Review: Once Upon a Wolf by Rhys Ford

Title: Once Upon a Wolf

Series: Wayward Wolves: Book One

Author: Rhys Ford

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Length: 96 Pages

Category: Paranormal, Shifters

At a Glance: This one was lots of fun, you guys. Once Upon a Wolf is definitely a softer side of this author, but there is also intrigue, suspense, and even a teeny bit of gore.

Reviewed By: Jules

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.

Review: It’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed one of Rhys Ford’s books, but when I found out she was writing a shifter series, and saw the cover for this book, I had to grab it. The cover is beyond gorgeous, and I love the story concept and the setting of Big Bear. Most of this story takes place in and around Ellis and Gibson’s mountainside cabin, but we get a glimpse of the surrounding forest and lake as well. And, in typical Rhys Ford fashion, we get dropped smack in the middle of the action as Zach is being chased, in his mind surely to his death, by what turns out to be a huge, black wolf—which is how we’re introduced to Ellis Keller and his brother Gibson.

Gibson and Ellis are obviously very close. Ellis has been in wolf form for almost two years, but he and Gibson have no trouble communicating. I loved how Ford was able to get across Ellis’s personality, even as a wolf. There was never any question as to what he was thinking. In fact, he had me cracking up on several occasions. And it turns out that when Ellis saw Zach, who was out on an innocent stroll around his property, he thought it might just be fun to chase him down and bring him home for his brother! I’m sure he didn’t mean to terrify poor Zach, or for Zach to get injured in the process, but the end result is the same, and Gibson and Zach are thrown together.

The trouble with novellas sometimes is whether the author will be able to tell the story they want to tell in, in this case, under a hundred pages, and, if it’s a romance, whether that romance will work and ultimately be believable. I thought the romance between Gibson and Zach was great. The attraction was there from the beginning, but the relationship was allowed to grow and develop naturally. The guys had a real connection. I loved this:

“I don’t know why it’s important. I just feel like right now, here with you, I’m not alone anymore,” Zach whispered, his voice trailing off. “I felt alone in a crowd of people, in a house full of my family and friends, but here in a cabin barely big enough to hold two humans and a wolf, I feel like you see me, you hear me, and I’m not just shouting in the darkness hoping I won’t disappear.”

And, though I do wish we had a bit more backstory on both MCs—I wanted to know more about Gibson being a writer, for example, and a few more details on Zach’s family, his accident, and his decision to buy a B&B and start a whole new life—I thought Ford also did a good job of getting the story told. I was sucked in to the family’s history in the area, and the mystery of what happened to the old sheriff, and I was absolutely sucked in to Ellis’s backstory and everything about his character. The writing is sharp, the story is fast-paced, and I was left wanting to know more about all of it! Which is exactly what you want for the beginning of a series.

Thank you for writing shifters, Rhys Ford! This one was lots of fun, you guys. Once Upon a Wolf is definitely a softer side of this author, but there is also intrigue, suspense, and even a teeny bit of gore. 😉 It was a well-crafted novella that perfectly primes the readers for the next book. I have feelings! And, questions! Heh, heh. I can’t wait to see what happens next with Ellis. And I have no doubt that we’re going to see Pat Brown again, as there is clearly so much more to that story. I’m sure there are exciting things to come in the Wayward Wolves series, and I will absolutely be along for the ride.

You can buy Once Upon a Wolf here:
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