Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: Running with the Moon
AUTHOR: Kiernan Kelly
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 140 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2017
BLURB:
2nd Edition
Heart of the Wolf
What happens when a veterinarian ends up a patient in his own animal clinic?
Dr. Dae Anderson needs to lose the deadbeat boyfriend who is holding him back, but Jack is determined to hang on to Dae—even if he has to resort to violence.
Dae has worked hard to fit in among humans, and if his secret gets out, he’ll lose everything. His veterinary assistant, Sean, might be just the man to stand with Dae… against Jack and the world.
Courage of the Wolf
The most painful changes don’t involve the shape of the body, but of the heart….
Just as Dae and Sean are settling into life as a couple, Dae is contacted by his brother, who still lives with his former pack and who exiled him for being gay.
If he refuses to return to Wyoming, a sociopathic alpha will slaughter Dae’s family one member at a time. And deep down, Dae knows he must confront his past before he can truly have a loving future with Sean. First, they have to stay alive.
First Edition of Heart of the Wolf published as Change of Heart by Torquere Press, 2007.
First Edition of Courage of the Wolf published as Change in Attitude by Torquere Press, 2011.
REVIEW:
Heart of the Wolf
For a novella this story really packed a punch. I loved the way this began and when Dae revealed himself to Sean it was fabulous! I loved Sean’s reaction. It was real and it was honest and it had me chuckling because the descriptions of the screaming were humorous.
I LOVED the way Sean revealed his long time hidden feeling for Dae. It was raw and came from anger but when it was out, the embarrassment was fierce and lept off the page. This author has a way with capturing real emotion and making it leap off the page for the reader. I knew exactly how he felt like I was there with him.
Dae’s realization of Sean’s feelings and the “light bulb” moment were a bit fast for me and not really explained well. I mean it worked for the story but was it because mates are fated? Or was it simply because Dae had secretly loves Sean as well? I don’t know, and in the end it felt really rushed. It may have also been due to there being little world building. We really didn’t learn a lot about shifters because the focus was on Dae alone and his issues with a human ex.
I thought the bad guy in this story was pretty well done. Yes he was ott sometimes, but it made for great tension and gave a bit of insight into the shifter side of DAE’s personality. He also brought sean and dae together and was a great way to force dae to reveal himself to Sean and to force Sean to quickly decide if love is enough.
I wish there was more world building but otherwise I enjoyed this novella and am glad the second story in included in this version.
Courage of the Wolf
OK now here is the world building I wanted in the first story. I learned more about pack structure and beliefs and I learned more about shifter families and matings. Dae’s history was presented and I found it enlighten me a lot about some things left hanging in the first story.
I really liked the shifters in this world. They were not the sunshine and rainbow shifters who find love and spend their lives devoted to sex. No these shifters were violent and brutal when necessary.
I hated the alpha and what he did. I was so connected to these characters that I had a visceral reaction to the bad and was happy when death came for him. I enjoyed the violence because it meant freedom for happiness. I don’t know what that says about me but I liked the way the author had things unfold. It felt natural for these characters and circumstances.
I liked the way Sean and Dae’s relationship played out. I liked that things weren’t perfect and that the species differences played a role in that. Because it lead to growth in a way that give this story some extra depth. So often shifters and humans mate but this story actually shows that sometimes the human can feel left out and sometimes the shifter can get it wrong. I love when authors show the imperfections and mistakes. Make the relationships more relatable.
From these two novellas it is clear this author knows how to pen a short novella with some real meaningful meat. I enjoyed both of these tales and think they are two of the better novellas I have read in a while in terms of leaving me with few questions.
RATING: 
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