This book goes way too fast and the plot is too unbelievable for it to work for me. I ended up losing interest and never went back. 

Once again, I tried to read a DD/lb book, and once again, I didn't like it. I don't believe the book is bad, it's just not for me. I enjoy daddy kink, but I can't do age play, as I'm discovering. I prefer for the dynamic to be more focused on discipline and without the sub wearing diapers. 

However, if age play is a kink you enjoy (and you won't receive any judgment from me if it is), this book will probably be great for you. 

It's long overdue for me to write this, but I had to DNF this book because I'm not in the right headspace. It's so incredibly long, and the worst part is that it doesn't need to be. There's literally no reason for this to be over 400 pages. I would be open to giving this book another chance in the future, though. 

I have a lot to say, having read so little. I decided to DNF after reading the third chapter because I can't get over how completely terrible the worldbuilding is. I went into this knowing it was a fantasy romance and it wouldn't be the most epic or thoughtful setting imaginable, but even then, I can't look past the utter stupidity of the world.

There is a nation at war and they have set up a military school to train their recruits. Fine, I can accept this. What I cannot accept is that a nation at war would let hundreds of recruits die each year trying to go over a glorified balance beam to get a chance at becoming a dragon rider. I'm sorry, it's just too stupid. Why wouldn't they line up all the recruits, let the dragons pick who they want, and then put the rest of them in the infantry? YOU NEED THE BODIES.

Not the mention that apparently this nation allows traitors and their children to become high-ranking officers in their ranks? And allows the recruits to literally kill one another? This is supposed to be a military academy! The one job of a military academy above all else to is foster a bond between recruits so that they want to fight with each other and, subsequently, are willing to die for their country. Letting recruits kill each other does not do that. Letting traitors into your ranks does not do that.

If you had a great time reading this, I'm happy for your. But if you are like me and at least need your worlds to make sense, skip this one. 

A DNF at 7% may seem harsh tosome, but this book knew just how to piss me off in that short amount of time. The book is set in Conneticut, which is a one-party consent state. What does that mean, and why does that matter? Well, it means that you only need the consent of one person in a conversation to record it, and this person can be you. It matters because, in the trial, some evidence is excluded because Pip didn't have permission from others to record conversations. She shouldn't need that!!

I know it seems petty, but there are so many other books in the world that if one of them pisses me off for whatever reason, I just need to move onto the next one. I enjoyed the first book for what it was, but I don't think I'll be continuing the series.

Edit on 6/14/2024: I have recently learned that this book was originally written to be set in England and this was mysteriously changed for the American editions of the book. I honestly thought we had moved passed this. Why do publishers do this? It's so stupid.

It does, however, make a lot of little choices in the story make sense, though. In England, you have to have two-party consent to record a conversation, while this is not necessarily true in the US. The author or "translation" team could have done a better job and picked a state with laws that match England's, but I'm more willing to give this a pass now. 

If you like instant attraction and aliens, don't let my DNF discourage you from trying this out. It's not horribly written. However, things were moving too fast for me, especially considering the human male lead starts out the book saying he's not gay. I just feel like the book should be triple the length considering the story the author wants to tell. 

Even though I'm so close to the end, I really don't want to finish this book. I found this series while browsing Kindle Unlimited and I thought it sounded fun and absurd, so I gave it a try. I must say, this wasn't what I was expecting, and I don't mean that in a good way. I was expecting all of Santa's reindeer to interact, but besides the main character (Dasher), not one of them has been mentioned, which is disappointing. 

The mate thing is also incredibly weird and rushed as well. They barely have time alone but are completely devoted to each other. I also think the omegaverse dynamics are weird. Humans apparently have them, as Byron acknowledges, but he (and other humans) don't know what mates are? And none of the other humans besides Byron are even, like, acknowledged to be A/B/O. It's just really weird. And it's barley relevant to the story as well. Which is probably a fault of the prose, which is horrible (sorry to say). The writing is incredibly stilted, and is riddled with factual and grammatical errors. It's just... serviceable in the worst way possible. Lots of conversations are skipped over and the timeline is hard to follow. This book needed an additional 100 pages just so it could make sense. 

I don't know, this didn't hit with me the way I wanted it to. I wanted it to be a goofy, silly time, but it's just boring. I wouldn't waste your time on this, there are much better shifter books out there. 

I'm sorry. I tried. But there's just no way I can finish this book. I have so many problems with it that I don't even know where to start.

Firstly, this book is obviously not finished. I know that because the copy I read from Kindle Unlimited explicitly said it was an ARC version. It's easy to tell because there's a ridiculous amount of grammar and spelling mistakes among other problems. A lot of characters get referred to by completely different names at some points. Maddox becomes Max, Leon becomes Lee (which is the name of the nephew), etc. It's distracting and annoying.

Secondly, there are so many inconsistencies and unbelievable deus-ex-machina plot points in the story. There's just no way that Jake got two owners to trade their star players who have been playing well just like that. It's just not possible. They didn't have no-trade clauses (which are very common for big players)? And their agents weren't even involved? One guy traded his "best player" because his sister asked him to? Absolutely the fuck not! Where are the investors in this? Surely, the NHL would step in at some point as this could ruin quite a few markets.

And the worst part is that it's an easy fix too! Jake has been into hockey for years, so the author could have made Maddox and Leon former superstars who are in a rut and have the Bellport Bears be their "last chance" before retirement. It would 1) force them to get along in a more organic way and 2) make narrative fucking sense.

Thirdly, the way this book handles Leon's attraction is, frankly, appalling. Leon is introduced as a guy who hasn't ever had feelings for a man and is vehement that he's "not gay". This in itself is not bad. I love a good gay/bi awakening trope. I've liked it in several books that I've read. The problem is that Leon goes from 0 to 100.

Once the team dinner/party happens at the Bellport Estate, it's like Leon and Maddox are magically drawn to Jake and each other. For no reason. There's absolutely zero build up to their attraction. Leon and Maddox literally have one (1) somewhat friendly interaction before this, where they agree to try to be friends. And in the next chapter, Leon volunteers to bottom for Maddox, a man he heavily disliked for most of their career. A man who he couldn't even admit his own attraction to. It's so completely unrealistic and weird. Just make Leon bi to start with like Maddox. There's no reason to shoehorn in the gay/bi awakening trope if you are going to drop it 20% of the way into your story.

Additionally, this book should not be advertised as the beginning of a new series. The author says you can read this as a standalone, but I very much disagree. You'll be missing a lot if you haven't read at least one of the related books (A Little Finn and Hear Me). Also, this last point is a minor gripe, but if you're going to make up cities (Bellport) and teams for other cities (Dallas Diamonds), at least use names that aren't taken by hockey teams in real life. The team in Winnipeg is called the Maple Leafs in this book, but in real life, there is a hockey team in Toronto called the Maple Leafs. Just use a different name!

All my points from my Hear Me review also stand. The author has absolutely zero fucking clue how hockey works. The author has a cheeky line in their "Dear Reader" note saying to ignore it, but I just can't. If you know nothing about hockey, don't write about it or do the research. Simple as that.

Personally, I don't think this book is worth anything in its current state. It needs heavy editing and review. If you're looking for a MMM DDLB book, look elsewhere. You have been warned.