Reviewed by Tara
TITLE: Happy Furry New Year
SERIES: Wolves of Stone Ridge # 27
AUTHOR: Charlie Richards
PUBLISHER: eXtasy Books
LENGTH: 106 pages
BLURB:
Rowen St. Paul has watched his friends find their mates for years, waiting patiently for Fate to give him his own. When Wesley O’Connor—a troubled eighteen-year-old—is transferred to the school where Rowen teaches history, he’s shocked to discover that the senior is his other half. While Rowen realizes quickly that Wesley returns his desire, he plans to keep his distance…at least, until the school year is over. All that changes when the young hooligan breaks into his home and messes with his computer. Catching him in the act, they begin a steamy affair with one rule—keep it off school grounds. Between Wesley still being in the closet and Rowen needing to explain that he’s a shifter, they have enough obstacles. Still, in a small town, a secret of this nature doesn’t stay secret for long. Just as the truth is discovered by Wesley’s school bully, bad choices from the young man’s past complicates matters further, endangering not only their relationship, but their lives. Can Rowen prove to Wesley that together they can withstand the pressure?
REVIEW:
In the 27th book of the Wolves of Stone Ridge, Happy Furry New Year, We meet Rowen St. Paul, a shifter and teacher of history at the local school in Stone Ridge. He has watched his friends find their mates for many years and is patiently waiting for his own. On a poker night, he is approached by Jared who shows him a file of a young man that will be coming into his class. He was expelled for hacking into his old school’s system and changing a grade. After agreeing to keep an eye out, he heads home. But Rowen has a secret only few know. He has a thing for much younger men and after seeing the young man’s picture, his interest is peaked.
Wesley O’Conner is a closeted eighteen years old with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He has long since known he was gay and indulges whenever he can with older men. It seems everything is okay as long as they are mature, hung, and know what they are doing in the sack. He obviously has issues. When they both meet each other on Wesley’s first day in school and in Rowen’s history class; Rowen realizes that they are mates. This poses the obvious problem of how to hold out on claiming him until the last half of the school year is over. Wesley is also instantly attracted to Rowen although he has no idea why it’s so different than the other men and sets out to seduce his teacher. After a couple of weeks of wearing tight clothes, sharing glances, and displaying of crotches, Wesley has the brilliant idea of breaking into Rowen’s home. Rowen of course is a shifter so no one is going to break into his home without him noticing, especially a human. He catches him in the act and claims Wesley as his. This starts their relationship, as Rowen tries to prove that Wesley is worth loving, and figuring out how to tell him he’s a shifter, and Wesley trying to come out as gay to his family and telling the real reason why he was hacking in the first place.
It was a good book to read, but I do not recommend reading it as a standalone. This far into a series, there are a lot of characters from the other books popping in and out. I did like Rowen. He was the ordinary wolf shifter, waiting for his mate, happy for his friends but wanting his turn. Wesley took a bit to grow on me. He had a cockiness that I couldn’t stand almost like he thought his ass was the holy grail of asses. I get that he was young and had a bit of trouble but that attitude would have had me smacking him into next week. I like the dynamics between the two mc’s. Rowen definitely established he was the alpha male of the two and was very comfortable with his sexual preferences, which he should have been since he was so much older than Wesley.
Once Wesley let his guard down and when we got a glimpse into how cold his home life was, I could understand why he acted the way he did. He was searching for any piece of affection he could get and because of that he got into a lot of trouble. One part I didn’t like was how easy his bullying problem got solved. I mean I get that we couldn’t go into too much detail but I am fan of action along with the loving so I missed that. Although I will say compared to the other books there was a lot more sex in this one. There was no doubting that they were both hot for each other and the sex was off the charts. It was a satisfying read as I have been avid reader of this series since it began. So if you are into the series like me, you will not be disappointed.
RATING: 
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