Accidental Mates, Anitra Lynn McLeod

This was a unique and really funny beginning to a series that I'm definitely going to dive into.  I enjoyed the premise quite a lot and the demon was really easy to come to love.  He had a lot of passion and compassion for Alex that went a lot way to evening out the more forceful and secretive parts of him.  Alex was interesting in that he stood up for himself and used his brain more than his reactions to the sexy demon.  It was his father that bothered me.  Yes, I can understand his blustering and the reasoning behind his actions, I just felt like there could have been a bit more of an apology on his end for the secrets and the way he treated Alex.  Overall, I thought this was a very humorous start and I'm definitely coming back for more.  4 stars.

Not as charming at Demon, but still interesting.  I'm a sucker for dragons so I thought this would be my favorite of the series.  Not so, unfortunately.  I found there to be very little real chemistry between the MC's and neither character really captivated me.  The mating stuff was interesting, a little amusing, and very unique.  I'm not sure I was won over by the dragons' world either.  It was definitely unique and gave Mitch a purpose, but his individual character was so very milquetoast before this point that I just didn't really think his journey was anything close to what we got with Alex.  Alex's "quest" was interesting and fit with the story.  While Mitch's was fitting to the story, I didn't think it showed strength or any significant change to make him a stronger character.  It was an okay story for sure, but a let-down from the first.  3 stars.

This was a nice story with two men who really did need one another. While I wasn't really invested in their story, I did really like how it ended. Gabriel was a little harder to like because of his constant dismissal of many of Luke's concerns, questions, and convictions. Luke's moral beliefs when it came to relations, intimacies, etc. seemed a little out of place. To claim he knew little about religious things but held notions of prudish appropriateness that typically come from religious experience felt incongruous. I absolutely respect his desire to wait, that it was something special to him, and I had zero problems with that sentiment, but Gabriel's countering and then praising it didn't sit well. There were quite a few things that didn't really add up and it detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

Where the first two stories in the series had the human mate go on some kind of journey, Luke's was very different in that he needed to find himself and know who he really was and what he was all about without strong male personalities guiding, taking advantage of, or protecting him. I don't think he fully achieved it, but it was a nice thought that could have used a bit more attention. By the end I was okay with the story and haven't given up on the series.  3 stars.

Of all the stories, I think this one had the most well-rounded characters and the story was sufficiently wrapped up with an exciting beginning and a sweetly wonderful ending.  While I think there were a couple bits that didn't really work as well, like near the end with Os'vald's weirdly justified behavior in the beginning as well as the ease of location change to satisfy the story's end, overall I think this was an immensely successful story.  It felt complete because there were two unique characters with quirks and vulnerabilities and motivations that were believable and interesting.  The drama was specific to the MC's and their dilemma.  The ending was appropriately sweet, it fit with the story, and was a believable solution to any difficulties they might face because of their different races.  This one got me in the feels at the same time that it satisfied my need for a believable and well-played plot.  4 stars.

The story was good overall, especially with where they finally got their HEA, but the road was a bit bumpier than I expected.  A couple dramatic elements that were thrown in were surprises and I don't think one of them fit at all, in fact, it caused unnecessary complications to their already complicated situation.  Some things were brought up to increase the angst with intimated hurts and reasoning behind Von's decision to be a player but were never explained or fleshed out.  Silver is adorably earnest and naive and while I think he was a bit superficial, in that he wasn't given enough depth as a character and not that he was vapid or shallow, he was the character that drew me in the most.  Von's opening scene was promising, as was the end, but through the whole middle I found him to be lacking.  Where they get to in the end was really sweet though, so overall it was a sweet, nice story to add to the series.  3 stars.