Soul Of The Pack by Jenny Frame is a lovely addition to the Wolfgang County series. It’s a novella, so it’s a short audiobook but it’s absolutely adorable.
Maddox Rippington who everyone calls Ripp is angry, aggressive and strong. She has just lost her job caring for the wolves as Willow Creek Wolf Sanctuary and she is lost and alone in the world. All she has now is a birth certificate with the name Ansel Wolfgang listed as her father. With nothing left to lose she decides to go to Wolfgang County to try and find out what she can about her family.
Kyra Wolfgang is lonely. She is just beginning to wonder if she has to leave her beautiful home in order to find her one true love when she encounters a stranger in the forest. She is in wolf form at the time and the stranger is so gentle and caring that she ends up showing herself to the stranger when she wouldn’t normally.
When she meets Ripp again, this time she is human form and the interest is clear. There is something about this stranger that draws her in. Ripp behaves just like a dominant were and yet she is human. Could Ripp be her life mate?
But problems occur when Ripp tries to gain access to the Wolfgang County records and doesn’t want to tell them why. The pack starts to wonder if she is working with their rivals in planning another attack on them.
The Characters
Kyra is sweet, loving and wants to make a home for her and her life mate. She finds it frustrating that her mated sister keeps trying to thrust rules on her as if she is a teenager just because she is single.
Ripp is angry and frustrated and struggling with deep personal issues that can only be resolved if she allows the pack to help her.
They make a compelling duo.
The Writing Style
I enjoy the way Jenny Frame writes. Her characters are perfectly suited to one another, never the same and the stories are always fun and unique.
The book was well paced with new and interesting revelations keeping the story moving.
The Narration
AJ Ferraro did a great job. I settled into this one really easily and didn’t want to stop listening.
The Pros
This is a fantastic short listen if you want something light and sweet to make your heart feel all smooshy with love.
The Cons
I could have done with more of it because it’s short. But that’s not really a con, it’s more like me enjoying it so much that I wanted more.
The Conclusion
I adore Jenny Frame’s work. She could write in any genre and I would be happily reading along. But there is something special about her urban fantasy worlds. She maximises the butch/femme dynamic and creates pack dynamics which work so well with those.
You can feel the love she has for her characters and the worlds she creates and it’s a pleasure to experience them.
I appreciated that there wasn’t a ton of world building, and really you don’t need it with a genre as popular. I also loved the fact that Ripp had wolf tattoos all over her, as if she was trying to make herself more like what she felt like on the inside. That was a nice nod to people who don’t look how they feel inside.
Basically, it’s a great read or listen and I recommend it.
Excerpt from Soul Of The Pack by Jenny Frame
Storm was panting excitedly, his big tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. Ripp dropped her hand and said, “Run, boy.”
He was off like a shot, straight into the thick forest. Rip slung on her backpack and set off behind him. Going for a run together was one of their favorite things to do. She never felt more alive than she did when she was running through woodland and forest. It soothed some part of her that was always fighting for freedom.
Ripp was particularly loving running here. There was something about this forest…The colors, the scent of the air as it filled her lungs—everything felt right, like it was bringing calm to her soul. After a mile Ripp slowed to a walk when she saw Storm pick up a scent and start to follow it.
“What is it, buddy?”
Storm was concentrating on his task and didn’t look back. Ripp followed him as slowly and as quietly as she could. When he stopped dead, she came up beside him, went down on one knee, and gave him the hand signal to stay.
Ripp closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the subtle sounds and scents, like a hunter. She could hear what she was sure was the sound of twigs cracking underfoot, then stillness. Ripp opened her eyes and looked across the clearing. There was a tall tree with all sorts of stones, big and small, leaning up against it, almost like a shrine.
Some creature was there—she knew it.
Ripp was an expert tracker and hunter, and she could wait as long as it took. Then her patience was rewarded when the black snout of an animal came out from behind the tree, a few meters away. She didn’t move an inch and held up her hand so Storm would keep still.
A white paw, and then the most beautiful pure white wolf came out from cover. Ripp had to stop herself from gasping at the sight of it. She had never seen such a pure white wolf before, and it seemed to be bigger than a standard female wolf.
The wolf looked at her inquisitively but was submissive in her demeanor. Maybe, Ripp thought, she could get closer. She just had to see this wolf up close.
Ripp crawled a few paces, then stopped, turned sideways, and kept her head down. When the wolf didn’t appear to be aggressive or distrustful of her actions, she took another few paces and stopped again. She repeated this a few more times until she was a just a few yards from the wolf.
She held out her hand, just as she did with Storm and the Willow Creek wolves, and the white female lifted her paw tentatively and touched Ripp’s hand. Ripp felt a rush of emotions, and as she looked in the wolf’s eyes, she saw a keen intelligence behind them.
And then a howl from somewhere else in the woodland broke their moment and the white wolf sped off.
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Series
Wolfgang County Series
Soul Of The Pack
Bits and Bobs
- Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
- Audiobook Publisher: Bold Strokes Books inc
- Narrator: AJ Ferraro
- Jenny Frame Online
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