The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara

3 Stars

Big Bad Wolf - Book One

It was okay.  I was expecting a little more than just okay, I have to admit, as it was recced to me by a couple of long-time friends, but it just goes to prove that you never know for sure.  :)

Anyway, it's a shifter book and I'm not huge on shifters - except for my avian shifters by Kim Dare.  This is a wolf shifter tale - as if you couldn't tell.  *LOL*  Anyway, there wasn't a whole lot of shifting done but there sure was a lot of sniffing!

One main character, Cooper, is human and the other, Oliver is the wolf shifter. Cooper is also a BSI agent, Bureau of Special Investigations, a sort of secret branch of the FBI.  Oliver is an agent of The Trust, a werewolf governing organization, who is suddenly partnered with Cooper.  I liked the world-building.  It was interesting and I wish we'd had more of it. 

There are missing people, dead and mauled bodies, suspicious folk all in this small town in Maine - I think it's Maine - that reminded me a heckuva lot of the town I see on North Woods Law. There is a alot of investigating that goes on and the case/mystery is engrossing enough, especially for a romance novel.  Cooper and Oliver are thrown into close contact over and over again, of course.  What we see of Oliver that tells us he's a wolf shifter is that he uses his sense of smell a LOT, his eyes glow golden upon occasion, and he's graceful.  Cooper, to me anyway, comes across as a bit of a newbie whose smarts are hidden beneath a layer of dumb. The story is told from Cooper's POV and we spend a lot of time in his head as he asks himself the same questions about the mystery, the relationship, his past, over and over and over again.  Oliver, of course, is hiding something, but what?  I don't know if we ever really find out the extent of his secrets.  It's a series featuring the same couple, so I expect the author is holding stuff in reserve for future books. 

I found myself alternately liking both main characters and being impatient with them - Cooper especially, I guess because it's his POV.  The relationship works for the most part.  Will I continue reading the series?  Probably, but it's not an urgent need.  I think my friends told me it gets better in Book 2, so it's on my radar. 

Haunted Sanctuary by Moira Rogers

3.5 STARS

Green Pines - Book 1

I'm not a huge fan of shifter books. I don't read very many, but I will read Moira Rogers' because I enjoy the way she writes, period. In Haunted Sanctuary, we have the tale of the creation of a sanctuary for wolf-shifters, werewolves, the first book in the Green Pines series. Now, as I understand things this takes place in the same universe as two other series, Red Rock Pass (the original) and Building Sanctuary (the prequel), but I have read neither - yet.

I enjoyed Haunted Sanctuary, the love story between Eden and Jay, the coming together of the pack, the transformation of Eden from woman to werewolf. All that. :) I also was THRILLED that Eden was over 30 years of age and had life and romantic experience. That was refreshing. And I really liked Jay. He seemed to me to be a quiet alpha, not overpowering everyone with his presence - well, maybe Eden, but that's a whole 'nother thing, right? :)

I liked that the refugees from the were-anarchy in the city remained frightened and concerned and not totally willing to trust all through the book. What they had been through is not something that could be overcome in just a week or two. There was a bit of thawing, a bit of relaxing, but it's obvious that there is still a lot of work for Jay, Eden and the others to do to help these people.

Interestingly, I found that even though the title is Haunted Sanctuary and we get few hints of actual ghosts during the story. Most of the ghosts are really what lurk in the minds of the abused folk from the city and the ghosts that Eden has to overcome from her past.

I found I wanted more for Zack, who we meet as Eden's cousin. I assume that this will come up in later books in the series... and this is why I hate series, it leaves what to me are important plotlines, hanging. Yes, this was Eden and Jay's story, and I appreciate that we're probably going to get a Zack book at some point, but he and his struggles just seemed to me to be so integral to this tale that I wanted more closure than what I got. (That's also a big reason why I only gave it 3 1/2 stars instead of 4.)

I realise that I've gotten this far in my review and I've not really addressed the sex scenes which, you know, are a huge part of a romance book. *LOL* Well, they are one of the reasons I enjoy Moira Rogers' writing so much. Excellent, hot, steamy, fun, intense sex scenes. (When Jay puts her on the table/counter (?) in the kitchen... OMG, HOT!!)

So all in all, a very good beginning to what promises to be an interesting series. I have put the second book on my 'to acquire' list.

Crux by Moira Rogers

4 STARS

Southern Arcana - Book 1

I am very much not a paranormal/shifter romance fan, but I am a fan of Kit Rocha (another authorial alter-ego of Bree and Donna), so I was willing to give this a try. 

OH MY, I did enjoy it! :) 

It's the characters - I love the cast of characters that have been created for this 'universe'. Even Mackenzie, who had the very real possibility of becoming the tearful, scared, oh my God I need a big strong man, heroine that we see so often in so many 'suspenseful' romances - came off as likable. Her banter in the sex scenes with Jackson made me chuckle quite a bit. (And yes, the sex scenes are very, very steamy and hot.) And the kissing - oh, these girls write kissing like no one else! :)

I did think that the resolution with the bad guy seemed too easy, but the ramping up to it was a lot of fun. I must say that for a first book in a romance series, it certainly did its job by drawing me in, making me care a lot for the characters, and definitely piqued my interest for the rest of the series. 

And yes, I'm in love with Alec and am petrified that something terrible is going to happen to him. *LOL*

Duck! by Kim Dare

5 STARS

Avian Shifters - Book 1

"A modern day M/M, BDSM retelling of The Ugly Ducking Fairy Tale using avian shifters."

Surprisingly, I LOVED this book! Not that I didn't think I would enjoy it, it just surprises me how much I did. :)

Avian shapeshifters - who knew? I have stayed pretty much away from shape-shifter erotica/romances, but this one was written by Kim Dare, an author I recently discovered through the Riptide Anthology O Come All Ye Kinky and her story His Very Last Chance and her novel Once a Brat, and whose style I like very much. So I thought, what the hell, it's not werewolves or werebigcats, it's birds. And I love birds. Also it's a retelling of the Ugly Duckling fairy tale in a very different setting and I love that kind of thing.

So the main characters, Raynard and Ori, are lovely. The journey they take in this story is one of discovery and personal growth and acceptance and it was fascinating to watch unfold at just the right speed. There were secondary characters, but not so many as to be overwhelming and they were written as secondary characters, the reader only seeing what the reader needs to see. I often find that authors err one way or the other with their secondaries.

The world building was very interesting - I got a bit of a goth-steampunk type feel from the atmosphere and in my opinion, really fit the story. The idea of the nest is very interesting as well. Part bar, part sex-club, part palace, part halls of government, it seems to be the hub of avian society. (Where humans fit in, I have no idea, they are barely mentioned.) Colour me intrigued. :)

The sex... OMG, the sex was hot. The BDSM elements worked, were natural, were done right. :) The underlying question of the novel - what is a true submissive and is it nature or nurture - plays out on the pages and the concluding answer makes sense. Oh, and did I mention that I cried? Yes, there are scenes in this book that brought me to tears. Ori and Raynald's heartache really got to me, it was so beautifully written.

I loved it. Go and read it. :)

I did wonder though... where are all the female shifters? There must be some, right? I'm curious! And also... what would a flamingo shapeshifter be like? Maybe these questions are answered in the second Avian Shifters book which is going on my "To Be Aquired" list RIGHT NOW!