3.5 stars ( )

In the first book of the Refuge Shifters series, Carol Lynne sets the basis for the development of the entire story. She borrows the ancient legends that see shifters as favourite sons of Mother Nature and descendants of the old Native Americans; she also continues in the myth that homosexuals are the favourites among the favourites since Mother Nature gave them two spirits, so to be able to understand the needs of their people. The consequence is that, having more female genes than a normal man, the men who are destined to lead the shifter people are not “manly” men, they are small and fragile, almost feminine.

It’s strange to read of how Toby, the little wolf / man chosen to lead the werewolves, almost goes in heat when he meets his fated mate, Jack. Jack is not a shifter, he is human, and at the beginning of the story I was expecting from him to be the omega man in the couple. And instead, with wonder, I found out that Toby is almost androgynous, and fragile; he needs protection, in everything, and not mating with Jack cause him pain, like he was in heat. So much the author pushes on the heat button, that I was almost expecting for Toby to change sex and becoming a female wolf able to give birth…

Maybe in this Carol Lynne plays a bit with the yaoi elements: Toby whimpers, cocks his head like a curious puppy, and has temper tantrums… quite the imagine of the half man / half animal characters so loved in the yaoi manga. From what I understand, the series will evolve in a series of connected episodes where those two spirits feminine male will find the strong Alpha who will protect them. They all will go to live in a reserve, an high tech place in the Canadian woods called Refuge.

It will be interesting to notice how the author will resolve the issue of their extinction, I have the feelings that she will mix male/male stories with ménages, to resolve the problem in the most “natural” way…

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002U0KYKE/?tag=elimyrevandra-20