Erica's Review: Wolves of Black Pine by SJ Himes
Wolves of Black Pine by SJ Himes
Characters: Kane, MC; Burke and Sophia, Secondaries
Synopsis
An ancient civilization long hidden from humanity is on the brink of chaos and war. Peaceful for thousands of years, the wolfkin clans are mysteriously losing packmates, kidnapped and killed by unknown foes.
The nightmare begins with an ambush by humans at a gathering of their kind, and lives are lost. Among them is Luca, youngest grandson of the two most powerful wolves in the Northern Clans. Thought long dead and gone, he is forced into a half-life, hidden in the far northern wilds of Canada and cut off from his kind. Those who raised him have no idea the creature they harbor in their midst, and name him Ghost. He begins to lose himself over the long years, and though he barely recalls his true name, the one wolf he never forgets is Kane.
Kane, Heir to the wolfkin clan Black Pine, is charged with hunting down the traitors who betrayed their kind to the humans. Years fly by, and more wolves are dying. He refuses to give up, and he vows to never again fail another of their kind, as he failed young Luca years before. His heart tells him Luca lives, but his mind tells him that it’s foolish hope, his guilt eating him alive.
Fate and magic change the course of their lives, and the two wolves long separated by the years find their paths intertwining. Though the gift of their reunion doesn’t come without price. Faced by the consequences of their growing love, and the goddess-forged bond between them, Kane and Ghost are besieged on all sides. Enemies are coming for their blood, and without the steadfast loyalty and love of family and friends, they may not be safe from the very people they fight to protect.
Book One in a series, The Wolfkin Saga. 150,000+ words, contains graphic sex between men, dubious consent, mentions of abuse. Contains gore and violence. Mature readers only.
I Love m/m stories. I have read plenty of them. Some are good, some not so good, and every once in a while I find one that I completely love. I love m/m with strong male characters which describe these Sean and Mason. I will start by saying I loved Sean and Mason they didn’t have not one girly bone in their body. This book also had great secondary character and I can’t wait to read their story. Get ready to start a new series. Just thought I would put it out there.
I started this book and got lost, all I know is my children had hot dogs and fries for dinner because I could think of anything faster without me leaving the house. Sloan made me like baseball. Ok she made me like baseball players. Sean and Mason brought the game to life for me. Even if didn’t learn much about baseball I learned how friends could become lovers. I saw how the trust built and the emotions grew. Sean didn’t put any pressure on Mason to do more than he was ready for. Mason let Sean work out his trust issue by showing him plenty of love. These are two men that were willing to put everything aside for one another. All they wanted was to be happy, be loved, and find fulfillment in their lives together. It was an emotion ride on and off the field, but they stuck it out and made it work. If you like the gay man with the straight bestfriend that’s not so straight after all I want you to one click this book right now because these two friends are hot, hot for each other, and had amazing chemistry. I’m ready for the next book Sloan. I give this book 4 loving stars.
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Excerpt:
“BURKE, TAKE Sophia and some betas out, patrol the outlying
borders and along the river,” Kane told his lieutenant, as he zipped up his
leather jacket, standing at the door of their shared cabin. It was actually the
same one they’d shared fifteen years earlier, and Kane was trying not to let
the memories get to him. He was thankful that the Suarez wolves were awake, and
he planned on speaking to the adults as soon as he could. He should be out
there patrolling as well, but he couldn’t bear the thought of going near the
river.
Burke gave him a nod, and a small smile. Kane tried to hide
how he was feeling, but the night before had been long and lonely, and he
fought tooth and nail with the urge to Change and run along the river, looking
even after all these years for a long lost cub. It was a foolish desire, and he
ruthlessly battered it down, refusing to give in to the guilt and weight of
failure.
Luca was gone, no matter what his heart said. No matter how
strongly his whole body yearned to run out there, every instinct screaming at
him that Luca lived and was waiting for him…he restrained himself. He struggled
to fight back the pain, the hole in his heart a screaming void of guilt and
grief, and he feared it would never go away.
Suddenly, he was engulfed in a hug, Burke pressing his face
in his neck, long arms holding him tightly. There was nothing sexual in the
embrace, and he stood frozen for a second before he let himself hug Burke back.
Best friend he was, before any other role. Alpha, lieutenant, Speaker—Burke was
his best friend, and he loved him. And he knew that Burke loved him back. Burke
had been by his side since the day Kane arrived in Augusta, the slightly older
youth looking out for the lonely Heir, and forging a friendship that neither
man could do without.
“Never doubt yourself. Please. I feel your guilt, your pain.
You did not fail them. You did not fail Luca,” Burke whispered in his ear, and
Kane buried his head in Burke’s shoulder, tears welling up unbidden. “His death
is not your fault.”
“Why does it hurt so much? I barely knew the cub. He’s dead,
he must be, but it hurts, as if he’s waiting for me to save him, and I just
gave up on him,” Kane bit back a sob, clutching Burke as tightly as he could,
the other wolf’s warmth suddenly essential to his survival. He missed touch, he
missed the connection of flesh to flesh, and it bothered him again that he
couldn’t think of another wolf sexually at all. He hadn’t even hugged anyone in
years. The most contact he’d had was the occasional brush of his hand on
Burke’s shoulder or arm, or a few handshakes or nose touches with clan mates.
Impersonal touches, or slightly friendly. Burke was the only one who he felt
comfortable touching, but even then those were fleeting moments.
Was he broken? Did his guilt cripple him, leave him
impotent?
“It hurts because you are a good man, and good men never
forget,” Burke said softly, nudging his nose into the hair behind Kane’s ear, a
move so similar to what they’d do in wolf-form that Kane felt the pain all the
sharper. Burke’s big hands rubbed over his shoulders, soothing. He dragged in a
deep breath, and held it, eyes tightly shut, and he let his last tears fall. No
more tears. Coming back here to Baxter was almost more than he could handle,
and he couldn’t do his job and protect the wolves in his charge if he was
constantly swamped by memories of his failure.
They stood like that for a while, and Kane absorbed the
comfort his friend gave him. Burke’s mind was a glittering presence that
hovered at the edge of his perception, the other alpha remaining distant
mentally to give him some semblance of privacy, even as they held each other.
“Better now?” Burke asked, as his tears dried, his breathing
evened out.
“Yes. Thank you, brother.” Kane lifted his head, and clasped
Burke’s face in gratitude, kissing his forehead before pulling away. “Sometimes
you leave me wondering why I’m Heir, and you are not. You’re far wiser than I,
Burke.”
Burke’s arms fell away, and he gave Kane a smile that was
both sweet and cocky.
“I wonder that all the time, whelp,” Burke teased, gently
shoving him with one arm.
“Whelp? You’re like five minutes older than me, don’t even
start.”
“Five years, not five minutes. Still too young to tell time
correctly, I see.”
“Be gone with you, insubordinate mongrel!” Kane laughed, and
pushed Burke ahead of him out the door, where his friend promptly began to
strip. Sophia was waiting out front in her wolf-form, a dark brown and black
shadow that somehow blended in with the snow, despite the contrast. She was
small, but compactly built with powerful muscles, and she very politely turned
her head as Burke knelt in the snow outside the cabin to Change.
Kane walked on, averting his eyes as well, as Burke
transformed from a tall, lean man with dark hair and light golden-brown eyes to
a large chocolate-brown wolf with a deep, thick coat and brilliantly white
teeth. Burke brushed past him as he sprinted to join Sophia where she waited
patiently, pausing for half a second to let Kane run his fingers through the
guard hairs along his back.
“Please keep me in the loop while you’re out there,” Kane
told them, tapping his temple, meaning the mental pack lines, “I don’t want to
lose any more wolves to our mystery enemies.”
Burke yipped in agreement, and he and Sophia took off down
the path, towards the other cabins where the rest of the Black Pine wolves were
bunking. Kane watched them go, and then turned his feet towards the big cabin at
the top of the path. His boots slid in the melting snow and ice on the pathway,
and he wondered if he shouldn’t Change as well, four paws having better
traction in the current conditions than booted human feet. He dismissed the
inclination, as his wolf-form was very large, and he didn’t want to intimidate
the Suarez wolves. They were in a delicate place mentally and emotionally, and
Andromeda’s mental call to him this morning was laden with an unspoken warning
to be careful with their guests.
He passed the council house, the large stone and wood
building locked up until this summer’s gathering. A memory came upon him, fast.
Kane sat again in that building, surrounded by cubs, as one in particular
flirted with him, all sweet giggles and smart answers. He paused briefly,
eyeing the structure, memories threatening to again overwhelm. He was prepared
for it this time, and pushed the grief away. He took to the path again,
resisting the urge to look back.
Author Bio for SJ Himes
I’m a thirty something bisexual cisgendered woman with way
too big an imagination, but that comes in handy when I’m writing. I have been
writing since I was a child, when I took a four page assignment on what I was
going to do on summer vacation and turned it into a 100 page fantasy epic all
written by hand…in crayons. No joke.
I work a day job, but I can’t share for who, since the Old
Man isn’t as liberated as the people who read my books. I’m married, I have
furbabies, and I live with loved ones. I adore a certain show about a British
consulting detective and his grumpy army doctor, and that spawned an addiction
to Johnlock fanfiction, which then evolved into me writing it. Gawd, that’s
embarrassing. Put this down in the TMI section of my Bio, okay? I enjoy martial arts, movies where things
blow up, and I wish I lived in a Marvel movie.
I live in the beautiful and lonely Berkshire County in
Massachusetts, and I see way more wildlife than I care to on a daily basis
(bears!). My perfect day is reading surrounded by friends and family who don’t
think it’s odd I want to hang out but not talk, and my favorite scent of all
time is a cool fall evening with leaves burning….less a scent, and more of an
experience.
My writing is focused on gay and lesbian people, who are
more than interesting side characters that hang out with the heterosexual MCs.
My wish for the future is that when people ask me what I do for a living, I can
say, “I write gay romance,” and NOT get weird looks.
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