This is a MM paranormal romance. This book was set in the world as the authors Fae out of Water and Supernatural Selection series. It was great to see all the characters from those series interact with the new characters in this book. The characters in the story were well developed and the pace was great. This was a great story!

3.75 rounded to 4.0 stars

A fun, coming of age story about finding yourself in a crazy shifter world. ; )

Tanner is a young werewolf shifter currently in residence at the 'Doghouse" during his Howling (kind of reminiscent to a Rumspringa, sort-of). A Howling is the shifter rite of passage where you spend 3 years learning to manage your primal instincts (learning to properly shift, fight, not sniff butts - lol-, mark all the trees, bury things in the backyard, etc...) in an out of town college setting. Tanner, from the moment he meets his RA he knows he like-likes him. But, it's against the rules to have any sort of 'relationship' with him, so he buries it deep. Due to Tanner’s mid-year birthday, it throws a wrench in the possibility of completing his full Howling. Technically, on his 21st birthday, he is considered an adult and no longer under the restrictions of the rules but is allowed to stay to complete his Howling. He realizes he could be called back to his pack at any moment, and might be his last chance to act on his strongest instinct and finally make a move on his RA, Chase.

The book ended up not being entirely what I thought it would, but it was really fun. I did feel a little left out. There is apparently another series that this new series has crossed-over with so we are re-introduced to those characters and while we are given a fair bit of back story, I still felt a little left out. Now, this didn't hinder my enjoyment but merely made me want to seek out the other series.

There is a definite mystery and some action involved, also so saucy times but not too graphic to throw it from a youthful coming of age into a bow-chicka-bow-bow- type book. I could have used maybe a little more on the bedroom times, but it's ok that it was fade to black... I'm just nosy like that. ; )

I enjoyed the history behind the shifters and the whole mystery vibe. The secondary characters were fun and unique. I am absolutely looking forward o the next installment!

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.*

Tanner Araya is staying at a group residence as part of his "howling". This is basically a training period for young werewolves so that they learn to control the various urges they must overcome to exist in the world. From day one Tanner found himself interested in Chase! But Chase is off limits because he's a RA...that is until the night of Tanner's twenty-first birthday. A series of misfortunate events that begins with a mistimed kiss... ends with Tanner's disappearance and Chase's removal from his position!

This is very much a coming-of-age novel, even if all the characters are supernatural in nature. The werewolf community is steeped in tradition, and that tradition doesn't sit well with Tanner. The problem is that his parents died when he was young and his Uncle has always been very supportive. His Uncle is running the pack but, ultimately, it should fall to Tanner. Tanner knows his life is about to change... that's why he kisses Chase the night of his birthday.

Chase has a lot on his mind when he's suddenly on the receiving end of a kiss from Tanner. It's not that he doesn't have similar feelings, but chaos has broken out within the group. Jordan... a young were who is kind of like a puppy on three pots of coffee...  has gotten himself into a cage fight with some creatures that are probably going to kill him.

Chase takes off to get Jordan out of trouble and a dejected Tanner begins a long walk home. The problem is that Tanner doesn't make it home.

I'm not going to give away the story because there's a little bit of a mystery that comes into play. Things in Tanner's pack are a bit more complex than the reader first realizes... and there's also the fact that Tanner is feeling as though he wants to rebel. He doesn't want to return to his pack and have to leave behind his pack of choice. His roommates and Chase have become family to him.

Tanner is a lovely character. He's pretty representative of a lot of young people I would think. This book is presented as a Young Adult book and has explicit sexual content - but the dialogue and characterization had the feel of a YA book. (There's nothing wrong with that, I happen to like a lot of YA!) He's coming to terms with the life he's been raised to lead and the one that he can feel is a better choice for him. I know the book is set in an entirely different world, but there are lots of expectations put on young people.

Ultimately, this book is enjoyable! The supporting cast provides some real amusing reading. I'd read an entire book of Chase trying to keep Jordan in line, and I mean that! A great read if you like the genre.

3.5* Started off great and I was LOL'ing and pointing bits out, but then it got bogged down in TMI...

This was a 5* read based on LOLs and the characters the author introduced - at least for the first third of the tale. It was sweet and funny and I liked each pack member, though Jordan totally stole the show. I mean, it was more The Jordan Show than Tanner and Chase's tale, but that's not a complaint. There's a warning about yes, many Frisbees being hurt in the making of the tale and the five-second rule not applying, and yes, the author was pretty literal, as was she with other wolf habits, such as marking territory, butt waggling and the sniffing of butts; I mean, though we mostly saw human Jordan, wolf-Jordan was always present and seeing him having to curb his urges and instincts was LOL!

The middle part of the tale stretched disbelief and dragged on for too long, and I didn't really think that Chase would end up finding Tanner again. The bit about the Fae taxi was good and helped things along, but it was also quite confusing, though it did move the tale along and it did tie things in with a couple of connected series and it was nice to see some characters I'd met before putting icing on their HEA cakes (trying not to spoiler here).

The ending was rather predictable, as one character who got mentioned kind-of as an aside, a little too casually and fleetingly, and who didn't react as expected, turned out to be the baddie of the piece. I had seen this coming, but the actual denouement was just too twee, though I suspect it allows the author to expand her books' world.

ARC courtesy of Riptide Publishing and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

Tanner, a werewolf, has spent his last three years in what amounts to finishing school for young weres. They learn to get by in the human world without revealing themselves to humans. His twenty-first birthday means he will returning to his pack soon. He is in love with Chase the RA, (basically mother, father, and deportment coach) to to a group of (almost) out of control weres. When he finally gets the courage to make his feelings known, he is shot down. Starting an adventure he doesn’t really want to be on.

I love that this book put a different spin on werewolf lore. This was a very sweet story about young, unsure, “boys”, learning to survive a world that is not their friend. It was a little slow in places but not enough to really impact the story. The romance was not necessarily the heart of the book. The lessons they learned were hilarious in places. Jordan deserves a book all his own, as a secondary character he pretty much steals every scene he’s in. So many great personalities in this story. I enjoyed it.

This latest E.J. Russell shifter story was fun, but sadly didn't totally blow my skirt up around my ears for prolonged periods of time.

Tanner had secretly been in love with his RA at the Doghouse, a place where young shifters were sent to be "housebroken" to live in or around the human world, for the past 3 years, but he's just turned 21 and may be sent back to rejoin his pack at any moment.

And Chase had been immediately attracted to Tanner from the very beginning, although he couldn't do anything about it, since Tanner was one of his charges.

But as both guys realized that their window of opportunity to be together was quickly closing, Tanner took a chance and made a move on Chase, only to be confusingly and mortifyingly rebuffed. So he did what wolves do best and ran.

The story then immediately went into a fairly-long forced separation when Tanner went missing, a plot point that I rarely enjoy, with the main question being whether Tanner was in hiding, or had he been taken?

Up until this point, I had thought (and hoped) that this would be a completely stand-alone book; however, Chase needed help, so he went to Quest Investigations, the supernatural detective agency from Russell's "Fae Out of Water" series, which I had read.

After that, the MC's from not only that series were prominently featured, but also MC's from Russell's other "Supernatural Selection" series, which I had *not* read.

Strictly speaking, this book could be considered a standalone story; however, even with me knowing half of the MC's from the previous series', I still felt as if I were missing quite a bit of backstory, and I'm not a fan of feeling lost while reading, so if possible, I would suggest reading both of the previous series' before jumping into this story.

Both Tanner and Chase were both extremely likeable MC's, each with their own past hardships and current dilemmas to overcome.

But the most standout character for me was Jordan, who was as hilarious as he was immature. Picture a naive 6 y.o. with ADHD, hopped up on sugar, and you'd bee in the right ballpark. I'm really hoping that Jordan gets his own book, which I would immediately read without even a moment's hesitation.

The angst was very manageable and the steam was fairly muted, but if you've read both previous series', I'd for sure recommend reading this latest story, which I'd rate at around 3.5 *betrayal-and-mud-monster* stars.