Family Ties

The Family Novak, Book 1

By: Susi Hawke, Crista Crown

Narrated by: Kirt Graves

Length: 4 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

In a world where the rules are gray, and the Don's word is a law unto itself, only one thing is sacred: family.

River Erikson is a man on the run. After scenting his true mate, he’s done everything in his power to escape. Just because he was born an omega doesn’t mean he needs to answer fate’s call and drop to his knees for some alpha. Especially not a smug mafioso who thinks way too much of himself. 

Luckily, his job at STAHP - the vicious vigilante organization that works to police shifters when law enforcement can’t - keeps him busy enough that he can try to forget how his traitorous body reacts whenever a certain muscled Russian is around.

Vasily Novak is stunned when he scents his mate, but powerless to chase him when he flees. How can he? His focus is entirely centered on the precocious five-year-old he recently learned was his child. All he can do is trust the fates to bring his mate back when the time is right. Vasily is confident that River will be his eventually. He just needs to be patient.

When Vasily’s son is taken, River comes to help retrieve the boy who melted his heart the first time Petey called him “pretty kitty”. As the pair leave a bloody trail through the city on their search, will the fates give them a second chance at finding a forever in each other? 

This is the first book in a new mpreg mafia series. Get ready for a world ruled by the Don’s iron fist, unique interrogation tactics, and a family that stands together, no matter what. At its heart, you’ll still find all the fluffy mpreg feels and crazy antics you’d look for from Susi Hawke and Crista Crown. This is a Team A.L.P.H.A. and Alphabits spin-off series.

Warning: You can expect to find naughty, knotty scenes of steamy passion, along with a lot of potty-mouth language and more violence than you’re used to from us.

©2019 Hawke & Crown LLC (P)2019 Hawke & Crown LLC

Pretty kitty becomes daddy

OMG! A Team A.L.P.H.A and Alphabits spin-off! I am so excited! And an Mpreg mafia series at that! Oh yes! My fluffy prayers were answered by the rainbow god! Now onto reviewing! 😛 River and Vasily are two very different men. River refuses to submit to Vasily even though he’s an omega and they are fated. And he has run away to escape his fate. Vasily is resigned but believed that River will eventually becomes his since they are fated. But now he has to focus on his 5 years old kid that he just found out that his. However fate has different ideas about patient waiting games and River and Vasily were soon reunited. Will River becomes Vasily’s and completes this adorable family? Exciting, thrilling and fast-paced. Loved everything about the story. And man .. Kier Graves is doing a stellar job with the range of Russian accents. So yummy! 😋 I also love River is independent and fierce and how Don Vasily appreciates him for who he is. An excellent story with an adorable kid and a romantic love story. Can’t wait for more books in the series. 4.5 Pretty kitty becomes daddy stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Audio rating Story - 4.25 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ Narration - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Performance - 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Overall - 4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Love this new Series

I received an ARC of this audio for my honest review. I loved this 1st book in this new series. Susi & Crista are a great duo. This book is about River and Vasily. I'm glad to see River finally settle down (to a point) and find his alpha. I think they make a great couple. Vasily supports River and isn't an alpha that makes his omega stay barefoot and pregnant. Can't wait to listen to the next book in this series. Sure hope there's more than just 2 books in this series.

I Loved It!!

This book is a great start to the Novak's family series, spin off from Alphabits. I enjoyed learning more about River and Vasily as well as the secondary characters. The book had the perfect mix of the mafia life with plenty of action and romance. I've read the book but listening to it takes the story to another level with the way the narrator is able to enhance the story through adding layers to emotions and depth to the characters. Looking forward to book 2.

Great start to a new series!

I’d been contemplating this on Kindle and was glad to see it come to Audible! Having not read either the Team Alpha or Alphabits series, I didn’t really have too hard of a time figuring out who was who. The people that popped up in the story were explained well-enough that I wasn’t lost (and now want to go back and read previous stories). It revolves around River (a STAHP operative) and Vasily (River’s brother-in-law’s brother and member of the Novak mob family) being fated mates. Although it starts out with River hightailing it away from his mate, they quickly team up to take down another crime family that has kidnapped Vasily’s young son. I was surprised at how much storyline was encompassed in this whole audiobook considering the shorter length. It could have quite easily been over after the search for Vasily’s son, but the story continued through so much of their relationship that the conflict ended up seeming like a small blip in the grand scheme of things. And we can’t forget Kirt Graves’ wonderful narration! The accents were on point with all the different characters represented (Vasily is Russian, for example) and the pacing was perfect. I hope the rest of the series will be voiced by him as well!

Family Ties Review: Loved it!!!

Oh man...Love them bears:) I was so excited to continue on with the Novaks. Vasily and River are great together. Them working together to get Petey back was marvelous and sooooo entertaining. Vasily constantly calling River "sweet cheeks" was hilarious. I loved it. The narrator was good. He kept the flow going and interactions felt real. Overall a good time and I can't wait to continue on with the series.

adorable

love strength family . amazing in breaking stero types bears oh my amazon i purchased both copies

Stronger together

I couldn't put it down great spin on alpha omega roles and really fun read

River and Vasily being badass together!

A new spin-off! A whole new family of delicious bear shifters that need to find their mates! My heart is happy! River is not your typical Omega: he doesn't want to belong to an Alpha and give up his highly dangerous and active job as a vigilante and STAHP member to stay home and raise a family. So when he first smells his mate, Vasily Novak, first in line as the heir to a powerful Russian mobsters and bear shifters family, the only thing he can think of doing is stay away and take scent suppressors. Obviously that's not enough and when he and Vasily come face to face with his bear mate, Vasily realizes immediately who River is to him. Forced in closed proximity to rescue Vasily's son, Vasily eventually starts to realize that being mated may not be such a bad thing, and Vasily is certainly not an Alpha interested in having a little domestic, submitting Omega. Sweet, sexy and with a lot of action. Just what I like!

...a RIVER runs through it..

Wow Oh Wow!! This was my first Audible.com book and what an amazing book to start will. They story, the characterization, the ebb and flow all had me feeling like I was there. River would be the man of my dreams!! 😉

Not enough conflict

There wasn't anything wrong with this story or the narrator (whom could do about any accent, it was kinda awesome), but the plot itself simply wasn't intricate or deep enough. It was more soft fluff and sexy times than anything. That's not to say it was bad. I was just looking for a little bit more.

Fast Pace and Enjoyable

I love the fact that this spin-off series does not require me to read the previous series (Team ALPHA and ALPHABITS). Vasily and River are an enjoyable couple and I found myself deeply engaged in their storyline. Hawke and Crown have a cohesive writing style that its practically seamless and just flow. Graves's narration is enjoyable and I found myself drawn deeper into this story.

Yes! River's story!!!

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.5 stars 🔥🔥🔥 Heat Level: 3.5 🎧🎧🎧🎧 Narration: 4.5 Yes! We finally get River's story and it's done so well. I always wondered about River and his desire to stay away from his brother Leaf, and his generally skittish nature even with the family love and longing he seems to have under the surface. His story doesn't not disappoint. While working for STAHP, he meets, saves and befriends a sweet little boy who names him "His pretty kitty" and I feel this is the start of River's new life path. I enjoyed getting to know River, his past and his issues. I liked the unique approach to his true-mate and all the perfect interconnecting parts across Team A.L.P.H.A and the Alphabits and now onto the Novak family and mafia connected world of our beloved, Cyrus' family. Brilliant interweaving characters, plots, families and mates. I love Susi and Crista's world and this is another perfect spinoff and great start to what proves to be another awesome mpreg series!!! Thanks for reading!

The Bear and his Kitty mate

This spin-off series about the Novak Bears (Cyrus' mobster brothers) is a fun series to delve into and Kirt Graves does a good job with the Russian accented bears and the feisty Cat shifters from STAHP who come into their sphere, including Vassily's mate River. There's also a little boy who loves the "Pretty Kitty" who is revealed as Vassily's son with another now-dead omega. There's plenty of action and mayhem. Highly recommended for all Susi Hawke fans and lovers of MPreg.

Great start to the series!

4.5 Stars! I would suggest reading the Alphabits series, especially the last two books (6 & 7) before starting this series. They're interconnected and a lot of characters from the previous books appear in this one. I wasn't too sure I was going to like Vasily at first, but he certainly was a different kind of Alpha than what I expected and I just loved that he was so patient with River and didn't try to smother his independence, on the contrary, he seemed to revel on River being part of STOHP. I liked River, but I was a bit fed up with his ideas of what the relationship between Alphas and Omegas really were. He did get better as he finally realized he'd been wrong, so there's that. Vasily and River had great chemistry and I loved seeing them work together and how great they were with Petey. The case was interesting and I was captivated by the story. Kirt Graves is doing a great job with the characters, and his performance was nearly flawless, especially considering how many characters there are in the book, many with Russian accents. Very recommendable!

So good.

I loved this book when it came out and when I saw it on audible I got really excited. I love River so much, he is such a badass with a soft side for the ones he loves. Vasily is amazing and I love that he lets River be himself. The story with made even more funny but the narrator. I cant wait for the rest of the series to come to audible

Awesome

This was a very entertaining audiobook. I loved the story and the characters. I can’t wait to listen to more of this series.

All about family

The Novak's are back. In this newest spin off series by these talented authors. This is possibly one of the most enjoyable books of the whole world. I really enjoyed it. Kirt Graves does a fabulous job narrating this story. Can’t wait for the next one.

Love a different take on omegas

So River isn’t your typical omega. He runs when he scents his mate. Leaving Vasily to chase him down, then engage his help to rescue his newly discovered child. I thoroughly enjoyed this listen. River and Vasily work (well fated mates - duh!) with the snarky omega and protective Alpha pairing well. The narration is on point - distinct voices for each character that are easily identifiable and not muddied. I’ll look forward to others in the series.

Family Ties are everything

This is the first book,in a spin off from Team A*L*P*H*A and Alphabits. This centres around Cyrus's family of Russian bears. The first one is the story of Vasily and River. River is the brother of Leaf who we met in Cyrus's story. Vasily has now got custody of his son after his other father was killed. He was the son of Vasily's family's rivals the Stanislavs. But one day when he is in the shower Petey is kidnapped from under his nose. Vasily will move heaven and earth to get his son back and gets the help of River who originally returned Petey to him. They fall in love whilst rescuing Petey. River is this big tough character that masks his scent from Vasily because he never wants to belong to anybody. He's an alpha in an Omega's body. But Vasily slowly breaks him down. I loved seeing River fall under his mate's spell. He's tough but has a heart of gold. This is written again by Susan Hawke and Crista Crown and narrated by Kirt Graves who is a new to me narrator. I really enjoyed listening to him and his sexy Russian accent.

The Novak family

So the Novak family of strong bears got their own series. So cool! River has been running away from his mate. He is skilled and trained, a different omega. He doesn’t need salvation but one hunky bear from a Russian family might just be his better half. I really enjoyed the book. I loved that it includes kids and taking care of them just like Alphabits. The narration was awesome.