Her Captive Wolf

Sawtooth Shifters #1

by Kristen Strassel

A leader facing his pack’s extinction. A woman broken by a tragic accident. Together they just might survive—if they learn to trust each other.

As the director of Forever Home animal shelter, Trina can’t ignore the rumors about a vicious dog fighting ring in Granger Falls, Idaho, and rushes in to rescue them. She’ll stop at nothing to keep her furry friends safe, even if it puts her life in danger.

With his pack caught and trapped in a fighting ring, Shadow Channing never expected a beautiful woman to be his salvation. Now she’s a target in their pack’s war and he’ll have to explain to her exactly why the wolves she helped save shifted into their human forms on the full moon.

Freedom won’t be enough to save his pack. To best their captors for good, he must work with the rival wolves he fought in captivity and convince Trina the Sawtooth Shifters have no future without her as his mate.

Note from Kristen: Her Captive Wolf was originally published as Forever Home and Rescue Me.

Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Shapeshifters, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Amazon, Supernatural

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2018

About the author

Kristen Strassel is far cooler than she’ll make herself sound in this bio. She enjoys spending time with the voices in her head—nudging the characters toward those bad decisions and a happily ever after. When she’s not writing, she’s often still in the land of make-believe—doing makeup for film and television. And when she’s not doing any of that, she enjoys making her house look like a Pinterest board, watching football, and road trips to the middle of nowhere.

Connect with Kristen!
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Reviews

[Jazz · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 54%, I shouldn't have even tried to take it that far.

[Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

If cute romances are your thing and you aren't too discerning a reader, then you might enjoy Her Captive Wolf. Cute is not something I was really expecting, given the whole dog-fighting thing and given the heroine has PTSD, but cute is what I got.* The PTSD was no match for the hero having decided everything would work out. Cue instalove. It's a shame not to have had more worldbuilding; the hints of a town with shifter allegiances were more tantalising than the romance.

* albeit with one dead wolf and a sex scene in which the hero worries that he will transform into a wolf mid blowjob... EWWWWW

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her Captive Wolf is the first book in the Sawtooth Shifters series. Trina has just saved several wolves from a local dog fighting ring and now her world is upended. Shadow has been forced to stay in his wolf form, but he surprises Trina when he shifts back into human form, and he knows right away that the pull he feels for her is something special. But through much chaos with their enemies, battling Trina’s demons, and trying to figure out who’s the true alpha of the Sawtooth area, Shadow and Trina have a lot to fight through before they can accept their love for each other.

This book was really interesting and had a unique take on Shifter romances! I enjoyed reading Shadow and Trina’s romance and I loved both of their backstories. Shadow was intense and protective, had a really crappy thing happen to him, but bounced back immediately. Trina had PTSD from her past, but I loved how she connected to her animals, to her coworkers, and I really enjoyed her bond to Shadow. I think my favorite aspect of this book was knowing how well Shadow understood Trina and her needs and internal struggles. There’s a lot of drama and budding pack politics going on in this book, and there’s a ton of potential for where this series might go next! I enjoyed reading this book, loved all of the unique takes on shifters and mates, and look forward to what’s going to happen next!

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed Her Captive Wolf from the Kindle Unlimited Program.

Shadow Channing and his brothers and three members of a rival pack have been held captive for six months by an evil fellow shifter and treated worse than animals. Every month they are starved, beaten and thrown into a dog fighting ring and after six months their wolves are changing. The owner of the Forever Home Animal Shelter hears of the dog fights and comes with undercover police to stop the cruelty and fighting.

It is about two weeks the next full moon and with the kind treatment, good food and limited freedom all the shifters are ready to shift back to their man form and is Trina and the staff at the shelter were in for a very big shock when they suddenly had big strong men caged instead of wolves one morning. This is the starting point for Shadow to find a way to bring peace to the packs of Sawtooth Mountains, find human mates and change things for the better for the entire community of wolf shifters. In the process he becomes Her Captive Wolf to Trina the owner of the Forever Home Animal Shelter while giving her heart to Shadow.

Her Captive Wolf is full of danger, some violence, a hot sweet romance and justice given the the evil captor of the wolf packs and sponsor of the 'dog fights'. I am looking forward for the next story in the series.

[Debbie Caswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is extremely hard to find a new way to write a shifter romance but somehow Krisen has managed to do that Her e we have wolf shifter that can only change when the moon influences them and then only if they can see it

Trina has a damaged past but she tries to make things better by running a animal shelter Forever Home now she has heard of a dog fighting ring and her and the police are about to raid it. She rescues seven dogs from the ring but one dies on the way to the vet imagine her surprise when she is told that they aren't dogs but wolves. She will be even more stunned when the wolf she calls Smokey turns into a smoking hot man . Now Shadow(Smokey) will have to not only save his clan but get the wolves rescued that belong to other clans to work with him to save them all and in the process he needs to convince Trina that she is his mate and they belong together.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars - English Ebook

Quote: " This is disgusting" I muttered to Randy, the Police sergeant who'd volunteered to come from Ketchum to help with the rescue.

Quote: I'd told the ladies werd be pulling all-nighters,but they where new to the animatie rescue. They'd come to work at the shelter as part of their rehab. We all have been through some serious shit and had gone to the same facility, CAST, The Center of Anxiety and Stress Theraphy, for our panic attacks and stress disorders.

This romantic Schapeshifters novel took me by the neck. The story is one that was told maybe in other shape-shifter storys but the characters of Trina and Shadow are well painted out and put into the story that it makes it a not " twelve in a dozen" story.

The altering chapters are told by Trina and Shadow saparately and it taks you into the story by their point of few.
It had a closed end but simultaneously ends with a cliffhanger. How would their lifes and the pack develop?

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trina rescues seven dogs from a dog fighting pit unaware that they are wolf shifters.
When Trina and the police raid a dog fighting pit they rescue seven but one that was fighting when they arrived dies before they can get to the shelter. When the vet turns up to examine them she informs Trina that they are not dogs but wolves but that is nothing to the shock she gets on the night of the full moon when the grey wolf she has been calling Smoky turns in to a tall handsome man. Shadow and his brothers plus some from another pack have been chained up for six months and forced to fight when they are rescued by an angel who he thinks is his mate. A shifter romance to relax and enjoy.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (12/27/2019)! 🎁

[Elizabeth]

DNF at 16%. Not feeling it.

[Tena Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story

This was a good read. About a women that had a trouble pass that she couldn't over come. Til she rescue some wolves. But she never dreamed that could turn into man. And that when they turned that her life would turn to the better

[Julie Whitman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trina rescued Shadow from a dog fighting ring. To her surprise he and the others that were rescued with him turn out to be wolves, but not just any,they are shifter wolves! She and Shadow have to fight through her PTSD to be able to have a HEA! I loved Shadow, he didn't let her push him away! He stood by her no matter what!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading as I like Shifters story.
I was missing some more background about packs. Love it sexy romance part, it had some humour to it when she let wolf sleep on her bed...
Interesting what next books bring

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[angela gunstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her captive wolf

Loved the storyline and the characters which made it hard to put down until finished so it's a well deserved five stars and I would recommend this book to everyone

[Sherry Westendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

She saves a bunch or wolves from a dog fighting ring. Little does she know they are not wolves in the way she thinks. He is one of them. He is having trouble with the pack over several things. It is a very enjoyable read. It is exciting, emotional, fun, intriguing and so much more. I received a review copy from booksprout and voluntarily review it.

[BusyM3]

This is the first book in the series and I can't wait to read the next one. It kept me interested till the end and I couldn't put it down. The story flowed well and the chemistry between the characters is great. I recommend this book. It will have you wanting more.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[娼妇]

idk, i just got bored

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read, captivating and thrilling. Characters were super to read as well as the storyline. I couldn’t put this book down.

[M.E. Aster · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Actual rating: 3.5 stars)

Her Captive Wolf was a fun, steamy shifter romance!

Trina was a great MC. I love reading books where an older, curvy woman is the love interest and this definitely delivered in that aspect. It was great watching her attraction to Shadow blossom into love.

Although I did enjoy the romance in this book, the plot left me wanting. I thought the premise started out strong, but it sort of petered off toward the end.

I still enjoyed this story overall though and I’d pick up another book by this author.

[T.A. Burke · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 35% I waited for the first shifting from wolf to human. The whole story is thin.

[Crystal K · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

This book started out strong, but by the end, it had lost its allure. The epilogue was also missing.

[Sue Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story Of Captured Wolf Shifters OVER 18 READERS

Trina, a young woman builds a no-kill animal shelter. She has learned of a dog fighting group and gathered a rescue group but at the fights they found so much more than expected.
The fighting dogs that night were wolves... 7 shifters who had been caught six months before... 4 brothers from one pack and 3 from another pack.
Shadow is the alpha of his pack and his three brothers were all caught six months before. They have been beaten, starved, chained, kept in filthy cages, forced to fight and worse they have been forced to stay in their animal form.
As wolves they are rescued with all the other animals but they don't shift until the full moon two weeks later.
Shadow has been staying with Trina either at her home or the shelter in wolf form . He starts feeling strange the night before the full moon and shifts in front of Trina scaring the her. Later they go to the shelter with clothes and let the others out of the cages.
They know there is much to do. They find out that their house was burned down and all four thought dead so they needed to see their mother, check on the wolves in the pack in Sawtooth, protect the women who had saved them and their shelter where they were cared for.. washed ..fed.. seen a doctor all while they thought of as wolves. A very interesting story of how they know things must change because female wolves are sold to breed with wealthy sons but the average wolf under 40 will not have a mate because there are hardly any female wolves being born and wolves do not mate with human.. They will play with them but anything else is forbidden. Will they decide to change?

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Howls..erm...Stars


I really enjoyed this book. It's heat level runs fairly low grade fever, in that it's not porn on a page and nobody's wearing a chastity belt. She details their romantic interludes at about an average of a page and I didn't want to use a brillo pad on my eyes for it. I can appreciate that.
My only picks are that it wasn't longer and stand alone. I really love Trina and Shadow. Trina was not only a beautiful soul, but a damaged one that struggled with PTSD, anxiety and depression (me too.) She was a well-balanced character that wasn't too perfect as with many love stories. The heroine knew she was flawed and owned it. If I was a younger millennial, I'd be all about the #this.
Shadow was pretty awesome. I wish though that there was more to him. I like him, but he was all about Trina. The realist in me makes me go, "Honey, I love you, but you just lost your home, identity (spoiler: Social Security thinks your dead), and Ryker, the evil Shifter wants your pelt and not in a good way!" He needs to be all about her, but at least be alive before he wants to put a ring or love bite or whatever shifters put on it. The romantic in me is like, "Trina, quit living in your stuff and live in the moment with this tough and tender wolf." I guess you could say I emotionally connected with the characters and highly recommend this sweet, suspenseful and well-written book. I can see why the reviews are so high! I hope to purchase the rest of the series to see how Sawtooth makes out.

[Mary Kirkland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shadow and his brothers are wolf shifters. They had been kidnapped and held against their will to fight in the dog fighting ring against others who were also held there against their will. They don't know how they'll survive or escape until Trina brings the authorities down on the dog fighting ring and they are all rescued.

Trina owns a no kill animal shelter and brings them all back to her shelter but the vet tells her that they aren't dogs, but wolves. She's shocked but plans on nursing them back to health and setting them free. Meanwhile Shadow and the others are too weak to shift back until the next full moon because they have been starved, beaten, abused and forced to stay in their animal forms for months. So while they wait for the full moon Shadow stays close to Trina and even comes back home with her because he's so friendly with her and she doesn't feel like the wolf will harm her.

Once the full moon comes and they shift into their human forms, there's a lot for Trina and the others who work at the shelter to come to grips with. Plus now the guy who held them hostage is putting Trina in danger for shutting down the dog fights.

Watching Trina and Shadow get to know each other and fall for each other was so much fun. The action that happened as they were put in more danger trying to bring the bad guys to justice made the story very exciting to read.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was boring and anticlimactic and some things were never really explained properly, like the wolf lore and how the boys have a wolf mum when its repeatedly stated that the girls get sold. Were their parents married/mated before this stuff started happening?
Also why does the Major guy thing kidnapping and possible sexual assault (because how else is he supposed to “save the pack”) going to solve anything?

It was an interesting concept but to me it was REALLY poorly executed. Honestly there was more sex and sexual tension than there was plot which is poor balance on the authors part.

Especially when compared to another book I’m reading at the moment that has hardly any sex or sexual contact and more about building the characters and their relationship whilst weaving a ghostly plot. Its a really stark contrast that makes this book seem pulpy and cheap. Just an excuse to glorify sexy wolf men and have him stick his dick in the woman who CLEARLY needs to be saved from her grief.

Though it was interesting how grief was handled in this book. But I would have liked it more if she had learned and recovered a bit BEFORE he stuck his dick in her because otherwise she’s just become dependant on him instead of her grief armour to keep her going.

[Crista · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted this book to be better. The blurb was great, FC goes in a breaks up a dog fighting ring and brings those dogs to a shelter to help them recover and try to foster them out. MC is one of those dogs, he and his brothers are wolves who were captured and put into the ring by fellow werewolves. The werewolf lore in this book is very different to the others I have read, they only change on the full moon, shewolves are rare and although there are still mates they get sold off to the highest bidder into arranged marriages. There is no mindlinking but they can talk to each other in both wolf and human form. It takes the whole book and a lot of talking before anything is done about the guy who captured them, and the guy who killed his brother doesn’t actually have anything happen to him in retaliation although MC talks about it all the time! There is a lot of repetition in the story but no real action. FC has a past trauma from a car accident where she was driving and her fiancé gets killed, so working with animals is therapy and you get a lot of she cant open up about it through the book until she regularly starts sleeping with MC and it all just seems to disappear. The book kinda ends, although I believe that the brothers stories are sequels.

[Chalice · Rating 3 out of 5]

The couple: Shadow and Trina

Romance trope: shifters
Series: Sawtooth Shifters
Length: 190 pages

Plot: Trina runs the animal shelter in town and helps to break up a dog fighting ring. She is surprised to find that at least five of the dogs are actually wolves - make that wolf shifters. The apparent leader, Shadow, has already fallen for her, and now just has to convince her he's a good bet as a man. But Trina's suffered trauma in the past and will take careful handling.

Commentary: There were a few things that I thought were left unexplored - such as Trina talking about pulling back on the drinking and the question of whether the idea of werewolves was taken as truth or just rumor in the area. I would have liked a little bit more - perhaps those ideas will be explored further in future books (at least the set-up of the overall society and its relation to the humans around it. Overall though, it was an interesting story and I like this writer's style.

Next book in the series: Her Guardian Wolf

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for those who enjoy Shifter stories
Her Captive Wolf by Kristen Strassel is book 1 in The Sawtooth Shifters series. The story flows well and is well written with descriptions so clear you can easily visualize it and be drawn into the story. I couldn't put it down. The characters have great chemistry.Trina suffers from PTSD and runs an animal rescue shelter where she hopes to save any animal that needs help. She rescues some wolves from a dog fighting ring and is surprised when Shadow shifts into human form with the next full moon. Shadow feels a special connection to Trina and wants to protect her. With troubles for him around pack politics and the opposing wolf pack wanting revenge there is lots of suspense., you will want to read the next the book in the series to learn how things with the pack develop. I recommend this book. It will have you wanting more.
I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am leaving a voluntary review.

[Cherri-Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was a protector, 5 PAWS UP

a shield, safe harbor in the storm of my emotions. When I say I’ll protect you, I mean it. Body, mind, and soul. This is a FANTASTIC story and a GREAT start to the series! I was hooked from page 1, wanting to help save the wolves, wanting to work at the Shelter to help out, and of course, to find me my own Wolf! I love how realistic everything is! I could see the Shelter, the Wolves, the “bad” place, the town, EVERYTHING! It all came to life in my mind’s eye, giving me the feeling that I was living the story both with and as the characters! Once again, Kristen Strassel shows off her excellent writing chops with another book that kept me up all night reading it! Trust me, you NEED to read this book (and series!)!! It is best to read the Sawtooth Shifters Series in order, not only to experience every single moment with each couple, but to follow the overall storyline that flows through each book!

[Alexandria Woods · Rating 2 out of 5]

Falls a Bit Short for Me

*****Spoilers*****

Trina rescues Shadow and most his crew of werewolves from a dog fighting ring. Unfortunately Shadow's brother dies in the rescue but the mourning was missing. Shadow as werewolf follows Trina around once saved and keeps close to her after he's able to shift into a man. Trina is maybe surprised that he's a werewolf but mostly takes it in stride. Shadow has enemies that target Trina, they hook up, the end.

The book didn't have enough depth for me and was missing some of the emotional reactions that make it come alive. There wasn't enough explained and the whole Shadow being enemies of the other pack and everything else could've been made more clear at outset as I still don't understand what happened fully with the animosity of the other pack. The guy running the dog fighting and the town believing everyone was dead but then coming together like it was yesterday is just unrealistic.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trina is the owner of Forever Home, a non profit animal shelter for all animals. This night she is in on busting a dog fighting ring. The Channing brothers were caught months before by a man who chained them up, half starved them and made them fight. On the night of the raid Shadow;s baby brother was killed in a fight. Now it;s two weeks away from the full moon where they will be able to shift. But Shadow is drawn to Trina. He wants to help her and her shelter. But the other group of wolves are not so altruistic. They want revenge and mean to get it. Now it;s a race against time to get healthy, shift, and prove to Trina that he can take care of her.
Beautiful story about strong females and strong male wolves.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.