Altered Heart

I really enjoyed Steel’s novel “Male of the Species,” so I was excited when I saw she had another gay werewolf romance out. This story was a bit darker though, and consequently more reserved. In Species, the alpha male protagonist starts forming his own pack and the hot sex gets going almost immediately and never really stops. Altered Hearts opens with a sex scene, but it is far from romantic and ends with terror – Rio is a hustler who picks up the wrong man one night. A sadistic alpha werewolf viciously turns him. There is no other sex until near the end when the romance is consummated. However, I found the waiting enhanced the romance.

Steel walked a fine line with this story. It would have been very easy for the sadness and show more depression to overwhelm the romance. The story opens with the attack and then (thankfully) jumps immediately to the rescue. So, readers are spared too many details of Rio’s torment. And while Rio was badly abused, he wasn’t broken. After Mick saves him, Rio flatly refuses to go with him! In addition to revealing Rio’s resilience, this also sets the stage for the angst that keeps the couple at odds. Mick sees Rio as a victim that should not be taken advantage of, and Rio sees Mick as the mate he truly is. The scene with Mick’s brother, where Mick finally understands this, is particularly touching. The sex between Mick and Rio wasn’t as frequent as other romances, but it was very well done. Rio has been abused, and he must work through repressed fears with Mick. The subplot with Rio’s father and running away was excellent, and really added a lot to the novel.

I did enjoy this novel a great deal and would have given it five stars, but for one thing. The world-building was lacking somewhat. When Rio transforms before his father, he's shocked but not in a "OMG that's not real" way. The scene led me to believe that werewolves are "out" in the world, but Steele never really says for certain. Also, Mick is part of a paranormal law enforcement-type agency but we never learn anything more. If this were clearly the first in a series, then this would not be a problem. But, there is no indication there will be a sequel, though I would certainly buy it and hope there will be. However, I will add that Steele hasn't simply written a normal romance and thrown some paranormal in it to ride the craze. Though the world-building could be richer, the werewolf aspect is developed. Shapeshifting is integral to the plot, and presents additional issues for Rio and Mick to resolve.

Overall, this was a very good romance and well worth reading - especially if you enjoy paranormal romance/werewolves. Highly recommended. show less

This is a slight variation on the werewolf theme. Set in a world of otherwordly beings, we don't get to really see any of them, but knowing they exist makes a difference. It made the story more 'real' for me, more consistent. The characters being werewolves wasn't an 'add-on', like it is in some stories, they were somehow more fundamentally different.

I liked Rio a lot. He has been through absolute hell, but his inner strength has helped him to survive. While it isn't surprising that he falls for his rescuer, his thoughts about what was going on convinced me that it was more than an 'automatic' reaction. That would have made everything just too convenient.

Mick is the typical growly loner in one sense, but he is also a very caring being show more who has suffered a lot himself. While he tries to do the right thing (stay away from Rio because he sees him as too young), that actually made me angry at him in this case. I guess it was because Rio's need for him was so clear and convincing.

Overall, this is a great love story about two characters who look very different from the outside, but are both wounded and need each other to be happy. Oh, and the fact that, while they were mates, this wasn't overemphasized, was a nice difference versus some other werewolf stories as well. I really liked this book. show less

Just re-read this one after a year and loved, loved, loved it all over again! Fabulous shifter story about Rio, a young drifter who is turned into a werewolf against his will and Mick, the big, strong Committee for Supernatural Behavioral Enforcement Agent who helps ease him into his new life as a shifter. Yum!

If you like sexual tension, this one has it is spades! Melt your kindle, baby! Also, smokin' hot sex, lost of angst and comfort and a spectacular HEA. If you've already read it, it is SO worth a re-read.

Cute story. A little anti-climactic, but Rio was adorable. Would love to see what happens with Jed and James (Rio's dad).

Kate Steele is specialized in Alpha male werewolves dealing with Omega puppy. In this new book Mick is a special agent of the Werewolf interstate security agency; he is asked to intervene in a very delicate situation, an Alpha male pack leader who has gone over the legal limit: he killed a newly made werewolf, a barely seventeen guy, and now he has another boy in his clutches. Rio was a runaway boy and an hustler; eighteen years old, small and cute he is totally unable to oppose to the big werewolf and there is also another problem: he was turned, but the psycho Alpha male interrupted his first changing, causing him a lot of pain and to fear his new wolf side.

Remove from the story the pervert is not a big deal for Mick, but dealing show more with the newborn werewolf is not so simple. There are a lot of issue that are against an involvement with Rio: first Mick is way older than the kid, 47 years to 18 years, and second the kid is passed through a lot of very bad experience, always connected to sexuality, and so Mick is not so sure that it's a good thing for Rio to be mated with an Alpha male werewolf. 'Imposing' a sexual relationship to a traumatized boy is the last thing Mick desires. But let the boy go and find a more suitable companion is not an option for the wolf inside Mick.

The story deals mostly with Mick and Rio's relationship, and even if starts with a quite angst prologue (a underage gay hustler), it's not angst at all. True Rio has a bit of problem regarding sex and his sexuality, but he manages them pretty well and they are soon overcome. Also the age issue is not so emphasized, since both Mick than Rio, as werewolves, have another concept of aging: Mick at 47 years old is not a man in his middle age, but it's still a quite young wolf. Actually he is older than Rio's father, who is 39 years old, but this fact is not at all highlighted, and James, Rio's father, in comparison to Mick, has the role of the 'old man', save an unpredictable turn of event at the end of the story (I really would like for Kate Steele to write also James' story).

There is a lot of sex, but it's easy and funny, like often is in Kate Steele's works. This is a pretty 'classic' werewolf story, with the strong Alpha and the cute Omega, and there aren't switch on the classical path: never once Rio doubts what is his role in the relationship, and never once Mick falters in his firm belief that he need to dominate but also to direct Rio on the right path.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1596328576/?tag=elimyrevandra-20 show less

Cute story. A little anti-climactic, but Rio was adorable. Would love to see what happens with Jed and James (Rio's dad).

Nothing really here that is special.. Typical erotica shifter plot lines and lots of sex.


One of the "shifter DNA" features mean guys don't need lube. Really?

After that I pretty much rolled my eyes through the rest of the book.