Descending from generations of Loup Garou—immortal wolf shape shifters—makes living life in the modern world a bit complicated. Bryna Whealan’s nights are spent managing her family pub, and days are consumed with keeping the wolf inside controlled. Life was utterly predictable and comfortable, and she liked it that way. At least until a rogue wolf showed up, and someone breaks into her pub, creating unease through her pack. A fateful meeting brings Ethan Donnelly into Bryna’s life, forcing her to make decisions based on their immediately undeniable bond. But due to his studies of supernatural creatures as a professor of Occult Anthropology, Ethan is a dangerous match. Bryna risks her entire pack’s safety simply by talking to him. When her ex-fiancé rolls into town, and mysterious wolves infringe upon her pack’s territory, how will Bryna balance keeping her secret and keeping Ethan safe?
A transplant to the Midwest from Washington State, Malinda Andrews lives in Wisconsin within a stone’s throw of Lake Michigan. The love of writing started young (she credits, or alternately blames, her parents for her love of reading and writing) and followed her passion for the written word into college. Forgoing financial security, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. An avid reader, Malinda also enjoys crocheting, watching TV and movies, book shopping, hiking, and camping.
This is not usually a genre I read in, but Malinda created a cast of likable characters and a bit of romance that kept me interested. For fans of paranormal, she weaved in werewolf legends, putting her own spin on the tales. Side characters Mags and Murtagh were fun, and of course, Bryna and Ethan had a sweet and believable relationship (even though one of them was a werewolf), which we got to see from both sides. Malinda kept the intrigue going by leaving enough unanswered questions to propel the reader onto the next book. I'm very interested to see what's going to happen next, especially with how the book ended with Ethan.
Well written! Enjoyed reading this first book in an exciting and entertaining new series by Malinda Andrews. With an upbeat and savvy cast this book will satisfy any reader who enjoys a great paranormal story with romance involved to up the suspense factor! Pace was steady to build upon and then fast with fierce action that kept me on edge through to the end. With a perplexing ending to boot (no spoilers), am I looking forward to seeing what happens next? Absolutely!
Disclaimer: I’m not much of a romance reader. This book is a new take on werewolves, combined with a romance between two characters who are an unlikely match. It was interesting to see how Bryna’s priorities changed as she fell in love, and how that impacted her werewolf identity.
However, I didn’t find myself really engaged with the main characters. The “love at first sight” was a good choice in that it thrust us right into the main story, but it wasn’t quite convincing that the characters would immediately go so far for each other without showing the relationship grow. The side characters were fun, but a little one-dimensional.
A few scenes had quite vivid writing, but others were, frankly, a little flat. However, the story moves fast and ends with interesting event that sets up plenty of conflict for future books.