SP Wayne - Winter Wolf

Imagine having almost everything you want: a place of your own, mountains to climb, woods to roam, lakes for swimming, and, above all, privacy. It's Axton's definition of paradise, because a werewolf needs his space and his secrets. He's the resident recluse of a sleepy, far flung town hours away from his cabin in the woods, but there's more than one hidden truth in Axton's life. 
All's well in the shapeshifter's life until the day a well meaning human decides to vacation in the cabin next door. At first Axton wants nothing to do with his new neighbor, but Leander Avilez is a dream: young, strapping, masculine. As if it's not enough that Leander's gorgeous, he's also charming, and Axton finds himself falling hard. But visions of sweet romance aren't in the realistic picture: Leander's thoroughly human. 
When Leander goes back to his life in Los Angeles, Axton can breathe a sigh of relief. There's moose to hunt and chores to do, and Axton doesn't have the time for a whirlwind werewolf romance, no matter how compelling the fiction of his erotic daydreams might be. But just when Axton's settled back into the werewolf bachelor groove, Leander comes back for another vacation--and then another, and another. They grow closer in time, but as drunken confessional conversations show, Leander's still straight and, oh, yeah, still totally human. Leander is two types of forbidden temptation at once, and Axton doesn't know how long he can stand it. What's a gay werewolf to do?

Comment: I got interested in this book after a glowing review somewhere. The review was very positive when it came to the quiet personality of the main character and the tender romance that develops and I was curious enough to add it to my TBR list. This month, I finally read it.

I'll include some spoilers!!

In this story we meet Axton, a lone wolf who has been living in the mountains where he can be at peace and be a wolf and no one is exiling nor hurting him. The area isn't much populated and if he feels a bit lonely, he just accepts it. Things change the day the nearby cabin to his is purchased and the new, attractive, owner arrives one day to know the area and to stay for a while.

Leander is good looking and a city guy but he seems to appreciate the nature that surrounds them and they start a careful friendship in the course of the seasons, at least until Axton can't fight anymore the fact he likes Leander more than a friend but the distance between them and his secret identity as a wolf are huge obstacles to overcome...

As a whole, this is a sweet story which I liked reading. The characters are intriguing and the apparently simple situations they see themselves in provide enough knowledge without making the story seem forced or contrived.

The focus is all on Axton, meaning that despite this being a third person narrator, it only follows Axton's thoughts. To be honest, there are a few passages with Leander's POV but nothing too extended to the point of allowing us to have a good idea about his personality.

On one hand I didn't mind because Axton's "voice" is likable and engaging, but at the same time it was a bit frustrating because Leander reads as someone very vague.

This is a very simple story and having mostly one character's POV can feel restrictive but there isn't a lot to develop. Axton is a very lonely man and he can turn himself into a wolf and part of the story is very dedicated to this situation, to allow the reader to understand how in sync with the area surrounding his cabin he is but, nevertheless, how lonely he is too.His first interactions with Leander felt very rushed, actually, but it's easy to follow the writing style. I especially liked how naive, despite the things we learn that happened to him, Axton is. His thoughts are sweet and simple and he was really cute. I was rooting for him and for his attempt to be friends with Leander.

Leander is difficult to grasp. We only see him through Axton's eyes and the things we can infer make him sound fair and friendly but I can't say I know who he is. I confess I expected the relationship to develop pretty much as it did - heavy on the friend-zone - but I hoped we would also get a bit more about him, about his life and past... some details are quite difficult to imagine and the attraction they feel seems so obvious by how Axton describes it but then we learn Leander isn't gay like Axton, he is bi. No that this is bad but... it put another light on their interactions and what already felt a bit vague only seemed to even more.

There are many details I liked reading about but the story was fast approaching the end and it felt like nothing was going towards a happy ending. There was, however, this huge dramatic scene (in terms of action, not in emotional interaction) and then, finally something happened between the guys, in a way it left no secret on how Leander and Axton felt and how Axton's werewolf side was not such a huge secret as he imagined.

I thought, yay, things are finally going to end well and... nope. They talked, they kissed and they agreed to meet in Leander's city in the future. I mean... what? the story didn't end and I checked goodreads and there it was, there is a sequel with two more books. 

I feel a bit sad this didn't have a stronger ending. I don't mind HFN that much but if the story continues it's almost unfair, as if you can only get the end of the story you have invested in if you spend more money.... based on the blurbs of those two other books I don't feel that eager to read them. I might one day because I liked Axton and his personality but... yes, it can wait too.

Grade: 7/10