Great Performance

This book felt a little lopsided to me. The overall performance by the narrator was great; however, once the resolution happened between the protagonists the story fell off. I enjoyed for first half of the story with the miscommunication between the two love interests but once that was resolved the ending of the book felt like it dragged on. Overall, it was an okay book but I wish the supporting characters would have had more to do with driving the story instead of the misunderstanding between the protagonists.

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My first shifter book, loved it.

I absolutely loved this book.

This is my first book in the shifter drama. I heard about shifter books and decided to see what the fuss is about. Ths book was a great way to be introduced to what shifters are and why people like these type of books.

I listened to this on Audible too, and my favorite narrator Joel Leslie did the voice work. He did a terrific job as usual with the voice acting and making it easy to distinguish each character.

Only issue i had with the book, and this is a minor spoiler but it's mentioned very early, is one of the main reasons the main character has concerns with claiming his mate. So apparently he has to mate in front of his entire immediate family and the elders. He just does not want to, clearly never wants to, finds it an invasion of his privacy and wants to protect his partners body from being exposed to that.
The book does a LOT to make that agonizing for the reader and i feel like doesn't do enough to ever help alleviate that anxiety. I at no point felt relief about this situation and was anxious every time this was brought up. I didn't really like the excuse this has to be done and it sorta ruined some of the romance for me with how its portrayed. I felt somewhat sick to my stomach and by the end, still felt sick about it.

Another issue i had, is there's a lot of repetition, i found myself very easily skipping ahead and not losing track of anything as some of the story drags. Like stuff would happen in the story and it just gets explained over and over again too many times. I think i even skipped an entire chapter when i noticed nothing was happening other then a ton of tensions explaining over and over. It doesn't at all ruin the book though and i know why it was done. It felt like it was done for tension building to make you more anxious about what's happening but maybe executed too much because like.... We get it... There's tension, stop explaining it to me for an hour with no real movement in the story.

The romance though is extremely tense, the story to back it up holds up solidly. I also love love lovvve the world building too as it was explained in a way that was easy to follow with characters being introduced slowly.

I think this book despite some of the prior issues mentioned is highly recommended for new comers to shifter dramas because after this, I'm hooked and want more.

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The perfect union of words and voice.

What did you love best about Devotion?

Everything! Seriously. I'd read the e-book, a couple times, and now to have narration, these wolves I do so love brought to life by Joel Leslie's stunning narrative skills. Perfect union.

What did you like best about this story?

The struggle, actually. I love shifter stories but they are almost always the same. Meet mate, mate mate, rinse repeat. In this story Duncan sets herself apart by adding the struggle Tanner deals with on a daily basis, not claiming his meet from the start. Finley struggles as well, but because he thinks Tanner may not necessarily want him as a mate. I loved the different view of the destined mates trope.

Which scene was your favorite?

The claiming itself at the end.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Both, actually. I laughed so hard a couple of times, just little things. But when Finley made the decision to put some distance between himself and Tanner, the pain and confusion that caused, made me a little bleary eyed.

Any additional comments?

Tams e-book review from August 2015

Tanner Pearce is the son of the Alpha wolf, heir apparent and future Alpha. Finding his destined mate should be a cause for celebration. But Tanner is in his twenties and his mate is only sixteen. Tanner never considers not mating with Finley, he just wants his mate to at least be of age and have lived enough life not to have any regrets once they do mate. But young Finley is growing tired of waiting and being pushed away at every turn.

Finley finally reaches a breaking point and flees to his grandparent’s home which is thousands of miles away. Tanner wants to give Finley his space, it’s the reason he has refused to actually mate with his mate these last few years, so Finley could enjoy his youth and be truly ready when they did mate. But now Tanner fears he has driven away his heart, and he’s not quite sure how to get him back.

Fantastic start to a new series! I thoroughly enjoyed the traditional Shifter aspects Duncan included in her story, while bringing a few unique ones of her own to the mix, keeping it fresh. There was the right amount of drama and angst in the story without being immature or awkward. Tanner has his reasons for wanting to wait to complete the mate bond, but he’s not entirely honest with Finley and it could cost him everything. The story flowed well from beginning to end with crests and valleys along the way to keep the reader interested and entertained.

Shifter fans are going to flock to this one of course, but there is so much more to the story. Coming of age, figuring out who you are and your place in life, learning to bend and give, especially when the decisions you make not only affect you, but your partner too. There’s some sexy time as well, these two wolves are pretty passionate about each other. And even, dare I say, a bit of romance… Le Sigh.

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3 people found this helpful

Awesome Listen

The narrator is a perfect choice for this one. I absolutely loved the kindle version and had to add the audiobook. I’m glad I did. This truly comes to life digitally.

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Narration

The narration of this story is awesome. I started another audio book before this one and the narration killed it....This the second book different series that has been narrated by joel leslie and wow...I think the only critic is less use of the wordy baby...other wise the plot line was great. just enough story vs erotica to keep the listener going will be listening to the second book next month

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2 people found this helpful

Decent Read(listen)

I had never read this author, not my cup of tea. Narration was just OK

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YAY! Great new shifter series and amazing narrator

Let me start by saying – YAY a new shifter series by a new (to me) author!

Tanner is the alpha-to-be for his pack, 23 when he meets Finley, a 16 year-old, new member of his pack. They know instantly that they are mates, and the chemistry between them is explosive.

In the shifter world, Tanner and the young Finely could be expected to immediately mate one another (finding one’s mate is an amazing gift after all) Tanner feels that Finely is too young and wants to wait til he’s at least “legal” in the eyes of human law.

Though he hates the wait, Finely agrees and the two “date” for two years. When his 18th birthday comes and goes without moving forward in the mating process, Finely gets mad and tries to get even. He goes out to clubs, tries to seduce Tanner, does everything he can to convince him that he’s old enough to know his own heart.

Tanner has had a bad experience with young mates later regretting their decision, and has some hang-ups about the way he’s meant to claim Finely as alpha-heir. So he resists. And resists. And resists. Until Finely can’t take it any more and throws out an ultimatum: I’m going away and finding someone else to mate if you don’t come after me and claim me.

Well… Tanner doesn’t take that news very well, but still doesn’t claim him. It takes an emergency with Finely for him to come to his senses and go after his mate.

When they finally do come together it’s magical –literally! – and well worth the wait!

**

I really, really loved this book. It was awesome! I had some gripes – sure – but mostly I devoured this from start to finish.

The hot times were super hot. Finely was a hoot! I loved that they spent time in their wolf forms (so many shifter stories only play lip service to their other sides) and I loved that they were shifters first and humans second.

Both families and the grandparents (grandpaw!) were hysterical and I really enjoyed their interactions and input.

What I didn’t love was the amount of time spent waffling. Why can’t I claim him later? But I want him now… but he’s too young… but I want him now… but he’ll be disappointed later… but he wants it now… There was a LOT of this and too much in my opinion.

I also didn’t love the time spent with Jamie. (Jamie is a shifter out in Oregon who agrees to date Finely for a bit, and who ultimately forces Tanner to see the light of day). It felt very close to cheating – and that is not my thing at all. But… everyone was appropriately contrite afterwards and it did kick Tanner in the butt – finally!

I thought the ending was amazing! I loved that take on the bonding process – it’s a surprise – but it was awesome!

All I can say is that I’ve found a new shifter series and a new author to follow! I can’t wait for Jamie’s story next!

4.5 of 5 stars

Audio

This showing up on audible absolutely made my day! I LOVE this series and having Joel do the narration was the icing on the cake!

Joel is gifted at understanding the nuances of emotion and really getting into a scene. He gives each of the many people a unique voice and character. He absolutely nailed the “mine” sentiment and anguish that we see when Finn and Tanner are together or when they’re apart.

This is absolutely the best way to enjoy this story (even the parts in the middle which dragged a bit ;) ! (The hot times – whooooeee – those were outstanding in audio!)

Highly recommended!

5 of 5 stars

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2 people found this helpful

Deja vu

Deja vu is not something you want while driving in traffic. the book's chapter 9 repeats at Audible chapters 10 and 11.

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Great narration

Any additional comments?

Joel Leslie does a terrific job with the character voices and Devotion is simply a pleasure to listen to.

He is, in fact, the reason I didn't hurt something when I realized that yes, I remember I had enjoyed reading this story, but, uh oh, I'd forgotten about the truly awful miscommunication and heartache that could have been cleared up WITH ONE SINGLE CONVERSATION.

For almost half of the story Tanner and Finley are separated. However, once they're reunited the sexy times begin and I have one word for you: KNOTTING.

So, yes, the sexy times are sexy, but lordie, I wanted to wrap my hands around Tanner's throat and throttle him.

Regardless of the miscommunication, I enjoyed the dual POV and getting to see both Tanner and Finley's sides, the flow is good, and the world building entertaining enough to keep the reader/listener engaged until the end, helped largely by Leslie's narration.

I'm looking forward to getting Jamie's story on audio next!

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11 people found this helpful

A Cute Shifter Story

This was a cute wolf shifter story. At times, I did not understand the hesitation from Tanner, one of the protagonists but I certainly could understand Finley's aggravation, the other protagonist. The story was a bit predictable but it was rather enjoyable. I did like this book. I would have given it 3.5 stars...but not an option. Another thing that confused me was the fear associated with the mating ritual and being visual...without giving to much away. Again, a cute shifter story with some hot sex scenes. Joel Leslie did a good job bringing the story to life. Would recommend...

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4 people found this helpful