Title: Camp H.O.W.L 01
Series: Camp H.O.W.L / Dreamspun Beyond
Author: Bru Baker
Narrator: Dorian Bane
Genre: Paranormal, Shape shifter
Length: 6 hrs, 55 mins
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (12th January 2018)
Heat Level: 💖💖💖💖💖 5 Hearts
Heart Rating: Moderate
Blurb: Moonmates exist, but getting together is going to be a beast….
When Adrian Rothschild skipped his “werewolf puberty”, he assumed he was, somehow, human.
But he was wrong, and he’s about to go through his Turn with a country between him and his Pack – scared, alone, and eight years late.
Dr. Tate Lewis’ werewolf supremacist father made his Turn miserable, and now Tate works for Camp H.O.W.L. to ease the transition for young werewolves. He isn’t expecting to offer guidance to a grown man – or find his moonmate in Adrian. Tate doesn’t even believe in the legendary bond; after all, his polygamist father claimed five. But it’s clear Adrian needs him, and if Tate can let his guard down, he might discover he needs Adrian, too.
A moonmate is a wolf’s missing piece, and Tate is missing a lot of pieces. But is Adrian up to the challenge?
Product Link: Audible US | Audible UK | Amazon US | Amazon UK
Reviewer: Prime
Review: Camp H.O.W.L is the first book in a series by Bru Baker going by the same name. I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t 100% sold by the blurb – I was concerned that this was going to be a fluffy story with not a lot of substance. The one thing that I did look forward to was Dorian Bane’s narration. I really love Bane’s narration and I believe that his husky, deep voice is perfect for alpha shifters. He also has a gift of adding the appropriate level of emotion through the tone of his voice and in this book it really helped me to relate to both MCs.
However, all my worries regarding the book were for nothing. I was immediately pulled into an interesting world of werewolves who struggle with their second puberty where they finally shift into their wolf counterpart on the full moon near their 19th birthday.
Adrian Rothschild is 27, his mother is one of the most powerful wolf alphas in the US and for reasons that were not found out for by shifter doctors he never experienced the Turn at 19. He has since resigned himself to be a human among a pack of wolves. A pack that, despite his family’s position, he doesn’t feel like he belongs to fully. Therefore, he’s happy to be away from his family to work. The problem is, when he takes a holiday far away from his pack and home, Adrian suddenly starts to get the symptoms of the change. Thinking it’s just the flu, Adrian pushes himself until he’s in trouble.
Adrian meets Dr Tate Lewis, a man he feels an inexplicable pull towards. Tate works for Camp H.O.W.L, a sort of hidden camp/school where wolf families send their teens about to make the turn to go through their first change. He’s one of the camp councilors because he doesn’t want other wolflings to go through what he had gone through as the son of an alpha with some perverse beliefs.
When Adrian and Tate meet, it’s assumed that the connection they have is one called a Turn Mate. Turns out that wasn’t quite right, though, because they are moonmates, which is basically a term for soul mate or mate as seen in other paranormal stories. Tate has a lot of baggage from his formative years and therefore is not ready to accept the bond with Adrian.
I will admit, I got a little annoyed at Tate and that was because his angst and brooding was hurting Adrian. I absolutely adored Adrian. I reckon that’s a pretty good indicator of a book. Any fans of shape shifter stories will like this one. Just because this is set in a camp doesn’t mean that there is anything childish about the book. There is not outrageous alpha behavior, a lot of sweetness, a broody psychologist (I think that’s what Tate is?), some excellent chemistry and just a lot of fun.