Wake Me Up Inside

Mates Collection, Book 1

De: Cardeno C.

Narrado por: Charlie David

A powerful Alpha wolf shifter and a strong-willed human overcome traditions ingrained over generations and uncover long-buried secrets to fulfill their destiny as true mates.

Regarded as the strongest wolf shifter in generations, Alpha Zev Hassick is surprised and confused by his attraction to his best friend. His very human, very male best friend. A male shifter has to mate with a female shifter to keep his humanity, so shifters can't be gay. Yet, everything inside Zev tells him Jonah is his true mate.

Maintaining a relationship with the man he has loved since childhood isn't easy for Jonah Marvel, but he won't let distance or Zev's odd family get in their way. When unexplained ailments begin to plague Jonah, he needs to save his own life and sanity in order to have a future with Zev.

Zev and Jonah know they're destined for each other, but they must overcome traditions ingrained over generations and long-buried secrets to fulfill their destiny.

Word count: 74,755

©2012 Cardeno C. (P)2017 Cardeno C.

amazing!!

love it !!!!!! amazing , funny , angsty, romantic, HOT!! on to the next one

Charlie David's Voice!!

Mr David's voice makes this and other stories narrated by him super appealing. The smoothness and tone are spot on. And when he reads the sex scenes it's a world on its own. I usually skip long and winding sex scenes because they make me yawn. CC's description though, make them appealing and in good taste. I highly recommend this story to anyone who loves a good M/M tale.

so cute...

so the two mc's had basically known each other their whole lives. before they are even aware of anything, they had been meant to be. so cute and so sweet. love love love.
charlie david is really fricken great, he's one of them ones that I'm just amazed af about. whew.

Oh sweet mates

These are some sweet true mates and so freaking patient. I think this is one of my favorite shifter book. I haven't been a huge fan of Charlie David in the past but I think he did a really good job in this book. Now onto the next book.

it is so worth it

i love this series it is so worth it that you will not be disappointed it has so much u!i love this series

One of the best shifter romances there is!

Zev and Jonah meet when they are both children. Zev lives on shifter lands and doesn’t have much to do with Jonah as a child – at first - but his other form, a wolf called “Pup”, does and Jonah and Pup become fast friends.
Later, Jonah and Zev become friends at school – best friends - and later, on the cusp of Jonah’s leaving town forever, Zev realizes that (though it should be impossible for two men to be) he and Jonah are mates.
Zev knows that if he were to claim Jonah as his mate, Jonah could never go to college or achieve his life goals. A) Once mated, the two would have to have almost constant contact or go mad B) Zev can’t leave pack lands since he is the new Alpha C) Zev hasn’t quite figured out exactly how two males are meant to “tie” in the ways of mates
Though it is excruciating for both of them, Zev and Jonah stay separated not only for the four years of college, but four more years of medical school and another four of residency. Near the end both men are sickly and nearly crazed, but they survive.
Their reunion and Jonah’s subsequent lesson into the world of paranormals comes none too quickly as there is danger on pack lands and it looks like it might relate to the death of Jonah’s mother nearly 30 years ago.
With the help of some good friends and family they solve the crisis and live HEA setting a new precedent for shifters everywhere!
**
This is an amazing book. The love between Zev and Jonah is so touching and the sexual tension is almost exhausting. By the time they finally do get together all you can do is release a huge sigh of relief! Though it was hard to see them separate, together they are scorching hot and they never lose faith with one another.
I loved that Zev shifts a lot in this book – so many shifter books never even shift! I also enjoyed the link with Book 2 (review to come) and the shifter universe Cardeno created here.
The way Zev has to navigate the new definitions of “mate” and how it relates to shifter politics is great and I loved how he and Jonah do not have the traditional Alpha/weaker-mate relationship but one that is truly equal.
Jonah is so funny and Zev can be too, I really enjoyed their dialog with one another.
I loved this story and the entire series – I recommend reading them in order.
5 of 5 stars.

Audio:
Charlie David does a great job with his narration. He does an even better job in Book 2 (more on that to come) but I loved his inflections and his voice is so easy to listen to. I give it 4 of 5 stars.

Overall Impression:
4.5 stars – I loved it!

Great story. Loved the boys

This book was a fantastic story of Zev and Jonah finding their true mate and love. I didn’t want this to end. These boys were so sweet and what they had to go through or time wait to be able to be together was so sad as you knew they were better together.

I listened to the story as well and Charlie did a fantastic job with his narration and kept me not wanting to stop listening when I had too.

Friends to Lovers (and Mates!)

Any additional comments?

Wow. What a difference the second edition makes! The POVs between Jonah and Zev are much more balanced, the story flows better with some changes to the dialogue, and it all works really well.

I'm still not a fan of the deliberate separation in the story, I mean...I can't help but wonder that there wasn't a school closer to pack grounds that Jonah could have gone to?

But I digress. Regardless of their separation, I love how much Zev loves and lives for Jonah, only wanting him to succeed and be happy. It makes my heart gooey.

Charlie David does a great job bringing across the emotion of the story, and it's an easy story to listen and get lost in.

This series is just wonderful, whether to read or listen to.

Zev and Jonah's lifelong bond.

I was in serious need of a good shifters story, it had been a while for me, and this was just the perfect book to hook me in this series!
I loved how the book spans throughout Zev and Jonah's lives, and follows their evolving, yet somehow "stalled" relationship.
Charlie David is a great narrator, and I can't wait to listen to book 2!

MM Fated Mates Shifter Romance

I very much enjoyed this shifter romance. There was really no angst with the MCs and they met at a very young age. I really like the take on fated mates and I thought it made sense. I also very much enjoyed both MCs especially Zev. Zev was such an endearing character and just rolled with the punches. He did not take anything too seriously while also taking it seriously. He just did not let things get him down, but rather just wanted to understand. Jonah also wanted to understand everything that was happening and it was great to hear how it was told and how he was able to understand. I thought it was great that once Zev's family found out he had a male fated mate they were alright with it, and there was not unnecessary drama there. I thoroughly enjoyed the side characters in Lori & Toby as well as the newcomers at the end and look forward to reading the rest of this series. Charlie David performed the narration on this, and he did a great job.