"A wolf pup is guarded by a horse in this shifter story"
Reviewed by Clare O'Beara
Posted January 27, 2013
Paranormal Romance | Romance
The refreshing theme of a young werewolf pup being cared
for by a grown werehorse lifts these characters and action
out of the ordinary shifter stories and adds dilemmas due
to their contrasting natures. RUNNING FREE is in
the Northern Shifter series and here we meet Zack, a
strong chestnut horse when he's not being a shy human,
guardian to pup Storm, otherwise a six-year-old boy. Right
from the start Storm is threatened by a strange wolf and
Zack doesn't hesitate to protect him, an attitude he
maintains throughout the story. Others are becoming aware of little Storm however and
Sally, a mild-mannered piano teacher, when she's not being
a stubbornly single wolf, is sent by the pack in Wolf Town
to investigate who this pup is and how he is being raised.
Some believe it would be better for the youngster to grow
up in a pack environment while others feel this would prove
too stressful to a boy who has lost his parents. Storm's
grandmother visits him often and holds Zack accountable for
his welfare, but knows any shifter guardian has to be
better than none. Zack is unsure of himself around humans,
having been lost as a horse for years, and at first doesn't
know how to respond to the new piano teacher who gives
Storm lessons. Only when Sally allows Zack to see her as a
submissive, friendly wolf in the snow does he realise why
she has been sending mixed messages. A visit to Wolf Town is on the cards, little though Zack
likes the idea of a prey animal being surrounded by
predators. But the reasonable wolves there are not the only
shifters around, and a more threatening variety is looming
large in Storm's vicinity. I liked the contrast and the equine behaviour or lupine
behaviour which carried over into the shifters' human
sides. I also liked the idea that a romance could spring
up between the humans when they were not being predator and
prey. Sally has been pounced on by big male wolves too
often to be comfortable with a relationship with one, so a
male horse became a better option. Storm is a great kid and
an endearing pup; children are all too often missing from
fantasy stories when they present an opportunity to show
how the adult characters developed. RUNNING FREE is easy to
read
as a standalone but will complement the series.
SUMMARY
She is the one wolf who can tame his feral spirit. A Northern Shifters Story A year and a half ago, if someone had told Zach that he’d be
guardian to the creature he distrusts most—a wolf
shifter—he’d have laughed. A half-broken horse shifter as
father figure? No way. Now, he’d kill to protect the pup he found lost in the
woods—and he has. Which, unfortunately, has attracted the
attention of Wolf Town’s alpha. Sally prefers to keep a low profile among her fellow
shifters in Wolf Town. Yet when she’s asked to investigate a
pup living outside the safety of the pack, she can’t bring
herself to refuse. From the moment Zach meets the new piano teacher, his world
tilts. Her scent gets under his skin. Her touch retrieves
missing pieces of his memory. But even as their blazing
attraction flares out of control, trust is the hardest to
give, and the one thing they both need if they’re to save
the boy from another attack. Warning: This book contains violence and sex, though not at
the same time. Be advised, the protective shifters may cause
you to want to move to Wolf Town.
What do you think about this review?
Comments
No comments posted.
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
|
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy