Rather than separate these first four books into different sections, I am just going to talk about them all at once. Through looking at other people's Twitter followers, I discovered author Quinn Loftis. Ms. Loftis has a wonderful series called The Grey Wolves series. I indeed read the first four books in the series this week. I'm waiting on payday to purchase the other books ( I think she is up to 7).
The first book, Prince of Wolves, is currently free on Amazon for the Kindle edition. Click here to get it. Prince of Wolves starts out with hottie Fane, a foreign exchange student, coming to the United States to stay with the family who lives across the street from Jacque, a red-haired spitfire. Fane is, of course, the prince in a Romanian wolf pack. Little does Jacque know when she meets Fane that he is her soulmate. Of course, one should probably keep the wolf thing a secret, but Jacque's mom and her two best friends are in on the whole thing once Jacque finds out. Their fun personalities make the book humorous, even when it is supposed to be dramatic. There is a good deal of fun witty banter thrown in the mix.
Unfortunately, another wolf wants Jacque for her own and thus a bloody battle ensues. Oh, as a side note, Jacque's dad that she's never met? Yeah, he's a wolf too.
The next book, Blood Rights, follows what is supposed to be Jacque and Fane's bonding ceremony, but tragedy strikes and Jacque and her friend Jen are left in the hospital. Her dad gets all upset and wants Jacque to come and live with him until she turns eighteen. Also, being such a good father, he doesn't agree that Jacque and Fane should have their bonding ceremony because they are too young. Well, yes. She's only seventeen. Unfortunately, before he can force his decision, Jacque is kidnapped by a crazy wolf-gone-rogue. Fortunately, Prince Wolf-charming shows up with his posse and yet another bloody fight ensues. I love shifter fights.
The third book, Just One Drop, is less Jacque and Fane and much, much more Jen and her wolf-crush Decebel, who happens to be Beta in the Romanian pack. Jen, it turns out, has a little drop of wolf blood in her. Yay for her, because now maybe she can become Decebel's mate. Unlucky for her, because there are no bonding signs, she and the other unmated females must go to the wolf version of The Bachelor/Bachelorette to basically speed-date a bunch of single wolf guys and hope to find a mate. The Gathering, as it's called, takes place with some other packs around the world. It comes complete with a crazy Alpha from another pack who wants to take down the Romanian pack because they are so powerful and awesome. There's even some evil witchcraft involved.
The fourth book, Out of the Dark, is full of adventure and drama. After Evil Alpha tries to kill our beloved Romanian Alpha, his evil plans comes out in the open. Unfortunately, Jen is nearly dead, her bond with Decebel gets broken, and the good wolf packs along with our three favorite females, must battle Evil Alpha and his wicked witch. Unfortunately, the wicked witch has her own evil agenda which makes the battle even more intense. Also, our beloved Sally is actually a gypsy healer. Which means she might be able to bond with her handsome bartender/wolfman crush.
There was never a dull moment in any of those four books and I seriously cannot wait to read more in the saga of the Romanian pack (and of course their friend-packs).
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In other news, I joined a couple of book clubs at our local library - a regular book club and a young adult (for adults) book club. I've never been a part of a book club before, so I am pretty excited to see what it's all about. This month, the books are Room by Emma Donaghue and Eragon by Christopher Paolini. As much as I love to read, I can't believe I had not previously read either of these books. I have just started Eragon. I finished Room last night.
Room is a heartbreaking novel about abuse and captivity. The story explains the life of Jack, a five-year-old child who is trapped in a "Room" with his mother. His mother was abducted when she was nineteen. She was beaten and raped by her abductor, which resulted in Jack's appearance into the world. Jack seemingly doesn't mind his life in Room because he has known no different. When Jack's mother wants to devise a plan to escape, Jack hesitates and does not want to go along with the plan. He can't understand why his mother wants to leave the safety of Room. He has never been around other people. He really hasn't even met their captor because his mother makes him sleep in the wardrobe so that "Old Nick" as Jack calls him, will not see him. She thinks she is protecting Jack from him.
When they finally do escape, both Jack and his mother have difficulty coping in the real world. Up until that point, Jack thought that everything outside of Room was on television or in outer space. He could not believe that the world had actual people and things just like he saw on television.
Room is a definite tear-jerker. It is heartbreaking to read a first person recount of what life as a captive is like for a five-year-old. The book is told in present tense narrative from Jack's perspective. It also made me take time to think about my surroundings and to imagine what things would seem like as a child or as someone who had never encountered anything before. It's a heartbreaking take that anyone interested in child welfare or crimes against women and youth should read.
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Finally, I read the novella, Rumors by Erica Kiefer. This story is free on Amazon right now AND the publisher, Clean Teen Publishing, is offering a free e-book to the first fifteen people who read Rumors and post an honest review on Amazon. You can find Rumors here. A link to the Publisher's page is here and a link to the review/free e-book promotion is on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/cleanteenpublishing. The last time I looked, there were only four reviews, so there's plenty of time to read a good story and then get another book to read for free.
Rumors is the novella prequel to Lingering Echoes. I haven't read Lingering Echoes yet, but the prequel set the atmosphere. Rumors is about teenager Allie Collins who used to have the seemingly perfect life with her basketball stardom, popularity, and happy family (even though her parents are divorced). Everything came crashing down when Allie's young cousin died while under Allie's care and Allie almost drowned trying to save her. Fast forward to the start of the school year and Allie is plagued by Rumors all over school as well as guilt over her cousin's death.
Allie thinks she has finally found someone to talk to about her pent up emotions when tragedy strikes her life again. Allie doesn't know what to do, but she knows that things need to change.
Rumors is an emotional, yet honest, portrayal of how a young girl has to deal with life after a tragedy. I could empathize with Allie and felt sad and frustrated for her. I love when a character makes me feel something as I read their story. All in all, it was a good story even if not in my typical subject-matter of books.
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Last but not least, one of the most awesome book bloggers out there, Delphina of Delphina Reads Too Much is having a super awesome giveaway on her blog for her "blogaversary." You can check out Delphina's blog and her butt-kicking giveaway here: http://delphinareadstoomuch.com/
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