Something to Howl About (Alphaville, #0.5)

by Christine Warren

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

This is my first time reading Christine Warren’s work. It was not a bad experience, but I felt it could have been better. The story was entertaining and easy to read.
I loved the author’s view on the world of shifters. This installment introduces readers to a town called Alphaville. This is a town, which welcomes shifters of all species down on their luck and have issues be it financial, physical and emotional dealing with. The town provides a haven for them to recover, recuperate, retreat and rejuvenate.
I enjoyed the interaction between the characters, which is filled with heat and humour. I laughed out a few times. I loved spending time with them and wished I had more time to know them.
However, as this is a novella there were a few things missing from the story. I believe with novellas, readers are cheated, as we are not given sufficient information to establish a connection with the characters. In addition, they sometimes come to an abrupt end leaving us less than satisfied with how the events are concluded. This was no different.
Character Development:
We are told that Annie (the female protagonist) had been banished from her pack. Since then she has wandered aimlessly from city to city. However, the author failed to enlighten her readers about the events that led to her banishment. I never had the chance to get to know the characters on a deeper level.
Romance
Some may consider this an insta-love scenario, but I am not sure I would call it that. I saw it more as a case of falling in lust. As is the norm for most of the shifter stories I have read, the beasts within recognises their mate from the moment they meet. This was no different. However, there was no romantic development. There was no effort by either of the characters in fighting for their relationship.
Story
Annie came to Alphaville to offer her expertise as a geneticist to assist a bear clan who feared they were facing extinction. I found this aspect of the story to be lacking pertinent details. I never saw her using her skills in arriving at her conclusion. The author also did not follow up on Annie’s option to return to her pack after fulfilling her assignment in Alphaville. The story came to an abrupt end, leaving me with several unanswered questions.
Conclusion/Recommendation
Overall, this was a fun story, and it provided me with the much-needed escape from reality.