Susan A Bliler

I'm giving this book 3 stars for the entertaining story and an extra star for potential. This was a shifter story with some new fresh ideas and some moments of brilliance but it also had a few problems that were probably due to a lack of writing experience on the part of the author. A couple of places where motivations were not well explained and maybe where a character's motivations were weak and not a good basis for their actions. Perhaps also the shifter world needed a clearer explanation. Perhaps some ideas could have filled out a bit more clearly. There was nothing I really couldn't understand it just wasn't the most polished but it was far from a rough draft. There were some editing errors however. Still it was very readable.

This was told entirely from the POV of the heroine. I liked her. She was a turned wolf in a world where turning humans to wolves is illegal. She dealt with it as best she could and was a fighter, not in a warrior sense, but in a never give up sense. She was an omega and was mistreated by her old pack. Here is one of those areas that could have used more filling out. What exactly is an omega in her "world"? Just the lowest wolf in the pack? Something else? Why did they turn her? Did that pack need women? Evidently the wolves could mate with humans and have wolf babies. That was only inferred though. How many packs were there? Why did the first pack have only men? Why did they treat her so bad? (rape and beatings and kept her in a basement for 4 years.) So even though you knew what had happened it wasn't real clear on whys. Also she didn't have any severe problem being with the hero even after being abused for 4 years. That was the only actual plot point I had a problem with.

One of the refreshing ideas was that once a wolf met his/her mate they were bowled over with pain whenever they touched if they were denying the bond. You could permanently deny the bond it seems although it wasn't real clear how or when the pain would go away if you did. It was pretty fun to see the hero accidently touch the heroine and practically fall over. The hero was not as well drawn as the heroine. He motivations were fairly weak in places and he did seem to blow hot and cold at odd intervals. I did like him though and enjoyed his alpha personality.

Final thoughts - I really enjoyed it. I would love to read more in this world. I hope to see the author continue to refine her work and tighten plots and motivations.… (mer)