First Shift

"This series is one of my favorites. It’s about werewolves if you are into that kind of fantasy. "

"If you enjoyed Twilight I agree with others who have said you will enjoy this book. It even comes complete with an almost car accident where Sam, the main guy saves Meg the main girl.<br/><br/>Pros:<br/>Interesting plot point with the invading pack. For me, this was much more interesting than the teenage love story. If the story had started with this I feel like I would have been more drawn into the world and less focused on what I, as an adult, see as major issues.<br/><br/>The dialogue is well paced and moves the story ahead.<br/><br/>The characters do grow on you if/when you can set aside their actions and not think of them as awful and manipulative.<br/><br/>Cons:<br/><br/>Everyone keeps saying they don’t want to force Meg to do anything but they are doing exactly that. She is forced to accept kisses to hold off her change. She is forced to accept an arranged marriage plans out by all the adults and to live with Sam. She is not given all the details on why before hand, isn’t informed that sex would result in making her change permanent. This, to me, comes off as manipulative gaslighting of “I don’t want to do this to you but it is the only safe option we have for you and for others and we cannot trust you to put the interest of everyone above you own needs, desires and beliefs.” I know that isn’t the author intention but there wasn’t enough explanation of wolf customs or even just common informed consent here to justify this argument in my mind.<br/><br/>I read a lot of wolf fiction and having a young teenage boy as the second in a pack because of his bloodline doesn’t make sense to me. Wolves don’t care about who your parents are, only your personal strength. Also, if Meg is truly his mate a wolf dominant enough to be second in the pack would not allow her to go, even the idea would drive the wolf mad. They did try to go on to make that part of the world but it seems like something that needed to be made clear earlier in the book.<br/><br/>Referring to the wolf inside them simply as “Wolf” led to confusion sometimes for me when they would say that Wolf felt something. Did they mean their wolf or the other person’s wolf….probably just being nit-picky there but it did bother me."

"A.J. Skelly has a fantastic gift for creating characters that you can relate to and care about as if they were friends. This book has just the right amount of adventure, tension, and romance balanced. Please check out FIRST SHIFT. I think you'll be like me, hungry for the next book. If you enjoy YA Paranormal Romance or you know a teen who enjoys fantasy worlds, this is a fantastic read. #SambitMeg #WolvesofRockFalls"