I love wolves, they are one of my favorite animals. A paranormal romance featuring a wolf shifter is pretty much guaranteed a spot on either my Kindle or my bookshelf. Author Sennah Tate is fairly new to me, but I quickly fell for her engaging writing style and purchased the Palm Haven series after reading book one for free. Each book is written as a stand alone story, but does insert information revealed - as needed - from the earlier books, which helps add to the overall puzzle about the upcoming shifter clan wars. Each book mentions the possibility of the war but it hasn't begun as of this book. Each book gives clues but definitely centers around two main characters and the problems they have connecting and eventually having their happily-ever-after ending. Obviously this book had an Alpha wolf as the male offering for this love story; the female half of the equation is a youngish witch named Sonya. Sonya is portrayed as a victim of spousal abuse; her abuser is another Alpha wolf, Diego, that also happens to be the father of her young son, Manuel. **Oh, side note here - what an amazing future character Manuel would be, half witch half wolf shifter, right?** Okay, back to this story... the Alpha wolf interested in Sonya is Jose. Jose was not on the lookout for a mate, he was interested in building the strength of his pack and keeping them safe - hopefully away from the looming shifter wars. However, as often happens in a shifter romance, Jose's wolf recognized his mate before Jose was truly aware of her importance. Sennah Tate did exactly what the "rule books" say she should do... she presented a flawed protagonist in Sonya, and as the story progressed, the reader is with her as she changes and grows, finally becoming the strong woman she was meant to be. Jose also changed and grew as he went from focusing solely on his pack, to allowing his heart to fill with love for Sonya and Manuel - he is most definitely a drool-worthy stepfather, not simply because of his physical features, but because of that humongous heart and capacity of caring. I do recommend this book and the entire series; however, I have one itty-bitty complaint concerning this book, in particular. Well, two, actually... first, Diego seemed to be a "cookie-cutter" description of an abuser. He was mean and abusive to everyone he met; he took whatever he wanted, no matter the consequences; he was animalistic, quite feral... so why was Sonya ever drawn to him, in the first place? This reader would have appreciated a three dimensional character in Diego, to see some good in him - no matter how small, but something to make him a fully rounded character. Especially since he was a central character in moving the plot forward. Secondly, this reader would have liked to see Jose's strengths shining a bit more; the readers see his political view on running a pack is different from most other Alpha wolves, but how did he come to be this way? By giving the reader a few more scenes where we can see Jose's strength, it lengthens the book - which is actually the crux of my second issue. The book felt like it ended too soon, as if there should have been more to discover here. And on the one hand, that is actually a good thing for a writer to do - leave the fans wanting more, without feeling as if they were short-changed. This reader actually teetered on that a bit. The book definitely had a beginning, a middle and a (happy) end; yet, it still felt like there was more to Jose and Sonya's story, as if something may have been left out. It wasn't enough to distract this reader or the enjoyment of the book so again, I do recommend this book. ** Originally published on Amazon for review on May 26, 2016.
