Read for m/m team bingo challenge. Here. ( )

I thought TO ADAM WITH LOVE was a silly title until I turned the final page of the book, looked at the cover, and my heart gave a big ol’ throb and I thought, “Oh, I get it, that’s the sweetest, best title ever.” I was already having that bittersweet feeling that comes from finishing a book I didn’t want to end, and the last-minute click was like a parting gift from the author.

It’s a seriously good book. Or maybe I should say: it’s exactly what I look for, hope for, when I pick up a book about shifters. Adrienne Wilder’s dragon-men are primitive in a way that inspires both fear and admiration, nature red in tooth and claw invading our tame, civilized world. They can’t be converted or domesticated, and she shows them to us warts and all. Not only do they eat raw meat, they aren’t very discriminating – in TO ADAM WITH LOVE, we see them eat horse and dog without blinking an eye.

And yet the book is about the most human emotion of all – love. It’s suffused with the deep devotion that Adam and Ean feel for one another, a friendship between boys that grows into an unbreakable bond between men. Their relationship is star-crossed and tragic in a lot of ways, but they love one another so much, they’re so certain of one another and unashamed about their feelings, that you can’t help but believe that this time, love will conquer all.

TO ADAM WITH LOVE isn’t a book for everyone. Readers who’ve followed the herd into paranormal territory probably won’t dig it, because Wilder commits to her subject matter. Her dragons don’t look, act, or think like humans. Their moral code does not mesh well with Mr. and Mrs. White Picket Fence’s. And, obviously, this is an erotic romance between two men, which will scare away another unfortunate chunk of prospective readers. But I thought it was fantastic and I think there are a lot of readers out there who are hungry for a story like this. If you’re one of them, don’t hesitate.

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