To Adam With Love by Adrienne Wilder

Adam's mother brought him as a child to the Gray Zone, the no man's land between the crumbling city and the Dens were the Kin-the Dragons-and Lesser-Breds-their mixed-blood offspring-live. He was different, not completely Human, and she knew fear and prejudice would drive people to do horrible things... like a father trying to kill his son. Five years later, Adam's father is behind bars and Adam has come home to the Zone, the last place anyone would expect innocence, loyalty, and devotion, to complete his becoming Lesser-Bred and find his best friend and only love, Ean.

But Ean has a life of his own. He's always wanted to belong to Batu, the Male Kin who has watched over him since childhood, but now Ean's caught in a deadly trap of biology and vengeance: he isn't enough to feed his beloved Adam during the dangerous transformation, and Kin won't allow an emotional bond in their midst. Years ago Ean lost Adam after failing to keep him safe. Now that Adam is back, will a simple feeling give Ean the strength to defy everything he's ever known and keep them together?

 I didn't realize when I purchased this book that it was set in an established world, and for a while I was a little lost. The protagonist, Adam, has known since childhood that he has dragon (called Kin) DNA, and one day his body will undergo a change as he takes his true form. As a boy he meets Ean, who while human has been raised by the dragons and behaves like them. Ean can't read or write, he barely wears clothes, and while he touches and licks Adam, he doesn't know how to kiss. Ean also doesn't understand love, he understands belonging and owning as the Kin do, and he hopes the dragon he belongs to, Batu, will also want to keep Adan so they can be together. But since Batu has Ean and two others dragons, he doesn't feel the need to add Adam to their family, and he can't understand the human emotions Ean has toward Adam.

The story alternates between flashbacks from Ean and Adam's childhood and the present. I found it particularly interesting to watch Ean and Adam grow up and start discovers their feelings for each other, even when they didn't know what they felt or they hurt each other. Also interesting is the contrast between their plans as boys and how those plans have to change to survive in the adult world. Ean is a fantastic character. He's fiercely loyal and would do anything for Adam, though at a few points in the story I felt like Adam didn't exactly deserve him. Adam takes Ean for granted at times, though he clearly does value him.

Since I've been asked specifically, no, there's no weird sex, like human on dragon, bdsm, or multiple partners, at least not on screen. It alludes to the idea that when a human belongs to a Kin, he can feed him, and if I understand this correctly that means the dragon literally eating bits of his partners during sex. Their bond with the dragon lets them heal from this. It's not shown in this book, and I really hope its not going to be shown in the future. As bad as it gets in this is just some biting, and its Ean and Adam, so it's hot and sweet. There's quite a bit of sex, maybe more than necessary, and its explained that going through this change makes Adam need it almost constantly. I'm getting a little tired of that cliche in shifter books, not that this is really a shifter book, IMHO. Still I see that excuse used all the time for a ton of sex scenes.

I had a problem with the ending. I'll try hard not to spoil anything, but if you're really planning to read this (and it's totally worth reading) you might stop here. Adam does something really, really bad at the end of the book. Like, horrific. And it's just kind of glossed over like its no big deal. I just couldn't see how he could do what he did to Ean after everything Ean went through for him. Honestly, it pissed me off. Then the subject of it was just dropped because out of nowhere, and without explanation as to how it was possible, another unlikely event occurs. Then it just kind of ends with characters still injured and some issues unresolved. This was a five for me, despite being a little unfamiliar with the world, up until the last few chapters.

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