Explore Written Worlds with Stephanie: Blog Tour & Giveaway ~ Wolf, Becoming by Rory Ni Coileain

Author Name: Rory Ni Coileain

Book Name: Wolf, Becoming

Release Date: February 24, 2016

Pages or Words: 28,871 words

Categories: Erotica, Fantasy, Fiction, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Wolf Shifter

Blurb:

Volyk learns very young that he has to hide what he is—oboroten’, shape-shifter—after his father is killed and skinned by a hunter, and the pack that takes in his pregnant mother is hostile to his kind. When Volyk is ordered to fight the pack’s beta to prove his fitness, but instead obeys his hormones and tries to mount him, he’s declared an abomination and forced to flee.

Ilya, too, hides a secret. Being young and gay in modern Russia is dangerous, and he knows it. But the truth eventually gets out, and his brothers lure him into the forest to kill him. They’re stopped by Volyk, who hides the mortally wounded Ilya in his den. The only way to heal the human is to turn him into an oboroten’.

Unfortunately, Ilya’s gentle nature is ill suited to the life of a wolf. But when Volyk’s old pack returns, seeking to take away Volyk’s magickal den, Ilya will have to embrace – truly become – the wolf Volyk made him, to save both his mate’s life and his own.

Excerpt:

And the angel said unto them, be not afraid…

Ilya was not afraid. Enraptured, yes. Entranced. But not afraid. He had been ready for death when he closed his eyes in the wolf’s embrace. Instead, he was whole, and awake, and in the arms of a man more handsome than any angel. Volyk’s long thick hair was the brown and gray of the wolf’s pelt, his cheekbones angular, his lips full. And his eyes were the same beautiful fiery amber as the wolf’s.

Maybe he had only dreamed the wolf. Or maybe he was still dreaming. Surely he had done nothing in his life to earn the gift this moment would be if it were real.

Buy the book:

Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7450

Meet the author:

Rory Ni Coileain majored in creative writing, back when Respectable Colleges didn’t offer such a major. She had to design it herself, at a university which boasted one professor willing to teach creative writing: a British surrealist who went nuts over students writing dancing bananas in the snow, but did not take well to high fantasy. Graduating Phi Beta Kappa at the age of nineteen, she sent off her first short story to an anthology that was being assembled by an author she idolized, and received one of those rejection letters that puts therapists’ kids through college. For the next thirty years or so she found other things to do, such as going to law school, ballet dancing (at more or less the same time), volunteering as a lawyer with Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and nightclub singing, until her stories started whispering to her. Currently, she’s a lawyer and a legal editor; the proud mother of a budding filmmaker; and is busily wedding her love of myth and legend to her passion for m/m romance. She is a three-time Rainbow Award finalist.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rory.nicoileain

Facebook Author Page: www.facebook.com/Soulshares/

Twitter: @RoryNi

Facebook Author Group (Rory’s Three Rs): www.facebook.com/groups/721651487924752/

Goodreads Link: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6548821.Rory_Ni_Coileain

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: Maria Fanning

Review
Reading new authors can be bittersweet. There's that nervousness of "is this going to be good? I don't know this author". Then there's the flipside of finding a gem in a haystack. In this case, Rory is definitely a gem.

This story is based in Russia and is about wolves and wolf shifters, yes there's both in here. It's also about persecution about being "different" for both the human race (being gay) and in the wolf race about being a 'oboroten' or shape-shifter. Among regular wolves, they believe them to have "tainted blood".

This is why the story is unique. The oboroten don't seem to just shift at will, it is a magick long forgotten that they must call upon, or in Volyk's case, stumble upon. He didn't find the magick, it found him.

After his father was murdered by human hunters his mother was taken in by a pack of wolves, leaving Volyk a lone wolf. Through the years he seems to stumble upon the littlest human boy, son to the hunter, who wept for Volyk's father after he was murdered. The boy intrigues him, he seems to not be like the other humans. This sensitivity calls to Volyk.

Through the first 30% I knew that these two were meant for each other somehow, but the whole time I was like, "how is this going to work if he can't shift"? That would be...awkward...
My question definitely got answered though, thankfully, when Volyk stumbles upon his new home, and magical place.

While out for a hunt, Volyk stumbles upon a gory scene that will change the course of his and our human's, Ilya, lives forever...

No longer being a lone wolf, he must defend his new den from a deranged Alpha and get passed secrets of his past and Ilya trying to come into his "wolf. Will Ilya find himself before it's too late?

What I like most about this author is her fluid and poetic way of writing. Her wording is beautiful and "old". She uses a lot of tongue from an ancient time, which really adds to the overall picture of the story.

The one slight downfall to the book is the cover. This is the case of "don't judge the book by the cover". While I don't want to bash it, I plead with you, IGNORE the cover, this really is a magical read and you'll be missing out....

Overall this story captivated me and took me on a magical journey of finding yourself and love and overcoming hate and fear.

4.5*

**given as an ARC for my honest review**

Interview

Hi, Rory, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

1) Tell us something no one else knows about your characters. Ilya and Volyk and the world they live in are a tribute, by me, to a dear friend of mine. He lives in New York City now, but he was born and raised in Moscow. His partner died several years ago, before the whole “Occupy Paedophilia” insanity started, and was buried in Moscow, and my friend doesn’t even feel safe going back to visit his grave. My heart hurts for them – I want to do what I can to make their world a better place for them.

2) Have you ever written something that made you cry? No. I’m pretty sure I’ve made other people cry, but I haven’t been able to do it to myself. I don’t think I can stop paying attention to “the little man behind the curtain,” making the machinery work. Although there have been a few times when I’ve gone back to something I’ve written, and I’ve had to put the book down and say “Damn – did I really write that?” So maybe someday the same thing will happen with a sad scene.

3) Have you ever co-written with someone before? Not yet. Though I can think of several people I’d love to try it with….

4) What is the most difficult part of writing for you? Being a perfectionist. It means I don’t do second drafts, but boy, does it slow down that first one!

5) Name your four most important food groups. Caffeine, chocolate, bagels with smoked salmon cream cheese, and Guinness. Don’t judge. Guinness counts as bread.