Tag Archives: fabulous world building

So very happy to be back with Charlie’s shifters

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59008320._SY475_Pack of Lies by Charlie Adhara

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I hadn’t realised how much I missed being in Charlie Adhara’s world until I heard she was writing a spin-off from her Big Bad Wolf series.

Eli Smith is the star of this series, the cocky but incredibly vulnerable shifter who’s also Oliver’s ex, who we last saw helping him and Coop in Cry Wolf.

He’s ‘happily’ managing the retreat for runaway rebel wolves that Coop and Park have set up on the old Neilson lands from one of their earlier cases – even though he has no visitors yet – when he crosses paths with faded Hollywood star Julien Doran.

Both men have secrets to hide, but there’s also a kindred connection which sparks between them as they get embroiled in the mystery surrounding Blue Tail Resort tucked away in a quiet corner of the Appalachian Mountains.

I can’t tell you how much I loved this plot without giving it away, so I’ll just say that these two have as rocky a start as Coop and Park did but with all the added complications of Julien knowing nothing about wolves.

The pacing is superb, starting off with a hint of mystery and a creepy feeling that something isn’t right, before it picks up and heads off into heart pounding adrenaline-packed action.

It’s also got the same subversive humour, as Eli’s smart mouth gets him both in and out of trouble when things start kicking off.

Now, unlike the majority of the other books in this universe, I did actually guess who was the baddie but I didn’t have a clue for the ‘why’ and I suspect that will be part of the series long ARC.

This isn’t out until September but I’m already having withdrawal symptoms and desperately needing to know when book two will arrive!

#ARC kindly received from Carina Press via NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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Best one yet in this stunningly brilliant paranormal suspense series

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Cry Wolf by Charlie Adhara

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This series from Charlie Adhara is one of my all-time favourites in any genre.

It’s clever, it has a fresh look at werewolves and gives them a fascinating culture which fits perfectly into the urban fantasy world she’s created.

It’s firmly rooted in “our reality” as well, so it has an anchoring feel of the familiar and it has Cooper Dayton, a truly complex character whose evolvement from book one through to this installment, has been utterly enthralling.

I love Coop. I love how much he’s grown as a person while still staying true to his basic character traits of honesty and a lack of artifice, and his fumbling attempts to tell Oliver Park, his werewolf partner in both The Trust and life, how much he means to him are utterly endearing.

Coop is such an enigma, he’s human, but Park’s alpha and yet he submits to Oliver in their intimate moments and oh boy are they seriously good. They are powerfully emotional, scorching hot and just a little bit dirty.

The case they end up involved investigating in Cry Wolf is possibly the best one yet in this series, I had no clue where it was heading and I’m still not sure on some elements of the longer term series long narrative arc which are revealed here.

Ultimately though, it’s a superbly paced, deeply complex one which examines wolf folklore and the differences between the three types of werewolf society more than any of the previous books before.

it involves the packs, the Wolf Independence Party and the Rebels, it pulls in Eli, Oliver’s ex and a former rebel, it gives Coop a role he’s not remotely prepared for, whether he believes it’s true or not, and it – finally – gives the reader a truly joyous relationship development between the two men which had me smiling so much my face hurt.

I am so pleased Charlie went back to this series, there are so many aspects of wolf society still left unexplored and villains galore to continue investigating. I really hope it continues on and on!

#ARC kindly received from the publishers Carina Press via NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review

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