Review: When Alphas collide
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2011
Book 2 in "After the Crash". Preceded bySleeping With The Wolf. Followed by "Tracking Tami", the story of Tami and Tracker Dan (not published at the time of this review). 6 books are currently proposed (from the author's website).Plot:World Premise: A plane departs in 2014 and crash lands in 2064. The world has suffered, women are scarce, and wolf shifters are normal. Each woman on the plane needs to find her place in this World, because there's no going back."Wolf's Glory": Thrown forward 50 years to an encampment of Native American Wolf Shifters, one of whom says you're his mate, what are the chances you'll also find your Best Friend and Worst Enemy?Comments:- Set 50 years in the future, post apocalypse, with wolf shifters and some other paranormal/psychic skills.- 3093 kindle locations, 72700 words (about double the size of previous book).- "Wolf's Glory" is the second book in a (currently proposed) 6 book series. However, it would happily standalone, or be read before Book 1 "Sleeping with the Wolf". Barone gives enough backstory from Book 1 to remind us what has happened, or give motivations for her characters, without delving into (unwanted) exposition. I really dislike it when an author unnecessarily repeats the whole plot of a previous book; if I want to know, I'll read the book! Barone, thankfully, doesn't do this, particularly because she is blending the characters' stories and timelines, taking the different points of view of the women. No one exists in isolation, they meet, interact, move on. A real community.- Glory is "Goth"-ish, pink hair and all, with "all the curves a woman could want".- Timeframe: We start with Glory walking to get help, the same starting point as "Sleeping with the Wolf". We end 2-3 months later (about mid-winter).- Looking at her blog, it appears Barone is planning a few short stories around other characters we meet. The first is "Sherry's Wolf", the story of Sherry and Jumping Stag. Good to see some of our favourites won't be forgotten. Something to watch out for.- A "spicy" paranormal romance - explicit m/f scenes but not frequent.Opinion:Barone is developing a very interesting, complex series. She cleverly interweaves the characters as they move through the World, without losing focus on the main characters' point of view. It is intelligent and creative. Barone gives her World life and depth, without forcing action, suspense, angst on her characters. Let's be realistic here: Nothing much happens. Glory walks, camps, nurses, rides, moves into a motel, draws, accepts Shadow has her HEA. She moves through her life, meeting people, having relationships, interacting. She has A Life. There are no Jilted Lovers stalking her, no Government Apocalyptic Conspiracies, no Werewolf Bites Changing Her. She just wants to work out how to deal with her life crashing down around her, and a sudden Lust Imperative that sends her into Shadow's arms. And this is A Good Thing. (Okay, even less happens in "Sleeping with the Wolf", but it's also shorter). Barone places normal women in an abnormal situation and lets them find their way. It works for me. It satisfies me. I enjoy it. I look forward to Tami's story in Book 3.***SPOILER***Interesting scene in a "romance" - He's dominating her, not caring whether she's enjoying it, using sex to force her to submit. She doesn't realise that's what he doing, instead sees it as rough but thoroughly enjoyable sex. Is it rape?-CR-