I'm writing this after my second reading of this book. If you've seen pretty much anything I post on GR, you'll know that I'm re-reading my Kindle, and doing some appreciating of the good, some purging of the bad, and some what the hell was I thinking with a few things.

This is the first book in M.E. Clayton's Buchanan Brothers series. I have since read a few other series/books by M.E. Clayton, but this was my introduction to her. As for where I would file this amongst my cleaning out Kindle project, I'd put it in the "good enough to keep" pile.

While I have read better books by Ms. Clayton, I also think this one is enjoyable. I'm not going to penalize for the grammar or any errors in publication because this was published by a completely indie author. I know she has grown a lot since this book, but at the time she wrote this book, the author was doing all editing, formatting, and publishing on her own. So, I didn't take any errors into consideration. I also happen to be pretty okay with overlooking them, as long as the book is good and the story keeps me engaged.

The book focuses on Mason, the eldest of four brothers, and the woman he has loved from afar for three years, Shane. Mason, wanting to wait until his college graduation, was content to wait before he approached Shane. This led to some uncomfortable looks from him, and Shane just assumed he hated her. Mason finally gives in when he sees Shane at a party, and she is dancing with another man. He gets into a physical altercation with the man, and declares Shane as his. (He does take her into another room and talk to her first. It's still incredibly insta-love, but if you're usually okay with insta-love, then this isn't too bad.)

I'm cool with the alpha-over-the-top-ness of Mason. Shane wasn't a complete pushover, which I liked. This book has your typical lines about the alpha male "claiming" the woman, which makes me roll my eyes, but all in all, forgivable.

The sex is graphic, so if that's not your thing, you might want to skip this one. I thought it was fairly standard for the genre. Shane is a virgin (yawn), but I will admit that in this case, it didn't bother me as much as it normally does. It somewhat suited the character, so I'll give it a pass. (Even if I did add the "yawn" because I am bored to tears of the virginal heroines) I will say there is consent, but Mason is still a bit forceful, so if that bothers you, again, this would be one to skip.

There is some conflict between Mason and his dad. His brothers are very close to him, and we get to learn a little bit about each one of them. All of the conflict is quickly taken care of, as the book clocks in at around 150 pages.

All in all, this isn't a bad story. I think it could have been longer. We didn't really get time to know Mason or Shane. I did get sick of hearing how "special" Shane was (we get it. And, spoiler for the next few books, this is a recurring theme that nearly ruins the other books).

The only other problem I had with it was the way the use of the words "slut" and "whore" were used. Shane is worried about looking like a "slut". A jealous girl at school accuse Shane of doing sexual things for Mason that, apparently are taboo and therefore that is the only reason Mason could be with her. Again, more shaming, as it perpetuates this idea that if you engage in certain sexual acts, you are seen as less than virtuous, or even a "slut" or a "whore". And, there is even a part where Shane is asking Mason about doing things with him, that if she asks him to engage in certain things, "You won't think I'm a slut?"

STOP WITH THE SLUT SHAMING! There is no such thing as a slut.

Mason and his brother engaged in sex with women who they would never see again, yet they aren't shamed (and shouldn't be) but Shane is worried she will look like a slut for engaging in sexual acts with her bf? To her credit, it is written that Mason eases Shane's worries, but he also says that it's because she's "my slut" or "my whore". Nope. Let's just stop with all of the sex shaming, shall we? (I think it gets better in future works by Ms. Clayton, but my memory is fuzzy, so we will see. I'm fairly hopeful, though. There are some books by her that I remember really liking, so I'm looking forward to those re-reads)

Honestly, had the book had more of the characters, and less of the slut shaming, I probably would have gone with four stars. It's not a bad read. I still recommend it if you're looking for an easy, safe, insta-love story.