The story opens with Vadim Miroslav who is sitting in his father's study when a young man named Sashenka (nicknamed Sasha) bursts in, looking for a hiding place. Since both are werewolves, they immediately recognize each other as life-mates though this is their first meeting. Vadim hides Sasha under the desk.Three burly men show up looking for Sasha. They and Sasha all belong to a pack of werewolves, which is visiting Vadim's father. They tell Vadim that Sasha is the "omega" in their pack, and must be returned to their alpha-wolf for punishment. Vadim sends them away, and he and Sasha have sex. This seals their life-mate bond, which grants them the ability to communicate with one another telepathically.
Soon after this, the alpha of Sasha's pack challenges Vadim who kills him in a fit of rage on page 28. Now Vadim must leave his father's house and journey with Sasha by ferry to a nearby island where Sasha's former pack has been living in isolation. According to werewolf custom, Vadim now has responsibility for the pack whose alpha he killed. He will be their alpha now and lead them with Sasha at his side.
The pack gratefully accepts Vadim as an improvement on their abusive former alpha. However, a couple of malcontents lurk on the sidelines to undermine him and Sasha. At the same time, Vadim must shore up Sasha's low self-esteem and help him to uncover the truth about his mysterious past.
Here at Obsidianbookshelf.com, I had problems with My Lupine Lover. In my opinion, there wasn't a strong villain or much of a conflict once we're past page 28. At times the plot became improbable such as when one small wolf manages to kill three large wolves fighting him simultaneously and his achievement is chalked up to the power of love with no further explanation.
Meanwhile, the text has more mistakes than I'm used to seeing in a published ebook. For example: "peels of laughter" (three times), "you're problem", "what his roll in their lives would be", "on his own to feet", "rubbing against hit tight puckered hole", "Vadim cock was", "How much to you like me", and "put through a ringer" (twice). The adjective "little" gets applied to Sasha 72 times in 156 pages and we're told he's "adorable" three times.
Then there are smaller questions that bothered me such as what do characters like Vadim do for a paycheck? Do they have jobs? In my opinion, the world-building is too sparse. If I'm reading a paranormal, I want to know early on the status of the supernatural population in regards to the human majority.
Are the werewolves in hiding? Accepted by humans? Oppressed by humans? Or maybe they've conquered the humans? Until I know, the question distracts me from the story. In My Lupine Lover, we don't learn until page 154 about the "…the whole don't-show-yourself-to-humans thing."
Where is this story set? It's a place of forests and water, which could put it anywhere in Canada or the upper United States. What is the characters' cultural background? They seem American, but have Eastern European names that are hard to pin down. For example, I think the surname "Miroslav" in this story is usually a Serbian or Czech first name.
The first names in this story are Russian, but the nicknames are sort of Americanized. In Russian, the diminutive of Vadim is Vadik, not Vad. Nikolai would be Kolya, not Niko. Sasha's formal name would be Aleksandr, not Sashenka, which is an intimate diminutive that might be used by one's parents or lover.
To question the names is persnickety, I'll admit. But it pulled me out of the story while I wondered what these names are intended to communicate. Are these characters American werewolves? Russian-Americans? Russians? Czech? Or what?
I'm afraid I can't recommend My Lupine Lover. You can always read an excerpt and other reviews and decide for yourself. The novella has received some good reviews and has a following, so you may find that it connects with you. COPYRIGHT: All content copyright © Obsidian Bookshelf, except where noted. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without written permission from Val Kovalin is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Val Kovalin and Obsidianbookshelf.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Click for more information.
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5 comments:
I would assume based on your review you haven't read her tri-omega series. I recognized the names of Sasha and Vadim from one of the books where two of the guys go to the resort area owned by Sasha and Vadim to find their third mate. The issues you noted are pretty much prevalent with the other books although I don't remember quite that many errors. And really, we all need a roll in our lives, you never know when you'll need a snack. :-)
It also seems like the other book answers some of your questions. I thought they lived on an island where they run a resort for other weres. Not sure where the island is but the two guys who went there didn't travel all that far (one day?) and they lived in somewhere like Nebraska or Oklahoma or some cowboy-type place. It's unfortunately though that you have to read another book not about them to get that info though.
I would have found those errors really annoying, more than the names thing. To be honest I already knew about their back story (not the details) so doesn't seem like this would add much to the story for me.
Very interesting review Val! Nicely done pointing out the issues you had with it and while the names may be picky, I think if the author is going to include those details it's acceptable to call them on it.
I've read a few of Stormy Glenn's books and I know she has a huge following. I kind of don't understand what fans see in this particular author and it's interesting to note the problems you point out.
Hi, Tam and Kassa! Thanks for the comments.
Tam - you're right. I've never read the tri-omega series. This is my first read by this author. I guess this must not be part of that series. So I guess they're Americans on an island maybe in the Great Lakes area? So what's with the pseudo-Russian names?
You said: "And really, we all need a roll in our lives, you never know when you'll need a snack. :-)"
*snort* Too true!
Kassa, thank you. The name thing is really picky, I know. These things pull me out of the story. I think I might have been ruined as a reader by some of the editing jobs I've had in the past, ha, ha!
Great review, Val.
I've not read this story but I must say I've read some of her other books and liked them. I definitely would have a problem with the editing but the names wouldn't bother me. I like the author but will pass this one up.
Hi, Lily! I, too, was shocked at the sheer number of typos and misspelled words. Usually I never remark on that in a review if I just see a few here and there because we all make mistakes, but this book had an unusual amount!
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