Review: Alpha (Alpha #1) by Jasinda Wilder

Print Length: 450 pages

Publisher: NLA Digital LLC (April 29. 2014)

From Goodreads.com: The first time it happened, it seemed like an impossible miracle. Bills were piling up, adding up to more money than I could ever make. Mom's hospital bills. My baby brother's tuition. My tuition. Rent. Electricity. All of it on my shoulders. And I had just lost my job. There was no hope, no money in my account, no work to be found. And then, just when I thought all hope was lost, I found an envelope in the mail. No return address. My name on the front, my address. Inside was a check, made out to me, in the amount of ten thousand dollars. Enough to pay the bills and leave me some left over to live on until I found a job. Enough to let me focus on classes. There was no name on the check, just "VRI Inc.," and a post office box address for somewhere in the city. No hint of identity or reason for the check or anything. No mention of repayment, interest, nothing…except a single word, on the notes line: "You." Just those three letters.

If you receive a mysterious check, for enough money to erase all your worries, would you cash it?

I did.

The next month, I received another check, again from VRI Incorporated. It too contained a single word: "belong."

A third check, the next month. This time, two words. Four letters. "To me."

The checks kept coming. The notes stopped. Ten thousand dollars, every month. A girl gets used to that, real quick. It let me pay the bills without going into debt. Let me keep my baby brother in school and Mom's hospice care paid for. How do you turn down what seems like free money, when you're desperate? You don't. I didn't.

And then, after a year, there was a knock on my door. A sleek black limousine sat on the curb in front of my house. A driver stood in front of me, and he spoke six words: "It's time to pay your debt."

Would you have gotten in?
I did.
It turns out $120,000 doesn't come free.

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My Rating: 1 star out of 5

The synopsis of this story captured my attention immediately. I thought as though I had finally found another erotica series that I could love just as much as The Original Sinners series. I was curious as to how the author would go about this story-line without it coming across like glorified prostitution. When I began this book, I was hooked. It started off so intensely giving us a strong female lead that wasn't afraid to stand up for herself.

And then it just fell apart. 

It's a shame really when someone has such high hopes for a book just to watch it bomb as terribly as this one did. The characters don't present much to make them likable (seriously - the Alpha male is nothing short of a stalker, and his second-in-command admits to committing murder to which the female lead doesn't even bat an eye). Even the sex scenes (of which there were plenty) became boring after awhile. And the life-altering secret? I call shenanigans. I found it very hard to believe that this would have happened with no consequence, much less that it would be something that could be forgiven. 

Perhaps this book could have been salvaged if the author wasn't so repetitive in her choice of words. Then again - considering it followed the same cookie cutter story-line that so many others of this ilk followed - maybe not. 

Overall, I am sure there are others that will enjoy this story. It just wasn't for me - and chances are high that I won't be continuing with this series. 

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Alpha (Alpha #1) is available from Amazon.com