This could've gone either way for me on the romance front and tbh, the guys made better collaborators than lovers, due to the lack of passion between them, which strangely worked for them.ĪRC courtesy of Netgalley and Carina Press, for my reading pleasure. And, that's not a complaint in any way, shape or form, as CA goes for the tale first and foremost and with some romance if it fits in. At the end, there's physical distance between the leads with much unspoken, and as I gather, that distance is still there at the start of book 2, which is one that I will be picking up. At the end of the tale, there's the start of something sweet between them, but I wasn't sure that I sensed a HEA or even a HFN but perhaps more of a connection that would last, to be picked up as and when, but not something that drove them it wasn't visceral enough, perhaps because Julien had been depressed and was only now slowly coming back to life? Refreshingly, there was none of the bonding that too often appears in this type of tale and the lack of cliche was refreshing. You have a wolf and a human who never realised that there are others amongst us, and you have them working together to help others in need. The tale itself, whilst different to the BBW ones, takes us into a newish world where there are possibilities for another longish-running series.
Too many books either have an unrealistic eureka! moment or pontificate about why parts of one's self had to be hidden until now, but this just made Julien come alive on the page, a rather ordinary, flawed but very human guy who was strangely likable. I really liked his relationship with his ex-wife and that there was no stereotyping and no grand reveal regarding his sexuality and acceptance of himself. But, Julien's vulnerability and his past and that he cared so much about making up for what he wasn't there for, made me see him differently. He's a consummate liar, a trusted confidante, a protector and the total opposite to Julien, who's admittedly washed-out and jaded and a bit of a loser who at first didn't seem like lead material. And the start of this tale shows just how much backbone and how stone-cold he is when he needs to be. From what I recall, he was a bit dramatic and a bit precious, which suited him, and those traits hid a backbone of steel. This book is a standalone, but is vaguely connected to CA's Big Bad Wolf series, in which Eli appears briefly as an ally of the leads. A perfectly imperfect lead in Julien, who meets his match in touchy Eli.
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