Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)
TITLE: Once Upon A Wolf 
SERIES: Wayward Wolves #1
AUTHOR: Rhys Ford
NARRATOR: Derrick McClain
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 3 hours 49 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 16th, 2018
BLURB:
Gibson Keller’s days are fairly routine: wake up early, get some work done, drink lots of coffee, and take care of Ellis, his older brother, stuck in wolf form after coming home from the war. It’s a simple life made up of long runs on two legs – or four – and quiet evenings…until Ellis chases a handsome man off a cliff and into the frozen waters beside their cabin, changing Gibson’s life forever.
For Zach Thomas, buying an old B&B is a new start. Leaving behind his city life, he longs to find peace and quiet, and hiking the trails behind his property seems safe enough – right up to the moment an enormous black wolf chases him into a lake, nearly drowning him. Discovering werewolves are real astounds him, but not as much as the man who rescues him from the icy water, then walks into Zach’s heart as if he owns it.
Loving a werewolf – loving Gibson with all his secrets – has its challenges, but Zach believes their love is worth fighting for, especially since his heart knows the big, bad wolf is really a prince in disguise.
STORY REVIEW:
I am a fan of werewolves, and a fan of Rhys Ford, so….. This book made me a happy girl when I read it, and a happy girl when I listened to the audio version!
This is the story of Gibson and Ellis, wolf shifter brothers, and Zach, the human who gets sucked in to their drama. Ellis has some issues, although we aren’t sure yet exactly what happened to him. Military we know, saw some bad shit, came home and shifted to his wolf form and stayed that way. Gibson protected him from family members who suggested he should be “put down”, and brought him to the cabin Ellis built on the family property. Where the two have settled in. Gibson writing romance novels, Ellis the wolf doing his wolfy thing. Which apparently includes chasing men through the woods and into the lake!
This gets Zach involved, when Gibson fishes him out of the lake and takes him back to the cabin. Where Zach ends up riding out a storm, injured, and seeing Ellis partially shift to human and back. Zach is freaked out, but…. seems oddly ok with it. As Zach learns more about shifters, and Ellis and Gibson specifically, he wants to spend more time with the brothers and see how he can help. And maybe grow a little closer to Gibson. Conveniently he bought a bed and breakfast not too far away…
Once Upon A Wolf is a new venture for Rhys Ford, she’s not written a were/shifter book before. I was certainly curious going in to this one the first time I read it, but I trust that Rhys will do a shifter story justice, and for the most part she didn’t disappoint me. When I read it the first time, I was wishing it had a little more romance, but when I listened to it, I realized there was more than I had thought. My other complaint after my first read was the amount of time spent on Ellis and his issues. I guess maybe I don’t wish less time was spent on Ellis’s issues, but more time was spent building some drama between Gibson and Zach. They do have some sweet romantic moments, but nothing really challenging between them. The drama is external to them as a couple, not internal. But that is the sweet part that Rhys mentioned prior to the release date I suppose! I also mentioned in my original review that it’s lacking in sex scenes, which I did miss, since Rhys writes some emotional and seriously hot sex scenes. I still agree with that comment. Another on-page sex scene would have been nice. I am greedy, I know this was meant to be a short novella and not a big long novel, so I won’t complain about the length of the book or my wish for more background…. Wait, that sounded like a complaint about the length of the book. Oops!
Anyway! Those are all minor issues. Basically I think this was a very well done step in a new direction for one of my favorite authors. I am looking forward to not only more on this series, but I hope Rhys dips further into the paranormal world!
NARRATION REVIEW:
I am always unsure of what to talk about when I review an audio book, other than mentioning the things that I listen for, and whether the narrator met my needs. I want to be able to tell the voices apart, not only main characters but side characters. I hate not knowing who is speaking! I also want decent accents, and a good attempt at a female voice if needed. I also like to hear some passion in the narrator’s voice, especially during the sex scenes. And Derrick DID give me what I like to hear! I could tell the men apart, especially Ellis’s gruff voice. There are a couple of female characters that were well done, and I could hear the passion as the relationship progresses between Zach and Gibson, especially when they are getting physical. Overall this had good narration and I enjoyed listening to it!
RATING: 
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