Title | : | Protectors of the Pack (The Stars of the Pack, #3) |
Author | : | |
Rating | : | |
ISBN | : | - |
Language | : | English |
Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
Number of Pages | : | 92 |
Publication | : | First published September 1, 2017 |
Alec is a rational person, a scientist. He knows there's some things you can't change. He can't be more outgoing, he can't stop worrying about what other people will think of him, and he can't stop being gay.
But he's smart, smart enough to know he could be worse off. Even though his parents expect him to marry a woman, at least he's a beta and that means he can finish his degree before they start asking him questions he can't answer.
He loves his degree and his family, even if he doesn't know how to talk to them. It's enough: he takes it easy, studies hard, and doesn't get in trouble.
And then he meets an alpha wolf in a club and they hit it off. Gabriel is everything Alec isn't: powerful, confident, dominant, free. The last thing he expects is for Gabriel to come back for more after they spend a full moon together, and when he does, he can't bring himself to say no. Even if it would be sensible, even if it would be smart.
With each kiss he falls deeper, with each embrace he needs more... Even though he knows a beta will never be allowed to keep an alpha for long.
Protectors of the Pack (The Stars of the Pack, #3) Reviews
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This was book 3 in "The Stars Of The Pack" series. This book went back and fourth between past and present of Alec the doctor and an Alpha who turns out had a relationship with the other Alpha Gabriel who he is in love with. Turns out the two met in a club both looking for a hook-up. Alec who was in med school and hasn't presented as an Alpha yet. Alec is a rational person, a scientist. He knows there's some things you can't change. He can't be more outgoing, he can't stop worrying about what other people will think of him, and he can't stop being gay. Alec knows that their is something wrong with Ray and although they didn't say but I think he is pregnant from being raped by Nicholas. Alec is also dealing with his feelings for Gabriel so he begins collecting data from people in the pack about the kids and also talking to another omega about what is happening to Ray. This book had a lot of guilty feelings and feeling sorry for themselves including Ray I wish that they would get over it. This book was well written with no errors in grammar or spelling. I am looking forward to reading the next book I this series.
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I really enjoyed Protectors of the Pack by N.J. Lysk. I loved getting to see how Adam and Gabriel first met and how their relationship evolves and changes from when they had met three years before mating Ray and how it changes after mating Ray and starting a new pack. I also loved the dom/sub dynamic between Alex and Gabriel even though they are both alphas. Poor Alex should have been born the omega instead of Ray. Alex would have been a perfect omega. I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. -
(This review is of all the first three books in this series as I read them all back to back)
Let me start off by stating that this series is unique. I’ve never read a book where the main character had five lovers, or mates in this case. The story gives a solid reason for this, which is the need to start a new pack and a shortage of (male) omegas. So far, so good. I’m cheating a little here, by the way, because I’ve already read the three books available in this series (Alpha for the Pack and Protectors for the Pack) and will say something about the other two books as well in this review.
Ray, the omega and the main character, turned out to be my biggest issue. With six people in a relationship, distinguishing one person from the other is usually hard. The writer made the smart choice here to tell the story strictly from Ray’s POV, allowing us to get to know the other through his eyes. It made it relatively easy to get to know the other five men, but…having Ray as the only voice also turned out to be the weakness in this book.
I get that him presenting as an omega was a huge disappointment for him. I also understood that having five mates shoved down your throat was less than ideal. However, when the main character remains whiny and bitchy, it makes the story a hell of a lot less enjoyable than it could have been.
In book two, this is still going on strong. Book three was a surprise, since it focuses on two of the five characters mainly, who develop their own romance within the bigger relationship (pack) of the six men. While this made the concept of the six men together more bearable, it also raised some questions about earlier statements of one of these men with regards to his feelings for Ray. However, that wasn’t a biggie, and I liked where the author was going with this. Book three was actually the best one out of the three books so far, as it was more of an actual romance.
Going back to the first two books, there’s some dubcon and some definitive noncon sex in there. If that’s not your thing, you may want to stay away from this series. There’s also a pregnancy, lots of wolf babies, and all the complications that brings.
As for the writing, it’s decent but there are tons of spelling mistakes and typos. The books really could have benefitted from a solid round of editing and proofreading.
All in all, I have mixed feelings about this series. The premise was intriguing, but Ray didn’t really grow on me, and some stuff in book two (keeping it vague here to avoid spoilers) felt unnecessary to me. I like where the story is heading towards the end of book three, however. I’m guessing there will be more books, and I’ll probably read them since they’re on KU, but so far, I’m not a huge fan. -
Recensione completa sul blog:
https://trelibrisoprailcielo.com/2020... -
I thought this book did a good job of giving us the history of Alec and Gabriel, and it wasn't annoying the way the story shifted from past to present like I often find these types of books to be. However, the editing was a major issue. Not only were there typos, but there were very awkward and incorrect sentence structures that made most of this book difficult to comprehend. I can usually overlook this in self published authors (I'm taking a guess that this book was self published), but in this case the errors interfered with the comprehension of the storyline. I often had to reread passages multiple times to understand what was trying to be conveyed, and even then, I still didn't always understand. I like the storyline, and thought this was a much better depiction of a romance between Alec and Gabriel than what we got with Sergi and Iesu, but still, it could have benefited from some serious editing. Also, there were times the author vaguely described something or alluded to something that was hard to follow or didn't make sense to the reader. We were left trying to connect dots to make sense of things. There were also things that were never explained. For example, I'm still wondering how Gabriel's cousins were able to have children even though they were lesbians and one was an alpha and the other a beta. No omega in that equation, so how did they procreate??? I will continue on to the next book in this series, as I am curious how everything turns out after reading 3.5 books in this series.
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Rating: 3 stars
Full disclosure: I skipped all the chapters dealing with the past. I had no interest in going back in time to the start of Alec and Gabriel’s relationship. I was more interested in the here and now. I was glad that this book didn’t deal much with Ray and focused on Alec and Gabriel who I both liked. I really liked Alec and was glad he could find happiness with Gabriel. -
Poor Ray, the guy needs a break and hopefully with what Alec figured out, they may all be happier, especially Ray.
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3.5 ⭐️
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2/5
Maybe I'm jumping into this series half way, but I was struggling to understand the plot.
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Re-read 1/5
First time I read this, it was out of order. This time, however, I read it right after the second book and... well... I hate it even more now.
I felt like this one should have been a 2.5 or a spin-off, because after the high of the second book, this one is a big drops. The issue of the last book was left aside, while they are trying to focus on the budding romance of the 2 alphas. And this is when I realize this series is not what I envision.
See, I thought it was gonna be a true harem, but what we get instead if a breeding arrangement with all the alphas off being happy and poor Ray is just suffering in the mist of it all. (I know Ray is supposed to fall for Josh next installment, but really? What's the point, he's still the other 4 alphas breeding-stocks. I really see no romance in this) Also the author handle the really poorly. It's just all around bad tastes. -
Alec is my favorite character and this book was just perfect for me. I loved every word. I really really loved it!
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Recensione di Viola
Grazie a questo volume sono riuscita finalmente a capire il personaggio di Alec, che nei precedenti volumi aveva catturato la mia attenzione per il suo esser Alpha ma caratterialmente non sembrarlo affatto.
Con un salto temporale di circa tre anni dal punto della storia in cui l’autore ci ha lasciato col volume precedente, conosciamo un Alec ancora Beta, lontano dal suo branco per poter studiare medicina, interessato a tutto ciò che sia scientifico e disinteressato a coltivare amicizie, a presenziare alle feste del suo branco o organizzate dalla propria famiglia che cerca di accasarlo con qualche ragazza e soprattutto per niente interessato a frequentare locali o discoteche. L’unica valvola di sfogo che si concede è entrare in qualche club per soli uomini per cercare compagnia, soprattutto quando la luna piena sta per arrivare e il suo lupo interiore ha bisogno di sfogare i propri istinti. Ed è in una di queste occasioni che conosce, anzi riconosce, Gabriel, il nipote del capo del loro branco, già apertamente dichiarato con un carisma e una presenza tipica di un Alpha: deciso, sicuro di se e dominante. Tutto ciò che Alec non è e tutto ciò che ad Alec piace in un uomo, ed essendo un Beta può concedersi di lasciarsi andare con lui e farsi trasportare dalle emozioni che lo investono come un treno quando Gabriel lo bacia…
Sapeva che l’altro era felice di prendere il comando e che non gli importava quando lui non riusciva ad articolare i propri pensieri. Era facile lasciarlo scegliere, e lo faceva sentire… lo faceva sentire sicuro.
Ma sappiamo che Alec è un Alpha, che ha accettato di far parte del branco con Ray e gli altri Alpha, quindi l’intermezzo della sua rivelazione ve la lascio scoprire da soli senza rivelarvi altro.
La narrazione si divide in due spazi temporali, passato e presente, che si mescolano fino a portarli ad intrecciarsi. Questo capitolo è quasi del tutto incentrato su Alec e Gabriel ma comunque porta avanti anche quel che ritengo necessario su Ray e gli altri membri del branco considerando il finale del precedente libro. Vorrei essere esplicita ma devo cercare di non rovinare la lettura dei precedenti volumi a chi per caso legga questa recensione senza averli appunto letti.
Alec e Gabriel sono i “protettori del branco”. Alec per le conoscenze scientifiche e gli studi che sta facendo sulla licantropia e nello specifico anche per quel che riguarda Ray e il suo modo di reagire a ciò che è successo e di come il branco stia reagendo di conseguenza. Gabriel ha i mezzi e le conoscenze per permettere ad Alec di approfondire le ricerche, di confrontarsi con altri branchi e così poter arrivare a una diagnosi rivelazione che porterà a decisioni da prendere e a far traballare gli equilibri già precari del proprio branco.
Con questo volume vediamo anche il cambiamento di Alec, piccoli passi a prender sicurezza e a dimostrare che il suo rivelarsi Alpha alla fine era logico.
Questi due personaggi si sono rivelati una piacevole sorpresa, se Alec aveva attirato le mie attenzioni per essere così particolarmente atipico per essere un Alpha devo confessare che invece per Gabriel avevo inizialmente provato un leggero senso di antipatia mutato in questo capitolo in comprensione per le scelte fatte nel primo libro quando è nato il branco di Ray.
Ora non ci resta che aspettare il capitolo finale di questa serie e scoprire se anche Ray avrà un lieto fine nonostante lui sia l’Omega di questo branco, di questa famiglia allargata. -
This is the third book and my favorite of the series. For one, it's more of a love story, and two, there's a HEA.
It focuses on the relationship between Gabriel and Alec. It's told in Alec's POV, and he's a good narrator because he's actually pretty observant and doesn't focus on himself. The story alternates chapters between the past starting when he meets Gabriel to events picking up from where book 2 left off. I wish it was a linear timeline, but at least the flashbacks are in chronological order.
Alec and Gabriel have a history together. They meet at a human club 3 years ago, before Alec presented as an alpha. As the only known gay members of the pack, they became lovers. When Alec presented, he mistakenly thought the other man would no longer want him, so he cut off contact.
In the present, the men spend a lot of time together working on a project and get closer. Eventually they are comfortable enough to confront their feelings, and admit they had loved each other in the past, and that the feelings had never gone away.
Even though this book shifts focus from Ray and the pack to one couple, it's not a stand alone.
I do recommend this book. -
PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!
To my ratings:
A 3,5* is clicked with a 4* but in review marked as 3,5*:
5* - very very good and rare (it would be a Blow-Away-book like ‘Jesse's Smile’ or ‘Joey’ from Angelique Jurd, ‘Save the the kids’ series
from EM Leya, ‘Love’s Tethered Heart’ from C.L. Etta or ‘Liberty’ from Seth King),
it's like an A+
4* - very good and will be often reread and is a WOW-book with interesting plot and surprises (like most of Andrew Grey books and Davidson Kings 'Haven Hart'-series)
it's like an A
3,5* - a really good book, which will be reread a few times (most romances where you can enjoy for relaxing and during waiting times in
hospitals). I can recommend them definitively!
It's like an B+
3* - it could be more then a one-time-reader (2-3 times a year),
it's like a B
2* - it was ok to read, but it's more a one-time-reader (I wouldn't recommend it heartily, but it was ok)
It's like a C-, D
1* - sorry, but that isn't really a book for me (too many mistakes, not nice plot, illogical, so an absolute NO-GO). It's like failure in the
whole line, dismissed, repeat the class -
Fabulous read, book 3 didn't disappoint. Taking a different route than book 1 & 2 and bringing Gabriel and Alec more into the story was brilliant. I loved reading about their past and everything that brought them together todate.
I was a Gabriel fan before book 3, now I'm even more of a Gabriel fan. He's so strong in mind and body, yet so caring and has such a big heart, you can't help but fall in love with him.
Alec being his complete opposite in everyway, makes him the perfect match for Gabriel. It's true what they say opposite attract. And OMG are they hot in the bedroom.
The book is beautifully written and has a way for gripping you. So much so, I didn't even know I was coming to the end. I could have kept reading about these two for days.
I'm really really looking forward to book 4.
This whole series is fabulous.
You have to read this book it is truly amazing. You won't be disappointed and you will be gripped from page one. It is definitely on my "read again list"
Received as ARC
Pre-order is available on Amazon. -
Ok, so other than Josh, my favorite characters in this series are Alec and Gabriel. Alec is so insecure and good, such a sweet and tender soul. Gabriel also seems so genuinely good, caring and devoted. I just love these two and am so happy to see their relationship revived. Flipping back and forth between recent and distant past (this was done extremely well), the third book in the series focuses almost exclusively on these two characters. While they are not in love with Ray, the feelings of protectiveness they feel towards their Omega make me like them even more. I think they are just trying to make the best out of a horrible situation the best they can.
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Protectors of the pack book 3
This story mainly focus on Alec and Gabriel.
How they meet and how they we're involve in a sexual relationship.
Before mating to ray the book goes back and forth from past to present in alec prospective.
Alec is still trying to help out in his role in the pack and his feelings for Gabriel.
Overall l liked the story plot and how this book was well written.
I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy and my opinion are my own. -
Getting Better
This book was better than the first two, in my opinion. I could feel the connection between Alec and Gabriel. I’m still holding on that Ray will finally form the bonds to his pack that I’m so desperate for. I want him to find love with Josh, but also form bonds with the other Alphas. -
These stories just keep getting better
Each books keeps developing the characters more. I liked book 1 and 2 but I loved this one. More about the alphas past while advancing the story line. I can't wait to read book 4 -
La historia de Gabriel y Alec me gustó mucho. Fue interesante ir conociendo sobre ellos y las peculiaridades de su relación en un vaivén de tiempo pasado y presente. Pero en cuanto a la manada que forman, son poco más que compañeros de piso con muchos problemas de comunicación y bastante apáticos.
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Continuation of great series
The feels are what will get you in this book, high highs and low lows and not much in between. This dark romance continues the evolution of the new pack. Can’t wait to read the next one. -
I have enjoyed these books this was my favorite so far cannot wait for the next book.
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I read an advance reader copy of this book from Book sprout, and I am voluntarily leaving a review. This book was wonderfully different. This book was consistently good throughout.
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It's great!
I loved Alec and Gabriel in this book. And of course Ray, who continues to pull at my heart strings. A wonderful book!! -
A rating.
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3 STELLE -
Libro di passaggio che non mi ha entusiasmato particolarmente -
Going to review each book in the series after i read the rest of the books in the series that i have