Winter’s Wolf Audiobook (Tales of the Harker Pack Book 3) by Tara Lain Narrated by Max Lehnen

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winter's wolf audioBlurb

Winter Thane was raised on the two cardinal rules of werewolf existence: don’t reveal yourself to humans under penalty of death, and there’s no such thing as a gay werewolf. It’s no surprise when his father drags him from his wild life in remote Canada back to Connecticut to meet his old pack in hopes it will persuade Winter to abandon his love of sex with human males. Of course Dad’s hopes are dashed when they come face-to-face with the gay werewolves in the Harker pack.

Winter takes one look at FBI agent, Matt Partridge, and decides bird is his favorite food.

Partridge is embroiled in an investigation into drug dealing and the death of a fellow agent. He can’t let himself get distracted by the young, platinum-haired beast, but then Winter proves invaluable in the search for clues, a move that winds them both up in chains and facing imminent death. Winter quickly learns his father’s motives are questionable, the pack alphas are a bunch of pussies, humans aren’t quite what they seem, and nothing in the forests of Connecticut is pure except love.

Review

(Book reviewed previously on this site.)

Winter and his dad, Damon, move from Canada (back) to Connecticut to join the Harker Pack. Damon thinks Winter needs the influence of a pack (they’ve been more or less living as lone/wild wolves for years) to settle him down and to find himself a mate. Of course, Damon means a female mate, he doesn’t believe in gay werewolves… HA! He chose the wrong pack, because the Harker pack is FULL of gay werewolves!

Winter catches the smell of someone amazing at the bar the Harkers frequent, it’s Matt, an FBI agent working with the pack on a series of crimes involving murder and drugs.

Matt is a human who suspects something is “off” with the Harkers, but he doesn’t know what. He suspects they are somehow involved with or know more about these drug related crimes, but he’s not sure how or what.

Winter and Matt are immediately attracted to one another but feel they can’t be together for several reasons. Winter: it’s against the rules to mate a human. Matt: he’s hiding a secret and a sick father and those don’t blend well with commitment.

Matt and Winter are put on the same task force, trying to track down drug runners and their attraction flares nearly out of control.

But… there are forces out there trying to stop their progress both romantically and professionally.

As a side note, there is some pretty fun family re-union stuff going on in the background that leads to an amazing new alliance and possibly some long-needed rule changes.
**
This, by far, was my most favorite of the three Harker Pack series and possibly my most favorite Tara Lain book to date!

The story line behind the romance actually kept me totally involved (which I admit is not always the case) and I loved seeing the earlier couples actively involved in this story.

Matt’s status (it’s a mystery – I’m not spoiling it!) was done so well! I thought it was very clever and fit in great with the overall story.

The sex between these guys is super hot and their love is also really, really sweet.
Overall a great book I highly recommend. But… you MUST read all three books to really appreciate it, which only makes sense because they are all awesome!

Audio
Max Lehnen. *Sigh.*

He has done the narrations for all the Harker Wolf Series by Tara Lain and unfortunately there is just something about his narrations that drive me crazy.

I find the way he enunciates to be rather garbled, like he’s got marbles in his mouth. I also didn’t like the way he chose to portray Matt – sort of an effeminate southern belle. I like the way he does the “wolfy thinking” – sort of growly and punctate, but the rest of the time I’m not that into it.  As a narrator he isn’t my favorite and it bums me out because I LOVE this series and would have loved to listen to it over and over but I find myself being thrown out of the story over and again by the way I dislike Max’s narration.

I still love the book and if you don’t mind Max Lehnen (I’d suggest listening to the sample before you buy) you might enjoy the audiobook as well.

Overall, with the book earning 6 of 5 hearts and the narration 3 of 5 hearts, I give it 4.5 hearts.

4.5

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Not Just Friends by Jay Northcote

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NotJustFriendsBlurb

Leaving home to go to university is an exciting phase in anyone’s life. One that’s full of new places, new friends, and new experiences. But Lewis is not prepared for the sudden and intense crush he develops on his out-and-proud flatmate, Max—given that Lewis had always assumed he was straight. Max starts dating another guy, and Lewis’s jealousy at seeing them together forces him to confront his growing attraction.

When Max’s relationship goes awry, Lewis is the one to comfort him and one thing leads to another. But after a night together, Lewis is devastated that Max wants to go back to being just friends. Lewis tries his best to move on and their friendship survives, but the feelings he has for Max don’t go away. He faces other challenges as he deals with coming out to his parents and needs Max’s support more than ever. But Lewis isn’t the only one who’s conflicted. When Max finally admits he cares for Lewis too, Lewis must decide whether he dares risk his heart again on being more than just friends.

Review

(From Previous Site)

Lewis is 18 and just starting University where he meets Max, one of his dorm mates.  Max is out and proud and gets Lewis thinking that he may be something other than straight.

At first Lewis fights his attraction to Max, but it isn’t long before he begins to acknowledge that the feeling he’s experiencing watching Max hook-up with other guys is jealousy.  After a sad break-up one night, the two get drunk and mess around.  Lewis is ready to go all in after that; admit he’s gay, admit he likes Max, everything, but Max is on the rebound and isn’t ready to “break in” a new boyfriend, especially since Lewis is new to being gay and they live together.

Lewis is heartbroken, but admits it makes a bit of sense.  Moving on, Lewis begins to explore his newfound sexuality by telling his family, friends, joining the LGBT group at school and even dating.

As the semester goes on, Lewis discovers more about himself and Max does, too.  They have some hurdles to overcome, but in the end we see a very HFN (or HEA depending on how you look at it.)

**

This was another sweet, wonderful book by Jay Northcote.  It’s told in a way that seems very natural and realistic.  Lewis isn’t hung up about finding out he’s gay – he’s reluctant at first, only because he’d had a girlfriend in High School, but it doesn’t take much in the experimenting phase for him to admit his preference.  Lewis’ family is essentially pretty supportive as are his friends.

Max is a fairly easy going, very open gay man, who is really just following his heart.  He doesn’t have any terrible, dark secrets keeping him from loving, just normal life-is-never-perfect stuff that gives him some substance.

When all is said and done, the really nice thing about this story is that it ends up being more about the love story than a “gay” love story.

I really enjoyed this and recommend it.  I give it 4.5 of 5 hearts.

4.5

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