A Wolf Apart

Starred review from June 18, 2018
Vale steps up her game for the excellent second Legends of All Wolves paranormal (after The Last Wolf), which plays with alpha male dominance fantasy, strikingly explores the core werewolf conflict between civilization and the wild, and offers food for thought about “the nature of strength,” all in the context of a tense, high-energy plot concerning pack culture and politics. Elijah Sorensson, increasingly distressed by his life as a high-status Manhattan lawyer supporting the interests of the Great North Pack, prepares to come home to the Adirondacks permanently. His plans are complicated by his unexpected romance with a human and by the continued scheming of independent shifters against the already diminished pack. Vale does a brilliant job of developing werewolf culture, filling in details about rituals, pregnancy, and child-rearing that are sometimes surprising but always plausible. She begins with stereotypes of power but guides the reader into a much deeper contemplation of masculinity and the character of leadership while inverting many billionaire romance tropes. Vale’s nuanced exploration of werewolf concepts elevates this work above others in the genre. Agent: Heather Jackson, Heather Jackson Literary.

July 1, 2018
A werewolf trapped in his human form must fight against an encroaching madness and his attraction to a human woman.Elijah Sorensson, the Alpha of the 9th Echelon, has been away from his Pack's homeland for 30 years, and the time away from the wild is beginning to take its toll. His boss at the New York City law firm founded by the Pack to represent its interests suffered from the same affliction, forced to adapt a more human form in order to push the Pack's agenda. It led him to a deadly car accident in his rush to get back to his territory. Elijah fears the same thing happening to him, and the presence of Thea Villalobos only puts his sanity in further jeopardy. Thea is in need of legal counsel; Elijah is instructed to take her case pro bono as a favor to a former client. Thea is an environmental conservation officer, and the smell of nature, prey, and the outdoors clings to her. It's really no wonder Elijah feels such a sudden attraction, but his Pack is reeling from a recent betrayal, and humans are enemy No. 1. The romance is more of a battle of willpower for Elijah. Of course he shouldn't sleep with a client, but there are several other, more dangerous reasons why Thea should be off-limits. There's an emptiness to Elijah. He's been kept from something that brings him solace for decades, and it's turning him into a caged animal. It's sexy and it's frightening, a heady combination. Thea and her work are a siren song for Elijah, and the details that go into Thea's occupation and legal issues are surprisingly interesting. Vale (The Last Wolf, 2018) imbues grittiness into Thea and Elijah's cautious romance, with life and death often hanging in the balance. But while Elijah works as the wonderfully tumultuous (and only) narrator, Thea's characterization could have used some equal insight.A feral and fearsome romance that works for its happy ending.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2018

In the eyes of the New York elite, powerful man-about-town attorney Elijah Sorensson has it all. But Elijah is a Wolf, and being Offland (away from his Adirondack territory) and living incognito among humans to protect his pack's legal and financial interests have taken their toll. For the sake of his sanity, Elijah needs to go home--for good. Convincing the Alpha of his Great North Pack won't be easy, and as duty wars with need, he faces the most desperate challenge of all: his forbidden love for environmental conservationist Thea Villalobos, a human who has no idea who--or what--he really is. VERDICT Picking up where Vale's debut, The Last Wolf, leaves off, this tense, emotionally charged story brings together a hero drowning in the soul-leaching pain of living a lie and a compassionate, intuitive heroine. A wealth of sharply etched detail, snippets of pack history and lore, and a colorful supporting cast add another layer to this remarkable, strangely believable world. Vale lives in New York.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.