When I heard this was compared to “For the Fans,” I was eager to try it, because “For the Fans” was one of my favorite titles from 2024. However, I was disappointed by “Alpha Bait”, deeply disappointed. I think one of the reasons was that while “For the Fans” had/has a lot of spice, the spice moved the story forward, showed the connection between Kyran and Avi, and shaped their dynamics. Here, the sex scenes (which are numerous) are little more than poorly written BDSM. Like maybe a little better than “50 Shades” but still VERY poorly written, under-negotiated, and not done in a healthy way, especially for Dylan (who had kink thrust upon him by August).
The characters were also incredibly disappointing. Ryker and August felt like cardboard cutouts, and I never got a sense of who they were to each other. Their relationship felt incredibly flat, and if they are going to be one part of a poly group (and arguably a core part), I should have a better sense of who they are and what they want. I didn’t get that (at all). Also, their characterizations felt incredibly inconsistent. Furthermore, one of my issues with A/B/O stuff is that the Alphas in many stories are little more than macho stereotypes. Ryker and August are the worst sort of literary Alphas. I just couldn’t with them. Dylan also just felt flat. Yes he smelled good to them and was willing to tolerate their kinks, but that is not enough to build a long term relationship. I thought that August and Dylan might develop more of a relationship, especially because of Dylan’s interest in using 3D printing for artificial limbs, but that goes nowhere. And Ryker and Dylan…from their first interaction, where it was just a little short of an assault, I wasn’t a fan of their dynamics.
Then there was Steve. Steve was potentially interesting, especially, but what little potential was there was lost. As soon as he joined the relationship, he became just as bad as Ryker and August. It was a let down, at least for me personally.
I made myself power through this one. There were a few good lines, and the story was mostly cohesive. That’s the only thing saving it from being a one-star review.