Book 67, 2022

With Caution by J.L. Langley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Stayed up until midnight to finish reading With Caution by JL Langley. It's the second book in the "With or Without" series of paranormal m/m romance. The main characters are Jake Romero, werewolf and tough PI, and Remington "Remi" Lassiter, newly turned werewolf and firefighter.

Having escaped his abusive home, Remi is trying hard to keep his head down and not draw attention to himself. His younger brother, Sterling, still lives with their father, and Remi doesn't want Dirk to start beating Sterling next. Unfortunately for Remi, he was recently turned into a werewolf to save his life, and now he has to learn to navigate a whole new world. His friend, Jake, has been helping, and now Remi can't help but start looking at Jake in a whole new way, which is just wrong, because Remi is not gay. Jake knows that Remi is his mate, but he's been trying to give him time and space to become accustomed to being a werewolf before hitting him with something else. When Jake learns that Remi was abused as a child and still lives in fear of his father, he sets out to dig into Dirk's past in hopes of putting the crooked cop behind bars. Jake is no killer, but he'll do anything to protect his mate.

(SPOILERS!) This book had some seriously dark undertones, including severe homophobia and startling violence. It was tough to read. Not helping is that Jake and Remi's relationship was based on D/s. I don't mind it as an occasional kink, but the D/s colored every sexual encounter between the main characters. It was fully consensual; it's just not my cup of tea. I also didn't like that Jake's gruff partner, Rhys, imprinted on Remi's teenage brother. Rhys had no intention of making a move on Sterling, but it still put me off. Ick. All that aside, it was an engrossing read--fast-paced, exciting, and fraught with breathless tension. The tender moments between Remi and Jake were swoon-worthy, and it was heartening to see how Jake's friends rallied around the Lassiter brothers to protect them.

Favorite line: "You will discover that you do not get to choose who will follow you. They will choose you."

Really wishing I could award half-stars. I'll give it a four, as a nod to the series.