Release Day Review ~ Off The Beaten Path by Cari Z. (Giveaway)

Release Day Review ~ Off The Beaten Path by Cari Z.

Title: Off the Beaten Path

Author: Cari Z.

Release Date: September 18, 2017

Category: Paranormal

Pages: 200

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When Ward Johannsen’s little girl Ava shifted into a werewolf, she was taken into custody by the feds and shipped off to the nearest pack, all ties between father and daughter severed. Ward burned every bridge he had discovering her location, and then almost froze to death in the Colorado mountains tracking her new pack down. And that’s just the beginning of his struggle.

Henry Dormer is an alpha werewolf and an elite black ops soldier who failed his last mission. He returns home, hoping for some time to recuperate and help settle the pack’s newest member, a little pup named Ava who can’t shift back to her human form. Instead he meets Ward, who refuses to leave his daughter without a fight. The two men are as different as night and day, but their respect for each other strikes a spark of mutual interest that quickly grows into a flame. They might find something special together—love, passion, and even a family—if they can survive trigger-happy pack guardians, violent werewolf politics, and meddling government agencies that are just as likely to get their alpha soldiers killed as bring them home safely.

5 Stars! 

I love a great Shifter book, so I'm jumping up and down for joy right now because I loved Off The Beaten Path. Not only was this story unique (something very hard to find lately), it was about so much more than just romance between the two MC's. There was a very intriguing, engaging story here and Cari Z. did an amazing job of creating a world that so realistically included werewolves without over doing the world building and boring details we just didn't need.

I loved Henry, the big, strong Alpha wolf that is doing all he can to protect his pack while performing his duties to the government even if it's slowly destroying him. Now with his sister, who's always been his anchor, mated to another wolf, he feels as if he's ultimately alone. He's growly and harsh when he first meets Ward, who he fears might bring trouble to the pack, but he is man enough to admit that they ultimately need Ward's help.

Ward is like any loving, protective father would be. His daughter is suddenly ripped away from him and he's told he needs to forget about her because she is a werewolf now, but how can he just sit back and let it go? His daughter Ava is 4 years old and he can't just forget about her, she means everything to him. So he manages to hunt down the pack in the middle of nowhere in order to be with her again.

Henry and Ward have a little spark at first, so subtle it's barely there. From the beginning they bunt heads but it's always over quickly and then they just naturally drift towards one another. I liked the subtleties when it came to their relationship. It wasn't some instantaneous mate bond and yet it wasn't a torturously slow falling in love either. They just kind of gravitated naturally to one another and the mating bond grew steadily without being a huge deal. At first, it wasn't even apparent if Henry really knew what was happening as Ward became the center of his world but by the end, it becomes obvious that pretty much everyone knew in some way.

What made this story different and what I loved was the politics of it all. How they handled the existence of Werewolves. They were basically second class citizens, not even truly considered people. They are heavily sanctioned, stuck in what reminds me of a cross between a reservation and an internment camp and subject to government regulations that do just as much harm as good. Alpha Werewolves are forced to serve in the military and do what the government wants even though it's practically killing them in the process. Worst yet is that the pack doesn't even completely understand what their Alpha does for them.

Overall, this is a great story, well-written with just the right amount of humor, action, fantasy and romance. There is not much sex and the little that there is doesn't get too graphic but it fits perfectly with the story and the relationship between the MC's. I loved the characters and I'm hoping there might be another book in this same world sometime soon, I think this would be an amazing series. I definitely recommend!

*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***

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