For me, the characters-especially the main characters-are the driving factor in determining if I like a story or not.  That's one of the reasons I keep coming back to Cardeno C.'s books...I know I'm going to get wonderful characters who are complex and deep, and with distinct personalities.  I'm also going to get characters that are easy to relate to, and that is clearly illustrated here in Not A Game.

The perfect story when you need a healthy dose of sweet loving!

Pack dynamics and interesting shifters made this an enjoyable romance with some great action sequences. …Robert isn't interested in shifting, and, therefore, doesn't recognize Vy as his mate. Vy struggled with wanting to be with Robert while at the same time feeling very frustrated that Robert wouldn't recognize him as his true mate. Instead, Robert is just interested in Vy as a person. This leads to the biggest conflict between these two mates, and gives the story an interesting twist on the instant love we usually see with mates. … I enjoyed the focus on the different issues with the pack members, and the trouble that they were having with another pack.

So let us just say that once again, Cardeno C. managed to surprise me with this Slow-Burning-Romantic-Comedy-With-A-Touch-Of-Erotica-That-Made-Me-Blush! ... As the two men's lives, developing friendship and dependence on each other unfold through the read, the more I saw that they were just two men who wanted to live a little. When they started falling in love with each other in the course of several months, then things got a little sexier ... I never thought that these two imperfect men could be so Perfect together and with each other. It was easy to fall in love with them.....so very, very easy. I can't seem to let these two go....

Reg's campaign to show Jeremy what relationships are supposed to be like as opposed to what Jeremy thought they were based on his experiences was beautiful. Jeremy's slow but very sexy seduction was breathtaking. I loved Reg's patience while he gave Jeremy the chance to figure out for himself that he was attracted to Reg, even if all his previous relationships had been with women. The scenes leading up to Jeremy's moment of revelation gradually went from sweet to hot as Jeremy evolves from cherishing the cuddles and closeness he needs to fully appreciating his sexuality and newly discovered appetite for it.