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The Howling Heart by April Bostic
Publication date: August 8th, 2013
Pages: 220
Synopsis:
Paige Donovan is an ambitious college graduate who aspires to reach the top of the corporate ladder. She's climbing fast when given the promotion of a lifetime at a prestigious fashion magazine in New York City. Her bright future comes to an unexpected halt after news of her father's death. She inherits his old cabin in the Colorado Rockies, and just when she thinks her luck couldn't get any worse, she has a car accident in the mountains and awakens in the small, remote community of Black River.
Soon, she's engulfed in the mystical world of Varulv--wolves descended from 13th century Scandinavia and blessed by Norse gods with the ability to appear human. Paige is desperate to return home, but never expects to fall for her rescurer, Riley Gray, a charming young werewolf from England who offers her an alternate future with his pack.
Now, she must choose between the career she's always wanted and the love she's always dreamed.
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Review:
I received an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Out of all the paranormal and mythical creatures I have read about, werewolves always hold a special place in my heart. I think it's the whole shapeshifting thing. Being able to change from one thing to another seems like it could come in handy from time to time. Perhaps I just think humans are boring and am an animal lover. Who's to say.
This book opens on a girl having a dream about her past in which she encounters a wolf pup in the forest behind her house and immediately befriends it (this is very reminiscent of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater). For some reason Paige, an assistant to the editor at a fashion magazine, remembered that time in her life, and that particular family vacation. Pushing the memory out of her mind, she makes it to work and receives the promotion she had been waiting for. Ecstatic she throws a party to celebrate. It seems though that Paige is not destined to enjoy her promotion because she gets the news that her father has passed away due to a heart attack. Wracked with grief, Paige, along with her self-centered mother, start making preparations for her father's future. Paige comes to find out that the cabin they stayed out during their family vacation was given to her in her father's will.
With the plaintive whines of her mother telling her to sell the cabin, Paige ventures back to the last place she was happy and her parents were still together. Her plan is to check it out and see if she wished to sell it or fix it up to keep. Once again, it seems Paige is not destined to feel the emotions she wishes to. She went to grieve her father's death and instead gets sucked into a world of wolves and a strange town of outsiders.
In her time there she does meet one of the most handsome men she could ever lay eyes on and so starts a whirlwind romance between Riley and Paige. Paige soon realizes there is more to Riley then just handsome features. He is also a wolf and he has set his sights on her from the moment he met her. He cares for her when she is injured and protects her from all that could or would harm her. He wants her to stay with him. He wants to be with her always.
But what of her career at home. Everything she had worked for was back there, but this hunk who wanted her and loved her was here and not willing or able to relocate. Career or love? What a dilemma.
This book snagged my interest from the very first page. I started reading it late at night, thinking I'd read a few chapters and then turn in for the night. I got sucked in and didn't put it down until the sun was out and the book was finished. There were some references to bestiality that were a bit, "uhhh... I don't know how I feel about that." But all-in-all, it was beautifully written and an original concept. It was a different spin on werewolves and used Norse gods instead of the traditional Greek gods most books do.
The Howling Heart will leave its reader "howling" for a sequel.
Out of all the paranormal and mythical creatures I have read about, werewolves always hold a special place in my heart. I think it's the whole shapeshifting thing. Being able to change from one thing to another seems like it could come in handy from time to time. Perhaps I just think humans are boring and am an animal lover. Who's to say.
This book opens on a girl having a dream about her past in which she encounters a wolf pup in the forest behind her house and immediately befriends it (this is very reminiscent of Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater). For some reason Paige, an assistant to the editor at a fashion magazine, remembered that time in her life, and that particular family vacation. Pushing the memory out of her mind, she makes it to work and receives the promotion she had been waiting for. Ecstatic she throws a party to celebrate. It seems though that Paige is not destined to enjoy her promotion because she gets the news that her father has passed away due to a heart attack. Wracked with grief, Paige, along with her self-centered mother, start making preparations for her father's future. Paige comes to find out that the cabin they stayed out during their family vacation was given to her in her father's will.
With the plaintive whines of her mother telling her to sell the cabin, Paige ventures back to the last place she was happy and her parents were still together. Her plan is to check it out and see if she wished to sell it or fix it up to keep. Once again, it seems Paige is not destined to feel the emotions she wishes to. She went to grieve her father's death and instead gets sucked into a world of wolves and a strange town of outsiders.
In her time there she does meet one of the most handsome men she could ever lay eyes on and so starts a whirlwind romance between Riley and Paige. Paige soon realizes there is more to Riley then just handsome features. He is also a wolf and he has set his sights on her from the moment he met her. He cares for her when she is injured and protects her from all that could or would harm her. He wants her to stay with him. He wants to be with her always.
But what of her career at home. Everything she had worked for was back there, but this hunk who wanted her and loved her was here and not willing or able to relocate. Career or love? What a dilemma.
This book snagged my interest from the very first page. I started reading it late at night, thinking I'd read a few chapters and then turn in for the night. I got sucked in and didn't put it down until the sun was out and the book was finished. There were some references to bestiality that were a bit, "uhhh... I don't know how I feel about that." But all-in-all, it was beautifully written and an original concept. It was a different spin on werewolves and used Norse gods instead of the traditional Greek gods most books do.
The Howling Heart will leave its reader "howling" for a sequel.
