Review: Dirty Paws by Caitlin Ricci

Title: Dirty Paws

Author: Caitlin Ricci

Length: 36 Pages

Category: Paranormal, Shifters

At a Glance: I would have loved to see more of the culture the author presented as we got only a bare glimpse into the life, touching only what was relevant to the plot. In so many ways I felt the story was only starting to take off when it ended.

Reviewed By: Jenn

Blurb: After fighting at school Hale is shipped off to his grandad’s horse farm for the summer. He’s miserable and angry, but his grandad’s CNA, Bo, makes life a bit more interesting for him, especially when he finds out that Bo is a werewolf and Hale is the last to know his secret.

Review: A great potential let down by its length, as it’s always hard to tell a complete and full story in only forty-five short pages. I felt this was compounded by having the story take place in the space of twenty-four hours. Our spunky protagonist Hale is dropped off at his grandfather’s house for the summer after getting into a fight in school, where he expects to be bored out of his mind. Instead he encounters the friendly CNA looking after his grandfather, Bo, whom he’s attracted to. Once there he learns a number of surprising and emotionally hard-hitting facts, the least of which is that Bo is a werewolf.

Because of the short timeline, it didn’t feel like Hale properly reacted to the surprises in store for him as the story progresses. The main character is mostly reactive, and I don’t think we get to spend enough time with the cast to fully appreciate their characters. The author had a number of excellent plot points and emotional moments that, unfortunately, felt rushed and didn’t leave the impact they wanted to.

In many ways the relationship with Bo feels a bit out of the blue when it arrives, and seems to go against werewolf culture as we are presented with it. I would have loved to see more of the culture the author presented as we got only a bare glimpse into the life, touching only what was relevant to the plot. In so many ways I felt the story was only starting to take off when it ended, and they could have continued in so many ways.

Overall, I think the author would benefit from making this into a longer story, with more time between events and getting to build the budding friendship between Bo and Hale into a proper relationship, maybe even take it further and show them fighting for the relationship. At the very least there should be a sequel because I don’t think the author is finished telling this story, and I’d happily grab it up to see what happens next.

You can buy Dirty Paws here:
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