Wolfkin

by Emily Veinglory

The man Arun loves is kin to the wolf; but Arun is kin to darkness itself.

Arun is in training to be a priest of the Fire God when he is abruptly plucked from his peaceful studies, bespelled and staked out as bait to capture a monster-a wolfkin. But the wolfkin isn-t quite what Arun expected. He has a name, Trae, and he's more man than beast. And from their first touch, they are far more than predator and prey to each other.

Instead of killing Arun, Trae spirits him away to the distant city of Shireen. There, on a family plot of land, they should have a good life together. But the spell that a witch cast on Arun is growing stronger, taking over-and it still wants to destroy the wolfkin.

Torn between the power of the spell and his love for Trae, Arun must face the darkness within him-or it will kill them both.

Warning: This title contains some tie-me-down M/M content, spellbinding love and a quest to face down the darkness within.

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

89 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 8, 2008

About the author

Emily is a writer of erotic romance, dark fantasy and gay fiction. She is also an illustrator, crafter, blogger, poet, reviewer, adventuress and general purpose smart ass.

Reviews

[Bookwatcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an almost perfect fantasy. The problem in my view? It's a fantasy book... that's the problem

Let me explain what I'm trying to say. I think this book have an amazing world. I'm not an arrogant reader but I read many and fantasy is a genre I go nuts, so I read many.
What I love most in fantasy (or sci-fi, my BIGGEST passion) is the strange lands, mythical or completely new creatures.
This book have it, and I love it! But it's all just sooooooo superficial explained... and it's a pity. Seems like the writer was in a very rush to tell us too much, and a good example is a final scene in the temple that is so short, that seems not completed.
The main characters too. Both are not explained as I would like to read in a fantasy book.

Arun, the human, priesthood is not deep explained. He will be a whining guy to the reader eyes, because he will talk all the time about his darkness, what he lost... again and again, always... up to the end of the book. It's the angst of the story, I know, this behave will keep him away from the wolfkin (Trae), I know... but god, he really annoy me, and I think it's because I have no idea how strong is the religion to that society. I must admit I didn't like him. Unfortunately it's true... I didn't enjoy his narration, and didn't think Trae deserve to be in love with him.

Trae, the beautiful Wolfkin (more or less like a shifter) unfortunately look like a secondary character to me. He was set aside, and I finish the story without know about his race. He will be there, also as a narrator, but it's not even close to be enough to satisfy my curiosity.

So yes, maybe I should give more stars because I really like this story, but I can't. I think this book, and this amazing world with witchcraft and great creatures deserve to be better explained. It has a great potential, but got lost, somewhere, between Arun whining/annoying narration.

[Neyjour · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fascinating world and intriguing storyline in this one. The relationship between Arun and Trae did seem a bit lacking, but despite that, I still found myself enjoying it quite a lot...until I got to the ending, which completely ruined the whole book for me.

Cryptic, mystical, woo-woo mumbo jumbo is all fine and good, so long as, at some point later on, we get an explanation that us simple folk (aka: the reader) can understand. Which we don't in this case. I don't know...maybe it was just me, or I was too tired to figure it out, but the scene in the temple had my eyes glazing over and made my brain ache.

And then, after that confusing scene, the story just ended abruptly, with lots of questions left unanswered. It left me feeling cheated and very disappointed.

I have to wonder if the author started to get bored with the story and just tried to finish it as quickly as possible... :(

[atmatos · Rating 1 out of 5]

The beginning was rough, the middle mildly interesting, and the end just stopped.
Yeah, not so much, I will be returning it for a refund.

[LD Durham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could see why this book isn't rolling in the high reviews. Even I struggled to decide if it was a three or a four star. It was a good book, good emotion, good characters. But I think the big drawback here is that it was too fertile a landscape to be underutilized as it was. Veinglory had this wonderful world with interesting characters and backgrounds, and seemed to leave the story half-told. So, until the end, it was great. Then I ran into that wall and couldn't understand why we didn't keep going. That's really disappointing. I can deal with short stories that leave things untold in a satisfactory way. But, I'm thinking Veinglory is too much of a story-teller to not flesh out every bit that she can, and that leaves for an unsatisfactory short-story ending. I was given too much to just drop it and walk away, darn it.

Here's hoping the author returns to give us more in this universe. But, since I'm still holding my breath in The Wicca Man: Tongue-Tied having a sequel, I'm going to guess it ain't gonna happen. Oh, well. I'll still read everything this woman writes.

[Rhianon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though far from an upbeat, lighthearted read, my greatest disappointment in this story was its lack of length. I felt that Veinglory spent an inordinate amount of time dwelling on the angst of the main POV character, and insufficient time, as a result, focusing on the development of the romantic relationship. It would have been a better story, with a bit of extrapolation and detail, giving the romantic interest more page time.

That being said, Veinglory's world-building and character development skills are strong and her prose flows well, is pleasant to read. While I can't in good conscience give this read five stars, it definitely earns four with ease. It's a shame this story and its world are a standalone, and not the beginning of a series....

[Nene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really great world creation here, but the relationship itself left a lot to be desired.

[Sylvester · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst hack books I've read, it's short but Veinglory managed to start a sex scene 20 pages in. The writing was horrendous too.

[Elisa Rolle]

In a fantasy medieval world, Arun is an orphan raised to be a priest. As an acolyte he needs to be pure and to prepare for the trial, when the Temple will decide if he is worthy to become a priest. When only few days last to the trial, the Lord of the domain summons him: there is a wolfkin, a mystical creature near the domain and he needs a virgin to draw him. Using magic bindings the virgin will capture the beast when he is resisting after the mating. Arun has no desire to be the sacrificial pawn, but the Lord threatens his sister, his only relative, and he has no choice.

But after losing his virginity and capturing the wolfkin, Arun sees his world destroyed. He can't be no more a priest and he doesn't know what to do of his life. Plus darken desires seem to have taken residence in his body. Arun starts to question the rightness of his actions, and maybe begins to believe that the wolfkin his not the evil beast he believed, and that the man who asked him to capture the wolfkin is the real villain.

The story is not very long, less than 75 pages, but it's pretty "erotic". Actually there is only a sex scene, and neither very long, but it affects all the book: Arun discovers his sexuality and he needs to change his belief since the object of his desires is a beast, a shapeshifting being who, also in human form, mantain some of the wolf's traits. All the book is around Arun, all the story is played in his mind and from his point of view; Trae, the wolfkin, his a very good character, kind and gentle in spite of his wolfkin's nature, but unfortunately we can only guess his reasons since the book is too short to give him space.

More than a romance this is a discovery journey, the evolution of Arun from little boy to selfconscious man; Trae is one of the many who helps him to grew, maybe the more important, but still their story is yet to happen: maybe Emily Veinglory is thinking to write more on this couple?

Anyway, even if the fantasy romance is not something I usually read, this one is very good for me, since it manages to keep high my attention and I finish it without problem and never been tired.

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/33...

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really more like 3.5 stars.

Setting was handled well, but I agree with many of the other reviewers that because it was so rich, it could have been utilized so much more.

The wolfkin characters were pretty flat, in that we don't get to see much dynamics from them. Craft-wise, that makes sense though in that from Arun's point of view, Trae is an incredibly civilized and good person especially when taken into conjunction with Arun's obsession with his own faults and guilt. By extension, Arun feels that Trae's sister Umi has the right to treat him with scorn.
The reader gets a lot more dimension in the way of Arun and while that can come across as "it's all about me," that too makes sense: it's not told in first-person POV, but the story largely follows Arun and HIS troubles, HIS inner-turmoil, etc. His distress is well-written and believable, as is Arun's subsequent depression.

Lord Jeryl's drives made sense to me. The role of the witch he employs, however, bothers me. I appreciate that the author tried to give that character some continuity so it wouldn't seem like a character dump in the beginning, all for naught, HOWEVER the twist, such as it was, fell flat as a "big reveal" for me. It just seemed like it was a convenient but unnecessary plot device, and I wish it had been interwoven more successfully.

A word of caution to sensitive readers: the main sexual scene of the book occurs early and involves dubious consent; later in the story the protagonist suffers psychological duress and severe depression, self-harm occurs.

[Karen K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and it was my first time with this author. It was a different take on shifters definitely and I love how Emily wound the story around, introducing everyone. It's not a quick read despite its length - Emily's writing is very beautifully descriptive, sometimes perhaps a little too much because I found myself looking for the actual story to keep going without all the pretty. I loved the historical background mixed in with the fantasy very much.

Arun is a lovely, lonely, complex but innocent character and I fell for him immediately - his pain and confusion went right to my heart. Trae comes across first as brutal and scary but we soon learn he's gently and beautiful in his own way, as well. They're very sweet together - when Arun allows it.

My only drawback with this book is the abrupt ending. I'm not sure if Emily plans on a sequel but the story just doesn't feel complete to me. Arun discovers what he truly is and then it ends. He spent all that time angsting and worrying about his relationship with Trae and then nothing was really settled in the end. It just really left me a little empty and definitely wanting to find out more about how they would go on together.

Overall a wonderful, unique story and I recommend it.

[Lexi Ander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arun is brought before his Lord and told that the Lord had a duty for him to perform and if he didn't then the Lord (who is beyond ancient with a turkey neck waddle) will call Arun's sister to his bed at her handfasting. Arun who is studying to be a priest of the God Of Fire, will do anything to protect his sister and agrees to help capture a Wolfkin, with instruments of a black witch. But in order to do this he will loose his chastity and his chances of becoming a priest.

Three pages in and I didn't think that I was going to like this book. I don't do historical books well unless they are really good. I hate it when characters are insufferably naive and refuse to listen to their inner voice. What happened instead was a momentary lapse in judgment which resulted in Arun going about setting right what he did wrong...and I fell in love with the story. I ended up rooting for Arun hoping that someone would really see him and what is happening and help him.

I would have given this book five stars if it had ended a little differently. It's worse than a cliff hanger because there not a sequel coming to tell you what happened! BUT I would read it again.

[Alaska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until the escape I thought the book would be like all those others which have a little conflict in the beginning and after die MCs got together everything turnes mushy and the main plot is sex. But no, I was surprised to read that the author didn't use the mate topic just to fill pages. I really liked the change after the escape from Jeryl's castle, the darkness in Arun which he has to keep in check to protect Trae, Trae who didn't give up to love him although Arun kept his distance over a long time . I even would have liked some more time with Arun and Trae after they were back from the temple.

[SaturNalia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beautiful cover was the first thing that grabbed my attention, then the plot. Oh the wonderful, angst filled places this story could go. However this story was a theological exercise. There is only one love scene in the first few pages and then nothing. I would have like to see at least one more, where both characters are willing and in their right mind. The whole short story is Arun, main character, struggling with 'the darkness' inside him. Which sounds better then it really is.

[Proxi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting but kind of falls flat. The character progression was pretty weak, and Arun's struggles just didn't seem as immediate as they should? I'm not sure how to describe it. Less about the romance and more about personal acceptance, I think, but even that was kind of meh-ish. Maybe if there was more progression/plot/character development I would have felt more attached or liked where it was going, but as it was the world seemed pretty rich but everything else not so much.

[Kiki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the beginning of this, but felt cheated at the abrupt ending ... the second half of the story was both sad and dull and then at the time for resolution, there's no real payoff to make it all worth while.

[LoriO. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have ended better I think.

[Cole Riann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one. The plot was pretty simplistic but I liked it and I always enjoy Emily Veinglory's writing.

[Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh...interesting concept but the narration was kind of getting on my nerves

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a short story but I really enjoy it. And I think the ending was really sweet :D

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope their will be a second book. The only reason it didn't get more stars was the length. It pulled me in and then ended.

[Nerine Petros · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars