2.5 stars ( )

This book continues the story of the Stone Ridge pack, as well as the integration of other shifter types into the storyline. I was happy to see some of the earlier characters reappear and to find out how they were doing. The focus of this volume, however, is two rather anti-social characters who have to learn how to deal with each other. Needless to say, their backgrounds do not exactly make them ideal "relationship material". The fact that it is the shifter who is struggling with accepting that he has a human mate, rather than the other way around, was a nice change versus the more usual situation of a human struggling with the sudden reality that shifters do exist.

Drake is a rather nerdy professor who loves to focus on his research. He isn’t very good at seeing anything beyond the four walls of his lab, and even his brother, who is more sociable, can’t really help him there. Drake does learn quickly, though, and begins to understand that considering the consequences of his research and its effect on others is just as important as getting the formula right. He is also a crypto zoologist, and as such has hungered for evidence of "unusual creatures" for years. The fact that shifters exist is probably less of a surprise for him than for the average human, but seeing his lover turn into a panther is still a bit of a shock, and I loved the way that scene played out.

Ailean is a rather lonely and anti-social jaguar shifter, who was not only rejected by his human adoptive parents when they found out he is not quite human, but also by other shifters, based on the fact he is black in shifted form. The fact that Ailean is a doctor is probably his saving grace, since it lets him at least stay in touch with humans, even though he doesn’t think very highly of them.

The two men have a lot of hang-ups to overcome, they have to start to communicate and trust each other; with their backgrounds, that is not easy. On the other hand, their need to be loved is just as real as anyone else’s and the comfort they can give each other more significant, because they know what the other’s fate was like.

If you like shifter stories with struggling characters who have a lot to learn, and if you enjoy a good plot with growing hints of a deeper conspiracy that develops across several shorter novellas, you might like this book. This series fascinates me and I look forward to the next installment of this story. ( )