Colin's on the run from a bad warlock that had been keeping him captive in order to use him for his magic. He finally managed to escape, but after soaking in the rain and mud Colin can't help hoping for refuge. Instead he finds David, who seems nice, but then Colin realizes David's a witch and his escape might have just landed him in an even worse situation.

This story unfortunately never quite came together. There was a ton of potential, what with the interesting magic of shifters essentially being magical batteries that warlocks and witches can tap. I even liked the distinction between the good and bad types of magic. However, there wasn't enough depth provided for all of that potential to go anywhere. Seeing a wider view of the world and the magic would have allowed me to better understand what made David a white witch and how he was so different from the bad guy.

Additionally, Colin's running from an evil that is only introduced in his own thoughts, so the reader never gets a personal feel for the bad guy in the book. That means I never quite understood why I should be rooting for Colin's success. Even the budding relationship with David was never given enough time to really grow. It was basically insta-love without any useful conventions like mating to help explain it away.

This is a paranormal MM romance short story. I really enjoyed this story, it was fast paced, but it felt like enough detail was given for it to be a complete story. The characters are well developed and the plot well developed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this short story. I'm a huge fan of this author's writing style, so the imagery and characterization were exactly what I was looking for. I loved both Colin and David's characters and their dynamic. I wish it was longer and we got more character development (one of the reasons I usually don't read short stories), but for what it was, it hit the spot. A short, enjoyable read.

This short was the first time I've read this author. Perhaps K.L. Noone would do a better job in a longer format. Here, there was too much repetition, too much info dump, and too much of shallow Colin acting on sudden emotion that gave the reader no assurance he wasn't going to change his mind again any second. This is a pity, because I wouldn't have minded learning more about this world at a slower, more in-depth pace. I could see Noone might even get you to like Colin, given time.

<i>Book received from both Netgalley and Less than Three Press for an honest review</i>

This is a quick short story of roughly 28 pages about a kitten and a man. And the relationship they have together. It's cute, sweet, about what you'd expect in such a situation. Oh, and the kitten is something like a 26 year old, in human years, cat shifter - the natural kind not the 'magician using temporary magic' kind. 'Natural shifters' are super rare.

More broadly: this is a story about a young man who had fallen into a life of enjoying being petted, likes sex, and likes the easy party life. But that leads him to the situation that opens this story, or, more exactly, leads to the picture on the cover. That of a drenched kitty in pouring rain. For, you see, Colin, the shifter, had gone home with the wrong man one night (oh, this is a m/m story, by the way), and ended up wearing a collar. A compulsion collar. And he was trapped in that situation for about 8 months - that is until the start of this story when he is making his escape. In the form of a kitten (he shifts between kitten and human).

Somewhere along the way he spots a nice looking car to huddle underneath. And does so. The owner of the car spots the kitten, and rescues said cat. Brings cat home. Tries to comfort cat. Naturally . . . . well, let's not tell the whole story, eh?

As I noted, short sweet cute story about a cat shifter.

Rating: 3.95

December 13 2017