Trials of Tam (The Larson Legacy, #1) in Read with Pride Northwest

Jan 09, 2014 Kelly (Maybedog) rated it really liked it

Shelves: how-ebook, what-male-protagonist, what-modern-fantasy, what-mm-read, what-mm, where-grr-mine, what-lgbtqia, what-vampires, what-shifters, what-pacific-northwest

This was a fun little romp of a typical shifter story. It was fun and funny and there was a bit of a twist and a switch up that really made me love it. I liked all the characters loads. Tam is a wee bit immature for his age, but that probably come from always getting what he wants because he's so super smart. But when he makes a significant life decision just to spite someone he actually cares about, it gets ridiculously juvenile.

I had a couple of issues like when Tam's father is sitting eating This was a fun little romp of a typical shifter story. It was fun and funny and there was a bit of a twist and a switch up that really made me love it. I liked all the characters loads. Tam is a wee bit immature for his age, but that probably come from always getting what he wants because he's so super smart. But when he makes a significant life decision just to spite someone he actually cares about, it gets ridiculously juvenile.

I had a couple of issues like when Tam's father is sitting eating dinner with his new (to him) Alpha:

Mr. Valko tossed down his napkin and pierced Valko with blue eyes eerily like his mate's. "I'd like to talk to you about your plans for a mating bond with my son. If you don't mind joining me in the library?"

Now I'm not one for the whole D/s thing at all, but in a werewolf pack in traditional shifter stories, it's different; the Alpha needs to be respected. Earlier the alpha even tells the man's wife that she can call him by name but only in private. The alpha has to maintain authority. For the father to talk to the alpha like he would to a boy of a younger generation is completely inappropriate and he does this in front of a bunch of people at a dinner table. He should ask politely if he could speak to the alpha in private. I mean, you wouldn't say anything like that to your boss, would you? And this is so much more than that. Would you talk like this to the commanding officer of your platoon?

On top of all this, Tam hates being controlled and sees himself as the caretaker to the family. He would be furious if his father tried to talk to Tam's potential mate without Tam being there. Instead Tam is amused.

Nitpicks:
Continuity: Guy is sitting on the desk and then stands up from his chair.
A lawyer uses adjectives in place of adverbs. "I'll look it over really careful." Seriously?
Everyone is surprised and a little weirded out when a mom makes Tacos for dinner. This is the west coast. Doesn't everyone make tacos regularly? Everyone I know does and most of my friends are upper middle class whites, unfortunately.

Here's another positive thing; I loved this line:

And Tam didn't think Seattle was ready for eight werewolves prancing through Pioneer Square all wolfed out.

Frankly, with that part of Seattle, you never know. :)
When compared to other mainstream shifter stories, this is excellent. I'm talking about the M/M equivalent of Harlequin romances, that shifter story with the big brawny alpha male and his fated scrawny but hot and feisty little mate, the ones where it's a stereotypical heterosexual romance with the woman changed to a man. Compared to those this is a 4.5. But since I really should be comparing it with all shifter stories, I'll round down. ...more

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