Heart of the Wolf

Black River Moon #1

by A. Mariposa

An age-gap wolf shifter romance about forbidden first love!

Maddy Donovan is trying to survive her senior year of high school. Her life is far from normal. Her stepdad is a shameless alcoholic. The power bill is due. And she has a math test tomorrow. She's living in survival mode, and she has no time to date that spicy older guy who keeps coming by the hardware store. What's his name again? Right. Gareth Delarosa. Black hair, hazel eyes, over six feet tall--guys that hot don't belong in Black River. He's been her secret crush for the last five years, but there's an age gap, and he's way off limits.

But it seems like fate has other plans. When Gareth saves her life the night of a break-in, she wakes up in his bedroom, in his bed, wearing his T-shirt. Her secret fantasy is staring her in the face. And he's a werewolf. Right. Seems like true love is about to upend her world.

Welcome to a small town love story about crossing boundaries, taking risks, healing from trauma and learning to live on the wild side. This is not your grandma's love story. Recommended for readers 18+, contains spicy scenes and adult content.

A steamy New Adult / Paranormal Age Gap Romance about forbidden first love!
Keywords: age gap, first love, shifter romance, alpha male, obsessive male lead, small town romance, paranormal romance.

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

424 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 31, 2024

About the author

A. Mariposa. Her first series, BLACK RIVER MOON, is a bit like Teen Wolf for an adult female audience. Ms. Mariposa grew up traveling between Los Angeles, CA and Washington State, which gave her a love of diversity, Southwest culture, big forests, rainy weather, and a fascination with weird little historic towns. She currently lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and two fur babies.

A. Mariposa is not very active on Goodreads.com but runs a popular Youtube audiobook channel featuring BLACK RIVER MOON as a dramatized audiobook podcast. If you want to listen to a theatrical version of the story, check it out! Link to channel below.

https://www.youtube.com/@blackbutterf...

Reviews

[DarkTwistedReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was alot that I didn't like about this book, but even so I still enjoyed it alot.
The FMC is 19 and you can tell she's 19. She's "like" so insecure and innocent, seeming to not know alot of things yet she has a job, trying to put herself through high-school while simultaneously taking care of her toxic step-dad. I feel like after going through so much, she probably would be a little hardened, a little more mature for her age... but naw.
I think I stayed more for Gareth though. His personality and masculinity was the complete opposite of Maddy. Gareth being a werewolf and 29, so there's a big age gap there.
I just found the back and forth between "he's to old for me" and "I really wanna be with him but maybe just as friends" to be kinda ridiculous.
I felt like the book was too long for what it was, it didn't need to be almost 600pgs.
There's a second book that isn't released yet and it wasn't even in the pre-order stage when I started the book. I probably wouldn't have if I knew it was gonna end on a slight cliffy.
Anyway, even throughout the negativity, repetitiveness and literal repeats of entire paragraphs, I still really enjoyed the book.
Will I read it again? Maybe.
It's not a 5 stars though, just because her whining and lack of character development kinda put me off a bit.
That sex scene though? Was like 2 chapters long and so good 👍🏻

Damn, longest review ever 😆

[Loco Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edit: After further consideration, I give it 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars. Usually books that were passable, but kinda meh for me are 3 star so even though there are a lot of frustrations in this book, it still stuck out as different to me, so I feel like my rating should reflect that.

Damn! I'm conflicted how to rate this, gonna have to process I think before I settle on a star rating. Definitely a unique shifter story. On the one hand, this was way too long and repetitive and definitely could have about half the content taken out and not lose anything. Also, the heroine was so infuriatingly immature at times that I wanted to shake her. That being said, her immaturity and stupidity was age and character appropriate. Unlike most TSTL heroines who only act ridiculous because the author is trying to create a 'strong, independent woman' and fails, this character is meant to be a young woman (19) who has had a difficult life and is acting tough to mask the reality that she feels lonely, scared, vulnerable and unloved. That nuance makes a world of difference in how I feel about the book. The Hero is also her perfect counter balance. His personality and demeanor reminded me of Rio from "Good Girls". Strong, calm, cool, bad boy type. He doesn't rise to her drama or immature waffling and somehow manages to know when to give her space and when to reign her in and put her in her place, all without yelling or getting angry. He's just a natural.

Now, I was a little perturbed because he finds out she's his "lifemate" (basically fated mate) when she's 14 and he's 24, so obviously he can't do anything about it at that time, but he does go from wandering around the country to settling in the area to be near her until she's old enough. In my opinion, from that moment on, he should have treated it like a long distance relationship and have been committed to her physically, even if he wasn't able to act on it in that moment. However, he unfortunately does have at least one fuck buddy afterwards that's mentioned and to make it even worse, that particularly entanglement was after the h had already turned 18, which kinda negates his comment that she was "too young". It just feels distasteful that he couldn't wait 3 or 4 years for her. I know everyone feels differently about this and it wasn't a HUGE deal breaker for me or anything, but I did think it was unnecessary to include and gave me a bit of the ick, though luckily in this book, we dont ever actually meet or see the other woman, the exchange a few texts before he blocks her and she's a mainly used as a plot device for the heroine to act like a jealous child. He was also...maybe less jealous and protective than I've come to expect from my fated mate MMC's, like he checked in on her every now and again, but he didn't seem obsessed with her safety or well-being. He let her live with her abusive stepfather in poverty for 4 whole years. This is where the story seems a bit unclear because on their first meeting, he sees a bruise on her cheek and asks if it's from her stepdad, she just doesn't say anything one way or another and he just.... assumes that means no? She gets hurt BADLY several times throughout the years, multiple times she could have been killed, has to get a job to pay the bills when she's like 15....and he doesn't do much about it. p

Overall, even though it's obviously a paranormal story, the tone of it is very realistic in the sense that it's probably about what would happen if all of this were possible in real life. I also think any man over 22 who wants to get with an 18 or 19 year old female should read it to see what being with a woman that age would really be like! 😂 She's honestly such an immature hot mess nightmare, she plays all these childish games and just is so indecisive, naive, insecure and truly in deep denial about reality a lot of the time and it's just soooo accurate about what you'd have to deal with as an older man in a relationship with a girl this age. The H just dealt with so much unnecessary bullshit from her that made his life harder and he just does it all mostly with a smile and patience.

You know, this book definitely had its issues as mentioned, but even though a lot of the book is repetitive, I still found myself interested in the story throughout and couldn't wait to get to the next part and plan on immediately reading the next book.

[Athena Que Será, Será · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could've been shorter! Felt it was unnecessarily long. The h is 19yrs and H is 29yrs.
Tags: age-gaaap, child_abuse_alert, curvy-beauties, bully, mean-mean-girls, older-hero-younger-heroine, over-the-years, ow-drama, pnr-werewolf, poor-heroine, read, small-town, stalker, teen-heroine-barely-legal, unlikable-heroine (she's only 19yrs, so I kinda understand), virgin-heroine

[Shaina Rivera · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Couldn’t take it anymore. A lot of words and nothing at all to say.

[Felicia Seay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Story

This is a slow burn werewolf romance. It's intriguing, exciting, and full of pure passion. A great read for fans of Werewolves, Supernatural Romance, Drama, Age-Gap, Domination and Submission, Virgin, and Bad Boy Romance stories. Though, it does end unfinished. I'm anxiously awaiting the release of book 2!

[heather staccone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good

I grew up in black river, so it's crazy to see it in a book. Obviously some stuff was wrong to fit the story line but it was very good! I cannot wait to read the rest

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow just woo

I was hooked instantly
Garrett and Maddie are smoking hot together. They're perfect his yin to her yang
I highly recommend this book!!!

[Kim Prophet · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't the greatest, but I hate not finishing books, so I made it through. I hate how it's like a narrator is telling the story. It had its good moments but it just wasn't for me.

[Stace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow burn and very worth it

Slow burn and very worth it. It did have some spelling and punctuation issues but not any that would make hard to read. I am excited for the author to release the next in the series. I enjoyed the suspense and the twist and turns.

[A.B. Shepherd · Rating 3 out of 5]

As implied by the fact this is book number one in the series it ends on an HFN -semi cliff hanger.

Nothing is truly resolved here. Maddy doesn't believe she's a wolf yet and has only just agreed she's Gareth's girlfriend after discovering he IS a wolf. The situation with her father is still unresolved, as is the matter of where she's living.

Maddy is quite annoying at points in here too. She never does what she agrees to do, and she lies repeatedly.

[Violet Raven · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this; I love a good werewolf novel, I knew what I was getting into with the age gap—it's in the title on Kindle— but there was so much about the character dynamic that was non-consentual, that I can't responsibly rate it higher.

It lost a star for each of these:

1. The dominance kink was never properly discussed between them, so there were no boundaries set of the MMC's behaviour, and we can tell as readers that the FMC wants his protection not only as a role play in safe settings but genuine in violent ones. His reactions after those are not kind & compassionate nor with pre-established permissions to insult or hit her. The problem I had is that he's supposed to be this protective figure in her life, but even knowing she's come from a background of domestic violence, and knowing she has anxiety, and also never having discussed how they should navigate her panic attacks, his immediate reaction to her being terrified of malevolent ghost is to call her names, slap her, and smack her.

2. There were far to many instances that were coercive rather than consentual. I can't count them all but there were a few occasions she told him to stop and he agreed, "and then he..." etc. Or he used her own arousal as reason to continue without her express permission. She's telling him she doesn't think this is a good idea, and then it all goes ahead anyway. If they'd established their own code of acceptable consentual non-consent I wouldn't be complaining about this, but it made these interactions off putting and exploitative of her lack of assertiveness, rather than a dynamic that benefits both of them equally in different roles.

3. The writing style isn't for me, there's a lot of repetitive phrases, and I got really bored of hearing about her boobs honestly, and I found some of the phrasing quite clunky. Again, I did really want to like this story, and I think it could, with a bit of editing, and a healthier relationship dynamic, be an enjoyable escapism, but to often I found myself putting it down and unwilling to continue.

4. Aside from him completely disregarding her verbal instructions to leave her alone, he chases her down in the woods when it states clearly she was terrified of him. I'm really uncomfortable with this, especially with Maddy being 19, we need to stop normalising being afraid of the men who, mere pages later, are taking complete physical advantage.

5. I just didn't like Maddy, which isn't her fault, just at 19 I had nothing in common with her personality, although her life; working a job while in education and caring for abusive people, was a parallel, I couldn't quite relate to her complete naivety in certain areas. There was so much potential her for me to have felt kinship, but it just didn't pan out, she seemed to swing to vastly between the responsibilities of a late teen, and also immaturity. She didn't feel like even a confused character, but an ill established one, and came off maybe more like a 16 year old (I accept there's a lot of cultural differences though, which might be why she seems so young at 19.)

6. Lastly, I know it's a werewolf book and violence is to be expected, but we shouldn't as a result expect the main character to accept witnessing several murders and just be fine with that, when she doesn't come from a culture where murder is permitted. The book itself was quite long but the timescale she's expected to accept all this is rediculously short, even of we had maybe a week or two of her regular life implied in a paragraph between chapters just to make it feel less rushed.

So it lost 6 stars, but there were parts I liked, and I've been harsh on it in the hope that feedback might improve future books or at least warn anyone who will be triggered by themes like abuse, coercive control, degrading language without prior consent, etc. to avoid it for their wellbeing.

Things I liked:

Bea. I think she's a really intriguing character, and I want to know more about her. They did suffer a bit from speaking mainly about boys and men whenever they talk, and it would have been nice to see them have more of a friendship outwith the menfolk. Very intregued by how she, and Gareth's mother could be expanded on as individuals.

Becca. Her concerns were completely valid and I'm glad someone expressed them.

The part where he was teaching her to drive. She's clearly very sensitive to criticism, and has serious anxiety. That part was handled well, and I got to really like Gareth during that scene, which is partly why I was disappointed by his reaction later in the haunted house, and in general by the lack of prior conversation around informed consent, precautions, aftercare etc. He goes from physically laying hands on her and name calling, to being so caring when they're exiting the haunted house it's tempting to forgive him, but overall it just feels Maddy is never given the choices she deserves in how she wants to be treated. If she's had just a couple of paragraphs earlier saying being slapped in the face is how she would like to be brought out of a panic attack, and she's into it, that would be different. Or if he'd hugged her then and taken her calmly outside like he does later, also fine.

If you got this far, thanks for reading, I hope if it was before you read the book I've only given info to make an informed choice on whether it's your cup of tea.

[Gina_M_N]

DNF, I couldn't finish this slow ass moving book, the FMC was pretty pathetic, and at first its understandable, why she stays being that she is 19 and is the only one supporting the home, she is alone, but once the only person that has looked after since her mother died steps up, someone that has been around to help when she needs a hand, as little as it is he was consistent, she would try to see him, would walk by his house stole his cell number has been crushing on him for 5 years, but she goes out of her way to push him away, she tells him he can't tell her what to do but her abuser tells her don't see him or I'll beat you so she sees him in hiding, she is sad she thinks she's getting dumped, but doesn't want him to come around cause her abuser will hit her, she is happy when her abuser isn't around but claims to want to stay cause he needs looking after, its really a frustrating read, I hate FMC that only have a spine when its with people that are good to them and they know won't hurt them.

[Merry One Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting meeting for Maddy

This is book one of what might be a duet or trilogy. The story is about a nineteen year old girl named Maddy. She is a senior in high school and works to pay the bills for her and her stepfather. Maddy lost her mom and has lived with a stepfather who is in trouble with some unsavory people and has problems with drugs. That is the sad part. Maddy escapes her stepfather and his friends by going out into the woods. One night, Gareth (alpha wolf) finds Maddy out in the woods and helps her return home safely. They have a connection but only Gareth knows what it is, she is his life mate. Maddy thinks it is just a crush. The lead female character is young and very naive; she is a good person but the poor thing just struggles through so much self doubt and sadness. Ends on a small cliffhanger. Read On!

[Stephanie Bolen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dude, just skip it

Female main character is awful. There is nothing remotely redeeming about her. She needs therapy not a boyfriend. He's a "hero" former military service, owns his own business, owns his own home, and has a car. He grooms her. The power dynamic is very much skewed in his favor. And that's the way he likes it. He's a creep.
It's Bella and Edward but worse. The plot is paper thin and overwhelmed by useless details that go nowhere. The writing is clunky, the editing missed an entire paragraph that got pasted twice, and the sex scenes were awful. I don't give out many one stars but, this book is the scum underneath the bottom of the barrel.

[Devryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly the book was an easy read. However I found myself not loving the holes in part of the story and how the writing wasn't cleaned up in certain spots making reading strained. Also the ending and climax wasn't it for me like there was not much build up. I feel like the story gave you so much information about a person at once which made it feel overwhelming at times. Also our FMC I wished had more character development, but the story lacked in this aspect as well. Overall I give it 2 stars.

[Dear_Word_Wielders · Rating 3 out of 5]

My expectations were low going into this, so I was pleasantly surprised by how invested I got towards the end. I'm not claiming it's the greatest work of paranormal fiction out there. In fact it leaves much to be desired, but I enjoyed it.

The tempo was pretty slow, but made perfect sense for the evolution of the relationship between the MC's. I had a few good laughs and the spice didn't give me the ick, which is all a girl can hope for.

The ending felt a little abrupt and while I'm curious about the rest of the FMC's journey, I probably won't be getting the 2nd book.

[SilentSpectra · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 19%

The writing felt very stilted and the dialogue was grating, especially Maddy's dialogue. She was made to sound like she was much younger than she was and dumb as socks a rocks to boot. After the attack she stays with this guy she's only seen around a handful of times and everyone's okay with that. Her stepdad is missing and the police and school know this but sure, she can stay with him and not go into the system. She seems TSTL at this point and I just don't care enough to read any further.

[Mr D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant Brilliant Take On Shifters/ Werewolves!

An absolutely phenomenal story! Since her mother died several years ago Maddy has been struggling to survive, her stepfather is a useless lump who becomes dangerous after drink or drugs.

Maddy has a part time job after High School, someone has to put food on the table and keep the power on, unfortunately it’s her. It makes school that much harder. She has her secret fantasy, the man from the woods. He’s not like an ordinary man he’s very different. The thing is, so is she.

[Emo C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun, read

Was it a little too long? yes.
Was the friendship thing needed? No
Was 19 too young? probably
Did I still enjoy it, yep, and I'll be reading the next one too.

[Anfalas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite a let down

This book was bad. The relationships between characters were quite shallow. I had to skim read quite a lot of the teenage stuff.

[Petra Miková · Rating 2 out of 5]

He knows he has a mate but still has a hookup... Not my cup of tea, otherwise the story was decent.

[Daniella Varner]

DNF

[Brecca Ponce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love a good werewolf book. Some classic tropes are here and I am a sucker for it.