Genre: Paranormal, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Demi, Gay, Trans FTM
Reviewer: Jay
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About The Book
Newly-changed werewolf Ren Torres flees from pack members who assaulted him when his first shift from wolf form to human revealed him as a transgender man. Injured and terrified, Ren runs to the home of the Anax, ruler of all werewolves in the United States. There, Ren finds sanctuary—and his destined mate.
On the eve of the annual gathering of the U.S. werewolf leaders, the Anax’s guard, Xavier Pelly, has traveled with the Anax to the secondary home where the gathering will occur. When Ren arrives, Xavier immediately recognizes the new, petite werewolf as his fated mate. The one he will protect at any cost.
As the gathering progresses, Xavier works to gain Ren’s trust and to build the emotional connection Xavier requires. Feeling secure for the first time in his life with Xavier’s caring support, Ren finds his place in the Anax’s staff, helping to create Virtual Haven, an online support group for LGBTQ+ werewolves. But when the gathering ends, emotional demons from Ren’s past life on the streets cause Ren to run from Xavier—and when one of the pack members who assaulted Ren finds him, Ren’s life with his mate might come to an end.
This book includes depictions of transphobia, including a trans-bashing; on-page death of werewolves (no major characters); discussion of past abuse and sexual assault; and discussions of prostitution. The book takes place in the Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat universe, but is not a direct part of that series.
The Review
Ren, a trans homeless guy, is bitten and ‘turned’. Initially the attacker’s pack looks after him – until they realise he is trans. He escapes their cruelty and seeks refuge with the Anax, the country’s chief wolf shifter and in doing so also meets his mate, Xavier.
Neither Ren nor Xavier want to plunge straight into a romantic relationship, and the gradual development of their feelings and desire is beautifully handled. The trans issue is, of course, at the heart of this, and is what sets the story slightly apart from other shifter novels, especially because it taps into one of the big social questions of the present day and deals with it from a fresh perspective.
Eventually, the Anax offers Ren a role helping to develop Virtual Haven, a safe online space for LGBTQ+ wolf shifters, and presumably this will form the basis of the planned series. However, Ren is completely new to the shifter life, and both Xavier and the Anax have to explain a lot to him, which helps to establish the author’s ‘world’. Ren has a lot of personal problems caused by family rejection, homelessness and being trans as well as the torture inflicted when the first wolves he met realised he was trans.
Through the gradual development of the mate bond with Xavier and his acceptance by the Virtual Haven team, Ren begins to come to terms with the problems and it is this inner journey that gives the novel depth.
This is a great addition to the shifter genre. The author sets out the parameters of her shifter ‘world’ at the beginning and has taken various aspects from a variety of series and ignored others.
The book is well written – I would recommend it to anyone who wants a shifter tale, and potentially a series, with a difference.
Five stars.
The Reviewer
I’ve been doing book reviews on my website, crossposted or linked to various social media, for a few years. I read a number of genres but I really enjoy all kinds of speculative fiction so thought I’d like to share my views with you. I love sci fi and other speculative fiction because of the way it can, at its best, make us see ourselves in a new light. Quite apart from the exciting stories, of course! I used to be an English teacher, and I’m a writer (fantasy) so I can be quite critical about style etc. but I hope I can also appreciate properly some books that don’t appeal to me personally but might be simply perfect for others. I have, obviously, read widely, and continue to do so.
