When everyone tells you that you’re meant for bigger things, at what point do you start believing them? When life calls on Adam Miller, he must decide if he can rise to the occasion.

Adam Miller doesn’t have an exciting life. But then, he’s never wanted one. He’s happy to play his small part in the world. He’s a cog in the machine, sure, but an important one that keeps the machine running. He’s happy to remain in the background, a mid-level employee with a cramped cubicle and an amiable friend to those in his pack. But his habit of not making waves also means that he must keep an integral part of himself hidden from those he calls family.

Despite being shrouded in secrecy, Adam’s love life takes a distinct turn for the better when he meets Joshua Wetmore. Like the rest of Adam’s life, his romance with Josh appears to be quietly progressing right on schedule. Their sweet courtship is born just as Adam’s pack asks him to step forward into the demanding leadership role of Alpha. Adam struggles to prioritize his developing relationship with Josh, while still keeping their connection private. The spotlight on him is bright, and his secret might be the spark that ignites the tinder of discontent within his pack.

As Adam’s doubts about whether he’s truly meant for the Alpha role haunt him, his pack’s safety is threatened by impending turf war. And his seemingly easy going new boyfriend brings his own set of dangerous complications. As the stakes get higher and higher, Adam must find the courage to rise to the occasion. With his pack, with Josh and with himself.

Rise from the Ashes, by Noah Harris

Rating: 3.25 out of 5

What can you do with a book where you just don’t connect with the characters? That’s the biggest problem I had with Rise from the Ashes.

Starting with Adam: we get a very clear picture of Adam’s life as a corporate drone. Shuffle papers, stay in the middle of things with his head down. I find his sudden transition to pack alpha a bit difficult to imagine since up until that point he had seemed a man of limited aspirations. Once established in the role he starts to chafe at the daily grind, but it just doesn’t seem an intuitive personality change to me.

Josh, on the other hand, is set up as the romantic foil and…well, not a whole lot else. The point that he is a gentle soul is made again and again. A couple of personality traits are made repeated to reinforce his nurturing role, but I just never get a feel for his history and who he is as a person. Instead he becomes a plot point and not much else.

The world-building here is minimal, though for the purposes of the story that is not much of a negative since the main focus is on the interactions of the pack. It is current America with an entire society of werewolves and faeries existing in parallel to ours, but in secret. Not much is made of this secrecy, though. The story itself is rather predictable. This isn’t bad if the story is well told. This is a competent rendering.

One last note: I find it quite strange that the title and book cover appear to have very little to do with the story itself. Perhaps this was a marketing decision, but I’m mystified at the choices.

By the winter of 1870, Caleb Fletcher has carved out a sheltered existence for himself in a simple cabin, outside a small town in the backwaters of Nebraska, resigned to living out his days as a solitary wolf. But his quiet life is interrupted when another werewolf lands on his doorstep on the eve of a snowstorm, brutalized almost beyond repair, with nowhere else to turn.

When Caleb reluctantly welcomes Jacob into his cabin, and eventually his bed, it forces him to face up to the traumas he’s been running from; the shame that made him leave his pack behind, and the horrors of war he endured.

As the weeks pass, it seems that Jacob’s arrival might not be the coincidence it first appeared. Jacob has an agenda. One that involves Caleb. And if Caleb agrees to it – if he can let go of his past and his prejudices – it will change Caleb’s whole world. Maybe even for the better.

Without a mate – a family, a pack – a wolf has no home.

But what if home finds you?

Home Is Where You Are (The Alphas’ Homestead #1), by Alex Jane

Rating: 4.75 out of 5

I love warm, fuzzy feelings and that is what I got from this book. There is a quality to this writing that I enjoyed – matter-of-fact in describing about the harsh realities of hardscrabble life in the Great Plains, but also showing thoughtful insight into the main characters.

In this world, werewolves are known to exist in the human population, though they generally keep to their own kind. In cities, they are tolerated and can even ascend to the higher social classes. In war, they are fearsome fighters, weapons used by generals. In the rural country, though, they are viewed with fear and suspicion.

Caleb is a former Union soldier. He left his family behind abruptly when he went off to war, and saw and survived the absolute worst. Now, years later, he lives an isolated life, fighting PTSD and barely tolerated by his neighbors. Jacob’s arrival changes all of that.

I love that the author gives us some insight into Jacob and Caleb’s histories, and I get a real feel for each character. They are very different individuals and contrast one another nicely. Much of the dramatic tension comes from Caleb’s rejection of Jacob while his inner wolf makes it abundantly clear that this is not an acceptable possibility. Watching the relationship develop between the two is what gives me warm fuzzies, and I finished the book with a happy smile.

This is a unique spin on werewolves in the m/m romance genre and is well worth seeking out. The sequels, Returning Home (4.5/5) and Longing for Shelter (4.25/5), carry the story forward well, introduce new characters (but still include Caleb and Jacob!) and are a joy to read.