**3.5 stars**

The Shifter Ops Crew is back with an alpha hero and super feisty heroine. I always love Lee Savino and Renee Rose’s take on the shifter world- this dynamic duo always writes the perfect alpha dominant, and paired with their perfect marriage of paranormal tropes and romantic suspense, these books are always a lot of fun.

I enjoyed Rafe and Adele’s story- as usual, Renee and Lee deliver a fast-faced, steamy, action packed story that is an easy one sit binge. The chemistry is extra feisty in this one, and I love the ops packs dynamics. Alpha Rafe is definitely a sexy, broody hero- at first hesitant to claim his mate, but he still has all the growly alpha caveman possession, and his feelings show up just when it matters. And Adele is a fun, sassy heroine- strong willed, obstinate, but, of course, very human- a mate dynamic Rafe never considered for himself.

Overall, their story is fun, but not my favorite of the series- Rafe’s resistance was frustrating at first, but when he unleashed his possession I was all about it. And Adele is an amazing heroine, I wish we just knew more about her and she was more developed as a character. Outsider of her fiery personality and her love for cooking from her grandma, we didn’t know much about her identity or background. But I loved what we got from her- I appreciated how she was strong willed but not idiotically “let me run into danger” stubborn. The plot was engaging and quick, though it felt a bit less steamy and slower than I’ve come to expect from these two authors- their sizzle meter is normally through the roof- but even so, it’s plenty sexy. Our coupling took a bit longer to “click’ for me- perhaps because their initial civility turns acrimonious for a bit.

We have a secondary plot that I have a lot of questions about - there were some unusual things that perhaps were more of a set up for the next book, but either way, I found the mysterious Dieter intriguing, and i’m looking forward to his book!