where Zev’s problems lie. Not because he’s fighting his nature and refuses to acknowledge his homosexuality, but rather because he knows some of his pack members are not going to be accepting of his sexuality or of Jonah. Being human, Jonah has no understanding of why Zev professes his love yet refuses to consummate their relationship. Although frustrating for Jonah, Zev’s refusal leads to years of foreplay that was so freaking hot to read. Even though they were friends during middle school and high school, Zev’s refusal to have sex also meant that their relationship deepened emotionally. This is where the beauty of CC’s writing comes in. Rather than relying upon the mating instinct of shifters as the driving force for their relationship development, Wake Me Up Inside focuses on the building of the emotional relationship between Zev and Jonah. With Zev actively ignoring his mating instinct to insure that Jonah is able to achieve his dream of becoming a doctor, Zev’s sacrifice is just one example of the love the men share and just one of many reasons why I absolutely adored Zev and Jonah.

As much as I loved this book, I do have one teeny, tiny little complaint about it. In the beginning third or so of the book, the past experiences of and between Zev and Jonah are relayed via recalling of memories. While I liked reading about their experiences and how they got to where they are in their relationship, it wasn’t always immediately clear that the passage I was reading was a memory and not in the present. While ultimately it didn’t affect my enjoyment of Wake Me Up Inside, I fear that there are readers who are going to find the writing confusing and give up on the book, thus missing out on a truly entertaining read; the addition of time line headers (e.g., 2 years ago) would benefit the book greatly. Other than that, I loved it and was engaged from beginning to end. I found the twist about Jonah fascinating and am looking forward to starting book 2, Until Forever Comes, next.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

Check out the Mates Series by Cardeno C blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.


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