Review: Setting His Owl A-Twitter by Charlie Richards

Author: Charlie Richards

Pages/Word Count: 106 Pages

At a Glance: For fans of this series, this is another cute and fun and smexy story.

Reviewed By: Sadonna

Blurb: Out of the Cage: Lifting the spirits of another can lift your own spirits, too.

Hector is fresh out of a cage for the first time in his memory. Learning about the world is exciting and scary, and he looks forward to experiencing life. While out having fun with his flock-mates, Hector runs across a human, Rocky, who smells amazing and makes his Scops owl flutter wildly inside his mind. Except, the guy turns down his request to dance. He learns later that Rocky is a bouncer, so he’s at the bar working. Wanting to catch him either before or after his shift, Hector begins to regularly frequent the club. Unfortunately, that earns him the reputation of being a party-boy, which causes Rocky to keep his distance. The human claims he has responsibilities which a partier wouldn’t understand. How can Hector, so new to freedom, convince Rocky that he can handle responsibility when the human won’t even tell him what it is?

Note: This is book 33 of the Wolves of Stone Ridge series, but can be read as a standalone.

Review: Hector has been newly freed from his cage after being rescued from the scientist who have been cruelly experimenting on shifters. He doesn’t ever remember not being in a cage. He keeps going to this club in town, pretty far from the home he shares with his flock, with the other shifters who were rescued, because he recognized his mate the first time he was there. His mate is one of the huge bouncers at the club, Rocky. Rocky is a black guy and a bodybuilder; Hector is a rather twinky, young white guy. Rocky keeps turning Hector down, but then, Rocky’s cow0rker suggests maybe he should just see Hector outside of work and decide what the deal is with this guy.

Rocky has a young son from a bit of a mistake, and now the mother has decided she might want the baby, so he always has to put his son first. Hector is so naïve and innocent that Rocky can hardly believe that he’s for real. But this is what happens when you’ve spent your life in a cage. It’s humorous to watch Hector try to figure out what he should and shouldn’t say, and what he should eat and drink, and what he should do when he’s with Rocky. He hasn’t spent enough time around humans to get the nuances of their behavior. He’s really very cute and funny, though.

There is, of course, some drama with the baby’s mother and Rocky’s family, who have been less than enthusiastic about his sexual orientation. His cousin is a bit of a stick-in-the-mud, and his friend, who watches his son, is also suspicious of Hector. Of course, Hector takes it all in stride.

When it comes to explaining the paranormal world to Rocky, there are the usual upside/downside discussions, and some entertaining moments between Rocky and Hector since by now, Hector has confessed that he is a virgin. The flock is supportive and also watchful.

Setting His Owl A-Twitter is another cute story in this series, and Hector is one of my favorite characters yet. He’s like a kid in an adult’s body, trying to figure out the world and all he’s been missing while in captivity. It’s not mean-spirited, though, and everybody watches out for each other, so there are no worries that anything bad will happen. For fans of this series, this is another cute and fun and smexy story that introduces us to more shifters in search of their mates. I’m sure there will be more to come.