My introduction to the author, and I blame Caz’s review of the prequel novella for my adding yet another author with a large backlist to my TBR cordillera of doom..

Beware: violent homophobia as part of worldbuilding; some violence and gore on page; emotional child abuse and implied sexual child sexual abuse as part of characters’ backstories; alcoholism; mental health issues; explicit sex between to adult, consenting men. One of them is a vet, and some pets do get sick and die.

Unnaceptable Risk, by Kaje Harper

This novel is the start of a seven books series; originally published in 2012, this edition has some editorial revisions and includes a short story that takes place before the next full book. The worldbuilding is quite distinct from most of the shifter stories I’ve read over the years, in that only men have the genetic mutation that makes them shifters; this changes a lot of the “we must keep our existence secret” dynamics.

Add intense homophobia–because you need every one of the wolves who reach adulthood to actually reproduce, or their numbers will eventually dwindle to extinction–and you have high stakes for the romance between Simon and Paul.

Here’s how the publisher sets up the story:

For a hidden shifter, falling in love with a man may be the death of them both.

Simon Conley knows about being an outcast. Born into a secret werewolf pack, he’s the lone gay wolf, an outsider even among his packmates. The top wolves consider him a perversion, a failure, and a security risk. To survive in the human world, werewolves rely on absolute secrecy, and any breaches of their code are dealt with swiftly— and violently.

So when Simon falls in love with Paul, a human man, even his Alpha’s grudging tolerance won’t protect him. He must keep Paul from discovering the truth about him and the secrets the pack jealously guards, or it’s not just their love that’ll end up dead.

The story is told in alternating third person, past tense, from both Simon’s and Paul’s points of view, and it’s structured in a way that seems to give away all kinds of secrets fairly early on, yet keeps peeling away at layers of complexity.

So, for example, we learn early in the book that Simon has known he’s gay from early on in puberty, and has also known since then that his pack may execute him, should his sexuality became known at any point of his very long expected lifespan. And so, he has found a way to exist within the hierarchy, where he isn’t at the bottom, but neither is he so visible as to paint a target on his back.

Paul survived, and escaped, abuse from his mother, and is finally reaching a point of safety and stability in his life. However, he doesn’t realize he’s bisexual until after meeting Simon. It’s important to note that there’s absolutely none of that “gay for you” shit here; rather, Paul’s life has focused entirely on survival from childhood, and he’s never had a reason to question his sexuality or even his sex drive.

The hows and whys of Simon’s strategy, and the full extent of his strength, skill and dominance, aren’t fully revealed until much later; and while we see Paul’s resilience, his commitment to both do the best for his patients and to succeed, and his loneliness, from the get go, we don’t learn the full extent or manner of his childhood trauma for a lot longer.

By having both of their points of view, the reader shares their interiority as they themselves work things out, for themselves and with each other. There’s a lot of trauma from their childhoods–for Paul, the abuse has led to a lot internalized homophobia, and for Simon, the pack’s literally deadly homophobia–which is compounded by the undercurrents of tension from the pack’s power struggle.

There’s quite a bit of very well done and explicit sex in the story; they first sexual encounter occurs within days of their first meeting, but there is no rush for full penetration. The sex progresses at the same pace their relationship does; Simon understands that Paul is not struggling with accepting his sexuality, but also generally inexperienced, while Simon is struggling with the realization that Paul is his mate, which is also an issue within the worldbuilding.

There are several things that I found worth notining, starting with the fact that Simon isn’t The Chosen One ™; he’s just a guy trying to stay alive–and to move the pack forward on social issues as he can in the time he has. And when the assholes with ambition work to fuck him over, he doesn’t just blindly run around or away; he’s cautious and methodical, because he’s known for a while that things are coming to a head, and he’s as prepared as he can be.

I appreciated very much the nod towards “and these werewolves live in a world of humans, so they actually have to learn to blend” by having one of them be a cop, another work for the Department of Natural Resources (wildlife control), and from there the whole, “we can’t survive by being rigidly unchanging; life survives by adapting” that’s woven into the narrative.

Also, while there’s some pack wealth, and their long lives help with accumulating assets, most of the pack members work for a living; Simon himself is a carpenter in the packs building/contractors firm.

Paul’s competence is shown to be as important as his heart; he’s a good vet and his practice is doing well, yet here the story is also planted firmly into the real world, where he knows many pet owners simply don’t have the resources to keep trying Hail Mary treatments, and therefore, hard–sometimes devastating–choices must be made. And so he takes on the burden of being clear, non-judgmental, and supportive, no matter what it does to his own heart.

I must also highlight the way consent is treated, and not just about sex; from their very first interaction, when Paul mistakes Simon’s wolf form for a very large–and gravely injured–dog, there is respect and, though Paul isn’t quite aware of it at that point, a negotiation of consent.

Another interesting aspect is that there’s enough of a plot that the twist at the end is logical and well realized; when you look back, there were a few clues sprinkled in, but they aren’t glaring, and if you are engrossed and racing ahead as you read–which I was–you may miss them.

Finally, part of the changes between this edition and the original release, is the inclusion of “Unsettled Interlude” in the 2021 edition; billed as a short story, it starts literally the day after Unacceptable Risk ends, and helps ground Paul’s and Simon’s relationship in their world, as they work through the shock and violence of the novel’s climax.

Interesting premise, solid worldbuilding, rounded characterizations–including several secondary characters–make Unnaceptable Risk a very good introduction to the author’s work; however, without the further expansion of Simon’s and Paul’s story, and the world of the series, through the short story at the end, I don’t think I would have liked it quite as much as I did.

The 2021 edition of Unnaceptable Risk gets 9.00 out of 10.

Note: it seems the rest of the series is written in first person, past tense; this may or may not be a deal breaker for other readers. The writing voice, however, is consistently engaging.

Tags: 2010s, 9.00 out of 10, alcoholism, bisexual protagonist, book review, Hidden Wolves, interracial romance, Kaje Harper, m/m, Paranormal Romance, series