Review: Ghost Wolf by Hurri Cosmo

Ghost Wolf by Hurri Cosmo
Painted Hearts Publishing 
Novel: 390pgs
 DNF

2 Pants Off (Based on what I read)

Blurb: Hi, my name is Trevor. I’m a wolf shifter.

I say that like I know what I’m talking about. I don’t. I was simply running off a ton of steam one day when I was around eleven and bam! Okay, not quite that easy or fast but it happened when I was young and stupid. I’m also gay. I say that like I know what I’m talking about with that too. I simply don’t. 

I’m grown up now and living in the big city which has me too busy to much care about either one of those things. I get out and run my wolf when I can, trying like hell to stay out of the local pack’s territories. Belonging to a “family” just sounds like too much work, and honestly I don’t have time for such things. Besides, I was told when I was young the color of my wolf was all wrong. Too silver...or something. Metallic. I kinda thought it looked cool in the full moon. “Pack Alpha would kill ya soon as look at ya.” My grandpa used to say. Course he wasn't my real grandpa. Just an old man who lived down the street, but he was a shifter too and I thought he knew it all. He probably knew diddly either, but a guy can’t be too careful. And romance? Way off the radar. 

Only now someone has started killing wolves. Started leaving broken bodies lined up in a nice little row next to the high school in my home town and it's got me to thinking. If a shifter is killed in his or her wolf state, do they stay that way? Were these dead wolves like me? The hell of it all is this: being a shifter isn't common knowledge. It bothers me enough that now I want to find out more. See if there's anything I can do. Kind of like a super hero. 

Oh yeah. Probably forgot to tell you this too. I can turn invisible. Yep, Ghost Wolf to the rescue.

Review

I don’t even know how to write an eloquent review for this. I mostly wanna spend my time tearing into it about all the thing that went wrong, but that’s mostly not my style. I did DNF this book around the 60%, I was mostly holding out for it to get better. For the writing to get better, for the characters to get better for the overall plot to get better but it never clicked for me. Everything felt contrived, juvenile and not well executed. It was a problematic formula with a problematic and immature MC. His voice from the very beginning ruined my enjoyment of the story. 

Trevor shifted into a wolf for the first time at eleven, which both surprised and terrified him. He knew he was something else but he had no one in his life to tell him what he was and why it’s happening. A chance encounter with another wolf proved that there were more like him but apart from the old man telling him crazy things he still had no clue about who he was. When his mentor dies and leaves him a ring- “one ring to rule them all”, I kid, wrong book. He leaves him a ring that makes him invisible with no actual instructions as to what it another ring is really for. 

So Trevor has got this power, is a wolf shifter, and proceeds to go into adulthood as complete idiot. I don’t know what was wrong with this kid, but everything he did and said irked me. He was so wishy washy with an amazing ability but fumbled about like a baby animal learning to walk. He meets Ryan (his fated mate) and everything just got worse. 

Thing I like: (the sounds of crickets in the night). I love the cover 🤷🏽‍♀️ I really do!

Things I didn’t like: Do I got enough page room for this? I didn’t like the story, I didn’t like the writing. I don’t think anything was executed well and it was taking too damn long to get to the point.

The book is too long for no reason and with nothing to carry it, it was hella boring. I wasn’t there for any of it. 

Overall, I am very disappointed. I wanted to give a new author a chance and I feel bad that it didn’t work for me. The idea behind it could have made a great story but it didn’t come together well. Ah, such is life you win some you lose some.  

SideNote- Every-time I looked up at the title on kindle it said GostWolf (like legit GostWolf) and not Ghost Wolf. I don’t even know…is it one word or two???

 

The Hand-me-down by Zahra Owens

The Hand-me-down by Zahra Owens
Deamspinner Press
Novel: 250pgs
DNF

Blurb:
When a volcano erupts in Iceland and leaves globetrotting headhunter Jez Robinson stranded in Barcelona, he isn’t sure what to do. He has a hard time sitting still, so deciding to make the best of his situation, he pays a visit to his old friend Nick Stone, a retired porn star he shares a history with. Only the visit doesn’t go anything like Jez expected.

First Nick introduces Jamie, his much younger lover, a man so painfully shy he can’t even bring himself to talk to strangers. The love he and Nick share is plain to Jez, but also puzzling, because Nick was never the monogamous type. Then Nick tells Jez he’s dying and wants Jez to look after Jamie.

In his whole life, Jez has never committed to so much as a house plant, so at first he refuses. But Nick and Jamie are insistent, and soon Jamie worms his way into Jez’s graces and his bed, determined to do the convincing Jez’s heart needs.

Thoughts:
I rarely DNF a book because I am one those people who stick with a book until its finish. In regards to this book, I had to quit because if I had continued I would have wrote a one not so good review.  Here is why it didn't work for me.

I was really excited about reading this one, because the premise sounded so interesting. When Jez is stranded in Barcelona, he reconnects with an old friend who also came with benefits. Back in the day, Nick was the biggest porn star and one of Jez's closest friends but then suddenly he fell of the grid. Seems Nick has settled down with his beautiful young lover Jaime. Jez later finds out Nick is dying, and his request is for him to care for Jaime because he doesn’t know how to function on his own.

I won’t give much away because this is not a review but I stopped reading because of all the unsafe sex and the complete lack of respect for the character Jez. I know it could be considered angst and probably add something to the storyline, but Jaime lacks remorse and shrugs his shoulder for everything (for big very unsafe things). Maybe I should have been sympathetic to his plight but since the entire story is told from Jez's pov (talking directly to the reader); all my feelings for Jaime are bad ones.

So at around 65% I called it quits, I just no longer cared. It seemed like maybe things were going to start looking up, but by then it was just too late. This could just be all me, because people seem to like this one a lot.  Just wasn't for me in the end.

Upside- It was nice to read about older characters and all the wonderful food Jaime makes.