Born To Be Wild

The Others #15

by Christine Warren, Kate Reading (Narrator)

Josie Barrett brings out the animal in men. Literally. As the local veterinarian in a town that's approximately seventy percent Others-mostly shapeshifters-Josie deals with beastly situations all the time. It's practically part of her job description. But when the werewolves of Stone Creek, Oregon, start turning downright feral, Josie smells a rat-among other, more dangerous critters. Teaming up with the ferociously sexy Eli Pace, a full-time sheriff and part-time were-lion, Josie tries to contain the shapeshifting problem before it spreads like a virus. But when more shifters get infected-and stuck in their animal forms-the fur really begins to fly. Josie and Eli have to find the cause, fast, before the whole town goes to the dogs. But first, they have to wrestle with a few animal urges of their own.

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Romance, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Fantasy, Werewolves, Urban Fantasy

Audiobook

First published February 27, 2010

About the author

Born and raised in coastal New England, Christine Warren lived in the South and the Mid-Atlantic before hopping to the other side of the country to take up the life of a transplant in the Pacific Northwest. She completely bypassed those states in the middle due to her landlocking phobia. Hmm, need to research a scientific term for that...

When not scrambling frantically to complete her latest writing project, Christine spends most of her time as a crazy animal lady, hanging out with her dog Levi (he’s the one with the hair) and pretending to train him to have some manners. She also hangs out with her horse, Cal—a thoroughbred with a craving for strawberry licorice twists—her goddog, Merlin; and her best friend, fellow author Hannah Murray. In addition to playing with her pets, Christine’s hobbies include identifying dog breeds from photos of their underbellies, appreciating fine and not-so-fine wines, shopping for the perfect pair of Christian Louboutin shoes, and most of all reading things someone else had to agonize over.

She enjoys hearing from readers and can be reached via email sent to Christine@christinewarren.net or by postal mail to Christine Warren, PO Box 871900, Vancouver, WA 98687-1900.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/christ...

Reviews

[Megan (BookWifeReviews) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sad face :(

This book didn't fit at all with the series. I was a bit confused as to why it was added on. It was extremely slow and the FMC was annoying. I hate women that can't let men help them out. She got so freaking mad when the MMC told her to run when there was danger. She was a human and if she was shot, she would die. If they shot him, he could change to his lion and heal. It's the logical thing to do. She would just have been a distraction for him. I absolutely can't stand when women are all "I'm a full grown woman. I can take care of myself" but while she's doing this she is screaming and running away... that's childish. Defiantly not something a full grown woman should do.

I am extremely sad that this is how the series ended. At least I think it's the last book? But I have liked this series a lot for the most part. The last couple books have been a little disappointing but other than that I think the series was fun.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars This latest installment of Christine Warren's "Others" series was much different from her previous books. This one takes place in Oregon, and deals with a small town vet named Josie, and the local sheriff, Eli, who just happens to shift into an African lion. But the real difference from this Others book is that there is a viral outbreak that affects the lupine shifters only. Once infected, the lupine cannot shift from wolf form, eventually becoming more and more feral, until he is all vicious wolf, but intelligent like a human. The virus is man-made and wicked nasty.
In most of Warren's Others books, there is magic, a bad guy, and a happy ending. In this one, there is a conspiracy, white supremesists, and the chance that all Lupine shifters in the world can be taken down by this awful virulant strain of rabies. The only thing keeping this story from receiving a 5 star rating is that the ending is very abrupt and while Eli and Josie get their HEA, the virus may or may not be out there still, it was hinted that the main wolf who still was infected may have been picked up for animal control and the ending was way too open-ended. It was great, and I liked the way she showed the bad guy's perspective in the form of his scientific notes, but there were too many unanswered questions, and as she doesn't tend to carry over the storyline from one book to the next as an Urban Fantasy might, it's hard to say if we'll see more of this subject.
I know I didn't dwell too much on the romance plot, but really it was fairly straightforward. Sheriff sees vet smile and she goes from ordinary to glorious. They hook up, he realizes she's his mate, he wants to protect her, she feels she can protect herself. They argue, they take down the bad guys, they live happily ever after the end. I did like it, and I liked the way Josie and Eli got together, it was cute. It just wasn't what I'd typically expect from Christine Warren...although that woman can write a steamy love scene!

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting setup - what would today's skinheads do after the 'unveiling' of the 'Others' among us? Yeah, no surprises there - they have a brand new minority to hate. The hero, Eli, is a shifter and Sheriff of a small Oregon town populated with humans and others. The heroine, Josie, is the only vet in town. They meet over a wounded wolf - actually a Lupine in shifted form - Eli brings in. Since the human doctor isn't available she tackles the case but something is seriously wrong, the wolf is not healing or shifting like a Lupine should, she's not even waking up...

Good characters, plot with some twists but the end really didn't work for me. Yeah, they got the bad guys but how they were going to deal with the infection seemed very unresolved... Maybe rate it a 3.5 because of that...

Novels of the Others
1. Wolf at the Door (2006)
2. She's No Faerie Princess (2006)
3. The Demon You Know (2007)
4. Howl At the Moon (2007)
5. Walk On the Wild Side (2008)
6. One Bite with a Stranger (2008)
7. You're So Vein (2009)
8. Big Bad Wolf (2009)
9. Born To Be Wild (2010)
10. Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here (2010)

[Kyndall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first book from this author. Let me say that I love Josie, I love the way she stands up to the sheriff, not letting him boss her around like so many other alpha shifters in this genre. Her dialogue was always great, and always entertaining. At about the 75% mark (can you tell I read this on my Kindle?) this took a big turn, and not for the better. First of all, the sheriff is really under developed, and as the book goes on you really don't learn anything significant about his personality or character. He is shallow, and no Curran from Magic Bites, that's for sure! I was disappointed with the ending, it ends rather abruptly I think, with loose ends. What happens with Bill, and the other shifters that have been infected? Do they get married? Does she take more time off work? This was an OK read, but the last 20% was a struggle to get through for me.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay but not as Good as Others in the Series, March 3, 2010


This book was okay but I didn't enjoy it as much as others in the series, all of which I've read. Josie is a vet in a shifter community but she doesn't treat shifters. Eli is the local sheriff and is a African Lion shifter. There was a bit right at the front where he tells her about waking up in odd places and that he once woke up in a kennel with a bunch of sled dogs. How did that happen? Did someone think that the african lion was a husky and he woke up human wondering where he was? I think maybe he must have been written as a wolf at first and this scene was missed in the edit. Speaking of editing I don't normally mention things like that and typos but this book was rife with them. I have seldom seen so many typos (wrong words the spellcheck missed) in a professionally edited and published work. I found at least 7 of them and I only started counting in the last half of the book.

I didn't really feel that there was much attraction between the hero and heroine. He had never noticed her in 3 years of being sheriff in a town that was described as small enough to walk end to end and they both frequented the only pastry shop daily yet they had never spoken before. Doesn't seem likely. Then when they do meet over a wounded shifter, he is basically immediately in love with her. There is very little discussion of her feelings for him but suddenly she is "in Love." I felt very little heat between the two much less any gentler feelings than pure physical.

The thing I found most disappointing about the novel though was that there was basically no reason for him to be a shifter. There is no discussion of shifter life style and pack dynamics. There are no actions that follow from a human falling in love with a shifter even if they are not a surprise to her.

Possible SPOILERS: He only changes to a lion twice and both times extremely briefly. He tracks using his senses while in human form. I know part of the plot dictated this but not until the end. Face it, one of the reasons we read shifter books is to see them shift and be the lion or whatever. He doesn't protect her in this form other than a brief fight and she doesn't pet him or admire him etc. All of these are things I like in shifter stories.

At the end there is a scene where she talks the shifter guys into going with them to catch the bad guys. Her reasoning was not sound and she shouldn't have been there so that sort of spoiled the end for me. Not to mention that the descriptions of the forest hideout of the bad guys dragged on and on and I skipped most of it. The end was a bit too facile and we never find out what happens to one of the major characters.

So if you're following the series go ahead and read it. It's not horrible but not near as entertaining as the earlier books in the series.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am definitely a fan of Christine Warren but I found this book to be somewhat of a disappointment after reading Walk on the Wild Side (The Others #5). The story was strangely unfulfilling, don't get me wrong there was a plot and there was mystery but it just didn't jive for me that the story was about one lone Lion-Shifter in a town full of wolf-shifter and the story focused more on what was happening to the wolf-shifter pack versus Sheriff Eli Pace (the main male character). In Walk on the Wild Side we had first been introduced to lion shifters and the story was extremely interesting because we got to see how the ran their packs, their family structure etc. But in this novel we learn nothing new about lion shifters and definitely nothing new about wolf shifters (Big Bad Wolf - The Others #8 covered most of what you need to know about them). So in reality we simply get to glimpse relationship developing between veterinarian Josie Barrett, who had lived her whole life in a town full of shifters and a sheriff who happens to be a lion shifter.

The two main characters may as well have been human for all the effect Eli's shifter status had on the romance side of the story, they could have just been your regular Harry who met Sally and fell in lust. Christine Warren usually describes or portrays the relationships between her main characters as great destined loves, loves that when first realized is sort of like being hit by a train. However, in this story I find that to be lacking, the main female character is not surprised by anything about the relationship except the initial draw, it does not even phase her when Eli claims that she is his mate. In fact, it appears as if Warren tries to stay away from biological/animalistic explanation for the connection between the two characters and just simply portrays them as two people who fall in love. I think that is in essence where this story went wrong.

I don't know how else to explain it but this story just does not fit in with the rest of the Others series, to me it was just okay and I probably would have given it two stars if not for the excellent syntax/mastery of words and the scene development that I found in this novel.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

I recently finished reading Drive Me Wild which was very good. I love the h/h an the book was very sensual. Drive Me Wild was published after Born to Be Wild (so I read out of order). This was not a good thing. Don't get me wrong, Born to Be Wild can be read as a standalone; however, it falls flat in comparison to Drive Me Wild. Had I read this book first MAYBE I would feel differently about this book.

First let me start with the H/H, Eli and Josie. I really liked them individually. Eli is the Sheriff and a lion shifter. Hey, you got me at "hello" with that combination. What's not to like, right? Josie is a somewhat nerdy/quirky veterinarian. When I read this about the story my interest was immediately peaked. Ideally, together Eli and Josie should have been a hot and passionate couple. NOT! They were attracted to one another and supposedly hot for each other. I only got this from the words on the pages. I did not feel the connection and passion, even the love making scenes were tepid and boring. In my opinion, this just was not what I have come to love and expect from Christine Warren.

Although Eli and Josie did not keep my interest, the man storyline did for a while. The mystery behind who was targeting the Lupines and how the mystery would be solved kept me going but even that became boring. I started skimming chapters and skipped the last three chapters and went straight to the end. Then to top it all off the book was poorly edited.

Although this book is definitely my least favorite of the Others series, I know that this series will continue to get better. Hello, do I need to say it again...Drive Me Wild.

I am still anxiously awaiting the summer release of the next Other book.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christine Warren's series, The Others, follows the lives of paranormal beings after their "unveiling" (when they formally make themselves known to the non paranormal world). For the most part these books are light reading, fun and laced with humor and romance. They have the prerequisite alpha hero pursuing, and of course catching, the spunky heroine. They very lightly touch on "interspecies" relationships, which would be a modern day metaphor for interracial and intercultural relationships. However, the author rarely explores these conflicts in depth; rather she opts for the light hearted romance. However, in "Born to be Wild" she goes a bit further by making a political statement. The heroine, Josie, is a human veterinarian who lives in a small town in Oregon. Her love interest is Eli, the local sheriff who just happens to be feline shifter (lion). This town was not surprised with the unveiling as paranormal beings have lived there for many generations. Therefore everyone got along, that is until an outside "human supremacy" organization came to town. The message is not heavy handed and does add to the overall story. My only issue with this type of story is this; The "bad guys" were truly evil almost to the point of absurdity. They were almost cartoonish in nature. Perhaps the "can't we all just get along" point would be better made if they were a little more three dimensional. On the whole though, this was an enjoyable read and I am looking forward to the next installment.

[Ada · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is was a pretty interesting read. My first book of Novels of the Others. I'm not too sure how they all connect as it didn't seem to bring up much from previous books other than the world knows of Others and that there was an Unveiling.

As a standalone, I enjoyed it. It was about the town of Stone Creek, Oregon, a place known for having a large number of shifters. The town vet Josie Barrett has grown up with them although she's only dealt with the actual pets in town.

That changes when the local sheriff, Eli Pace, a feline shifter brings in an injured Lupine or wolf. Others have a bunch of immunities that humans don't have that allow them to heal faster and not suffer from illness. Except the injured Lupine fails to heal and another case breaks out. Before long, Eli and Josie are struggling to search for the mysterious source that is infecting the lupines before it affects the entire pack. Along the way, they acknowledge their attraction to each other and see where it leads as they work together.

For the most part, this book moved at a fast pace and there was just the right amount of information given to explain Others and a bit of the back story of the town. Until just when it reached the zenith of the story, that's when I felt it started to drag. Instead of getting a whole lot of action, it bogged down with scientific and political explanations that made me just want to skip right to the end. However, it had more than a satisfactory ending so it made up for it. A good read for those who like shifters even though there wasn't too much focus on shifting.

[Ally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting more from Born to be Wild than I actually got but it was still a good story.

Josie Barrett brings out the animal in men. Literally. As the local veterinarian in a town that’s approximately seventy percent Others mostly shapeshifters Josie deals with beastly situations all the time. It’s practically part of her job description. But when the werewolves of Stone Creek, Oregon, start turning downright feral, Josie smells a rat among other, more dangerous critter. Teaming up with the ferociously sexy Eli Pace, a full-time sheriff and part-time were-lion, Josie tries to contain the shapeshifting problem before it spreads like a virus. But when more shifters get infected and stuck in their animal forms the fur really begins to fly. Josie and Eli have to find the cause, fast, before the whole town goes to the dogs. But first, they have to wrestle with a few animal urges of their own.

I really liked Josie, I thought she was a great character, totally sweet and caring and she tried so hard to save the shapeshifters in her town even though she didn't really know much about shapeshifters and there ability to shift. I wasn't quite so keen on Eli I thought he tried too hard to be protective of Josie and that he should have given her a bit more credit.

The overall story of Born to be Wild was a bit brutal at times with the death of the female wolf and the bad guys racism of the shapeshifters, it was a great story but it ended a bit abruptly for my liking.

[Laurie Garrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just didn’t do it for me, it's nothing like the rest of the series. If you have never read any of these books in this series and just picked up this one and didn’t like it, please try the others. On one hand though some of you may like it better because it doesn’t carry the high level of sexual content as the other books do.

I really liked Eli and Josie characters, it was the story I couldn’t handle, it didn’t have that excitement as the rest of the series, it seemed to take forever for them to find the problem with the wolf shifters. The sad part was it could have been really good, but there was nothing to pull me in to the storyline and keep wanting to know more. The Other’s are known to be a very hot sexual shape-shifting series this one even bombed on that part. I have to say it took nine books to find one that wasn’t so great, so I'm happy about that part. I would give you more about this book, but the back of the book say's enough. This is a great series if you looking for going on the wild side, so please try the rest.

[Silver James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Born To Be Wild took a deeper look at the human/Other politics of Christine Warren's Others world. I enjoyed this book--the human vet and the werelion sheriff had some real chemistry but Josie seemed to lack a little knowledge, especially for someone who grew up in a small town where Others make up 70% of the population. Eli was definitely an alpha male. Overall, I liked the twists in the plots but I had a couple of problems with the storyline. First, two normally highly-intelligent and focused people went totally brain dead over the sex (which was hawt! But...) and the ending of the book left loose threads on the political end. I hope those threads will be fixed in upcoming books. All in all, a fun read.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love The Others series and so was slightly disappointed that this story doesn't include any of the other characters from previous books. I liked the storyline and was disappointed in 1) the story really ended before it was finally wrapped up; and 2) there was no explanation of the crazy ramblings / sort of case notes from the beginning of each chapter. It would have only taken an epilogue to clear everything up. I was kind of left with a sense that maybe there were still infected people running around. The notes left me with the impression that many people had been infected. What happened to them? What happened with the boy who died? That wasn't addressed again. I really liked the new characters, but was disappointed with the editing.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing groundbreaking for a romance novel or even particularly memorable. and frankly a little too syrupy sweet for my taste but I can't underscore it because while it didn't really inspire much interest out of me it is a well written novel. I liked the both of the love interest for being well characterized and no non-sense especially considering this is a para-romance which as we all know has considerable leanings towards the just plain silly.The author is also not only wrote a plot but even wrote one that makes sense.Again nothing new but if you're looking forward for a nice little break into the familiar which I think is what we all look for in romance this is just that.

[Megan Sewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story, liked the characters, my only problem with it is that it ended quickly. There was all this lead up, and then nothing. The basic idea of the story is someone is trying to get rid of the Others(paranormals) and they have created biological "warfare" that can possibly kill off the Others. So you spend the whole book trying to figure out who it is and what is going to happen and then bang in five pages you find out who did it and the book ends. So the book was good, but the ending was rushed.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it okay, but this will probably be my least-like book of the 'Others' series. I felt it was missing some of the elements that make her stories so unique. It also felt like the author was rushed. I get that this will be a continueing line of a story (she introduced to many new mateless characters for it not to be), but I felt like the suspense part of the plot was incomplete. Don't worry Christine Warren. I'm still going to read everything you put out.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending SUCKED!!!! It was like the editor realized it was too long and did the shortest, lamest action scene for the ending. I had to double check that the last few chapters and/or epilogue weren't ripped out. This book would have been great if they hadn't squished the ending into nothing. Nothing to show that things worked out, etc. Very very disappointed!!!!!!!!!! None of her other works are like this.

[Winter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't care for this book as much as I did the others in her series. It is more of stand alone, and though it takes place in the same world, it doesn't feel connected to it. This seemed more like a thriller type book that just happened to have shapesifters, where as her other books have been more paranormal in nature. The end seemed kind of rushed as well and it just wasn't as fun as her earlier books.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've come to enjoy the Others series, but I found this book to be disappointing. The characters were interesting, but nothing seem to flow - it was either dragging or forced. I hope the next book is better. I'm wondering why, too, she went away from including characters from other books in her more recent ones. I liked the wolves (i.e., Graham) and the NYC setting.

[Laurla2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

-3 stars. the overbearing male bullshit got old.

"the impulse to inject the man with a horse laxative tugged at her seductively."

"if he ever happened to trip while walking past her and land on top of her, she wouldn't have screamed for help."

"you still wearing a tin star in east bumblefuck?"
"northeast bumblefuck, thanks."

"the reason i have every right to be quite displeased with you is that in the process of trying to protect me, you stopped treating me like an intelligent and capable woman with enough common sense to protect herself when such behavior is warranted, and instead began to act as if i were either six years old, brain-damaged, or both."

"dear god! clearly the man had been dropped on his head as a child. more than once. and from considerable height. it was the only explanation for how he could possibly have gotten to be so mind-boggingly, jaw-droppingly, awe-inspiringly stupid."

"a feeble minded and opinionless woman like herself couldn't ever be trusted to make anything as complicated as her own decision, and even if she had, she would obviously need time to mull it over and over in her vacuous little head until the two brain cells she barely had to rub together had worked out all the complexities of such a thing as her own bloody emotions."

[Elaine Kirby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing!

Josie Barrett grew up knowing about Others even though she wasn’t one; she also knew from the time she was around 9 that she wanted to be a veterinarian & she did become one too.

Eli Pace is a lion shifter & he’s also the town sheriff & even though he’s been in the same town as Josie for the past 3 years they’v never met until the night he brings her a wounded Lupine.

That is the beginning of their relationship. That is also the beginning of a mystery in their town that brings them closer together.

This book has many Lupines, a lion, some bad men & has some romance but mostly this book is about what’s causing 2 Lupines not to shift back to their human form & finding out who’s behind it. That’s why I’m rating this book as pretty good. This is the last book in this otherwise very good series.

[Aletha Vradenburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good READ

It was and interesting read and I feel that the characters worked well with each other. I will continue to read this author books. However it would be nice if someone would proofread the books because trying to figure out when the words are spelled wrong are not in order makes it a little difficult to understand what might be going on.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book confused me cause it was set in a different town with no related characters and just seemed to come from left field. The plot and characters were all good but I just kept feeling like I missed something for there to be a jump from East to West coast and no similar characters.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read several of the books in this series, and this one definitely stands alone. The sheriff (a lion shifter) brings a badly wounded Lupine to the town veterinarian, and then the fur begins to fly. The problems escalate as does the suspense. It's a wild ride to the end!

[Zee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is this the last Others novel?? It's probably the best one. The writing is flat-out beautiful, the plot is great, the male character is fantastic, and the germane character isn't constantly fighting for respect. Why oh why are there not more after this??

[Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, humorous dialogue, and a strong professional heroine. However, if you have a passing knowledge of science and/or medicine, it will be a tough go. The author obviously did a lot of research but didn't understand the material. The flaws in the science were glaring and hard to ignore since the author put in so many (wrong) details. Oh well, the story of the cat who drank a spilled bottle of Irish Cream was amusing.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

while the book itself, and the characters were pretty good, it did not really "fit in" with the rest of the series.

[McKenzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eli and Josie were awesome !

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sheriff, an alpha, and a shifter! A paranormal romance triple threat!

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yuck. Annoying main characters. Plot holes. Instalust. No thanks. Why do they constantly mention how small the town is and yet none of these characters have ever met each other?