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The Wolves of Rock Falls #.5
Dark Shift: Prequel to The Wolves of Rock Falls Series
The Hawthorne Alpha is dying, and another must be chosen to take his place. Eligible Alphas and Betas assemble to take part in the ancient tradition of Lacessere. The winner takes not only the Hawthorne pack, but the eldest daughter as well. When friendship turns to vengeance, sorrow follows, breeding generations of horror and distrust.
66 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 10, 2022
2 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
A.J. Skelly
37 books162 followersAJ Skelly (also writing as April J. Skelly) is an author, reader, and lover of all things fantasy, medieval, and fairy-tale-romance. And werewolves. She has a serious soft spot for them. As an avid life-long reader and a former high school English teacher, she's always been fascinated with the written word. She lives with her husband, children, and many imaginary friends who often find their way into her stories. They all drink copious amounts of tea together and stay up reading far later than they should.
You can read more of her short stories at www.ajskelly.com.
You can read more of her short stories at www.ajskelly.com.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 22, 2024
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Dark Shift is a great introduction into The Wolves of Rock Falls series. It moves at a quick pace due to being short. I came to like the characters, even the ones who were more on the morally gray side. I highly recommend this series to college-aged readers and beyond.
4 Stars
Content: clean
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.
Jan 2024: I have since bought my own copy.
Dark Shift is a great introduction into The Wolves of Rock Falls series. It moves at a quick pace due to being short. I came to like the characters, even the ones who were more on the morally gray side. I highly recommend this series to college-aged readers and beyond.
4 Stars
Content: clean
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.
Jan 2024: I have since bought my own copy.
July 27, 2022
This book was so cute! I love the history of the Wolfe pack and their neighbors! Though it was short, it was beautiful and AJ needs to write more historical werewolf stories 😂
June 5, 2024
I’ve been wanting to read this series ever since it came out, so when this one’s ebook was on sale I pounced on it with the eager hope it would live up to my expectations and it delivered!
I was sucked in from page one and didn’t want to put it down for fear and curiosity of what would happen next. While short and, er, bittersweet it got the job done as a prequel, and the author’s writing style and voice drew me in as much as the characters and the blend of urban fantasy and historical.
Each character was different and I love how she wrote the wolf side of the characters and how they “interacted” with the human side and vice versa. And while I like the majority of them, I hate Richard—he’s awful and I don’t care if he was desperate what he did was awful and cruel and I will forever hate him, though I do like that the author doesn’t brush over or justify what he did as a good or right thing and that he had to pay a price for all of it, so at least there’s that. I still don’t like him though. 😒
Very excited and looking forward to reading the first novel in this series!
‼️Content‼️
Violence: werewolves fight with teeth and claws (not to semi detailed); injuries and blood (not to semi detailed); humans are bit on the neck to turn them into werewolves (not detailed); a sick man coughs up blood (not detailed); injured and dead bodies are found by an overturned wagon
Sexual: werewolves shift back into their naked human forms (not shown or detailed); kissing (not detailed)
Other: werewolves; a character is turned into a werewolf and kidnapped; death and grief
I was sucked in from page one and didn’t want to put it down for fear and curiosity of what would happen next. While short and, er, bittersweet it got the job done as a prequel, and the author’s writing style and voice drew me in as much as the characters and the blend of urban fantasy and historical.
Each character was different and I love how she wrote the wolf side of the characters and how they “interacted” with the human side and vice versa. And while I like the majority of them, I hate Richard—he’s awful and I don’t care if he was desperate what he did was awful and cruel and I will forever hate him, though I do like that the author doesn’t brush over or justify what he did as a good or right thing and that he had to pay a price for all of it, so at least there’s that. I still don’t like him though. 😒
Very excited and looking forward to reading the first novel in this series!
‼️Content‼️
Violence: werewolves fight with teeth and claws (not to semi detailed); injuries and blood (not to semi detailed); humans are bit on the neck to turn them into werewolves (not detailed); a sick man coughs up blood (not detailed); injured and dead bodies are found by an overturned wagon
Sexual: werewolves shift back into their naked human forms (not shown or detailed); kissing (not detailed)
Other: werewolves; a character is turned into a werewolf and kidnapped; death and grief
August 12, 2022
I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.
The Wolves of Rock Falls Series is one of my favorite reads that I've been following from Book One! Dark Shift is the perfect prequel to the Contemporary YA Fantasy Romance.
The Hawthorne Alpha is dying, and another must be chosen to take his place. Eligible Alphas and Betas assemble to take part in the ancient tradition of Lacessere. The winner takes not only the Hawthorne pack, but the eldest daughter as well. The characters made hard decisions in a tough environment understanding its consequences. I liked that the consequences weren't glossed over but owned by them.
Getting to know the history of the Wolfe pack was as exciting as I expected it to be. I finally got to learn why the Wolfes face the issues in the modern age. I wish this wasn't a short read cuz I love Skelly's writing and the depth she gives to her characters.
The Wolves of Rock Falls Series is one of my favorite reads that I've been following from Book One! Dark Shift is the perfect prequel to the Contemporary YA Fantasy Romance.
The Hawthorne Alpha is dying, and another must be chosen to take his place. Eligible Alphas and Betas assemble to take part in the ancient tradition of Lacessere. The winner takes not only the Hawthorne pack, but the eldest daughter as well. The characters made hard decisions in a tough environment understanding its consequences. I liked that the consequences weren't glossed over but owned by them.
Getting to know the history of the Wolfe pack was as exciting as I expected it to be. I finally got to learn why the Wolfes face the issues in the modern age. I wish this wasn't a short read cuz I love Skelly's writing and the depth she gives to her characters.
September 2, 2023
Quick read but an awesome prequel to the Rock Falls universe! Loved the background we get of our favorite wolves. I didn't see the end coming! A must-read if you're a fan of Skelly's wolf pack.
August 24, 2022
I was surprised by this prequel-in a good way!
To be honest, I was a bit scared of the title, "Dark" and the quote about being married through a veil of tears. I thought this book might be about how a woman got out of an abusive relationship, and I was a little scared to read it (those kind of books are just not my cup of tea). However, this book proved to be completely different than what I expected.
Instead, it was a short and sweet novella about a young woman who had to make a hard decision between two different suitors, and her sister who had to live with the consequences. This book is less steamy than her other novels, which I don't mind at all. However, the romance was still there, and I will say Anderson is one of my favorite characters from the Rock Falls series now.
I would highly recommend reading this before Pack Shift, but you don't have to. I just like reading this, then reading Pack Shift, embellished the story more.
If you're a fan of short and sweet werewolf romance, this book is for you.
To be honest, I was a bit scared of the title, "Dark" and the quote about being married through a veil of tears. I thought this book might be about how a woman got out of an abusive relationship, and I was a little scared to read it (those kind of books are just not my cup of tea). However, this book proved to be completely different than what I expected.
Instead, it was a short and sweet novella about a young woman who had to make a hard decision between two different suitors, and her sister who had to live with the consequences. This book is less steamy than her other novels, which I don't mind at all. However, the romance was still there, and I will say Anderson is one of my favorite characters from the Rock Falls series now.
I would highly recommend reading this before Pack Shift, but you don't have to. I just like reading this, then reading Pack Shift, embellished the story more.
If you're a fan of short and sweet werewolf romance, this book is for you.
August 5, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed this prequel! It was great to learn a bit of the background of the characters in Rock Falls I've come to love!
August 10, 2022
Within these few pages, Skelly managed to make my heart ache and swoon in one sweep. -Anne J. Hill, owner of Twenty Hills Publishing
October 5, 2023
✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨
I have seen this series out for awhile and I have put it on my TBR cause it looked so good and anyone I know who has read the series has loved it so I went in to this book with high hopes and I was not disappointed. The characters were instantly interesting and lovable. I read this in one setting and just loved it. I will be starting the rest of this series soon. I would totally recommend this book. 5 stars
I have seen this series out for awhile and I have put it on my TBR cause it looked so good and anyone I know who has read the series has loved it so I went in to this book with high hopes and I was not disappointed. The characters were instantly interesting and lovable. I read this in one setting and just loved it. I will be starting the rest of this series soon. I would totally recommend this book. 5 stars
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August 15, 2022If you have read the series, this story might be more meaningful to you, but it didn't really hit for me.
I picked it up on sale from Kindle, and at first I didn't realise it was a prequel. When I realised that, I took it with a grain of salt, until I hit my second realisation: It was a novella, and, to be honest, it read like more of a short story. Still, I read on. I think it could have been good if it had expanded on the material given, but I feel like I didn't get enough. Because I didn't know the characters already, I didn't know their history, and I didn't get enough time with anyone to feel like I related to them, cared about them, or wanted to know more. This was compounded by the fact that I felt like the author was trying to do too much. Four points of view in a full-length novel with dual storylines would be fine (even better in a series), but trying to cram so much history into a story so short didn't leave me wanting more.
If the story had centred on the succession story, expanded on the challenges, and stuck with one POV (perhaps Edith's as she was present for all the events of the story), exploring the relationship between all four players from an outsiders perspective, I feel like it would have been a better entry point for someone new to the series.
That being said, I'm sure this is a beloved story for people who have read the series and wanted more time with the characters.
I picked it up on sale from Kindle, and at first I didn't realise it was a prequel. When I realised that, I took it with a grain of salt, until I hit my second realisation: It was a novella, and, to be honest, it read like more of a short story. Still, I read on. I think it could have been good if it had expanded on the material given, but I feel like I didn't get enough. Because I didn't know the characters already, I didn't know their history, and I didn't get enough time with anyone to feel like I related to them, cared about them, or wanted to know more. This was compounded by the fact that I felt like the author was trying to do too much. Four points of view in a full-length novel with dual storylines would be fine (even better in a series), but trying to cram so much history into a story so short didn't leave me wanting more.
If the story had centred on the succession story, expanded on the challenges, and stuck with one POV (perhaps Edith's as she was present for all the events of the story), exploring the relationship between all four players from an outsiders perspective, I feel like it would have been a better entry point for someone new to the series.
That being said, I'm sure this is a beloved story for people who have read the series and wanted more time with the characters.
August 23, 2022
The Book:
This is the Prequel to the Wolves of Rock Falls Series by AJ Skelly. Like the previous books the black cover shows a full moon and howling wolf. In the wolf is a picture of two people holding each other in the woods with a cabin in the background. This book was a bit different than the first 3 books in the series as it is smaller and the story is shorter. You can see it as book 3.5 in the series as it will give some background information on the Hawthorne and Wolfe pack before reading book 4 (Pack Shift).
The Story:
The Alpha of the Hawthorne pack is dying and his two daughters aren’t allowed become the next Alpha. The eldest daughter must marry a man, the new pack Alpha. Who this is going to be will be decided by the ancient tradition of Lacessere and all eligible Alphas and Betas can take part in this. How this works and who it’s going to be can all be read in Dark shift.
My Review:
After reading the first three books of the Wolves of Rockfalls Series I thought I knew what to expect of this prequel. The book was easily readable and I really like how it gave a background to the packs that we met in the previous books. However the story was shorter than I expected and I would have loved to read more about the rest of the characters’ lives. I really liked the characters and how they evolved in this short story and with the new information I got from the story I’m ready for Pack shift!
This is the Prequel to the Wolves of Rock Falls Series by AJ Skelly. Like the previous books the black cover shows a full moon and howling wolf. In the wolf is a picture of two people holding each other in the woods with a cabin in the background. This book was a bit different than the first 3 books in the series as it is smaller and the story is shorter. You can see it as book 3.5 in the series as it will give some background information on the Hawthorne and Wolfe pack before reading book 4 (Pack Shift).
The Story:
The Alpha of the Hawthorne pack is dying and his two daughters aren’t allowed become the next Alpha. The eldest daughter must marry a man, the new pack Alpha. Who this is going to be will be decided by the ancient tradition of Lacessere and all eligible Alphas and Betas can take part in this. How this works and who it’s going to be can all be read in Dark shift.
My Review:
After reading the first three books of the Wolves of Rockfalls Series I thought I knew what to expect of this prequel. The book was easily readable and I really like how it gave a background to the packs that we met in the previous books. However the story was shorter than I expected and I would have loved to read more about the rest of the characters’ lives. I really liked the characters and how they evolved in this short story and with the new information I got from the story I’m ready for Pack shift!
August 23, 2022
A short and bittersweet peek at the past of the Rock Falls packs. It was nice to have a story I could finish in an evening. It's also refreshing as a reader to have a book that leaves me with conflicted feelings. Many books wrap things up with a dominant feeling of victory or satisfaction, a "happily ever after" or maybe a big loss. But this one had both loss and happiness, in almost equal measures. Life isn't easy or simple, and what happens in this story reflects that aspect of the human experience (even if it was about werewolves).
It's also an interesting ride in terms of the werewolf society and traditions, set in a historical time period where the two things match rather closely in terms of how women are treated. Looking forward to the upcoming release of the next full novel -- Pack Shift!
It's also an interesting ride in terms of the werewolf society and traditions, set in a historical time period where the two things match rather closely in terms of how women are treated. Looking forward to the upcoming release of the next full novel -- Pack Shift!
August 10, 2022
This novella features all the things I love about the other books in the series. AJ Skelly is *very* good at not just exploring the interactions between the main characters, but also providing context for the shown events and how the wolf shifters fit into larger society. Their cultural behaviors are explored and taboos are addressed. Skelly managed to not only give the background as to why the Wolfe pack faces the issues they face in modern day, but also to create a story that resonated fully on its own. My *only*complaint about this novella was that it was too short. I love getting to see the characters fleshed out more in the regular length novels and while I thought Skelly did an excellent job within the strictures of this length, I would have loved this to be a full novel.
4.5/5 stars
4.5/5 stars
August 15, 2022
Have you ever wanted to throat punch a fictional character?
Dahhh.. I so wanted to throat punch one of the characters. Man I sometimes wish they were real so could get vengeance for the other characters... That is how good AJ Skelly writes . She gets gets you into their world and makes you want to fight and cry for them. This was too short of me but maybe if we all prodded AJ she would finish the story? I need restitution/throat punching. Other than that it was a wonderful origin to the Wolves of Rock Fall.
Dahhh.. I so wanted to throat punch one of the characters. Man I sometimes wish they were real so could get vengeance for the other characters... That is how good AJ Skelly writes . She gets gets you into their world and makes you want to fight and cry for them. This was too short of me but maybe if we all prodded AJ she would finish the story? I need restitution/throat punching. Other than that it was a wonderful origin to the Wolves of Rock Fall.
August 1, 2022
I love this series and when I found out there was a prequel, I jumped at the chance to read it. I love when an author gives us a look into the history of their characters. this book shows us the history of the RockFalls wolf and the reason for the feud. It was a fun fast paced read that I thoroughly enjoyed. The book is a very quick read but the history inside was abundant and worth the time. Go give this one a look and see why the packs act the way they do. I give this book 5 stars
August 9, 2022
Dark Shift by AJ Skelly let’s us in on some of the backstory of the Wolfe pack. Set hundreds of years before the rest of the Wolves of Rock Falls series, the heartrending tale is deeper and more intense than the others. Though it was hard to read some of the sad parts, I really enjoyed learning about what happened and how it led to the events in the rest of the series. It explains a lot and I like knowing why. I can’t recommend this, and the rest of The Wolves of Rock Falls Series, enough.
October 7, 2022
A good story, even if it is slightly predictable. Having read the first three books in the series, I know the Wolfe name but I don’t know the Woods. The other thing I found was that by the end there was no reason for a feud so I don’t know how it ties in to the rest of the series.
The story was also broken into 2 parts. However there was only a marker for the second part. I also found the page numbers were so small they were nearly impossible to read.
The story was also broken into 2 parts. However there was only a marker for the second part. I also found the page numbers were so small they were nearly impossible to read.
August 13, 2022
Dark Shift is a short prequel novella to the Wolves of Rock Falls. This introduction to the wolf packs and how they started is an interesting yet bittersweet read and a great intro into the series. (Even though the author offers some redemption to less likable characters, I still disliked them. Lol.)
August 23, 2022
Do you love a good back story? Every wonder what a Lacessere is? Curious how The Wolves of Rock Falls began? Ever wonder why Dick is the nickname for someone named Richard? If so, read this YA novella prequel to prepare yourselves because the end is coming! DARK SHIFT is a smooth read that will have you on the edge of your seat with anticipation.
August 25, 2022
This was such an amazing Prequel! It was such a fast read that still gave me so much to enjoy. Like the other books I've read in the series I love the characters so much. With it being such a short read I was still able to fall in love with all of them and relate to each character. If you want a new paranormal series to fall in love with I recommend you checkout The Wolves of Rock Falls!
September 29, 2022
What an intriguing twist on this series! Skelly takes us back a few hundred years, to beginning of the Delaware wolf pack, as well as the foundation to its longstanding animosity with a rival pack. The darkest of the series so far, it dives deep into the examining the bonds and family we choose for ourselves, as well as those forced upon us.
July 18, 2022
I really enjoyed reading this prequel to one of my favorite series ever! It was really cool to see how the Wolfe pack came to be and how heartbreak led to growth. I only wish I could read more! I can never get enough of these books!
August 1, 2022
I went into this book not having read the others in the series. I enjoyed discovering the wolves Skelly created and have even more of a desire to read the rest of the series.
Perfect for TWILIGHT fans!
Perfect for TWILIGHT fans!
August 10, 2022
I enjoyed this so much my first question was why a novella instead of a full book? Though short, I loved the characters and think there is great potential for a full book within these pages!
If you are wondering when to read it, read in publishing order. You won't enjoy it as much if you read it first, and reading it before Pack Shift makes the most sense!
If you are wondering when to read it, read in publishing order. You won't enjoy it as much if you read it first, and reading it before Pack Shift makes the most sense!
August 29, 2022
This is what you want in a prequel - it isn't necessary to read for the rest of the series but it enhances it in an exciting, short read and makes Pack Shift that much better!
May 9, 2024
While this was a short read, it was so good! She fit so much into this short story.
August 16, 2022
I preordered this and was so excited when I woke up to it in my Kindle library. I enjoyed this prequel to the series. I felt all of the emotions reading this story. While a short read, it was enjoyable and just like the other books, I will probably reread it.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews