The Defiant Mate, Book 1 (2024)

I'm marking this as 'Read' because I've been bombarded with so many of the adverts that I feel like I've read the whole thing at this point. Poor prose, terrible dialogue, absolute cringe characters, and I wish the algorithm would stop recommending it to me because at this point, I hate it with a fiery passion.

Excellent book till the end. It was amazing until the end which felt very rushed and there were several loose ends that was never addressed.

There were a lot of grammer issues and the story was a little all over the place but the concept was good.

I picked this up because it was recommended to me and this book is DEFINITELY not for me. This definitely was a cringe read for me. The dialogue is my main gripe. At times it was either to on the nose or came out more middle grade than adult. The story had several plot holes or unfinished plots, especially the ending. The main characters weren't as developed as the side characters. Some things in story just didn't make sense as well. Romance isn't my thing and I think is why I didn't enjoy the book and forced myself to finish it.

OK story, but weak characters, really bad prose/language, immature dialogue. Could really benefit from having a good editor.
Only one star, mostly because of bad language/prose.

I've read a few different books in this trope, and this was my least favorite. Like Hallmark movies this book follows the basic wereworlf mate trope. (For me this makes them all easy reads as I know what to expect). I could look over most grammatical errors, as it's self published, and we're all human. However the self censure of certain words really disrupts flow as I now have to guess what word is being used with the ****. If you don't want to the use the word, then don't? (Maybe it was the platform, but I don't think so)

Jay-la was a great female lead who threw everything in the trash for a toxic ass man because, you know mate bond makes everything better. This story lacked the personal journey of the male lead accepting that he was an awful person, and he should get whatever he wanted because he's the alpha. He was going to have Jay-la even it meant raping her.

Both main characters do a complete 180 in their character arc. Dominate angry murderous alpha to a happy go lucky guy; bad ass woman making bank and does everything for her kids to well he's my alpha gotta do what he wants now...

Then it just ended. Because the author didn't want fluff...

**SPOILERS**

So the main character Jay-Lin (I have no idea why they did my girl so dirty with a name like that) I actually really loved. She’s the definition of a girl boss and she really made her own path in the world.

Plot:

Jaylin is a werewolf in a pack. She’s a great warrior and her best buddies are the other powerful people (aka 4 guys) in the pack. She starts having a fling with the Alpha but one day he wakes up and BOOM there’s his mate. It’s not Jaylin. So Jaylin tries to talk to him about it (she took it so well, just wanted to schedule a time to come by and get her stuff), and the Alpha’a mate FREAKED OUT and Jaylin ended up getting banished forever. WTFFFFFFF LIKEEEEEEE this girl is apparently one of your childhood best friends and you’re just gonna IMMEDIATELY banish her without allowing her to even say goodbye????? Complete asshole

Fast forward 6 years: turns out our girl was pregnant…with triplets…and they’re the Alpha’s kids. She doesn’t tell him because she’s scared that his mate will kill her children for being “threats.” Okay, fair enough. Jaylin makes a life for herself by putting herself through law school and becoming exceptionally successful. She even gets broadcasted on tv for a case she was on…then the Alpha and his inner wolf see her on tv and suddenly wants her back with the back. She declines because obviously she is worried for her children’s safety. They end up sending literally a horrible kidnapping squad and drugging her and hurting her badly to bring her back. She ended up escaping, but with a lot of wounds, and her law firm since it’s super successful is going to represent her in a case against this alpha man, but they obviously don’t know he’s an alpha because these people are human, but in this world all of the wolf tribes or clans or whatever they’re called are law offices or hide under law corporations… Very confusing. Anyway turns out that our favorite girl is actually the alpha‘s new mate since his last one didn’t work out??????? Not sure how that fits into the lore of this story, but whatever.

Basically, it’s pretty cool because she is fighting in the human world using lawyers against this man who she thinks just wants to take her children now that he’s looked into her and realizes that these are his kids. And instead of just coming out and talking to her, he sends out his three best friends and second in command from the Wolfpack. Now, one of them, Jackson, is actually awesome. He had a crush on Jaylin when they were younger and he treats her so nicely and he actually was one of the only ones who stood up for her when she got banished from the tribe. I was really rooting for them this whole time, but that was just not gonna happen. Also some of the wolves have really weird gifts like enhancing emotions.

And then at the end, long story short, Jaylin ends up totally accepting the mating bond, especially when her inner wolf is just so OK with it. Me, I was really hoping she’d end up with Jackson. Jackson is awesome. Jackson didn’t banish her for six years for doing nothing and then just forget about her. But No, apparently all is forgiven. Anyway, this book would’ve gotten a better review if they would’ve worked through some of the banishing trauma, but no, apparently all is just happy sunshine and rainbows once the meeting bond kicks in.

Oh, did I mention that to get her to come back to the pack, they faked a very serious injury that led her to her mom going to the hospital and almost dying? Yeah. That is how they decided to bring her back. That is so manipulative, this entire pack just needs to be thrown away. This is not healthy, and this is a toxic environment

I liked this book but it was one of those stories completely driven by bad decisions and no communication between the main characters. It ended up being the same scenario over and over (Jayla gets cornered, Jayla runs away) because no one would just tell Jayla what's going on and let her make a decision. I listened to the audio book so didn't have issues with grammar that are mentioned in other reviews. I liked Jayla and that the kids where more than just names in the background. Jackson was my favorite of the guys and the one Jayla shoukd have ended up with, if you ask me. The ending was really abrupt, and gave the feeling that the author just didn't know how to close it out. Overall it felt like a good first draft rather than a completed book.

Spoilers...
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So my biggest issue with this whole thing was the male lead, Nathan. I get how the fated mates trope works - blinding insta love, and all that. But he was still a jackass, and we didnt get to know enough about him before he met his mate to show us why Jayla was really in love with him. Nathan just kinda comes across as an arrogant brute who thinks he can just have whatever he wants and control whoever he wants because he is the alpha. Nothing about him, other than the interaction with his kids when he meets them, is redeeming. He literally says at one point that he never thought of Jayla, not once since she was banished from the pack, until he saw her on TV. Like bro, for real? He doesn't try to explain the past, truly apologize for what he put her through, doesn't even try to woo her. He just expects that she's going to be his mate and tow the line. Even to the point of telling her what she is and is not allowed to wear at the very end. It's not that he's just over protective, he's jealous and controlling. Not cool. As a grown woman Jayla feels like someone who would not tolerate that crap, yet she does from him.

A good premise, but desperately needs editing

I kinda like the "rejected mates" trope. They can end one of two ways; The "rejector" realizes what he lost and is desperate to get his mate back and they live HEA; OR The "rejected" gets over the loss, moves on with her life and finds a new love. This book is the former.

Honestly, I'm not mad at either outcome. It's all about the journey. On the whole I thought the book was ok. Jay-la, our FMC, was rejected by her lover of 1 year when he discovers his fated mate. He acts like a jerk to her and banishes her from the pack. She finds out she's pregnant with his children (triplets) but moves on with her life in the human world, never telling him that he's a father. 6 years later, circ*mstances arose that brought her front and center to Nathan, our MMC and pack Alpha, and he wants her home again. That, in a nutshell, is our story.

It wasn't a bad storyline, even if it was formulaic. If you read books in this genre enough, a lot of them are. I guess that's just the way it is if you're going to stay in one genre. The finesse comes with the storytelling, . . . how it's executed. That's where the author could use some help or perhaps just more experience. There were a lot of spelling errors, and incorrect words used (like bear instead of bare, etc) But it was enough that it did pull me out of the story on numerous occasions. I do admit that while I knew it was coming, her acceptance of Nathan back into her and her children's lives, I still got that old familiar warm feeling in the co*ckles of my heart. I would have given this book 3 stars, but for the editing issues.

I had to give this poorly written book 2 stars(eventhough if I were scoring on merits it would be a 1 star) because I was deeply entertained by both the poor narration of the audiobook and the very interesting interpretation of grammar and spelling in the book itself. 😉That being said, if you're going to put words like 😱 breast in your book over 50 times than don't spell it br***east. One it's Not a profane word, and two which letters do you think your little stars are replacing, exactly?! 🤣 We spend the entirety of the book getting these "fated mates" together in a comedy of errors that would cause the Keystone Cops to go, huh, why did you do that because that seems Really dumb ?! The plot is simplistic, and the characters if given depth they don't possess on the page would aspire to be milquetoast. 🤨 Did I mention they're 🐺 shifters? How in the hell did you make such boring yet also seemingly uncontrollably angry 😡 wolf shifters?! I mean they Needed to be on medication. 🤔Are weed gummies for wolves a thing? They should check into it. Then the couple look at each other 😍 and the book pretty much just ends. 🤷‍♀️ OK, that is certainly one way to go. 🤣😂 But it is very funny to listen to, unintentionally I'm sure as it's supposed to be a romance.

I enjoyed this book! Actually read it super fast. The ending felt a bit rushed, but I'm hopeful it was because there is a second book in mind and coming soon! I'm really into controversial drama and would have loved to see maybe Havoc going up against Alpha Austin or Nathan finding out Jackson "also wanted Jay-la", to my eyes, thats how it seemed. (There are no spoilers here, just me fantasizing). Also, there are so many things that could have extended the book or can be added to the 2nd book. I'm so hopeful! Nevertheless, it ended well. It was just me, I wanted more! *WANT*

Sound plot, execution horrible. Grammar mistakes, spelling errors, poor execution of dialogue, felt it was self published without anyone proofreading it. During an editor and basic formatting would improve the book. Ending of book sucked! I did read the whole thing, I was like, huh? That’s how it ended? 😳

Good at the beginning but she gives in really quickly which feels odd for her character. Jayla is a great character with a lot of potential and I want to see how her story turns out
There is an odd tone shift going into the second book

Look, an ad for an audio book service got me on this one not gonna lie. Narrator was really good actually!!

This was actually really good and I devoured it rather quickly. Quicker than I suspected I would.

4.5 stars

I really enjoy reading this book.

3.5

Strong start, then completely died off for me at the end. I felt the female lead lost all her backbone as the story progressed. Definitely not interested.

Pretty average werewolf romance. I've read better but I've also read much much worse

Though the book needs editing, I like the story. I'm all for the drama (the more the merrier).

3.75

I need to know what happens next!! I loved this book

Poor grammar/punctuation. Lack of individual voice. Interesting premise though, partially well executed.

Such an amazing story! With its cliff hangers and lots of defiance. Loved every minute of it. The voice narritor is also very good.

Good story. I wish there was more.