Review: Bridged by Love (Kagen Wolves #1) by Nancy Corrigan
Paranormal Romance
Released: July 21, 2015
Samhain Publishing

Reviewed by Sheena

From the moment he was born, Nic Kagan’s future was sealed. He’ll accept a mate, have kids, and eventually take over his father’s role as pack alpha. There’s just one problem.

Long ago, his heart settled on Riley, the pack’s human doctor and honorary member. Except only half of him can have her. The other half—his wolf—won’t give a weak non-shifter female a second sniff.

No one—human or shifter—has left a mark on Riley’s soul like Nic. But with his father hospitalized, any hope things could work out between them is slipping away. Yet Riley understands something else about pack life. Power isn’t always a physical gift; love is just as strong. What she and Nic have is worth fighting for.

With rival threats mounting, Nic realizes he can’t simply turn his back on Riley. Though his wolf could tear his heart out for it, he must fight for what he wants before he loses his mate. His pack. Maybe even his sanity.

I lovvve a shifter paranormal romance.  Especially wolves, so when this caught my eye I was game.  The blurb intrigued me, human pack members among the wolf pack in the modern world where shifters are still a secret.  Yes please!  I read Bridged by Love in one sitting and though it is a familiar trope of mine,I definitely came away with a mixed reaction.  To be the first book of the series, the world building was a little weak.  Early on, I had the nagging sensation that I was missing something – an inkling that I usually experience when I read a mid-series book that stand alone poorly.  Beyond the thin world building, the hero was not very heroey.  Nic felt rather weak to be honest.  In general, I detest when the heroine is doing all the fighting for the relationship…it makes hero look like a wuss.  Who buys into a wussy alpha wolf? Meh.

Nic is next alpha in line to take on the spirit that will bestow the Alpha status to him at the end of his Alpha father’s reign. Danger is afoot and the near death attack and injury to his father, has sped things up and he must step up and embrace the Alpha spirit by the next full moon.  Nic has run from his destiny but returns home to take his rightful place among the pack and confront the human woman he loves but his wolf is against taking as his mate, Riley.

Nic’s Wolf fights him the entire book- he sacrificed his alpha status years prior and left the pack to mute his pull toward Riley. In Nic’s pack, humans may become members and even mate wolves but there has been generations of abandonment of the “true mates” bonding and as a result, the shifters mated not for love but for strength and power and mundane acceptable compatibility.  Why this occurred was never really explained.  Because humans and wolves can not procreate, Nic’s alpha wolf fought him tooth and nail against claiming Riley.

Unfortunately, the plot and resolution were a little clumsy.  There are some real sweet spots in here however, namely  the two occasions where Nic tried to claim Riley, fighting against his wolf…the aborted “claimings”- HOT!

Despite Nic’s inner battle with his reluctant wolf, Nic as a man didn’t do it for me, he was too resigned to things not working out.  Riley did allll the heavy lifting as far as their HEA was concerned….and that bugged me.  Sure it’s the 21st century and fight for your rights, burn your bra, claim your man and wave your freak flag- if you’ve got one- and all that jazz but when the man is moping around and woe is me and full of broody inaction and the heroine is taking charge, doing research and fighting for the relationship for 200 pages, well it becomes a little emasculating for me.

“Power is everything in my world.  No matter how much I love you, it doesn’t change what I am.”

Moisture pooled in her eyes and collected on her lashes.  She didn’t blink it away.  “And what are you, nic?”

“The alpha wolf.”

She wanted to scream, cry or maybe rant.  None of those reactions would do any good.  The truth stamped onto Nic’s beloved face wasn’t one she couldn’t deny.

He loved her.

His wolf did not.

Biology had fucked them all over-man, woman and beast.

“Yes, I’ll take a mate”-but she won’t replace you, not in my heart, soul or life.”

“So what? You’ll just fuck her?”

“Dammit Riley, Riley, I want nothing to do with her.  Hell, I don’t even want to associate with her.”

“But you will, won’t you.  You’ll make love to her just like you did to me.”

“Never, I won’t love her…”  “Once.  I need to fuck her once. That’s it.  Love has nothing to do with it.”

Awwwwkwaaarrrd.  Poor Riley.  Unfortunately,  an eleventh hour change of heart where suddenly you are counter character and super Alpha just doesn’t cut it- barely puts a dent in it.  I pitied Nic more than I was attracted to him. Bummer.

Another small bone of contention I had were the wishy-washy pack politics.  One fact that transcends paranormal, shifter romance is that “Pack” is PACK.   If humans are pack then they are PACK and can mate without fear of the dominant female wolves killing in instinctual jealous rages because they are PACK.  The notion in Bridged by Love that the human members are psuedo-pack but are still on the chopping block and can be attacked for mating is ludicrous.  Especially when human-wolf matings are encouraged??  If a pack accepts you as pack that’s it!  The wolf nature recognizes and respects the human members as one.  I didn’t dig the premise that human “members” were prey in any circumstance.  If the wolf-members can mate humans without fear, then the alpha should be able to do so as well thus negating Nic’s drama and initial inability to claim Riley. Things regarding human-wolf-mates-true mates was befuddled, eventually I just had to shake my head and move on past the murky pack politics.

I won’t spoil too much, but there is some scuttlebutt about human-wolf surrogacy that seemed to contradictory. In this world, no dominant wolf would allow his mate’s egg to be joined with another dominant wolf’s sperm for a surrogacy.   This, from the same wolf pack that have primal and possessive drives so volatile that their wolfs drive them to murder and fight loved ones even if they don’t want to for power/dominance?  No way. This was a head scratcher for me.  I am adept at suspending reality but if I am going to suspend reality then the fiction-faux facts have to line up! Just sayin!

While things often felt quite wonky, I did like some of the more dangerous aspects of their pack life and in all enjoyed the read.  Some shifter novels are a little too cutesy.  These Kagen pack wolves and neighboring packs were the real deal, feral, possessive and dangerous.  People were killed and the danger was palatable.  When Nic wasn’t a wuss over his wolf’s indifference to Riley, he was something to behold when in the grips of the man’s possession.  I was not too invested in any supporting character in particular so it will be interesting to see where Kagen Wolves #2 takes us.  If it’s written, I’m game to read it- despite the obstacles I had with Bridged by Love, it was interesting and a page turner for sure!

Grade: C

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