A high school boy is missing, dragged off by the wolf community in the area. There are varying views as to what should be done about the wolves. Some want to relocate them; some want to eliminate them. Grace wants to know what the boy did to cause the attack. He is known for his obnoxious behavior.

Grace knows that they can be a danger, but she alone has firsthand knowledge of the wolves. After all, she was dragged off herself by the wolves as a child. One wolf kept the others from savaging her. That wolf has watched her all through her growing years, as she has watched him on the edge of her backyard. What she doesn't know at first is that he is also known as Sam part of the year. The wolves are actually werewolves. Temperature is the deciding factor for their form. Cold forces them to change to wolf.

Grace finally meets Sam this year. It's his last chance to be close to her; he thinks he's about to change for keeps. It is also most important that he protect her from another of the wolves.

The story is primarily a love story; half of the story is their relationship. There is, however, a bunch of back-story regarding Sam's predicament and that of his fellow wolves. Sam stands out from the pack, because he is educated. He has studied literature and philosophy on his own. He is chosen by the adults as a leader, because he has learned to take care of the rest of the group. The adults have created a home for each to use as they spend their summers in the human world. Someone must be there to continue this. Sam is desperately trying to remain human, partly for Grace's sake and partly to manage the human needs of his group.

The ending seems like a beginning. There are at this time 3 in the series.

I do not normally choose love stories to read. This one sounded intriguing. It does have enough other story to keep my attention. Someone mentioned that it sounded like Twilight. I picked it, because it reminded me instead of the 80s TV show Beauty and the Beast, which was done well when fantasy mostly wasn't. It still does remind me of the show, with Sam's attention to organizing the wolves.

related-wolves, werewolves, human-animal relationships, metamorphosis, supernatural
RL=YA-adult