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Partners
Tymber is a principal researcher with the Directorate of Advanced Science and Technology. The grey wolf has a lot going for him. He’s smart. He’s thorough. He’s creative. He’s a geek. And he has a very vivid imagination.
But none of that has prepared him for his latest assignment: dealing with an overly impulsive, occasionally testy, and very private Technology Enforcement Agent named Spiritwolf.
Hijacked from his routine to support a wolf he only just met and a classified mission he knows next to nothing about, things quickly go from odd to strange to bizarre, especially as he attempts to uncover the one secret he’s been expressly told to not investigate: Spiritwolf.
Tymber must find a way to gain the trust of his newfound partner and help him succeed in his mission or everything between them will unravel and lead to failure.
And Tymber might never see Spiritwolf again.
But none of that has prepared him for his latest assignment: dealing with an overly impulsive, occasionally testy, and very private Technology Enforcement Agent named Spiritwolf.
Hijacked from his routine to support a wolf he only just met and a classified mission he knows next to nothing about, things quickly go from odd to strange to bizarre, especially as he attempts to uncover the one secret he’s been expressly told to not investigate: Spiritwolf.
Tymber must find a way to gain the trust of his newfound partner and help him succeed in his mission or everything between them will unravel and lead to failure.
And Tymber might never see Spiritwolf again.
110 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 18, 2015
Invisiblewolf brings us a story that seems as if it will be an action/romance and ends up being too little of each to work effectively as a story.
As those who read my reviews know, I am not a fan of self insertion. So when this novella was brought to my attention, I wasn't going to pick it up because of that element. A few fellow writers mentioned that this book was well done and convinced me to pick it up anyway, so I did at Rainfurrest 2014. Now Invisiblewolf (aka Spiritwolf according to his FurAffinity page) does a few things that most don't in cases of self insertion, like making himself a secondary character to Tymber (who it seems is based off his real life significant other according to his bio). This was a nice touch, and worked well for the story.
There were some parts of Partners, that worked fairly well. The interior art and cover fit the story perfectly, and greatly enhances the storyline. The comic book style art boxes reflect the level of action well and I really enjoyed them. Another element that worked well was what I could only assume was supposed to be the climax of the story, the sex scene. Invisiblewolf did a good job with the details and involving the elements of making love to a person you can't see. The initial touching scene was handled perfectly and even though M/M scenes aren't my thing, I did enjoy it a lot.
That said, there were a few things within Partners that didn't work so well. I'll concentrate on the major ones for me and leave out the smaller ones, like how Spiritwolf's invisibility works. (if you can see the food he eats enter his body and sit in his stomach, that would also mean you would constantly see his waste material as well, and Tymber's semen, as they are still foreign objects)
Overall, Partners felt like it was trying to be a romance story with some action. Unfortunately this fell short for me. There is only one real action scene, the rescuing of Canis, and it's over far too quickly and is highly unsatisfactory since Canis plays no part in the story at all. The entire reason for everything that happens in this novella is only in it for 9 of the 113 pages of the novella. (just under 8%) You don't learn anything about him, you don't learn what he is, all he does is spend the remainder of the book in the spare bedroom listening to the main character and Spiritwolf have sex.
Now, the romance is fairly well done, once it gets going. In the beginning, both characters don't seem to understand the concept of privacy, and constantly bicker with each other. This got annoying extremely fast, more so because they continually address each other by name even though it's just the two of them. The distrust lead to some unbelievable parts, such as Tymber hacking his own company's files to get dirt on Spiritwolf, and not getting fired/killed for it, despite how top secret it all is. And Spritwolf watching Tymber sleep naked. (nothing creepy there...)
In the second half of the novella, Invisiblewolf hits his stride and the conversations between the two agents becomes a lot easier to swallow and far more believable. They start acting like grown ups and their mutual interest reads a lot stronger. Had the entire story had been handled in the same manner, this would have easily come across as a romance story and been all the stronger for it.
Partners had huge potential, but I found that it just got bogged down in pointless details. As it stands, this tale felt like a short story spread out and crammed with unnecessary dialogue/bickering/explanations/moral struggles to fill a novella's word count. This space could have easily been filled with other, better elements, such as more to do with Canis, more action, and/or more settings other than Tymber's house. This would have made for a more engaging and stimulating story all in all.
In the end, however, Partners was an okay read. The elements that worked, worked well. Unfortunately, there was just a lot that didn't. Invisiblewolf managed to do a book with self insertion that I didn't dislike because of that fact, and I commend him for that. The writing itself was, for the most part, solid (except for the name thing in the one-on-one dialogue). Do I recommend this novella? It's got a nice price point, it's a quick read, and the sex is well written. If that interests you, then pick it up. Otherwise, I would place this further down on the 'to buy' list.
As those who read my reviews know, I am not a fan of self insertion. So when this novella was brought to my attention, I wasn't going to pick it up because of that element. A few fellow writers mentioned that this book was well done and convinced me to pick it up anyway, so I did at Rainfurrest 2014. Now Invisiblewolf (aka Spiritwolf according to his FurAffinity page) does a few things that most don't in cases of self insertion, like making himself a secondary character to Tymber (who it seems is based off his real life significant other according to his bio). This was a nice touch, and worked well for the story.
There were some parts of Partners, that worked fairly well. The interior art and cover fit the story perfectly, and greatly enhances the storyline. The comic book style art boxes reflect the level of action well and I really enjoyed them. Another element that worked well was what I could only assume was supposed to be the climax of the story, the sex scene. Invisiblewolf did a good job with the details and involving the elements of making love to a person you can't see. The initial touching scene was handled perfectly and even though M/M scenes aren't my thing, I did enjoy it a lot.
That said, there were a few things within Partners that didn't work so well. I'll concentrate on the major ones for me and leave out the smaller ones, like how Spiritwolf's invisibility works. (if you can see the food he eats enter his body and sit in his stomach, that would also mean you would constantly see his waste material as well, and Tymber's semen, as they are still foreign objects)
Overall, Partners felt like it was trying to be a romance story with some action. Unfortunately this fell short for me. There is only one real action scene, the rescuing of Canis, and it's over far too quickly and is highly unsatisfactory since Canis plays no part in the story at all. The entire reason for everything that happens in this novella is only in it for 9 of the 113 pages of the novella. (just under 8%) You don't learn anything about him, you don't learn what he is, all he does is spend the remainder of the book in the spare bedroom listening to the main character and Spiritwolf have sex.
Now, the romance is fairly well done, once it gets going. In the beginning, both characters don't seem to understand the concept of privacy, and constantly bicker with each other. This got annoying extremely fast, more so because they continually address each other by name even though it's just the two of them. The distrust lead to some unbelievable parts, such as Tymber hacking his own company's files to get dirt on Spiritwolf, and not getting fired/killed for it, despite how top secret it all is. And Spritwolf watching Tymber sleep naked. (nothing creepy there...)
In the second half of the novella, Invisiblewolf hits his stride and the conversations between the two agents becomes a lot easier to swallow and far more believable. They start acting like grown ups and their mutual interest reads a lot stronger. Had the entire story had been handled in the same manner, this would have easily come across as a romance story and been all the stronger for it.
Partners had huge potential, but I found that it just got bogged down in pointless details. As it stands, this tale felt like a short story spread out and crammed with unnecessary dialogue/bickering/explanations/moral struggles to fill a novella's word count. This space could have easily been filled with other, better elements, such as more to do with Canis, more action, and/or more settings other than Tymber's house. This would have made for a more engaging and stimulating story all in all.
In the end, however, Partners was an okay read. The elements that worked, worked well. Unfortunately, there was just a lot that didn't. Invisiblewolf managed to do a book with self insertion that I didn't dislike because of that fact, and I commend him for that. The writing itself was, for the most part, solid (except for the name thing in the one-on-one dialogue). Do I recommend this novella? It's got a nice price point, it's a quick read, and the sex is well written. If that interests you, then pick it up. Otherwise, I would place this further down on the 'to buy' list.
March 14, 2015
Partners is a beautiful book.
It was a fun read to start to finish, the dialog was one of my favorite parts, it seemed so real and imaginative. I found myself on the edge of my seat reading this book, jumping at the bit to get to the next page and see just what the two of them were up two.
Also, to touch on something one of the other reviews mentioned. Spiritwolf's powers actually worked a lot like people with invisibility have in the past. There was really nothing out of the ordinary about them.
It's easily become one of my most highly recommended reads, and it would be a shame for you not to pick it up.
It was a fun read to start to finish, the dialog was one of my favorite parts, it seemed so real and imaginative. I found myself on the edge of my seat reading this book, jumping at the bit to get to the next page and see just what the two of them were up two.
Also, to touch on something one of the other reviews mentioned. Spiritwolf's powers actually worked a lot like people with invisibility have in the past. There was really nothing out of the ordinary about them.
It's easily become one of my most highly recommended reads, and it would be a shame for you not to pick it up.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews