Blind Beast Mate by Milana Jacks
Queen J’s rating: 2 of 5 stars
This came highly recommended from a couple other readers who share my love of Laurann Dohner’s New Species series. I was excited for something to capture the same magic of that series while we wait and wait and wait and wait (patiently) for the next NS book to be released. So to say I started this book with high expectations is probably an understatement. That’s on me, not the book. Bottom line, I didn’t hate the book, but I didn’t love it either. Parts were interesting and unique. The heroine is seeing impaired (a story plot I adore) but even that couldn’t overcome the parts that were troubling. For me, there needed to be some improvement to the hero’s dialogue. He spoke in a very alpha way, but it was also a weird mix of biker slang and sometimes just didn’t make any sense. It repeatedly took me out of the story. There also needed some additional world building to their alien needs for mates. I felt that there is a secret about their needs/wants/ritual that was teased and then not revealed before the end of the book.
It definitely suffered from “Over Trope”. It contained shifter, dystopian, alien, and MC. Over Trope is personally a peeve of mine, so this immediately put me on my guard. Authors should apply Coco Chanel’s advice and “Before you leave the house [or write a book], look in the mirror and take at least one thing [trope] off.”