Author: Maria Vale

Guest Review: A Wolf Apart by Maria Vale

Posted July 19, 2018 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: A Wolf Apart by Maria ValeReviewer: Tracy
A Wolf Apart (The Legend of All Wolves #2) by Maria Vale
Series: The Legend of All Wolves #2
Also in this series: The Last Wolf (The Legend of All Wolves #1)
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: July 31, 2018
Format: eARC
Point-of-View: First
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 352
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Can a human truly make room in her heart for the Wild?Thea Villalobos has long since given up trying to be what others expect of her. So in Elijah Sorensson she can see through the man of the world to a man who is passionate to the point of heartbreak. But something inside him is dying...

Elijah Sorensson has all kinds of outward success: bespoke suits, designer New York City apartment, women clamoring for his attention. Except Elijah despises the human life he's forced to endure. He's Alpha of his generation of the Great North Pack, and the wolf inside him will no longer be restrained...

She sizes me up quickly with eyes the color of ironwood and just as unyielding. "Thea Villalobos," she says, and it takes me a moment to get my breath back. Thea Villalobos. Goddess of the City of Wolves.

Elijah is a man who turns into a wolf.  Actually, he was born a wolf and can turn into a man.  He is also a lawyer and works in New York City for the good of the Pack.  He spends too much time in his skin and it’s starting to mess with his head.  He wants so badly to return to his home more than just once a month, but the Alpha of his Pack tells him that they need him where he is.  His frustration grows until he meets Thea Villalobos.

Thea is a search and rescuer but needs help with a legal issue she’s having with her neighbor.  Through a friend of a friend Thea ends up in Elijah’s office and immediately he is smitten.  He tries his normal seduction routine with her but she wants nothing to do with his bullshit.  After many screw ups with Thea Elijah finally realizes that he just needs to be himself.  He’s been playing a part for so long, however, that he’s not sure how be himself.  He does know that he’s falling for Thea but he can never tell her what he is and she would never be accepted by the Pack.  How can he be happy with living a half-life?

The second book in the Legend of All Wolves series was a good one.  My heart went out to Elijah and all the bullshit he had to put up with by living in the city.  He truly just wanted to be in his home and yet wasn’t allowed.  It ended up working out well because he got to meet Thea but I felt so bad for him!

Thea was a lovely person – and just simple.  Not simple-minded, she was just not someone who had any use for bullshit.  She lived in a one room cabin with just one of everything.  One towel, one fork, one bowl, etc.  She didn’t need anything extra – no TV or radio – she had books.  I loved her no-nonsense attitude as it served her well working with Elijah.  The pair were so good together and I loved the ease they had with each other.

I can’t tell you too much about the book without ruining things but suffice it to say that it was good.  I have to admit that the ancient language that Vale uses at the beginning of the book got a bit old, but it ended up being ok.  She actually uses it throughout the book, but I was only annoyed by it in the beginning as it made it had to follow things at first.  Overall, however, I’d say it was definitely an enjoyable read.

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Legend of All Wolves

four-stars


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Guest Review: The Last Wolf by Maria Vale

Posted February 13, 2018 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: The Last Wolf by Maria ValeReviewer: Tracy
The Last Wolf (The Legend of All Wolves #1) by Maria Vale
Series: The Legend of All Wolves #1
Also in this series: A Wolf Apart (The Legend of All Wolves #2)
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: February 6th 2018
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 320
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

For three days out of thirty, when the moon is full and her law is iron, the Great North Pack must be wild.

If she returns to her Pack, the stranger will die. But if she stays…

Silver Nilsdottir is at the bottom of her Pack’s social order, with little chance for a decent mate and a better life. Until the day a stranger stumbles into their territory, wounded and beaten, and Silver decides to risk everything on Tiberius Leveraux. But Tiberius isn’t all he seems, and in the fragile balance of the Pack and wild, he may tip the destiny of all wolves…

Silver is on the cusp of becoming a slave when a wounded stranger stumbles into her pack’s territory.  She decides to help him and as time goes on they become closer.  Ti (short for Tiberius) is half Pack and half Shifter.  Pack and Shifters don’t mix but Silver is optimistic about Ti.  She tries to help him but he’s a really horrible wolf – not really even knowing how to walk in wolf form.  When outsiders try to hurt the pack some truths come out about Ti and Silver’s not sure she can stay with Ti.

There were many things I liked about this book.  I liked the pack characters for the most part – especially the head Alpha, John (there were other Alpha’s as well).  I liked how the author set up the pack with different levels or echelons.  The sense of family in the book was good and I liked reading about that as well.

The romance in this story, as well as the “suspense” portion of the book is what didn’t do it for me.  Because the story is told in first person POV I think that the lack of Ti’s side of things and his insight into the relationship really impacted the overall story for me.  There just felt like there was something missing.  The suspense or intrigue part of the story where the outsiders were trying to get in to the pack didn’t do anything for me either.  I ended the book wondering if the reason they were attacked was all about greed or was there a bigger issue.

Despite my issues with the book I am interested to see where the series goes next.  I’m not giving up on it yet. 🙂

Rating: 3 out of 5

three-stars


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