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Totem #2
Silent Whispers
It’s not only the dead who whisper upon the wind.
An ancient totem pole has gone missing, and its pieces are scattered across Alaska. Restoring the seven totem tokens may be the only way to save every shifter in the world.
Kinley Dorn, a geeky architect with a heart of gold and a polar bear shifter, jumps at the opportunity to help her family find the lost pieces. Their idea of “helping” involves staying indoors to research online. Work leads Kinley to sexy lynx shifter Ransom Averill. He coaxes her away from the safety behind her computer and into the path of a rampaging giant. Terrifying as the monster might be, she must brave its mountain because the owl totem is calling to her through silent whispers.
An ancient totem pole has gone missing, and its pieces are scattered across Alaska. Restoring the seven totem tokens may be the only way to save every shifter in the world.
Kinley Dorn, a geeky architect with a heart of gold and a polar bear shifter, jumps at the opportunity to help her family find the lost pieces. Their idea of “helping” involves staying indoors to research online. Work leads Kinley to sexy lynx shifter Ransom Averill. He coaxes her away from the safety behind her computer and into the path of a rampaging giant. Terrifying as the monster might be, she must brave its mountain because the owl totem is calling to her through silent whispers.
- GenresParanormal
104 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2022
4 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Christine Rains
58 books245 followersChristine Rains is a multi-genre writer, book blogger, and geek mom. When she's not playing games with her son, she's playing games with her friends. She has four degrees which do not help at all with motherhood but make her a great Jeopardy player.
Christine has several novels, novellas, and short stories published. Her writing covers all genres of fiction, but she loves to lose herself in paranormal romance most of all.
Christine has several novels, novellas, and short stories published. Her writing covers all genres of fiction, but she loves to lose herself in paranormal romance most of all.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 6, 2017
Kinley Dorn, architect, werepolarbear and geek is used to being pushed to the sidelines when her more active sisters are trying to chase down the missing totem pieces.
Until Ransom, werelynx and assistant to a vampire, encourages her to leave her safety and join him on the site – though even he didn’t expect an extinct giant to be rampaging around the site.
I have to say I am generally quite happy about how the romance in this book in some ways though it is a bit odd in some says. It doesn’t dominate – it’s clear there’s chemistry between Ransom and Kinley, but it is definitely not taking over.
But it’s always present which is slightly odd. Not because it’s distracting like so many romances are in this genre – because it isn’t. The characters are clearly focused on stopping the zombie giant, helping the people around the land and finding the totem. The focus is clear. The romance is… not? It’s not so much a distraction so much as a blink and “oh, yeah… romance. Apparently? Ok”. And in some ways I find the romance far more out of place than I find it a distraction: because the focus is so clearly present that it seems weird that these cleverly focused people are instead suddenly throwing this focus to a side to muse over how hot Ransom is
I also found it somewhat detrimental to their development – we spent time on the romance when we could have spent more time on the actual characters. We have to remember this is a very short book – so needs to be careful where the focus is. What do I know about Ransom? He’s a good looking rascal. What do I know about Kinley? She’s a geek with self-esteem issues. Rather than have this little odd romance we could have explored Kinley’s abilities, her skills as an architect (hey, one thing I loved about Totem is that it did a great job of, in a brief space, showing Ametta’s skill as an interior designer and why this matters for the supernatural beings who are their customers), finding her confidence in ways other than “yes the hot guy actually thinks you’re hot despite your love of Firefly”. Even more geeky references (though there were some excellent references which was always fun).
When you have this little space to work with, it’s necessary to triage that space – and in turn I just didn’t buy in to the romance very much – not least of which because Ransom is such a blank slate
But the actual action remains central – the fight against the giant, Kinley’s courage and determination and rising to the battle. On top of this there’s some really excellent drawing in some of the underlying stories and world building of this series. It’s an excellent, action driven, world driven story
But I do want more than that – again, aware of how short this book is and how much longer it could be. I want to know more about this very briefly explained totem. I want to know more about the First bear and what that means, I want to know more about this world, the underpinning of this, who the antagonist is, why the antagonist is doing what it’s doing even the development of how Native Alaskan mythology fits in with this series.
Read More
Until Ransom, werelynx and assistant to a vampire, encourages her to leave her safety and join him on the site – though even he didn’t expect an extinct giant to be rampaging around the site.
I have to say I am generally quite happy about how the romance in this book in some ways though it is a bit odd in some says. It doesn’t dominate – it’s clear there’s chemistry between Ransom and Kinley, but it is definitely not taking over.
But it’s always present which is slightly odd. Not because it’s distracting like so many romances are in this genre – because it isn’t. The characters are clearly focused on stopping the zombie giant, helping the people around the land and finding the totem. The focus is clear. The romance is… not? It’s not so much a distraction so much as a blink and “oh, yeah… romance. Apparently? Ok”. And in some ways I find the romance far more out of place than I find it a distraction: because the focus is so clearly present that it seems weird that these cleverly focused people are instead suddenly throwing this focus to a side to muse over how hot Ransom is
I also found it somewhat detrimental to their development – we spent time on the romance when we could have spent more time on the actual characters. We have to remember this is a very short book – so needs to be careful where the focus is. What do I know about Ransom? He’s a good looking rascal. What do I know about Kinley? She’s a geek with self-esteem issues. Rather than have this little odd romance we could have explored Kinley’s abilities, her skills as an architect (hey, one thing I loved about Totem is that it did a great job of, in a brief space, showing Ametta’s skill as an interior designer and why this matters for the supernatural beings who are their customers), finding her confidence in ways other than “yes the hot guy actually thinks you’re hot despite your love of Firefly”. Even more geeky references (though there were some excellent references which was always fun).
When you have this little space to work with, it’s necessary to triage that space – and in turn I just didn’t buy in to the romance very much – not least of which because Ransom is such a blank slate
But the actual action remains central – the fight against the giant, Kinley’s courage and determination and rising to the battle. On top of this there’s some really excellent drawing in some of the underlying stories and world building of this series. It’s an excellent, action driven, world driven story
But I do want more than that – again, aware of how short this book is and how much longer it could be. I want to know more about this very briefly explained totem. I want to know more about the First bear and what that means, I want to know more about this world, the underpinning of this, who the antagonist is, why the antagonist is doing what it’s doing even the development of how Native Alaskan mythology fits in with this series.
Read More
March 3, 2017
Kinley is my favorite Dorn sister, the one I most identify with (i.e., the nerdy one). I can't help but empathize as she watches her more outgoing sisters get all the attention from hot guys. But when Kinley is tasked with working with Ransom, she can scarce believe she may have found a hot (and nerdy) guy of her own.
Together, Kinley and Ransom must investigate strange happenings at a worksite. Might it all be connected to the ongoing quest for lost totems? Read and find out!
Together, Kinley and Ransom must investigate strange happenings at a worksite. Might it all be connected to the ongoing quest for lost totems? Read and find out!
October 4, 2016
Polar bear shifter Kinley Dorn wants to get out from behind the computer and help her family find the missing totem tokens, but doing so may put her life in danger in Christine Rains' Silent Whispers. Book two in the Totem series follows the middle Dorn sister Kinley. As much as I loved Ametta, Kinley is close to my heart as she's an awkward geek with fierce bravery. Ransom Averill, a lynx shapeshifter, matches her well and they make a great team to go against a giant in search for one of the tokens. I also think Bert has become one of my favorite vampires of all time. He's classic! The mysteries continue as we delve further into the world Rains has created here. Silent Whispers by Christine Rains has some great twists and turns that keep the reader reading. I'm looking forward to the next Totem book!
January 20, 2017
Silent Whispers by Christine Rains
“Silent Whispers” is Kinley’s story. She is the nerdy middle sister of the Dorn clan. Kinley immerses herself in her work and research. She is also the designated caretaker of the family. Because of a failed relationship, five years ago, she is insecure and can’t imagine why any male could possibly be interested in her. Then she meets Ransom Averill, a personal assistant to her newest client, and sparks fly. Ransom is a handsome Lynx shifter who seems like a bit of a playboy: cocky, witty, and fiercely loyal. Kinley is a hot mess whenever he is around and I’m not sure why but Ransom’s cocksure attitude made him more adorable to me. Ms. Rains was able to develop Ransom’s character where his arrogance came across in a humble way. Not sure how she did that with a cat shifter, however, she did it quite well.
The plot moves along at a nice pace, and many of the twists were unexpected. Kenley has heard “whispers” from the ether practically her whole life, however, the whispers seem conflicting at times. Perplexed with the whispers she chooses to go with her gut instincts and/or personal desires. The mystery of the totems and the hunters grows deeper and more complex in this novella.
I’m looking forward to book three of the Totem series, “Cloak of Snow,” where I hope to learn more about the oldest Dorn sister, Saskia, and her relationship with Sedge. This is turning into an enthralling mystery quest series.
FYI: “Silent Whispers” is book two in the Totem series, of which there are six completed so far. There are a few F-bombs dropped. **Originally written for "BigAl’s Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy.** January 12, 2017
Format/Typo Issues: No significant proofing or formatting issues.
“Silent Whispers” is Kinley’s story. She is the nerdy middle sister of the Dorn clan. Kinley immerses herself in her work and research. She is also the designated caretaker of the family. Because of a failed relationship, five years ago, she is insecure and can’t imagine why any male could possibly be interested in her. Then she meets Ransom Averill, a personal assistant to her newest client, and sparks fly. Ransom is a handsome Lynx shifter who seems like a bit of a playboy: cocky, witty, and fiercely loyal. Kinley is a hot mess whenever he is around and I’m not sure why but Ransom’s cocksure attitude made him more adorable to me. Ms. Rains was able to develop Ransom’s character where his arrogance came across in a humble way. Not sure how she did that with a cat shifter, however, she did it quite well.
The plot moves along at a nice pace, and many of the twists were unexpected. Kenley has heard “whispers” from the ether practically her whole life, however, the whispers seem conflicting at times. Perplexed with the whispers she chooses to go with her gut instincts and/or personal desires. The mystery of the totems and the hunters grows deeper and more complex in this novella.
I’m looking forward to book three of the Totem series, “Cloak of Snow,” where I hope to learn more about the oldest Dorn sister, Saskia, and her relationship with Sedge. This is turning into an enthralling mystery quest series.
FYI: “Silent Whispers” is book two in the Totem series, of which there are six completed so far. There are a few F-bombs dropped. **Originally written for "BigAl’s Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy.** January 12, 2017
Format/Typo Issues: No significant proofing or formatting issues.
September 24, 2017
Another exciting installment in this excellent series, this time focusing on Kinley, another of the three sisters who have the ability to shift into bears. A self-confessed geek, her family would much rather have her sat behind the computer in their quest to find pieces of a totem pole that will save all shifters, but Kinley wants to do more than that to help. Or, rather, the whispers in her head do. This was an intriguing element that I look forward to finding out more about.
Just like in the first book, the author knows how to keep the tension high when it counts, interspersed with cute family moments. The addition of a giant was something different that I hadn't been expecting, and the romance element added another layer without feeling forced. I've already started reading the next part of the saga.
Just like in the first book, the author knows how to keep the tension high when it counts, interspersed with cute family moments. The addition of a giant was something different that I hadn't been expecting, and the romance element added another layer without feeling forced. I've already started reading the next part of the saga.
July 21, 2019
The start of this wonderful series had me up really late reading. The characters are so interesting and I really enjoyed the sister's dynamic, their differences, and how they've all struggled with their family's history, their sense of self, and then the challenge's placed before them now. Each book was a great adventure, and they way they all wove together was expertly done. Plus, it's adorable to see the three sisters handle relationships and their regular lives on top of the dark and terrifying dangers they face. I devoured the first three books in a flash and can't wait to finish out the series!
November 17, 2017
Kinley is the sweetest, nerdiest member of the Dorn family. Her kindness is both her blessing and her curse. When faced with a horrific giant, Kinley can't walk away knowing people are in harm's way. She faces the giant knowing she is probably outmatched in order to acquire another totem to protect the fate of all the shifters. Add in the hot Ransom B side romantic subplot and a personable vampire and this story is a winner.
June 19, 2018
Shifters, Romand, Quests and Saving the World, Oh My!
This is the 2nd book in the Totem series of nine books which starts following 3 sisters who shift into Polar Bears. There is an underlying quest tell of totems that will protect the world. Can't wait to read book three, highly recommended.
This is the 2nd book in the Totem series of nine books which starts following 3 sisters who shift into Polar Bears. There is an underlying quest tell of totems that will protect the world. Can't wait to read book three, highly recommended.
November 19, 2016
I’m super excited to be reading more books in Christine Rains’ Totem series. In Book 2, Silent Whispers, we are with Kinley, one of the Dorn sisters and a polar bear shifter, who is an awesome architect, and a bit of a geek, but in the best possible way. She is so spunky… love her character. But things don’t remain calm in her life for long, especially after she meets super-sexy hunk, Ransom. He’s a lynx shifter and crazily gorgeous. Now throw in a giant, the need to follow leads to a totem to save all shape shifters, and Silent Whispers is a spectacular Urban Fantasy that kept me glued to the pages.
The best part is that there are more books in this series, and I highly recommend this to all Urban Fantasy fans.
The best part is that there are more books in this series, and I highly recommend this to all Urban Fantasy fans.
December 4, 2016
Kinley Dorn is a peacemaker, a nerd, and an Alaskan beauty unaware of her attractiveness, but she recognizes beauty in others, and Ransom Averill is that someone. Too handsome, he's more than aware and in an endearing way. Kinley is doomed where matters of the heart are concerned. In her quest for the missing Owl Totem, she may also be doomed when a Zombie Giant makes her his target.
The second of Christine Rains Totem series is just as fabulous as the first, and I'm hooked! I can't wait for the release of the others. Detailed characters, an exciting setting, and non-stop action mark all her stories and Silent Whispers is no exception!
Thanks, Christine, you've reawakened my love and my homesickness for my chosen home, Alaska!
August 25, 2016
The second book in my urban fantasy series, Totem. Kinley is my favorite of the Dorn sisters. She's the geek, and the sexy man who enters her life has geeky tendencies too! This story brings in an old Inuit myth about giants. Well, it turns out they're not myths.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews