Needing to Breathe by B.A. Tortuga Series: Two Is Never Enough #1
Published by ARe Books Publication Date: September 1st 2015
Pages: 84
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Orphaned and scared, these cubs need an Alpha…and so do their caregivers.
Cast out of their wolf pack, Jock and Gus are skinny and wild but surviving okay out in the Colorado mountains. Winter is on its way, and Gus isn’t sure what they can do to stay warm and fed. To add to their problems, they’ve adopted a litter of abandoned wolf cubs, and suddenly there’s not enough food to go around.
Archer, a forest ranger and Alpha wolf, finds Jock and Gus in time to save them from Jack Frost, and from themselves. The moment he meets the two young males, he wants them, and he sets out to convince them to stay. Jock understands that Archer is what they need, but Gus intends to fight Archer every step of the way. He has to—it’s in his genes.
Can Archer keep this new family safe, from the elements and each other?
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from Manic Readers in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
Exiled wold pair Jock and Gus come across a female wolf who has been caught in a trap and killed by scavengers. Unfortunately this mama wolf, not to be confused with a female shifter although on one occasion she was referred to as their kind and they are shifters, left behind three wolf pups. With hearts of gold, these two bachelors who barely have enough food to feed themselves can’t just walk away from the pups and leave them to fend for themselves, so they take them in and share their meager supplies with them.
This is the point where the confusion begins. You come across wild orphaned wolf pups. Why wouldn’t you find a park ranger and get help getting the pups to a pack that would take them in? How does it make sense to bring them with you? It’s a park ranger’s job to help after all. The park ranger encounters the bachelor campers and offers all of them shelter, including the pups. As a ranger, shouldn’t he be working towards getting the pups back to their own kind?
My first introduction to this author’s writing has left me at a crossroads I’m not normally at. I am both confused and oddly intrigued. Although I enjoyed the premise of the book and the characters, I found myself wondering on more than one occasion if the characters were intentionally created to sound unintelligent every time they spoke. Was it deliberate or are incomplete sentences punctuated with several periods throughout is just a part of this author’s writing style. I can see it being used once or twice, however, the frequency in which there would be a period after every word was beginning to get distracting, as were the errors. At one point Jock’s name was changed to Josh and somehow this made it past editing.
Don’t get me wrong, those instances aside, I did enjoy the story and each individual’s attempt to find their place in this tiny new pack dynamic. The characters were entertaining and I found myself wanting to other books by this author. This particular book however could have done with one more pass by an editor. The errors partway through the book were too distracting.
