Review: Cry Sanctuary by Moira Rogers

Format: ebook

Once again, late to the party. Sigh.

I've followed Moira Rogers (well, half of her*) on Twitter for quite some time. I've heard great things about the Red Rock Pass series, but it wasn't until Amazon offered Cry Sanctuary for free in the Kindle store that I gave it a try.

Well...strategic marketing strikes again because I am hooked. My Ipod Touch is likely still steaming from the heat this book had. I could slap myself for not caving to peer pressure sooner. This book rocked.

The Blurb:

He is tired of fighting. She has nowhere to run.

Keith Winston is tired of fighting. The war between werewolves and wizards rages on in Europe, but he's come home to Red Rock, Montana in hopes of finding a bit of peace. Instead he finds more strife as he struggles against the pack's dictates that he resume his place as the alpha's right-hand man.
When he rescues a new wolf on the run, he knows his instant attraction to her could cause trouble. What he doesn't expect is to find himself embroiled in another battle that goes against all his instincts-and his heart.

Abigail Adler learned about the existence of werewolves only when she became one. With her life threatened by a corrupt alpha, she flees to the only sanctuary she knows: Red Rock. While she's grateful for the pack's protection, she chafes under its unbreakable rules of conduct-except when it comes to submitting to the passion Keith stirs in her.

Then her tormentor kidnaps her sister in an attempt to lure her out of hiding. To save her, Abby and Keith must be willing to do the very thing that could get them all killed-break all of the rules.

I'm kind of apathetic about werewolf romances in general. I don't hate them, but they aren't my favorite type of paranormal romance.  But I really enjoyed both the set up of this novel and the way that the werewolf part of the story focused more on the politics and social dynamics than on the paranormal aspect.

What surprised me was the way the characters in this novel jumped out at me. As many of you know, I'm a character reader first. And I don't mind if it takes a bit to develop characters in a book enough so that I am invested in them. But I didn't have to wait with this one. The main characters (Abby and Keith) and virtually every single secondary character connected with me immediately. I'm going to have to reread this one just to see how the authors pulled it off, but considering the somewhat shorter length of the book, they packed a lot of characterization in--without skimping on the relationships, the setting, the action, or the world building.

The only thing that bugged me was the nearly instant attraction trope between the two main leads. I know it's a common thing in werewolf romances, but I like my characters to spend some time getting to know each other first before hopping into a physical relationship. Especially if we're supposed to believe that relationship deepens into love.

*Moira Rogers is a two person writing team, Bree and Donna.

My Grade: A-