3.5 stars

Tristan, Ushna, and Brian are back, along with the whole gang. They are winding up for the final showdown with gods and goddesses. Ushna is the last one to get the gift of the goddess, and it is different for him, just because he was alive when it happened. They have a lot on their plates, what with forming new alliances, new friendships, waging war, and freeing lycans who have been stolen from them.
I had this whole review written, but somehow x'd out of it and it didn't save. Needless to say, it was witty, erudite, insightful. I'm sorry that none of you will get to experience it, since such a masterpiece can only be crafted once. Anyway, I will try to capture the gist of my original review: I read the previous books in the series at least 4 years ago, and really enjoyed them, to the point where I actually read several of them back to back, which is something that I don't generally do. However, to start this one, I flailed. A lot. I flailed trying to remember what happened in the previous books, I flailed trying to remember who everyone was, I just flailed. I'm sure that my flailing was helped by the fact that there were several different POV from several different characters, but eventually I did settle in and got into the story. Which was long. Very long. Super, dooper long. I'm pretty sure that some of the story could have been cut without feeling like something was missing. I liked the solidity of Brian, Ushna, and Tristan. They were just there for each other, and for their people. I enjoyed the friendships, both new and old, and how everyone related to one another. All in all, a satisfying (if lengthy) conclusion to a really good series. ( )

My reading taste is fairly open and what I read often depends on my mood and what else I have been reading. I like to mix the light in with the heavy. I was expecting a fairly good love story and it is that. This is definitely a male pregnancy story and I am not sure I have ever seen the word 'womb' used so many times in two pages around 18% of the way into the story. It was a bit . . . frightening. Fairly straightforward, but not a meal in my opinion - more of an appetizer or snack so a 3/5. The following line sums up the main challenge and conflict aside from the "What do you mean I have married a dragon?!" moment.
“We’ve just recovered from a near-death experience, Lawrie, and right after that, you single-handedly caught the villain. I’m sure they’d understand.”
However, the intimate scenes are hot and do play into a breeding kink.

No real conflict or tension - sure it was there but not developed. The characters were also fairly flat. Oh, and I am not certain, but this may be a male-only world? Alpha / Omega style? That fact that I don't know for sure is a huge clue to how well the 'world' of the story was developed.

https://meanderingthoughts6.ca/ ( )