A note from Audrey: Some series can be read out of order – this isn’t one of them. Start with Alpha and welcome to Ghost Mountain!Shelley Martins thinks she needs sensible and practical and steady—but that isn’t what the big truck from HomeWild is about to deliver.Ghost Mountain is getting their school, the first building of their new den. The construction teams are ready, the big strong men are … are ready, the big strong men are planning to be as useless as possible, and Shelley has the kitchen piled high with baked goods to fuel their work.
Except what comes off that big truck isn’t just a building. And Shelley, who walked into hell six years ago to save her pack, isn’t just a baker.
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This series is so not what I normally read, but I love it for the world this author has created and the wonderful characters, some strong, some damaged, and some of both, who occupy this world. Remember when Jerry Seinfeld said that his show “Seinfeld’ was a little show about nothing? In a way, so is this series. There isn’t much ‘bang, bang, shoot-em-up’ type of action. Instead, it dives deeply into the lives of people who have been abused and hurt: those who did their best to help others, those who just tried to survive, and those who broke; along with those who are trying to heal and help heal. They all have strengths and unknown depths of character. The added compelling twist is that these people are all shifters of one type or another. The author writes them so well that they feel like friends by the end of the book. One caution: read this series from the beginning or it will be difficult to follow the characters. It’s well worth the time.
Touching and heart-warming, no current “bad guy” needed
About 3.7 Goodreads stars.
Ms. Faye is one of the few authors who manages to use present tense smoothly and richly enough that it is NOT a negative factor in my reading experience.
_Breath_ has a LOT of thematic metaphor, about nurturing vulnerable growing things (seeds, watering, etc.) as well as the genre-typical physical descriptions of the non-physical reactions and interactions among/with their inner wolves (pats, bites, etc.), which is probably the main reason I can’t quite stretch to a full Goodreads 4. (I realize that I often tend to be star-stingy.)
Nonetheless, never doubt that I care about this whole recovering pack, despite my weakness with names (and the time and other stories intervening since Book 4) which required me to read for a while before getting some of the secondary cast straight again. As the number of pack members actively participating in the life at the new den increases — each new face a victory — it is getting a bit more difficult.
The featured character this time is Shelly, baker and artist, who for six dark years held strong as a mother and grandmother figure, doing her best to protect the rest after having voluntarily become the mate of the evil alpha, but who lost so much of herself while she endured. There isn’t a central romance in this volume (just some tenderness between established mates), because that’s not what she needs right now.
There are once again a number of other PoVs, too, including beloved new alpha Hayden and sentinel Rio, and everyone old enough to understand is working delicately and hopefully to support the pack’s “ghosts” (such as guilt-ridden grandfather Cleve) as some step forward at whatever pace they can bear.
This is another low-conflict tale, without any “baddies” on-scene. The “action” revolves around the modern equivalent of a barn-raising; the submissive and/or young members of the pack are given most of the leadership responsibilities for assembling the long-awaited custom pre-fab school-plus-greenhouse, building up their confidence.
It’s funny: I’m a dedicated genre-fiction fan who rarely picks up and reads a stand-alone “literary” novel (i.e., psycho-emotional human drama only), yet if an author gets my attention by making the characters supernatural, and perhaps giving them a violent antagonist to face in the beginning (in Alpha), I’ll happily follow “my” characters as they move on, and the intimate, personal developments are frequently what I remember most, and most fondly. This series is an example of one which neither rushes shallowly nor manufactures conflict just for the sake of “excitement”.
I was delighted to receive a read-for-review copy of this latest installment. I’m not sure whether my file is of the final release version, but I only noticed three minor typos, so editing is not a concern anyway.
I look forward to the next book, which will bring a polar bear (whom they’ve dealt with online) to meet Ghost Mountain’s wolves, bears, ravens, and cats in person.
Breath – Shelly Martin’s story
Shelly carries a lot of guilt. A distant Dunn cousin. She mated Samuel in hopes of tempering his cruelty and protecting her pack. Her failure haunts her. She finds solace in cooking and baking for her pack. She has made space for Grandpa Cleve in the kitchen. Guarding the bread for now, and maybe some day he will make his muffins again.
Her bank robbery with Lissa has given her a positive boot. She has Kenny are supporting each other, both having made hard choices in an effort to save their pack.
The school from HomeWild arrives. The Cats, Ravens, and Hawks all arrive to help unload, but it is pack alone who will put it together. Reilly documenting every step.
The pack is forming a strong bond with the Ravens as they help get ready for a chick in the pack.
Ronan sends his intern Raven shifter, Indrani, she is going to help tap the Geo thermal under pack pack land.
After much soul searching and a lot of tears, Shelly finally paints the mural in the school. It is powerful, and even some of the most broken wolves make there way to the school to see it.
great series, and emotional journey, love, family and forgiving of self. Rate PG-13
An emotional rollercoaster of a story.
Five stories that have time spent with the Ghost Mountain Pack whizzing by. I definitely recommend this story and all the previous ones, as the author is correct in stating that these are not stand alone stories.
I confess that I’m addicted to these characters and want to watch their pack grow and be happy, Overall a positive story, negative consequences and thoughts still arising due to the trauma of Samuel’s actions. That man was waste.
Shelley’s story. Did book 4 say this would be Shelly’s story? I don’t remember but I do know that Shelley, like Lissa, is one of the characters that hold the pack together. Her inner strength is amazing. What she did to try to salvage the destruction that Samuel was creating, that was more than most of us would be able to think of doing much less actually doing it. And Shelley sees herself as just a homebody, not realizing her roles in the pack. Fortunately the pack does. I’m an even bigger Shelley fan girl by the end. And stopping here because it’s much better when Shelley’s secrets explode on the page than being told about them.
We witness the arrival and installation of the greenhouse and school. We find more out about Myrna and her boys, some of the Dunns, Hayden’s thinking outside the box…
Adding to my comments from my review of book 4 Raven. Every story rests upon people and actions in previous books. The core characters of each story so far, Alpha = Hayden, Heart = Lissa, Rebel = Kennedy and Raven = Fallon and Ben. And now Breath = Shelley. Viewpoints and thoughts of other characters are spread through every book.
The next book is one of the ones I’ve been waiting for – Bear. Ronan arrives. I hope that there’s many more books to come after it, please and thank you Audrey Faye.
Audrey Faye continues to be one of my favorite auto-buy authors. I love that her stories are character driven and have come to care about all of her characters. As always thanks for the great read.
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