Review: A good addtion to the shifter series by Charlie Richards
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 10, 2012
Lou had been in a long-term relationship with another man who had a son. His partner had the son (Damon) from a lion-shifter female, but when she believed the son to be purely human, she gave all parental rights away. Now that his partner has passed away, Lou has adopted Damon and has been raising him. When the boy unexpectedly shifts when he's not quite 13 years old, Lou then believes the old stories that his late partner told him.Wesley is a 70-something lawyer friend of Lou that is so close to them both, he's basically "Uncle Wes". Wes used to date the tarantual shifter Haben Bello back when he was young, and calls on Haben to come and educate Damon on what it means to be a shifter. When Lou and Haben meet, it's pure sparks as they are fated mates. When Damon's mom discovers that Damon is indeed a shifter, she fights to get him back, and Haben steps up to the plate to protect his mate's son.It's like other Charlie Richards' novels. Focus is more on story and characters than erotica. The writing is smooth and seamless. Richards' take on shifters is fun in that there appear to be almost as many types of shifters as their are types of animals, and it's interesting to see how the various types of animals/shifters are represented. For example, there's some friction at one point in the story when Lou is faced with Haben in his tarantula form. After all, who wouldn't be icked out by a tarantula that's over a foot long?What I enjoyed in this story was that some more backstory is given to a couple of recurring characters, and it'll be VERY interesting to see how their stories play out, since one of these characters apparently knows his mate, but is not with him for some reason. Also, a brief introduction of another shifter suggests that yet another recurring character has a mate, but that the mate is remaining distant for some reason. There's a lot of fodder in this book for at least three more romances, and it'll be enjoyable to read them.