Silver Mine by Vivian Arend (Takhini Wolves #2)
Released: September 11, 2012
Paranormal Romance
Samhain

Reviewed by Helyce

Chase “Silver” Johnson is a shifter with two forms. Able to shift into a wolf and a cougar, he never knows which form he’ll take when he calls on his body to shift. Being unable to control this made him an outcast of sorts and he’s taken to living way out in the bush, far away from civilization, with other shifter outcasts. Chase is the unofficial alpha for all these men and once a year he makes the long trek to civilization to buy a year’s worth of supplies. Once in Whitehorse, he quickly takes care of getting his supplies, but there is another form of business that he hopes to take care of while he’s there as well.

Shelly Bradley is bit of an outcast herself. The daughter of a shifter father and human mother, she is a wolf that cannot shift. She wasn’t triggered during puberty and suffered greatly as a young woman when her pack realized this. Mistreated, she left Whitehorse, went to school to become a veterinarian and now, years later, has braved a move back home. She hasn’t decided if she’ll rejoin the pack, but she’s excited to be back with her human sister, her only real family. She’s focusing on opening up her practice, getting the building ready and the last thing she’s looking for is a man, especially a shifter.

When Chase and Shelly meet one evening, sparks fly and though there is real interest on both sides, Shelly ignores it all. They all think they’ll “be the one” that will trigger her dormant wolf. She’s tired of playing that game and the disappointment she has to see in the eyes of the man when he realizes he not the one. But when Chase shows up at her clinic and asks for her help with an injury he got that is not healing as it should when he shifts, she’s too intrigued to turn away. Finding out that Chase is a crossbreed shifter is too much for her scientific mind to let go, and she wants to understand why his injury is not healing.

So they head out into the bush to try and track down the puma that Chase fought with to try and get some samples in order to figure out what’s going on. Ten days of hiking back into the bush, alone, with Chase. It’s not long before their sexual attraction takes over and Shelly doesn’t want to fight it anymore. They are not mates; instead, it’s their human sides that call to each other. When they come upon a dead puma shifter who appears to have died mid shift, they really begin to worry. As Chase’s injury worsens, it becomes a race against the clock. If they can’t find a cure, Chase and others may fall prey to this awful disease.

Vivian Arend has fast become one of my favorite authors. From her sexy cowboys, to her sexy shifters, I can honestly say I will read anything she writes. While I have read all of her Granite Lake Wolves books, I had not read the first Takhini Wolves book and worried that I may feel lost in starting with book 2. That was not the case. This book starts and flows really well as we meet many characters and get to know them all a little bit while we also watch Shelly and Chase not only fall in love but solve the mystery of a disease that seemed to have started in the bush but could have clearly traveled into civilization and caused a lethal epidemic.

What I really enjoyed about this story is how Vivian took two characters that, though they suffered greatly at the hands of their people, were strong enough to rise above it and do so much good for others. Though Chase chose to live away from civilization, his kindness and generosity with the other outcasts land him in the seat of unofficial Alpha, something he took seriously and was always at the forefront with all decisions he made. Even when he was already half in love with Shelly, he made decisions for all involved, always looking at the big picture, not just his own happiness. Shelly, too, made a difficult decision to leave the pack and do something for herself, but when she knew she was strong enough, she came back to try and find a place for herself there and do some good. Vivian Arend does a really good job of creating really interesting characters, with very specific traits that are so different from the norm and oh so interesting. I especially enjoyed some of the more humorous secondary characters like Taylor and Frank, huge bear shifters who live in the bush too. Then there was Jones, a somewhat troubled young wolf shifter who will endear himself to you with his unexpected actions.

We also meet Evan, the wolf Alpha in Whitehorse. I liked his character quite a lot and look forward to seeing more of him. I’m secretly hoping he will find a mate; I didn’t enjoy the character that was with him in this book and while it was a friends with benefits type set up, I hope it stops there. The only other thing that caused me a bit of confusion was the correlation between what was happening in the bush with the disease and big Bear contingent that seemed to be making their way to Whitehorse. It’s all spelled out clearly in the end, but I have to admit I didn’t catch on until it was clearly spelled out.

If you are a fan of shifter stories, I recommend both this series and the Granite Lake Wolves series. You’ll find really interesting characters, great storylines with hot romance.

Rating: B+

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