Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Kenai is a young watcher. He has known since he was young that he was meant to settle disputes between shifters. He has also been told that being a watcher is a lonely life. The watcher separates himself from his family and there is no prospect of love, much less a mate. This as they say is how it has always been. His life is one of prophetic dreams and settling disputes. To keep himself from being distracted from his duties, Kenai lives in the forest of Washington in a single room cabin by himself. This also allows him to shift into his cougar form. The one dream that recurs to him is of a bear shifter fishing salmon from a nearby stream.
Derek is a bear shifter in the wilds of Washington. While walking through the woods one day, a cougar bounces around him as he walks. Annoyed at the playful shifter, he asks the man what he is doing. Kenai states that he just wants company. Derek tolerates the cougar for a bit until Kenai’s bouncing leads Derek to growl at him. Kenai apologizes and heads home. Derek follows him and asks if Kenai would like to go on a salmon run with him the next day.
At the salmon run, things progress between Derek and Kenai. Both agree that whatever goes on between them is just for fun and nothing more could come of it. However, when another bear shifter attacks Kenai, things change. Kenai defends himself, pushing the bear shifter over a cliff. Frightened what the other bear shifters might do, he runs to the city seeking refuge in a bottle of vodka. Derek tracks him down but Kenai must perform his watcher duties. Will the legends of the lonely watcher prove to be true?
This is the first book in the new Watchers series by Caitlin Ricci and A J Marcus. The first part of the book serves both as an introduction to Kenai but also to this world of watchers that the authors have created. It is a different twist on the supervision of paranormals as these watchers seem to be born into the role. While this is a decent shifter book, I felt something was missing in the connection of the main characters. I did however like how Kenai used the situation that he is called on to mediate to help him come to a conclusion about his relationship with Derek. Overall, it is a good start to the series but I hope that more details are fleshed out in coming books.
The cover art by Carmen Waters has Kenai in his cougar form with a shirtless man behind the cougar set in a forest. It fits the book well.
Sales Links: eXtasy Books | Amazon
Book Details
ebook, 46 pages
Published December 8th 2015 by eXtasy Books
ISBN139781487406011
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesWatchers #1
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 