Off the Beaten Path

Ward goes in search of his daughter Ava after she shifts and is shipped to a werewolf pack to be trained. He has a friend that tells him where the compound is and he goes in search of her.
Henry is alpha of the pack and been on a mission that failed. His superiors are angry that he didn't do as told.When he returns he finds the young werewolf still hasn't shifted and her father somehow found them and is near death.

There is great chemistry between Ward and Henry. I like how its slow burn and off page. The balance between the building of mates, the father-daughter bond, the alpha bond, the world-building, and drama is great.

My only issue is it felt like a book two or follow-up to a series.

The narration is good. Jack Wesley has an easy to listen to the voice, does a good job telling the story and not sounding like he is reading and gives good voice to the characters.

I enjoyed this book and listened in one sitting.

4 1/2 Hearts Reviewed by Shorty

Ward has his daughter, Ava, taken from him when she shifts. He goes on the hunt to track her down. His search leads him to an elite Black Ops Alpha werewolf, Henry Dormer.

It really disturbed me the way the werewolves were treated in this story by the Federal government. It seemed as though the werewolves were suposed to do whatever they asked no questions asked without any regard for their welfare. Did the federal government forget these are people? Or did they just not care for anything other than what they wanted?

I liked the fact that even though there was chemistry it did not overtake the storyline itself. I enjoyed reading this book.

Great read.

4.5 Stars ~ “The law was ironclad: werewolves weren’t classified as human. They were a dangerous subspecies, and they were the property of the government.”

What a terrific beginning to some very innovative worldbuilding the author created in ‘Off the Beaten Path.’ So fascinating, in fact, that I had difficulty putting it down in order to feed myself but, meh, who needs food when you're caught up in a world like this one? Werewolves came about when the government was going for a supersoldier but instead of having strength and senses like a wolf, they became wolves. The first ones escaped and in their fear and excitement, bit humans, killing some but some transitioned back to human, and some never turned at all but carried the gene.

That's how Ava came to shift at the age of four on her first day of preschool. Apparently her mom carries the gene, but Ward never knew this, and she left them shortly after Ava’s birth. Ward knows it can't be him because he'd be the epitome of perfect health if he were a carrier but instead he suffers from an intense number of allergies and severe asthma. I thought it was crappy the way the government treated him by just taking his daughter from him, and hunting her pack down and going there is highly illegal. In fact the alpha, Henry, is within his rights to kill Ward but they've all been worried about Ava’s refusal to shift and her inability to thrive. Hands down one of the best scenes I have EVER read in all of my shifter books, is when little Ava realizes her dad is there.

Outside of the worldbuilding in terms of the werewolves and their way of life, what I found particularly intriguing was the role of the United States government. The wolves are, literally, the property of the government. The wolves live in their packs on land designated by the government, fenced in and monitored by cameras, and have a permanent human guardian living right outside the front gate, ostensibly to prevent humans from getting in to cause harm, but also to keep the wolves from getting out. All alphas are conscripted into the army and run black ops missions for the government. In order for the alphas to request anything for their packs such as recruitment of new members like Ava, papers for a wolf to go away to college or to get married, or any of another numerous situations, the alpha must go through his handlers and bargaining is almost always part of the discussion.

“We toe the line, yeah, because if we don’t? Everything we have can be broken apart with very little trouble to the folks in command. So no, I’m not okay with how things are, but I abide by the rules because that’s part of how I stick up for my pack. I get sent to the worst places in the world so we can—” I bit my words off before I went any further.”

I don't have words to describe how thrilled I was about my first read by Cari Z. The love story was wonderfully done, the father-daughter relationship was beautifully written, and the worldbuilding was exceptionally well done. All in all, ‘Off the Beaten Path’ delivered on the promise subtly hidden within the description and I couldn't be more pleased. Well, actually that's not true. If the author decided to make this a series I'd be a whole lot happier. I would greatly enjoy reading more of this world.

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews