The Raven's Flight

by Catherine Lievens

Sometimes you have to take a step out of your comfort zone if you want to start living again. Kangee is used to solitude. He’s lived like a hermit for the past seven years after finding out the hard way that shifters shouldn’t mix with humans. He has no intentions to change that, but he hadn’t counted on a bratty hard-headed human slithering into his life and pushing Kangee outside his comfort zone. Jase knows what he wants, and he wants Kangee, even if the man looks like he’d rather run the other way every time he sees Jase. He throws himself at Kangee until the man finally breaks down, but what should have been a summer fling quickly shifts into something more. Kangee has to hide his raven half from Jase because he knows the man would freak out if he found out about it, but when Jase is attacked by a bear Kangee’s raven half reacts, exposing Kangee’s secret to the man he’s starting to fall for. Will Jase run, or will he give Kangee a chance? Will what they have survive the revelation, or will it disappear along with the summer heat? 36,107 words. Author's Royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization focusing on LGBTQ equality. Content This story contains explicit male-male sexual content and adult language and may be considered offensive to some audiences. It is intended for adult readers only. Author's Royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to the Ali Forney Center, an organization focusing on homeless LGBTQ youth.

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

129 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2015

About the author

Catherine is the creator of several series, most of them paranormal, including the Whitedell Pride Series and the Gillham Pack Series. While she graduated in translation, she decided to go the writer’s way because it was more fun to create her own stories and characters.
She’s been living in Italy for more than twenty years, but she’s a daughter of the North—Belgium to be precise—and she misses it so much that she’s already planning to move back.
She loves pizza—probably too much —her pets, and of course, books. She sneaks some reading time in her schedule every time she has five minutes free from writing, demands from her various pets and son, and lastly, housework.

Reviews

[Dalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really cute shifter story with a hint of emotions.

The raven hopped down the trunk and used its beak to move the earth at the base of the tree. It needed to give Jase something.

The raven put a few sticks to the side before choosing one of them, the prettier one. Grabbing it with its beak, the raven took flight again and headed toward Jase.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute shifter story. At first, I was a bit put off by Jase's character, but I think that's because I'm much more like Kangee, but he grew on me. Kangee I liked from the get go. I really like how his raven would win sometimes, regardless of what he thought.

Thanks to the author for participating and sharing their story in the Love is an Open Road event.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

** 3.75 Stars ***

In spite of the fade to black / off page first time that made me want to Hulk smash something, I really enjoyed this story. Jase's antics pulled me in from the very first page and I loved that Kangee's raven was given nearly free reign to follow its instincts. The story had humour AND heart, so that makes it a winner in my books. I'd rec this to friends.

Thanks to the author for participating in this year's DRitC event, Love is an Open Road!

[Jennifer☠Pher☠ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok. I didn't necessarily like either character all that much but I liked the message and I really like bird shifters.

Thanks to all the Group members who provided awesome prompts with lovely pictures, the authors for writing free stories based on those prompts for all of us to read for free and the M/M Romance Group for all their hard work in putting this years Don’t Read in the Closet event, Love is an Open Road, together.

[Meags · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

The banter between the MC's was great. I really liked Kangee, with his gruff standoffish demeanour, and Jase, with his no holds barred, in your face, smart-mouth attitude. Together they made an intriguing couple.

I particularly enjoyed all the "gift-giving" scenes. Super cute and surprisingly funny.

It also doesn't hurt that I'm a major sucker for shifter stories!

Another win for this years DRitC event!

[Meep · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to the author for participating and offering this freebie.

I liked the idea of a Raven shifter, a refreshing break from the more common wolves and cats.

Kengee was interesting but I'm afraid Jase didn't really work for me, I think he'll cause an opinion divide!

I didn't get Jase never questioning Kengee was gay and his behaviour on seeking shelter in the nearly impossible to reach cabin (which appears to have both power and reliable enough to work-from-wilderness internet connection (my previous internet provider should seek tips)) he stumbled upon. The fact someone so easily lost on a simple hike was qualified to track Grizzly and going it alone...

And the sex was fade-out!

But I liked the Raven with his primary coloured wings and gift giving. He amused me. And I like the book cover.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the unique take on shifters in this story. It didn't follow the more typical shifter formula which I appreciated a lot because even though I enjoy an alpha shifter wolf/bear/leopard as much as the next reader they can really start to run together and the surprises can be few and far between. Instead of the story being taken over by pack politics it was all about the growing relationship between the two MC's.

Favorite thing: Reading about Kangee's raven courting Jase. Kangee's human side couldn't handle the job for awhile so it was a good thing the raven followed it's instincts to show his man how smitten Kangee really was.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable shifter story. I could easily have read more about these two! Thanks so much for your contribution to this event.

[Readlife · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me tell you something, this book could've been like TWENTY pages, why make It a HUNDRED, huh ? why people? thats all I'm asking.

I COULDN'T READ THE LAST THREE PAGES, which Is annoying.

This little wannabe a hundred pages book will only get 2 stars because of the cute moments between whats his name and whats his name #2.

I'm just lying there were no cute moments, I just don't wanna be a bad rating person.

On a seriuos note though, I can't come up with one good thing about this, I honestly don't know how I made It to page 99? Thats the reason It will get two stars.

But hey!

If you like to read about a guy, who doesen't have any good experience with people founding out the truth about him, meeting another guy who never stops talking, Is really outgoing and looking for a bear, meet each other and fall In love.
Then throw In breaking and making up, 10 years age-gap, camping because suddenly both of them are looking for bears.

Then huney, let me tell you something, this Is definitely a book for you, read It and enjoy it. Don't let my negativity stop you.

Btw, there was like no secondary characters, 100 pages, and only one other character, like really? you could only fit In two guys and a bear? come on.

Im not a hater, I swear. Somebody will like this, but no, not me. I'm a nobody, don't listen to me.

[Raevyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was for my prompt in the Don't Read in the Closet 2015 event.

Thank you, Catherine, for such fun characters and a sweet story. I Loved them together and would love to read about them again. :)

[Pjm12 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe too long, with unnecessary rambly bits. But I did want to finish and find out how this pair made it work.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story! Jase was lots of fun, his non-stop mouth was very impressive! Kangee was the silent brooding type, which fit nicely with Jase. I liked how this relationship seemed realistic for being the span of 2 weeks. There was no promises of marriage and love, just lust, a large amount of affection, and something that was uniquely special, which is how it should be after only 2 weeks. Don't be worried by that though, the ending was just perfect!

The shifter side to this story was pretty cool, i loved how the raven and the human had two very distinct mind sets and were sometimes at odds with each other. The Raven is a pretty cool character.

Because this spans over 2 weeks alot of the sex is off page (we do get some on page sex though - never fear), which is understandable, however I would've liked some certain scenes to be on-page that weren't, not going to give anything away though :)

Beautiful cover as well!

[Steelwhisper]

A solid effort, nice event opener.

[Serena Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobody should have to live in fear just because they are different. The question of shifter acceptance has been looked at from many different angles (in fiction only), and there is a multitude of answers to what people might do if we ever did discover shifters. The main character in this book has no plans to reveal that he is a shifter to the general population, but he would like to find one person to accept and love him. Without that, the loneliness will overwhelm him sooner or later, no matter how often he tells himself he is fine.

Kangee is a raven shifter, which is probably “more different” than most people can deal with. And based on his experience so far, finding someone to truly accept and love him is impossible. His one attempt to be honest with a past lover ended in disaster, so he retreated and is minimizing human contact. When Jase walks into his life he doesn’t know what hit him, but he gives as good as he gets and the banter / ribbing is soon in full flow. It was interesting to watch how Kangee’s attitude slowly changes from absolute rejection of another man in his life to a grudging admission that being around Jase is fun. His raven has a totally different reaction and ends up being the driving force behind Kangee’s ultimate decision.

Jase wasn’t looking for a one-night stand when he agreed to the project of documenting a bear’s presence in Colorado. But when he finds Kangee, he does not hesitate. Jase knows what he wants and is not afraid to go after it. I don’t think anyone other than he would have been able to penetrate Kangee’s considerable defenses, and even Jase has a hard time.

If you like shifter stories set in today’s world, if you enjoy watching two men figure out how they might fit together when one of them is not at all looking for a relationship, and if you’re looking for a read that takes an interesting look at a raven’s view of the world, then you will probably like this free novella.

[Kristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jase is an environmental student looking for a bear in the Colorado woods during his summer break. If he finds the bear he suspects is living there, it could mean big news for the area and for Kangee, the man living in the middle of those woods, desperately trying to keep to himself. Kangee has very little patience when it comes to other people, and when a big Resort company makes plans for the area surrounding his cabin, he decides to help the overbearing brat, Jase, track down his bear. Two weeks of clashing wills, crumbling revolve, and one up close encounter with a bear, and you have a cute shifter story that's different than most.

I'm going to be honest in saying that I pretty much disliked Jase for the entire story. From the moment we met him, I found him to be brash, overbearing, immature, and outputting. I have this pet peeve about hypocrisy in stories, and Jase is the poster child for it. He has hissy fits over the slightest miscommunication, but when Kangee does the same thing, Jase storms off. He'd barge into Kangee's life and get offended when Kangee wasn't happy about it. Basically, Jase was just too high maintenance for my taste.

Kangee on the other hand, was wonderful. I loved his stern nature and the slow thawing around his heart. Even more loveable was his raven, that left small treasures for his mate.

This is definitely cute, and a great take on a shifter story. I loved that it was about a raven and the ravens nature. It also wasn't insta love, but more very strong lust.

It's between a 2.5 and 3 for me, so I'm rounding up. I think a lot of people will really enjoy this, and find it entertaining (which it was).

Thank you to the author for their time and effort in the Love is an Open Road event.

[Fritz42 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A interesting story about Jace, a college student and environmentalist who comes to Kilkenny,CO, looking for proof that a grizzly bear is out of his territory. He meets Kangee, a Native American who is also a raven-shifter, who lives by himself in the isolated area around the town. Kangee's home is threatened by a company who wants to buy his land in order to build a resort in the area. Kangee teams up with Jace and goes camping with him on his quest to get a picture of the bear in the area. If they get documentation, then maybe they could foil the plans for the resort.

When the two of them meet, Jace is a little much for the recluse. He comes on strong and pushes a lot of Kangee's buttons, most of them good and a few of them bad. Kangee holds himself back because he had been burned once before when he revealed himself to someone. He doesn't want to get hurt like that again. But his raven has other plans. I loved the scenes between Jace and the raven.

It's a cute story. Normally, most of the shifter stories that I read are wolf related, but I thoroughly enjoy this one!

[Isabella ~Mikku-chan~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A freebe on amazon and something new for me in the shapeshifter corner. :) I really liked Kangee and Jase.
It was a nice read, maybe a few scenes were a bit rushed but after all the most important facts were displayed and well developed. :3

Raven shapeshifter are a bit rar, it's a pleasant change from the omnipresent wolves or feline shifter... :)

4,5 out of 5 stars, rounded up. :)

[Arzu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[Kassu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+⭐

I've always had a little thing with long haired Native Americans (like even as a small kid I thought so many looked just beautiful), and birds are so clever. And Jase was an obnoxious little twink wanting to top, and a student of Environmental Sciences wishing to preserve nature. So many things that were so good for me. And I liked those things. But this didn't quite take flight.

Honestly Jase is crossing a lot of boundaries. I can enjoy an insufferable MC but he was a bit too pushy for human standards, while Kangee was definitely wallowing unnecessarily. This was mostly very fun, though, and there was a nice ending too. I liked it, but the potential was greater.

[Jeanne 'Divinae' · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a different type of shifter story, though the timeline is only over one summer, so despite it not appearing to be an instant love, it is one. Jase is working on his thesis paper for college, which is in California. For his thesis he has to travel to a small town in Colorado, where he sees/meets the man of his dreams. And dreams is the best place, because in reality, his perfect man, has a thick wall around him. It doesn’t stop Jase from jackhammering his way through though.

Kangee tries his best to push Jase away, but Jase is very persistent. His home is being surrounded by humans, and a company is trying to buy him out so they can put up a resort. He wants none of that. He likes, craves his isolation. One reason, was because he was badly burnt in a past relationship and avoids humans. Another, he is a raven shifter and he doesn’t want to be caught shifting. He fears everyone will react like his ex did and the best way to protect himself is to just build a wall around himself.

Jase and Kangee have different personalities. They view each other’s flaws as part of who makes them special. Jase with his smart-ass talking and constant pushing to get in versus Kangee’s grouchy demeanor and his attempts at not letting Jase break through. But he has to deal with a truth. His raven has chosen Jase as its mate and Kangee really isn’t that far behind, with his raven.

It was nice to see the two of them banter about and watching the walls crumble and the love goes full blast on both parts, though they both question about its intensity and how quickly their feelings are growing for the other man. Good for Kangee’s brother who was able to give him that final push so Kangee and Jase could be together.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Offered for FREE from the M/M Romance Group's Love Is An Open Road event. Thank you too all the amazing authors who participated!

2.5 stars I could do without the barbed wire tatt but otherwise, Hunky pic! This wasn't bad, but it also wasn't great. The writing was too slow and repetitive for me. Basically the majority of the story is Kangee thinking about how much he wants Jase, but he's so annoying, but his raven want's him too, but he's been hurt before, but he wants him. Then the rest of the story is Jase thinking about how much he wants Kangee, but Kangee doesn't seem interested, except that he totally seems interested, and he wants him so much, but he's so grumpy, but he want's him. You get the idea.

It just didn't pull me in. I didn't feel their connection so much as I was told that it existed. There was a frotting scene and then the rest of the smexin is just referenced (which is fine) until the end when they give us a penetration scene, which I breezed over. I just wasn't invested and didn't really care by that point, and was just trying to get to the end. Sorry :/

Although this did remind me of this cute story about a little girl who fed crows and they started bringing her tons of 'gifts'.

[Riayl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem here is that Jase is annoying and pushy. Not outgoing, pushy. Those are two very different things. He pushes his way into Kangee's house and then invades his privacy. Makes himself at home. Then climbs into bed with Kangee, and the whole time Kangee has given him no encouragement. I'm sorry, that's not just rude, it's harassment. I hate to have to put it this way, but if a man were to climb into a woman's bed, uninvited, and push for/assume they would have sex...he's headed for jail, or just getting shot. It doesn't change things if both people are male (or if both are female). It is still wrong, and creepy, and pretty damn horrible.

Then, when Kangee finally calls him on all his shit, Jase gets all bent out of shape with hurt feelings and Kangee feels guilty and apologizes. It made no sense. The wrong person was apologizing and I was left super pissed off.

And let's just not even get into the bear tracking nonsense.

Usually I enjoy this author's stories more, but Jase's personality tanked this one fast.

I did like how the raven kept bringing gifts, but that wasn't enough to save the story for me.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first two stories this year have been about guys with secrets. They are afraid of rejection, so they hold themselves apart. In this case the man is a raven shifter. I've only read a couple stories of bird shifters. They are not as cuddly as mammals.
This is a conventional story arc. You can guess what will happen right from the start.
It is told extremely well, with believable action and sympathetic characters, it is also substantial enough to be satisfying.

[F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story! Loved the little gifts the raven kept giving Jase.

[Lila Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the different take on shifters. The story was interesting and fresh. I really liked how the Raven was a character on its own.

[Rissa (an M/M kinda Girl!!)]

STORY INFO:
Genre: paranormal, contemporary
Tags: shifters non wolf/cat, reclusive character, smart mouth character, stubborn-as-a-mule-men, camping
Word Count: 35,638

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great story! I haven't read a raven shifter story in a while, and this one does a lovely job of making a full character without going into any details about this particular shifter culture. For such a short story, I think that was a very smart choice. Kangee and Jase are so very different people, but it's a great opposites-attract trope. I need to see if there's anything more I can read by this author now.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful!

Jase and Kangee are polar opposites of each other and it only proves that they were meant to be together! They are two halves of the same coin. They just had to realize it and be open to it. I fell in love with these two. They made me swoon, laugh, and cry. I loved this story and I wish there was an easy way for there to be a 2nd book. Perhaps it’s best to leave things as they are with their HEA. Thank you Catherine for such a wonderful book.

[Louan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️
What can I say? Kangee was a grump, well a hot grump, Jase was an annoying, but hot brat. Sounds like a good pairing to me. Loved Kangee’s raven always giving Jase gifts, that was super cute.

[Bárbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

It was surprisingly well developed for something so short. And the pace, while it could have been taken a bit too fast, felt just right. Also the contrast between the characters' personalities was definitely a plus for the dynamics.