This novel was not as advertised. The characters were not developed fully and I couldn't become vested in the story. I stopped reading after ten pages.

I started this book but I had trouble getting into the story. It didn't seem realistic to me that they had sex so quickly while on the run (though I know that's common in romantic suspense stories). I ended up skimming parts of it and it just wasn't for me. I'm disappointed because the premise looked good and I really thought I would like it. Ah well, just goes to show that not every book is for every reader.

Strong start and I likes the sizzling chemistry between the characters but there lacked major relationship development. It was all about sex and as much as I love for that to be featured in paranormal romance, the lack of depth didn't do it for me. Moreso the multiple POVs didn't help the story either. All in all, nothing to be impressed by

This book was all kinds of steamy and full of action (both traditional and bedroom-related :D). I enjoyed the world-building and learning about shifters, both born and made, as well as learning about South Asian and Sikh culture and beliefs. This book doesn't hold back on the sexy stuff, even when there's danger all around the main characters, and boy is there a lot of danger. I liked meeting the wide cast of characters and getting to know more about them (and also looking forward to seeing more of them in subsequent books). And even though there was a lot of angst in the main love story, some of it the kind that made me roll my eyes (Joe is one of those characters who constantly beats himself up and doesn't think he deserves anything even slightly nice...and I wish he'd gotten past all that sooner but to be fair this did all take place pretty quickly), I enjoyed seeing Neha and Joe fall in lust and then in love, all while trying to avoid getting killed by Russian bear-shifter mobsters. If you're looking for some supernatural romance with generous doses of steam and angst and a new series to get into, give this one a try.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've gone back and forth on whether I should review this book. I think I have to. This book isn't working for me. At least not right now.
This book is an "I'll come back to it later" type of book. It's dark. It's gritty. It's hard.
These are not things I typically mind, however right now, where we are in life, after that year we all just had, I really don't want dark and gritty and political, even if these are politics I agree with. I feel that this is important to say. I agree with all of the points the author was making. I actually typically love this author. But right now I can't. while I realize all books are political to a point, this was repeatedly being shoved to the forefront and I feel like maybe it could have been dialed back a bit. Not a ton! Not to the point where she loses her voice or her point, but it was just a lot.
I am not going to fully call this a DNF-I'm tabling it until I am in a headspace to read it later on.I'll come back to this one later. I'm just not feeling it, but since I love this author, I may just wait until I want something darker.

As of now this will not be on Got Fiction

I started this book but I had trouble getting into the story. It didn't seem realistic to me that they had sex so quickly while on the run (though I know that's common in romantic suspense stories). I ended up skimming parts of it and it just wasn't for me. I'm disappointed because the premise looked good and I really thought I would like it. Ah well, just goes to show that not every book is for every reader.

I wasn't prepared for the amount of sex involved in this story. I really enjoyed the easy down-to-earth writing style of the author, and I really appreciated the discussion on social problems in the US. The constant focus on sex just felt like it distracted from the story. I thought the different point of views was great.

I wanted to like this book. I kept seeing things about it and had wanted to try the author. But I couldn't even get through half of it. I stopped reading it because the inner dialogue was so grating and the story wasn't working for me. I have a rule to stop reading a book if I'm not enjoying it by 30%. There are too many great books in the world but this wasn't one of them. I didn't rate it on any online sites like Goodreads or Amazon because I don't think it's necessary to give bad reviews.

I am sorry to say this was not for me. I am a huge PNR fan and was excited to dive into this new world but I could never get into it. I picked this up and put it down several times but it was so drawn out and choppy, I never felt connected or engaged. The characters fell flat and the internal monologue was so drawn out, I grew bored and disinterested. Ultimately this was a miss for me.

This book was fantastic! I loved the worldbuilding, it was a bit dense with that in the beginning but I understood that she needed to set things up, I was super interested in the characters and I need to see them get their HEA in the side character's next books and I hope that happens!!

I really, really wanted to enjoy this book. I love paranormal romance – and a series starter involving shifter heroes is right up my alley! I tried multiple times to immerse myself in this world, including checking out the library audiobook, and failed each time.

This book fell flat in execution for me. The worldbuilding was choppy and confusing, and the world the author created was too much of a depressing mirror of society the last few years. I probably could have gotten beyond all of that if I was invested in the romance. Sadly, I wasn’t.

In addition, the POV hopping made me feel like I had literary whiplash and made it even harder to immerse myself with the main characters and root for them. I decided to put this down around the 30% mark and I do not have plans to pick it up again.

**I received a free copy of this book in order to provide an honest review**

This book was hot as hell and delicious to read. I'm not normally a huge fan of shifter romance, but I love the author so I wanted to give it a try, and whew does Snyder bring her A-game on this book. The concept of shifters and their animalistic nature is deeply tied to the MC's behavior, and there's never a feeling that the shifting has been layered on just for the erotic aspect. And holy moly is this book erotic. Do not read where your friends can see unless you're excited to share.

If you're up for a shifter book with carefully played layers of BDSM and a fun side of Russian crime family intensity, this book will bring the fun for you.

Full disclosure: The author and I follow each other on Twitter. I received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A paranormal wolf shifter romance. with suspense and world building in the first book of this new series.

I tried my best to push through this in hopes it would get better and it did not. Flat characters, an awkwardly paced plot, and so much internal monologue I forgot where we even were most of the time.

This was an arc so things might have changed on release, but I honestly think the book needed to be reworked entirely. It has a great premise, and then everything kinda falls apart. I didn't mind the sexuality right away and I didn't mind how this feels "darker" than other PNR. It just doesn't feel well executed. There were multiple lines where I just cringed because it felt badly written.

Suleikha Syder has turned the shifter genre on its head. Hot romance combined with sharp political commentary plus her wicked sense of humor makes this an amazing book.

This was my first read by this author and I really wanted to like it. I have to admit that I did not finish ut because it was just too much detail. I've read paranormal books for most of my life and though this had some great undertones, it was missing the meat of the story. It just too much talking, even if it was in the head dialogue for me. I could not get into it. Overall the writing was good, just not for me. 3 stars

I absolutely loved the world in this book where paranormal creatures lived out in the open in NYC. However, the third person narration that switches between the MCs and side characters is one of my pet peeves, especially when there is a secondary romance that plays out. I'm still excited to see where this series goes.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for my copy to review.

Suleikha Snyder takes readers to NYC where it has become a sanctuary city for supernaturals:

Joe Peluso has blood on his hands, not only from his overseas missions with the army, but now he has killed the Russian Mobsters murdered his foster brother. Neha Ahluwalia is a psychologist and lawyer and she has been tasked with getting under Joe's skin enough to help them formulate a defense for his up coming trail. However, the Mob would like nothing better that for Joe not to make it to trial at all. When a hit goes wrong Joe and Neha are forced to flee together. Now they are on the run from the Mob, but something has brought them together, a need to be with each other, they just don't know if they have enough time to fully explore what is between them.

Now this book is a DNF for me, I made it to about 40% and could not continue reading this book. However, I do not completely fault Snyder writing/story for me not finishing this book. I know that may weird but the book is actually really well written, has some interesting ideas within it it, but it was just not what I thought it was going to be. I was expecting something more a line with Ilona Andrews books instead I got pure paranormal romance/erotica. I actually blame Netgalley more than anything for not putting the correct categories associated with this book.

This book is liked on Netgalley as Sci-fi and Fantasy, no secondary categories. I mean even some of the books I have read by Ilona Andrews have the romance category next to them as well. Did I guess by the cover that there was going to be some romance involved in the book and reading the premise you know that is going to happen, but I did not expect there to be the enormous of sex and thinking about sex that occurred in this book.

The sex is honestly the theme of the entire book. Hey I'm in prison and a hot lawyer walks in, all I'm going to think about is sex and her body (probably justifiable in that situation), said lawyer also thinks this about inmate. Hey bad guys are chasing us, lets just get a quick one on in the alley. Hey bad guys are still chasing us, all I can think about is sex and not about how to deal with the situation at hand. Hey more bad guys are chasing us, lets have more sex. Honestly that is what feels like occurs within 40% of the book, with just a smattering of the actual plot, which I'm not entirely sure I understand.

I flip back and fourth whether there are too many POV in this book or not. On one had I wish the POV were just Joe and Neha and their story but from them all we really get is sex and get more of the substance of the book from Danny and Yulia's POV as they more in touch with what is occurring with the Russian mob and well frankly not having sex at this time. So from them I know about a specialized force that is there to help shifters and the the Russian Mob is trying to take out Joe.

I have read other reviews that have slammed the book for having a depressive feel to is and continually talking about racism, both normal and paranormal ones. Well if you're not a White person, welcome to the world as other people see it. Additionally, Snyder is not white, why would she write a world for how white people see it? That just does not make sense to me at all. She should and did write about her own experiences surrounding her culture and growing as a non-white woman.

I just wish it was more story and plot than sex. Maybe the next 60% it got better, but I wasn't willing to find out. However, those who like paranormal romance/erotica would most likely enjoy this book. I read a review that gave it A+ for sex scenes, so if that is what you like to read, check this book out. It was just not for me.

Cheers!!!

Snyder’s story is a near-future paranormal, set in a world where supernatural beings (shifters and sorcerers and vampires, oh my) complicate existing tensions along lines of race, religion, class, gender and sexuality. Our leads are Joe Peluso, a white ex-soldier and wolf shifter on trial for murder, and Neha Ahluwahlia, the Indian-American psychologist on the legal team crafting his defense. I expected that the romance arc would involve Neha persuading Joe he was a person worthy of love.

And then Snyder surprised me.

This is a book about sex and crime that refuses to equate romantic love and justice. Instead, it asks a harder question: What does it mean to love and lust after someone without justifying what he or she has done? Neha is emphatic that she cannot forgive Joe his crimes. She does not have that power, even though she understands the choices he made. She demands to love him in spite of what he’s done, not as a way of erasing it. We are encouraged to feel the weight of this tension on the narrative, while still reveling in Snyder’s trademark banter and sizzling sex.

I admit, at times this was uncomfortable, but in a way that felt healthy. This book was a good, deep stretch, and I can’t wait to see what’s next in the series.

I was so excited for this and really wanted to love it, but just couldn't connect. For me there were too many characters who had pov and I struggled to follow their reasoning. Mostly I didn't care about what happened. This could have to do with the reading slump I'm in, so I'll try again later.