Hidden Wolf

Tassie Wolves #1

by Toni Griffin

Ashley Neilson was in pain, he was sticky in all the wrong places and all he wanted was a shower. So, of course it stands to reason that he would run smack bang into Mr. Tall, Dark, and Crazy. Who is this man and why does he keep talking about them being friends?

Vaughan Jacobs doesn’t understand why Ashley knows nothing about the mate bond. They’re both shifters, right? Vaughan can smell it, but as he gets to know the man fated to be his, secrets buried deep in the past manage to find their way to the surface.

Genres: M M Romance, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, M M Shapeshifters, M M Paranormal, Romance, Contemporary

79 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Toni Griffin lives in Darwin, the smallest of Australia’s capital cities. Born and raised in the state she’s a Territorian through and through. Growing up Toni hated English with a passion (as her editors can probably attest to) and found her strength lies with numbers.
Now, though, she loves escaping to the worlds she creates and hopes to continue to do so for many years to come. She’s a single mother of one and works full time. When she’s not writing you can just about guarantee that she will be reading one of the many MM authors she loves.
Feel free to drop her a line at info@tonigriffin.net anytime.

Reviews

[Jenni Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this entire book while sneak-reading at work :p

It was ok. You can really tell that this one is just setting you up for the rest of the series as it seems unfinished. I will still most likely read the rest of the series when it comes out. What can I say? I have a thing for Toni Griffin. :D

[Trisha Harrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really hoping the sequel will have this couple. This couple need another book. I don't always say that. Yes, I like certain series that have separate couples. However, if this was the end for the couple, I am not sure if I should continue. I loved the book for a while. It was fairly fast paced. The characters were nice together. I loved Vaughan. Ashley seemed like he had a great family - which is always a bonus for me.

I don't want to spoil everything. But when you add the twist into it - which I suspected would be something like that - it can't just end. Now, I had thought it would be something else, something more legitimate. It wasn't. So that was a surprise, a nice one. I saw myself getting into this... And then I looked down. The book was very close to ending and we had just had the big revelation. Maybe not so huge if, like me, you knew something was going to happen.

For me, this book could have been an amazing beginning to a series. Add 50-100 pages to this and I would have been ecstatic. People who want to know my issue... Ashley found out he was swapped at birth. His parent have no idea, btw. He's a shifter, and his parents (birth) are dead. A couple of pages later, and it ended. So I wasn't sure where my head was. Normally, I would see an ending coming, but I was silly enough to not check how far I was in.

With all those complaints, though, I cannot fault the author for writing an entertaining book. It was just too short for me. My biggest fear is there will be a brand new couple in the next book and my issues with this one won't be addressed. I really hope that doesn't happen because I think I could really love these two MC's.

[Phaney · Rating 2 out of 5]

A “manacle” laugh. XD Heh.
The other mistakes are a lot less funny and more annoying, alas.

For a story this short a surprising amount of time is devoted to the mundane minutiae of Ashley’s life. Vaughan’s too. I’m sure there’s some compelling reason for having the interior of his house described in loving detail.

Oh, Vaughan. Why, if it’s already obvious to you that the man has no idea what you are talking about, do you keep jumping the shifter thing at Ashley?
It’s not just that but a general attitude of irrationality the moment Vaughan opens his mouth. Very odd.

Reading along it occurred to me once again that some of these characters have the worst sense of self-preservation ever. For some of the guys in these series all they need to know about a person to be planning forever with them is that they’re tall and buff and good looking and – le gasp – for some reason want to be with lil ole them.
Really? I mean… Seriously? Being flattered as the basis of a life-long relationship and oodles of instant trust? Mm. Okay then.

I can’t really say I comprehend Ashley’s despair over what he learns late in the story.
The people he thought were his biological parents never lied to him; they were convinced he was their son and they always treated him as such. So it turns out that’s not genetically true. But no one was cheated out of anything here. He had a wonderful childhood and still has a supportive, loving family. Where does the drama come from?

Jeez, you can’t just use a phrase like “don’t get me wrong” in the narrative itself (unless it’s written in first person but even then you must be aware you’re addressing the reader directly – which changes everything). No, it’s not any better when you put it as “don’t get him wrong”.
Sadly this is all part of a bigger issue that keeps cropping up with several authors of the more casual style. They don’t seem to be aware of third person limitations pertaining to sentence structure and phrasing. And tense, dear god.
’Kay. I’ve had my two minutes of rant. (It had been building up.) Back to business.

The writing’s… off. Now, I don’t know whether this because of bad editing, or maybe Australianisms that I don’t quite get – but quite frequently it feels like there’s a word too many or too few for the sentence to roll smoothly. Like an added pronoun where it should not be, or the lack of one where it would be needed for clarity.

This story simply feels malnourished. We get a few key scenes and quite a few exposition dumps masking as scenes (someone doing something ordinary while musing over the circumstances of their life) – but most of the story happens in between. Particularly the further we get. What might have been the second half is merely summarized in a few blocks of text.
Strangely enough this leaves me with the feeling of having been cheated out of a story. Although that would smart a lot more if I had found myself more engaged in the proceedings.

[Hc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm what to say.. It was a kind of cute read. Felt unfinished and the big 'conflict' was not so.. big. The mystery behind Ash's parentage was overcome way too quickly and not drawn out. Also didn't get a reason why he took SOOOO long to finally free his wolf. The 'half wolf, omega, and trauma at birth' didn't cut it for me.

I would be interested in this world being explored and see what potential this world may offer up in the future.

[Moomba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Ashley and Vaughan should continue in book 2. It was too short, too unfinished to be limited to just one book.

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did it just end? I'm being serious here. Did it just end with no book 2 in sight?! Vaughan and Ashley NEED another book, like NOW! I guess I didn't realize this was so short. I also didn't realize or see that only one book was out. That was MY fault I wasn't paying attention and now I am paying for it. I want more of Vaughan and Ashley!!! Their story just started in this novella. I felt like this was one long prologue. Getting to know the characters before it really begins, ya know. There was no big battle, no fighting within the pack, no crazy stalkers or ex-lovers, etc. Just really "meeting" Ashley and Vaughan and now I want action in book 2 :)

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad new series, pretty typical mate themed shifter book. This one had a slightly different twist, predictable, but still a twist. My main complaint is that it was too short. It seemed liked everything happened at breakneck speed and too many opportunities were being missed that could have made this a really, really good book. I really hope that the next in this series have Vaughn and Ashley in it because just when their story seemed to get started the book ended.

[Lasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

No real conflict at all. The "surprise" plot twist angle was dropped and the setting of Tasmania wasn't fully explored. Overall, I was very disappointed in this book.

[Flavia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro curtinho e rápido de ler. É instalove, mas gosto bastante que tem todo o plot dele tendo que descobrir porque os pais dele são humanos e ele lobisomem, deu um tempo do casal ir se entrosando. Gosto dos personagens e da história.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a short story, only 120 pages, so some shortcuts were needed but it didn't feel forced. The MC bumps, literally, into the other MC. He then runs thinking the other man is crazy. How can he be my mate/friend when we just met.
If you like Toni Griffin you'll like this story, and it will leave you wondering if there is more to come.

[Sabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good new series.

[Ericka Walden · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5****
Enjoyed this start to a new series very much! No blood, gore, crazy wolves... Yet anyway! Just a nice short read. Looking forward to the next in this series!

[Riayl · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5? It wasn't bad but there just wasn't much there. Not enough action maybe? *shrug* I'll try the next one because I like this author, this book just didn't quite mesh with me.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is just something a bout Toni Griffin's werewolf books that speak to me. I'm crossing my fingers for an MPREG in this series too :D

[Nikko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not bad...

[~♥ Elle ♥~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really needs to be continued in another book...

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

[Kristy Maitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recommend to choose that book when you don't know what to read and want one easy and uncomplicated story plot.

[Meggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story didn't work for me. Maybe, because it was to plain and boring, or to easy. Anyway, this is a fast developing shifter's romance and also from my point fast forgotten.

[Sherry F · Rating 1 out of 5]

Head hopping; poorly plotted; typos; choppy/abrupt writing; and in need of some serious editing. There are man irrelevant paragraphs and comments that should not have made it into the final version.

[Ang -PNR Book Lover Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

So cute, hope this couple gets another story
Really enjoyed this story ;)

[Dena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[~SexyBookWorm~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

supposed to be a paranormal shifter book but didn't feel like it at all...I think the shifter stuff was kinda useless

[Lilladii · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not saying anything bad. Will just say this was not a book for me at all. Wish it was though, could have been so much more than it was.


1.45 stars

[Mrsgeo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story and didn't really think the ending was too abrupt.

[Isha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short. Would have loved to see the interaction with the pack members.

[Alex Latham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 26 complete.

[Marsha Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was just adorable!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was rather slow and bland. The very minor angst was built up so much and amounted to nothing.