Protector of the Alpha by Parker Williams

 Adopted at an early age by a wealthy family, Jake Davis has always seemed to have an easy life. Even in college he was blessed with good grades and an apparently clear path to a pro football career. Good thing his best friend keeps hanging around to keep his head from getting too swollen.
Zakiya Incekara has always been...odd. Being fluent in six languages and having a flair for international cooking should open the world to him, but those skills leave him isolated.
When Jake sees Zak for the first time, with water beading down his slender form, something inside him shifts, and it hungers for Zak. To have him. To claim him. And Jake knows that whatever it is, it won’t be denied.
When they are approached by a man who claims knowledge of a secret past they share, Jake and Zak are thrust into a world they would never have believed existed. The forests of Alaska might seem an odd place to find your destiny, but these men will meet the challenges head on, as they learn that sometimes you have to make sacrifices to be Protector of the Alpha.

Wow this book was amazing!!!!  I loved the world Mr. Williams developed and how he was able to integrate shifting and magic into a new direction. I loved the main characters, Zac and Jake.  They were thrown together and while the mating urge was in both of them they wasn’t an insta-love.  They both felt a draw toward the other but their relationship grew and progressed throughout the book.

I really enjoyed how Mr. Williams had the characters trying to reconcile their destinies with their original goals and dreams.  It made the characters much more relatable and easier to connect with.  I loved how the Casey kept getting sprayed by the skunk it was just hilarious! I am very much looking forward to the next book in this series and reading about how Zac and Jake continue to grow in their positions.

When I asked for this book I did not realize it was YA. (My opinion, the blurb does not lead you to believe these are young MC)Or just out of that categories depending on where you feel the age stops. These characters are 19. To me that is YA, I don’t read anything with MC’s that young. So the only reason I contained on was because this was a review book, and I was obligated to.

Having said that, I did enjoy this book, and my personal predigests aside I give it a strong 3.

This one has three main MC’s Jake, a football star just staring out in college but big NFL dreams. Than Jake’s BFF from childhood Casey that followed him to college and Zak. 

We start off by Jake going through a lot of weird body, mind changes that he can’t explain. These include bad dreams, eating tons of food and doing amazing on the football field. Then one day in class he’s hit with this amazing smell that he must find. Once he finds that the smell is the natural scent of Zak, he starts feeling very possessive of Zak. But still doesn’t understand what’s going on with himself. He confides in Casey but he is clueless but offers support. As Jake tries to get to know Zak, Zak gives him a merry chase. And weeks later agrees after Casey talks to him to agree to a date with Jake. While on the date a gentleman named Hakiim approach them and informs them both that Jake’s adoptive parents have been killed, and that Jake, Zak and even Casey have a destiny to save an Enclave of shifters in Alaska.

Over all a good read, I found the beginning moved well, but the “merry chase” that Zak led Jake on took way to long and found myself wanting to skim read. And probably would have if it was my own, not review. But once Hakiim showed up and we got into the meat and bones of the story it picked up. But again, the track to Alaska we slowed again. I understand points had to be made, skills had to be learned. I just lost interest.  This whole story takes place over month’s maybe that’s why it felt like it dragged on? 

This is the first in the series, and were Zak and Jake story is wrapped up, they left it open for Casey to come next. Have to be honest, I probably won’t read. Yes it’s about shifters, and I love shifters! The author is a good word smith, just not my cup of tea.

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