Ranger's Folly (Lost Shifter) [Kindle Edition]

I finally broke down and bought Ranger's Folly. Again I'm not too happy with the price tag for something that is 234 KB (a novella length) but I seem powerless to stop my curiosity about the Lost Shifters...

We all know the surface Ranger. He is the little alpha of his stray shifters pack and has worked hard to keep them safe from the world. Under his protection though they got captured by slavers and forced into captivity for a year, now they reside with the Feline Shifters and under Mitchell's protection. We don't really get to know too much about Ranger except that he is young, a bit of an alpha, and was kicked out of his pack for being gay (which also happens to be Chris's pack who is going to marry Cassie). On the flip Xavier is Riley's twin who didn't die in the family massacre years ago. Instead he was saved by a good raven... which puts an entirely new spin on all of Stephani's future books... The Ravens don't have to be bad and nasty! It's a great twist, and the fact that Chance and Dulla (Xavier's step siblings) love Xavier so much is weird, yet sweet. I have a feeling that Chance will get a story soon.

The whole plot is about Ranger finding Xavier and `saving' him. This book was good, but was a bit different . The good part was that it was all about Xavier and Ranger, in fact we see more of Chance and Dulla then we do of Riley, Collin, Mitchell, or anyone. The only person who makes more than a brief appearance is Shane and that's because he's the one helping Ranger find where Xavier's hide out is. There is also some sweet `surrender' and romance between Xavier and Ranger. What I found different was that I didn't feel like Ranger was Ranger. That's a weird thing to say but I feel like the young Ranger from the earlier books was completely different from the one Mitchell put in command of the extraction unit, and the one `going after his mate'. I missed where this personality shifted, especially since in the last few books he was exactly the same. In a way it did feel like he was an extension of the other dominant males from the first few books. There were also no steamy scenes until the last chapter, and Ranger was quite... quite pushy, this led to Xavier at times not having much of his own personality. I got that he was nervous, that he grew up in seclusion, and that he lived for his siblings, but other than that, I didn't really get a good feel for who Xavier actually was, what he wanted or believed in. The reuniting scene between Riley and Xavier could have also lasted longer than a few paragraphs, but again this is all semantics.

I read The Lost Shifters because they are easy, quick, steamy, and have great characters. I think I was expecting Hecht to keep going in the direction she pushed Shane and Trevor's story, but she hasn't. There aren't bad guys. Riley and Xavier's stories both had the `demon within' that had to fought, but no capture, no violence, no blood, no enemies. I know I was in the minority but I adored Shane/Trevor's story. I loved that Shane had to fight to get him back and that there was a clear purpose. I feel like these last two books were more of a filler, or push towards a new arc of characters. If you love the guy meets mate/has a small conflict/ lives happily ever after formula, again you will love this new installment. I will keep hoping for a little more action and conflict.

Hecht is planning on releasing a free novella (I guess an even shorter one) about Cassie and Chris's wedding, which I'm sure is going to be fun and hilarious to read. Enjoy!

With Riley's Regret, we left finding out that Riley's presumed-dead brother, Xavier, is still alive and being cared for by two Ravens. Ravens are the enemies of, well, everyone. In this case though, it was a Raven family that saved Xavier when he lay bleeding and dying and raised him as part of their family. It turns out that Mom and Dad had just as much disdain for other Ravens as most of the other shifter world did.

So in this interesting tale, we have Ranger trying to find out who this person is stalking Riley (Xavier misses his brother and likes to watch him from afar), and becoming increasing attracted to, and frustrated by, this man he quickly realizes is Riley's brother. Xavier is a fun character who is a bit of a klutz but also is totally enchanting. As are his Raven siblings.

What makes this story interesting is that there is extreme prejudice against the Ravens, and this family tries like heck to avoid the Feline Coalition because they fear they'll be killed (the Ravens are their mortal enemies, after all). But the coalition is trying to get back all of the lost shifters, and they do realize that these Ravens appear different. The interplay between everyone is very interesting, and it turns out to be a lovely heartwarming tale.

None of Stephani Hecht's stories ever disappoint, and this one is the same. It's fun, interesting, engrossing, and totally worthwhile.

I love this story line and all the characters in Michigan. My only regret is that these books are so short. Once they're over you want to know what happens next. But since she has a new one out every 2 months it pretty much equals out to the "mainstream" authors and their year to a year and a half release dates. Only problem now is I have to wait for my next fix. Ranger's and Xavier's story was gut wrenching and funny at the same time and enters two new characters that I can't wait to hear more about. Keep them coming Stephani!!!