Tag: werewolf

4 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 256 pages. Published September 18th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb: Harris has been keeping a big secret for years—his unrequited mate bond with his best friend, Jackson. He’s convinced himself that having Jackson in his life is enough. That, and his work at Camp H.O.W.L., keeps him going.

Things get complicated when Jackson applies for a high-ranking Tribunal job in New York City—far from Camp H.O.W.L. The position requires he relinquish all Pack bonds… and that’s when his wolf decides to choose a mate. Suddenly Jackson sees his best friend in a sizzling new light.

Their chemistry is through the roof, but they’re setting themselves up for broken hearts—and broken bonds—if Jackson can’t figure out a way to balance his career and the love that’s just been waiting for him to take notice.

Likes:

• Both Harris and Jackson are interesting characters in their own way.
• Expanded world building.
• The subplot was interesting.
• The romance moved at a more natural pace.

Dislikes:

• I was expecting more angst.
• Another set of characters whose problems stem from their own inability to deal with reality.
• Another ending that uses violence as a way to force the romance forward.

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It’s finally time for Harris’s story. He’s been a side character from book one, and the second book in the series hinted heavily at his feelings toward Jackson. I was a little surprised, and pleased, at the racial inclusion, when Harris was identified as being non-white. But since this is the first time that it’s been brought up in all the books I can’t help but wonder if it was decided on just for this book. It also wasn’t a big part of his identity in any substantive way.

This was probably my favorite book in the series. The first two books just didn’t hit the right romance notes that I’m used to. This one does. From the characters being equally interesting to the romance progressing at a good pace, all of the technical details were there. Not to mention the friends to lovers story working really well.

I loved the premise of the story. Honestly, I was hoping for some good angst, which turned out not to be there because the unrequited mate bond had existed for two years by the time the story began. So Harris was totally used to it. Which made the unrequited mate bond feel more like an unacknowledged mate bond, and that’s exactly what the last two books have been about.

This book did have the couple be equally interesting, Harris with both his work at Camp H.O.W.L. and his feeling for Jackson, and Jackson with his job and awakening feelings for Harris. Their relationship also progressed at a better pace than the other books, with actual on the page sex! Not only that, but sex that was important to the plot. Plus, once the two got together, there was no hot and cold. They both liked each other, with Jackson’s job being the fulcrum trying to tear them apart.

I was a little surprised that neither of them told the other about knowing the mate bond was forming. This book did have its instances where assumptions and lack of communication were driving the plot.

And the incident at the end felt reminiscent of the danger Drew was in at the end of the previous book. I understand that the introduction of the Fey was a part of the overall subplot, but it felt disconnected from the romance. Like the romance would have been fine without it.

And speaking of the Fey, while I liked the expansion of the supernatural world this series is set in, it felt a little like it had been tossed in because it worked for the plot, not because it had been there the entire time. I’ve felt from the beginning of this series that it was intended to be a standalone that was expanded into a series, and that major world building had not been done in advance. So whatever world building showed up was just there because it was convenient to have it. And I don’t know for sure if that’s true or not with how the books were written, but for me to even think that might be the case means it wasn’t done well.

I am glad that this is the last book in the series because I don’t know if I would have read much more. I may pick up some of Bru Baker’s other standalone books to see what they’re like. I don’t know if I’d pick up the new series mentioned at the end of this book, focusing on pack life and not on the camp. It might be a great way to get all of the details I felt were missing from the Camp H.O.W.L. series.

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Be sure to check out the reviews for Camp H.O.W.L., Under a Blue Moon, and the series review.

4 out of 5 stars

Ebook. 228 pages. Published June 19th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb:

Once in a blue moon, opposites find they’re a perfect match.

Nick Perry is tired of helping people with their marriages, so when a spot opens up to work with teens at Camp H.O.W.L., he jumps at it. He doesn’t expect to fall in lust with the dreamy new camp doctor, Drew Welch. But Drew is human, and Nick has seen secrets ruin too many relationships to think that a human/werewolf romance can go anywhere.

Happy-go-lucky Drew may not sprout claws, but he’s been part of the Were community all his life. He has no trouble fitting in at the camp—except for Nick’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the growing attraction between them and his ridiculous stance on dating humans. Fate intervenes when one of his private practice patients threatens Drew’s life. Will the close call help Nick to see a connection like theirs isn’t something to let go of?

Likes:

• Drew’s character.
• A little more world building.
• A different kind of couple from the last book.
• Nick getting a taste of rejection near the end.
• Really set up the romance for the third book.

Dislikes:

• How long it took Nick to admit to what he was feeling.
• How much of an asshole Nick could be.
• The trop of ‘one night stand turns out to be new work colleague’
• It didn’t feel like Nick was a psychologist.

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I definitely liked this book better than the last, because the romance was much more developed. It was another romance where the only thing stopping the couple from getting together was themselves, but there was a lot more flirting and little moments that made it clear how much they were falling for each other.

The book started out with the trop of having a one night stand with someone who turns out to be a new coworker, which isn’t a trope I really enjoy because I feel like it’s so overdone. But it worked for the story. Dew and Nick have chemistry right from the start, although the actual sex scene happened off the page. But the blowjob was written about, and again at the end, so maybe Bru Baker just doesn’t like writing penetrative sex scenes?

Drew was definitely my favorite character. As a human living among werewolves, he’s constantly at a disadvantage, same as Adrian from the first book. In fact, there is mention that Drew and Adrian are friends because they were both part of the small number of humans living with werewolves, which was nice. I always like seeing little hints of previous couples in series romance.

Drew didn’t let his status as a human keep him from being able to deal with werewolves, a fact that Nick just couldn’t seem to understand. And I’m honestly not sure why Nick was so completely convinced that Drew was incapable of certain things just because he was a human. The book stated that humans living with werewolves was a rare thing, and that while Nick had dealt with a lot of humans in his private psychology business, he’d never known a human who had grown up with werewolf step-brothers. I get that he thought that Drew could never understand him fully since Drew is human and Nick is a werewolf, but do two people ever fully understand each other?

There was actually a time when I got completely disgusted with how much of an asshole Nick was being, when he doubted that Drew could set up a werewolf scavenger hunt. Nick had no reason to doubt Drew’s abilities. He just had these preconceptions that he couldn’t let go. It was almost too much. It takes Nick half of the book (51%) to admit that Drew isn’t some helpless human.

I have to admit, mean person that I am, that I liked it when Nick thought Drew wasn’t interested in him anymore. For all the trouble that Nick caused Drew throughout the book it was nice to see Nick feel like he was rejected.

I actually kept forgetting that Nick was a psychologist because he just didn’t seem like one. He even acknowledged a few times that he was not doing the things he’d tell a patient to do. This was in direct contrast to Drew, who I never forgot was a doctor.

Despite all my complaints (mainly about Nick’s bullheadedness) I really liked this couple. Once things begin to heat up between them, the story really gets going. I was glad to see them get together in the end and look forward to seeing a bit of them in the next book. Drew is Jackson’s step brother, and since Jackson is one of the main characters in the next book, I hope we’ll get to see a bit of how Drew and Nick are together. Unlike Tate and Adrian, Drew and Nick are staying at Camp H.O.W.L.

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Be sure to check out the reviews for Camp H.O.W.L., Hiding in Plain Sight, and the series review.

3 out of 5 stars

Ebook. Dreamspun Beyond #7. 238 pages. Published November 1st 2017 by Dreamspinner Press

Blurb:

Moonmates exist, but getting together is going to be a beast….

When Adrian Rothschild skipped his “werewolf puberty,” he assumed he was, somehow, human. But he was wrong, and he’s about to go through his Turn with a country between him and his Pack—scared, alone, and eight years late.

Dr. Tate Lewis’s werewolf supremacist father made his Turn miserable, and now Tate works for Camp H.O.W.L. to ease the transition for young werewolves. He isn’t expecting to offer guidance to a grown man—or find his moonmate in Adrian. Tate doesn’t even believe in the legendary bond; after all, his polygamist father claimed five. But it’s clear Adrian needs him, and if Tate can let his guard down, he might discover he needs Adrian too.

A moonmate is a wolf’s missing piece, and Tate is missing a lot of pieces. But is Adrian up to the challenge? 

Likes:

• The focus on helping kids manage the Turn and the talk about how to navigate social media without revealing the secret of werewolves to humans.
• Adrian’s life as someone who didn’t Turn when he should have and his trouble adjusting to it as an adult.
• The plot of the first half of the book.
• That Adrian and Tate didn’t immediately fall in love despite being moonmates.
• The whole idea of moonmates being a different thing from those who just have a strong bond.
• Camp H.O.W.L. itself was an interesting concept.

Dislikes:

• The slow burn romance was too slow.
• The plot of the last third of the book was slow.
• There was no substantial character development for either Adrian or Tate.
• Lots of missed opportunities to make the story better as a whole.
• Tate’s aversion to being moonmates was a bit over the top.
• No conclusion about why Adrian didn’t Turn when he was nineteen and no real talk about how or if he will continue to be different from other werewolves going forward.

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The premise of this book is great. Adrian is the prefect character to introduce the readers to Camp H.O.W.L. As an adult, he is more clearheaded than any of the teens who are going through their Turn. He’s also just an interesting character. He spent eight years being different from his entire pack and family. It bothers him both because it makes him different from everyone he loves and because no one knows why it happened.

Tate is a less interesting character at the start, but he does have an unusual past. A past that prevents him from embracing the moonmate bond he quickly forms with Adrian.

I really did like that, although the bond formed quickly between Adrian and Tate, there was no rush into a relationship. They might be werewolves, but that wasn’t an excuse to jump into bed. Unfortunately, Tate was so against having any kind of relationship or bond with Adrian that the romance throughout the whole book was lacking. The two men basically became friends and roommates who wanted to bone but didn’t.

Instead of the romance being two steps forward and one step back, it was more like Tate ran hot and cold. The first kiss – which didn’t happen until chapter 12 – was the only intimate moment I remember them sharing before they finally got together at the end. And even then there was no penetrative sex, which wouldn’t have been a problem except that I felt like full sex would have had more of an emotional impact. Their quick mutual masturbation just didn’t have the intimacy the story needed.

And that’s the crux of what I felt was missing from this story – intimacy. It was great that they didn’t jump into sex, but there weren’t nearly as many little flirty moments where you could tell their feelings for each other were growing.

Tate’s hang-ups with his family seemed to affect his relationship with Adrian to an unusually high degree. Tate was able to separate himself from his former pack in every other way, rejecting their teachings because he knew it was wrong. Except when it came to being moonmates with Adrian. Even when Tate finally embraced their bond, it was only after telling Adrian his great secret, which didn’t seem like it was that big of a deal. The secret wasn’t something Tate did or even something bad that happened to him. It was just another example of how messed up his pack and their way of life was.

Overall, I did enjoy this book when I was reading it. It was only after reaching the end that I noticed how little the romance and characters had progressed. The epilogue did have some of those little intimate touches that added to the romance overall, but I was still left vaguely unsatisfied. Adrian didn’t even get the chance to be with his family’s pack as a werewolf.

I will definitely be reading the next book in the series because I really did love the idea of Camp H.O.W.L, especially the focus on teaching the teens how to navigate social media without revealing their furry bits.

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Be sure to check out the reviews for Under a Blue Moon, Hiding in Plain Sight, and the series review.