I absolutely loved this story and Zev and Jonah have joined my list of favorite couples. Their love story was, on the one hand, amazingly sweet having begun as babies essentially, and on the other hand, hotter than hot as they waited through all those years to be together. I can't recommend this book enough. If you love shifters, then this is the story for you.

Wake Me Up Inside is the first book in the Mate series from Cardeno C and I can't wait for more. Cardeno C has a straightforward narrative that delivers the story in a manner that makes it easy for the reader to follow the timeline of Jonah and Zev's relationship as it grows from childhood to adult. ... Take a good long look at that marvelous cover and it gives you an accurate picture of a scene in the book. Boy and wolf pup and Jonah and Zev, always together no matter the form Zev is in. How does that idea not draw you in? It is the characterizations that make or break a story for me and in Zev and Jonah we get two characters to connect with immediately.

Stylistically unique and deeply emotional ... It was more than a book, it was a sweeping emotional journey through time and across two very different cultures and I thoroughly enjoyed it. ... With touches of gut-clenching angst, gentle humor, and searing passion, the path of Zev and Jonah's romance is fraught with a myriad conflicts and hazards both internal and external that were woven together into a very powerful read.

It is really a nice slow build for their relationship. I liked the pacing of the story. The slow burn and desire that becomes all-consuming and almost debilitating as the years pass. It makes the union that much sweeter when it finally happens. Cardeno C just has a way of weaving a story that pulls the reader in and washes them in love and warmth. Zev and Jonah are hot as hell between the sheets and sweet as honey out of them.