In Your Eyes (Mates, #3) by Cardeno C.

In Your Eyes by Cardeno C.
SUMMARY 

Raised to become Alpha of the Yafenack pack, Samuel Goodwin dedicates his life to studying shifter laws, strengthening his body, and learning from his father. But despite his best efforts, Samuel can’t relate to people, including those he's supposed to lead.

When Samuel meets Korban Keller, the son of a neighboring pack's Alpha, he reacts with emotion instead of intellect for the first time in his life. Resenting the other shifter for throwing him off-balance, Samuel first tries to intimidate Korban and then desperately avoids him. What he can't do is forget Korban's warm eyes, easy smile, and happy personality.

When a battle between their fathers ends tragically, Samuel struggles to lead his pack while Korban works to break through Samuel’s emotional barriers. Two very different men with a tumultuous history must overcome challenges from all sides and see past their society’s rules to realize they are destined for one another.

MY REVIEW 

I knew I would love this book from the first line:

The first thing I hated about him was his smile. 

And a couple of lines later:

My clearest memory about him was of his eyes. 

Samuel Goodwin is the son of the Alpha from Yafenack pack.
Korban Keller is the son of the Alpha from Maincarem pack, their neighborhood pack.

They met when Samuel was eight years old and Korban was eleven. Samuel knew that there was something wrong with Korban straight away. Korban was too friendly, too happy with Samuel and this could not be right. They were supposed to be the next Alphas. They had to be serious, reserved, and level headed. They had to stay with the adults and learn, not play around and have fun. However, they played together.

They met again after a few years and Korban was still outgoing and friendly, while Samuel just didn't know what to do with that. However, they played together again.

Their story is told by Samuel. I really missed Korban’s POV. But when they are finally together, after a tragedy, Korban will explain everything to clueless Samuel. 

Samuel’s mind is a funny place to be. His desperation and his ignorance made him a cute puppy when he was a kid. 
When Samuel becomes an adult, you know that there is something coming for him and you may smile with his desperate attempts to prevent it.

As in all the books in the series, there is a lot of sex in this book as well – especially at the second half of the book. This does not prevent the story to unfold in the just right pace and to keep me interested until the last page. 

There were moments of sorrow that I could feel my heart breaking and moments of angst that kept me awake to finish the book. 
Finally there were glorious moments where Samuel and Korban’s relief and acceptance made me a happy girl.