Review: Not a Free Ion by Elinor Wilder

Not A Free Ion (Claw Ridge Wildland Shifter Firefighters #0.5)
by Elinor Wilder

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Paranormal Romanse
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
She’s a brilliant research biologist whose mind sees patterns in fire-adapted ecosystems. She has never fit anywhere after she lost her person but never stopped searching.

He’s a federal K9 search-and-rescue specialist with alpha wolf in his blood and a German Shepherd K9 partner. Without a pack, without a permanent address, and without the most important shifter sense of scent.

She never stopped loving him. He never stopped wearing the soft jacket she loved.

When lightning strikes trigger deadly cave-ins in the Claw Ridge Mountains, he feels a pull he can’t ignore. Following his instincts into unstable terrain, he discovers the trapped researcher is she—the woman he fell in love with 13 years ago.

Thrown into a world where hypothermia threatens her life and his broken senses might not be enough to save her, will they find their way back to each other before it’s too late?

My Review

I found this book during a multi author book promotion with discounted paranormal books. I searched for the neurodivergent tag on that website and found this one. It sounded good and was only 99 cents at the time, so I picked it up and started it shortly after that. I am always looking for more books with neurodivergent characters as I am neurodivergent myself and I think this is the first shifter romance with neurodivergent characters I found.

Not a Free Ion is a novella that functions as a prequel to the series. It follows the romance between Connor and Emma. This is a second chance romance, they were very close about 10 years ago, until something happened and Connor left. They never forgot to other. And when Emma breaks her ankle after a fall due to lightning as she’s doing research, Connor is part of the Search and Rescue team in the region and finds her due to his bond with her.

I really liked Connor and Emma together. Their second chance romance is very sweet and touching. I liked how they never stopped loving the other and when they open up about the past it’s clear Emma did everything she could to find Connor, which I liked. I liked both character and the way their neurodivergence was written. I also appreciated how this one was pretty low on drama, but there was plenty of emotions and thoughts they had to work through.

There is a miscommunication scene that bothered me as it just felt like a plot device, Emma could’ve easily worded things differently and even in her hypothermia state and I think a different wording would’ve made more sense. It just felt worded like that so Connor could misunderstand it and it just felt a bit forced to me. I did think both of their reactions to thinking the other rejected them made sense and felt realistic. I liked how they resolved things and cleared things up.

I liked how close they obviously were and how they reconnect. I liked the way they accept the others differences. The scene where Connor ordered for Emma and remembered all her food sensitivities was so touching. I wanted more about the whole paranormal thing, wolf shifters and mate bonds as it felt a bit generic now, but I think there will be more of that in the next book.

I wished the story was a bit longer. There is a lot of them spending time in their own heads and thinking things through and remembering the past, which makes sense given the situation and was relatable. I just wanted more scenes with them connecting and spending time together as I really liked them together. I also would’ve liked a bit more of seeing what their future looks like. The last chapter is titled epilogue, but it reads like a normal chapter and I would’ve liked a glimpse in their future. I also was a bit peeved there was an extra scene I had to read on the author’s website as I feel it should be part of the book, I know this is a marketing tactic that works, but it bothers me. The extra scene is definitely worth the read as it is a nice way to wrap up the story.

There are some great side characters who play an important part in this story and I was already speculating who will get their own romance in the series. I also liked Scout, Connor’s dog. And it was interesting reading a bit about Search and Rescue operations work as I didn’t have much knowledge about that.

To summarize: I enjoyed this introduction to this series. I liked the mix of a shifter romance with neurodivergent characters and thought the neurodivergent traits were written well. I liked Connor and Emma together and enjoyed their second chance romance. They were so sweet together and so accepting and loving of the other. There is a scene at the diner that I especially liked. I just wished this one had been a bit longer so there would be more of them together as they do spend quite a bit of the book apart or in their own heads thinking things through. I didn’t like the miscommunication scene as it felt a bit too much like a plot device and I didn’t think it made sense Emma worded things that way, the way they respond after thinking the other rejected them made sense and was realistic. All in all a solid start to this series and I look forward to the next story.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.