An
apple a day won’t keep this doctor away.
Linden Grove has always known that he’s not destined to be the next pack alpha.
That position belonged to his brother Aspen—but then Aspen left the pack to
join the military. When the unthinkable happens and the pack is left
rudderless, someone has to step up and take care of it. Can a doctor go from
“do no harm” to defending his own with his teeth and claws?
Colt Doherty is used to a certain kind of life. Glittering, picturesque, and...
empty. As the youngest child of the country’s only werewolf senator, Colt has
grown up in the spotlight, and he’s all too used to knot-headed alphas taking
credit for the work of others, especially omegas like himself. When his editor
sends him to write a story on the Grove pack, though, he finds something
completely unexpected: Linden Grove in his unpolished perfection, as shiny and
sweet as the apples his pack are known for.
A Grove pack omega has been kidnapped, and someone has to step up. The pack
needs Linden to fill his father’s shoes, but no wolf can stand on his own. To
save the day, sheltered Colt has to drop the politics and become the action
hero he never thought an omega could be.
Black Moon is a standalone novel featuring one fiery journalist, one doctor
with an obsession for hand knit sweaters, and the sweetest apple pies on the
whole eastern seaboard, all bundled up in a non-mpreg A/B/O universe.
Book
1
Buy Links
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Paperback (US)
~ Also Available with
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If you’ve never driven the side roads off Virginia highways, let me tell you, you’re missing out on a whole bunch of fields. Hours and hours of trees and farmland. Endless, mundane hours.
Before I even got to Grovetown, I lost patience with the audiobook I’d been listening to, slammed it off, and turned on an old Blink-182 album, shouting along with lyrics worn familiar by a youth spent pissed the fuck off.
Finally—fucking finally—I wound my Prius up hilly roads, passing what looked to be an apple orchard with a sign out front that said, “Grove Apple Grove.”
Right, the Grove pack had been founded around an orchard, wolves rushing in from the coast back in ye olden times and settling where they could grow fruit plentifully.
Sounded kind of nice, all those sweet apples. A whole pack’s hopes and dreams growing deep with tree roots in soil.
Hey! Maybe apples were the key to overcoming the Condition. An apple a day and all that shit. You never know, but I was already looking forward to heirloom apples and cider donuts.
Whatever the case, I was surprised by how much I liked the sound of a pack with a place to belong. There was, of course, a pack in DC. Dad was alpha, but we were spread out through the whole district, and everybody had drives and intentions outside of the good of the pack. There wasn’t much communal about it, just, if two wolves had a problem, if an alpha got out of hand, Dad was expected to delegate someone to handle it.
That was the kind of pack I was used to, not the kind who looked after each other, settled in close to their neighbors, and worked together.
As idyllic as it sounded, it was just a nice thought. Like the drive through the countryside, there was no damn way that kind of life wouldn’t bore the ever-loving shit out of me the second I was done writing about the Grove pack’s weird traditions and backward habits.
Erica
– ☆☆☆☆
4.5 Stars
Black Moon is the first installment in the Wolf Moon Rising series.
Written by new-to-me authors, I wasn't sure what to expect. What I was pleased
to experience was an engaging read from word-one. Instantly hooked, I read the
entire novel in a single sitting.
Contents: Alpha/Beta/Omega shifter (wolf) universe, featuring both males and
females. A single sentence clued me in that the series won't feature Mpreg.
Told in dual perspective.
Linden is the second son to the pack alpha, his elder brother AWOL from the
pack for at least a decade. An intellectual, a doctor looking to cure the
Condition affecting both male and female omegas, Linden is a kinder, soothing,
healing soul, versus how alphas are generally shown to be narcissistic and
sexist in nature.
Growing up as the only omega in the family, outside of his mother, Colt is the
youngest child of a senator. The politics, the sense of being a second-class
citizen, being used as a prop to further his father's career. Colt is a
journalist, independent in nature, personality more befitting a beta or alpha.
Not wishing to mate because he doesn't want to lose his independence, when his
father and family are so suffocating. Being an omega himself, Colt is curious
to report on why the Condition is better controlled in a rural pack not far
from DC in the hills of Virginia.
Set to the backdrop of a horrible kidnapping, an election for who is to become
the next Grove Alpha, the Condition, Linden attempts to lead his people while
meeting their needs, while Colt tries to ferret out why they are omega-rich and
healthy.
The emotions ran the gamut for me, shedding more than a few tears for Brook.
Excitement, fear, the warm and fuzzies, and hope for happily ever afters. I was
hooked, reading the entire novel in a single sitting, more than curious to see
how it would end. Once completed, I was ravenous for more, wishing to know the
outcomes for many of the characters.
Other than the silly – completely out of Colt's character and made him seem as
not only a different person but infantilized – "Stomp my foot!"
moment when Skip makes Colt doubt Linden, I enjoyed both of their
personalities, the balance they created as a couple, and the sweet building
romance between them.
Personal observation, I'm always thrown by what the purpose male omega heats
pose if not for biological reasons, such as fertility, when Mpreg isn't
included. In female omegas, I assume it is to aid in conception. Added in with
the knot, which also has a biological function. This confusion intensified with
the Condition. Other than soothing the alphas, the condition and the heats
wouldn't affect the pack structure when it came to male omegas, as they don't
reproduce.
Learning that the series didn't include Mpreg wasn't an issue for me because I
wanted it to be included, just that it mucked up the world building until the
plot made zero sense.
The condition caused poor health, early deaths, birth declines, and difficult
labor, which has the species dying out. But if this isn't Mpreg, how does this
affect the male omegas other than poorer health?
The need for the rival pack to kidnap a male omega, as he wouldn't be able to
reproduce in an omega-less pack. A male omega, other than soothing the alpha,
wouldn't be as valuable as a female omega, since the female could contribute
new wolves to the pack itself, some perhaps being omegas themselves.
I realize I'm being nitpicky, but a singular sentence in the ending shifted the
world building for me, until what previously made perfect sense now made
absolutely none. Do betas reproduce? Can male omegas reproduce with female
omegas? Are female omegas the only ones in the pack who can reproduce? If so,
judging by that sentence, then I'd think the study on the condition would be
most important/valuable if it were centered around the female omegas, as
they're the ones who continue the existence of their entire species.
As I said, this isn't a "I wanted it to be Mpreg" whininess. It's
just that if it isn't included, the condition, the heats, the knots, and the
kidnapping made zero sense when it came to male omegas.
While there were a few things that made my hackles rise slightly, overall, it
was an enjoyable, entertaining, engaging read, where I cannot wait to see what
happens next. Highly recommend to MM Romance fans, particularly those who love
the warm and fuzzy and angst of shifters featuring alpha/beta/omega.
SAM BURNS is an author of LGBTQIA+
fiction, mostly light-hearted fantasy romances. Most of her books include a little
violence, a fair amount of swearing, and maybe a sex scene or two. Or four.
She is a full-time writer who lives in the Midwest with her husband and cat.
Someday, she plans to be a full-time writer who lives near the ocean with her
husband, cat.
Connect with Sam
Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Website ~ Goodreads
Facebook
Group: Burns & Fawkes's Books & Foxes
W.M.
Fawkes is an author of LGBTQ+ urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She lives
with her partner in a house owned by three halloween-hued felines that dabble
regularly in shadow walking.
Connect with W.M.
Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Website ~ Goodreads
Facebook
Group: Burns & Fawkes's Books & Foxes
Hosted by
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided
a free copy of Black Moon (Wolf Moon Rising #1) by Sam Burns & W.M. Fawkes to
read and review for this tour.
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