SERIES: Alpha's Claim
SERIES PLACEMENT: #1
AUTHOR: Addison Cain
AGE GROUP: Adult
GENRE: PNR, Sci-fi
RELEASE DATE: April 8, 2016
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
PAGES: Approx. 242
COPY PROVIDED BY: Purchased
MY GOODREADS REVIEW LINK
RATING: 4 Stars!
CLIFFHANGER: Yes!
BOOK BLURB:
Surrender is not survival. Claire is desperate. Her once thriving city lies in ruins. The strongest of the three human dynamics, Alphas, have grown feral. Common Betas circle like vultures. The lowest in the hierarchy, rare and weak Omegas like Claire, are being destroyed. Sheltering amidst a dwindling enclave of frightened Omega women, Claire cannot provide enough to feed them all; her friends are starving.
All due to one escaped convict’s violent rise to power.
Shepherd is every bit as ruthless as his reputation suggests, but Claire cannot continue watching her friends suffer. Her last recourse is to beg the most powerful Alpha in the city for aid.
Up close, the sheer size of Shepherd, the raw power of the man, terrifies her. But he may be her only hope.
Before she can render her plea, Claire’s disguise and careful plans fail. Despite taking every possible precaution, she is captured. The moment the Alpha senses her, Claire’s worst nightmare is realized: Shepherd, discovering a rare Omega in his midst, claims her like a prize, forcing a pair-bond that ties her to him forever.
Claire becomes his.
Shepherd keeps his wayward mate locked away where only he might enjoy her and refuses to help her fellow Omegas unless they, too, are irrevocably bound to favored soldiers of his choosing. Claire cannot allow such a thing. She fights her instincts and his will, because no matter how many times he’s knotted her, how manipulative the bond might be, she despises what he’s done.
She escapes.
And Shepherd vows he will hunt her down – ready to burn the city to ash if he has to. Because Claire is his. His mate.
The first book in Addison Cain's exciting, raw, and suspense-filled Omegaverse trilogy is a dark tale with explicit sexual themes and complete power exchange. If such material offends you, please do not purchase.
4 “Bound” Stars!
The Review:
So ... that was different. And in a good way. This was my first Omegaverse book. I’ve read plenty of paranormal and sci-fi books, but nothing really like this. I loved the dome setting, the war-torn atmosphere the author creates and the story itself. I love dark, intense reads and this had some of my favorite things in it.
BUT WARNING...
Though I personally loved the dark elements in this book, it won’t be too everyone’s liking. There is complete power exchange (YAY!), enforced captivity (Holla!), vivid sexual encounters (YUMZ!), semi-noncon (gulp!), a possessive, alpha anti-hero who is down right scary (who doesn’t love those?), and cheating (grrr!). I HATE cheaters. I don’t like reading books that use it to create more drama, especially when there’s already so much. And had I known this book included that in it, I wouldn’t have even picked it up. But not knowing that going in, I’m glad I read to the end because it’s obvious Shepherd is unlike your traditional anti-hero with a heart of gold. I don’t think he has a vein of gold anywhere in him. He’s monstrous, indifferent, unbending, and dominant to the point of pushing himself on the heroine and what he does definitely classifies as rape in the human world, but this isn’t a traditional, human’s only world. Shepherd thinks the Omegas are supposed to act and behave a certain way and when Claire doesn’t, he’s confused and tries to bring her to heel the only way he knows how. His upbringing wasn’t like those above ground. He’s lived life barely surviving and his set of rules are very different than her set of rules. Does it make some of the things he did right? Hell no. Is he on my top list of book boyfriends? Not a chance! But I still liked his dynamic with Claire and I still very much enjoyed the story and where it is headed.
I’ll definitely be going on to book two!
Story/Characters...
Alpha - top dogs. Beta - secondary in the hierarchy. Omega - basically sex slaves.
Three different human dynamics under the war torn dome of Thólos. What was once a peaceful city has been decimated by Alpha Shepherd, a tyrant who rose up out of the Undercroft to take revenge on a city who had abandoned their rule breakers and undesirables into a devastating, lawless hell no one should be condemned to.
When this book opens, Omega Claire is disguised, sneaking into Citadel, seeking the help of the war lord, in an effort to provide much needed provisions and food for her dying sister Omega’s. There aren’t many of them left and desperation has pulled her from her hiding place. But not long after she enters the militant city, she’s discovered and a life of well-heeled imprisonment begins when Shepherd claims her for his own.
Claire was strong willed and no push over, but as strong as she was, she was no match for Shepherd and his manipulative, narcissistic, alpha ways. He’s intelligent and shrewd and he’s on a mission. He believes Omega’s should act a certain way and when Claire rejects his dominance, he’s both intrigued and frustrated. He forces a pair-bonding on her and negates all the high values Claire held herself to in order to not be chained to a man she doesn’t love. Shepherd doesn’t understand that safety and provisions aren’t the only thing Claire desires. She wants freedom. The one thing he refuses to give her.
It’s very hard to like Shepherd. Not only has he overturned an entire government, resulting in the deaths of thousands (for reasons not yet known), he is also very domineering. And though you can tell he’s trying to win Claire’s affections in the only way he thinks is correct, he doesn’t listen to her. Never considering her feelings or wants, he bullies and forces her to get what he wants and he’s cruel with his needs. But he’s also a contradiction and with his generosity and constant affections, Claire’s feelings for him started to shift. So did mine. She was actually finding a small bit of comfort in her capturer and I was actually seeing reasoning to his madness.
But then BOOM! It all blows away with one shameful act on his part. You find out he’s not as committed to her as he portrays and it makes you question all the good you thought might be trying to come out. Like Claire, I felt betrayed by his actions. I also felt hoodwinked by the story. I was as desolate as she was. What a horrific thing for someone you care about to do to you.
The Wrap Up:
Born to be Bound was different, exciting and intense and the setting was very imaginative. The romance was not really a romance but more of a pull-pull and that was a great switch up from my normal reading. The book was well written and very creative and I enjoyed it a lot!
ANOTHER WARNING...
This story ends on a pretty heavy cliffhanger. Thankfully the second book is already out and I can continue on. Cheating aside, I will definitely be moving on to the next book. I need to know what happens next.
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