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prowlingthunder
I don’t usually like the Fated Mates trope. Far too often I see it in “these two characters actually hate each other, even if they’ve never met, and also they’re dating Other People! They have Zero charisma or desire for each other but! They’re Fated To Be Together and no matter how hard they Loath one another, They Will Be Together, They Match.”
Kai and Nash match not Despite their feelings for one another, but rather because of it. Nash has been waiting his whole life for his Fated Mate, endured teasing from his siblings for it, even, but has not given up. Kai’s from a world where Fated Mates aren’t a known thing, but he’s Still very much got the hots for Large and Green, and thinks Nash is way attractive right from the get-go. Nash actively keeps the whole Fated thing as lowdown as it can be to not scare his partner! (Nash tries really hard in general not to be scary. Props to him.)
A lot of books in this trope do sexual harassment to push the envelope. Nash actively refuses to do anything any more sexual than crashing in the same bed for a long while, and actively hunts for Kai’s enthusiastic consent to taking it up the next step. He lets Kai set the pace of their relationship despite is own aching need otherwise. The only thing his pretty human mate isn’t allowed to do is wander off on his own; there’s predators in the woods.
But Kai isn’t a wilting flower either. The two of them are fate-designed to be a matched set, and Kai’s allowed to figure out where he fits in Nash’s nomadic band on his own. It’s actually way nice to see; Kai doesn’t have much of a life in his native world (our world), but in Nash’s, he actually fits quite perfectly. Granted, being half-married to a chieftain means he gets to take his time and figure out how and where he fits, but none of Nash’s band is trying to tuck him into a suit, tie, and five-foot cubical like our society would be trying to do.
10/10, I’m going to read it again. Now I have to figure out how to get my hands on the other two books…