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I will start this mini-review with a bit of funny that happened. The other day I sat down to continue reading Wolf Signs, the awesome Elizabeth Reeve popped up on IM, and we had this exchange (mostly paraphrased):
Eliza: I read some short stories I liked. They were about werewolves. You like werewolves. Let me tell you about them! (She also thoughtfully provided links, because she is awesome. Because I am also awesome, I will pass those links on to you: “First Howl” and “Second Howl” by Vivian Arend.)
Eliza: *talks a little about the short stories and the things she likes about them*
Eliza: And a female lead who is deaf!
Me: *double take* I think I am reading these books! I was just going to tell you about this free book I got for the Kindle. (Because I am still awesome, I will include a link, though I can’t guarantee how long the freebie will last: Wolf Signs.)
Me: Shared brain for the win!
So these stories are so enjoyable we simultaneously found them and started reading them, then recommended them to each other before we even finished.
And now I will recommend them to you, with some spoilers. Well, I’ll recommend Wolf Signs, though I still haven’t had the chance to read the two short stories linked above.
Wolf Signs by Vivian Arend from Samhain Publishing
From the publisher’s blurb: Robyn Maxwell doesn’t care that her brother has to cancel out on their backcountry ski trip. She can do it alone. The fact she’s deaf doesn’t make her survival skills any weaker. The chance to get away from it all and relax in the Yukon wilderness is just what she’s been craving.
Meeting wilderness guide Keil at the cabin starts cravings of another kind. Keil’s one hot hunk of ripped, tasty male. Now she has to deal with raging hormones as well as strange questions about wolves and mates and challenges to the death.
Keil was trying for a nice reflective retreat before challenging for the Alpha position of his Alaskan pack. He wasn’t planning on meeting the woman destined to be his mate, or finding out she’s not aware she has the genes of a wolf.
Between dealing with his accident-prone younger brother, a deaf mate with an attitude and an impending duel to the death, his week—and his bed—is suddenly full.
Far from the relaxing getaway any of them had in mind…
Mini-review: Mostly, this was a lot of fun. I really like Robyn. She’s an intriguing, stubborn, strong woman. I particularly like that she’s deaf, but still does all the things she loves. I really enjoyed the opening scene with Robyn and her brother, Tad. It’s obvious they love each other very much, and though Tad is very overprotective, he listens to what Robyn says. Unfortunately, Tad is also keeping a major secret from Robyn, which I hated. If the siblings are that close, I think he would have told her the truth. As it is, his secret starts to look like a big coincidence used to make the plot work.
I loved that Arend doesn’t gloss over some of the difficulties Robyn faces because she’s deaf, especially when meeting strangers in the wilderness, but there’s a twist later which allows Robyn and Keil to talk to mentally talk to each other which seemed like a cheat to get around the limitations Robyn’s disability poses for them.
Robyn deals really well with learning that not only do werewolves exist, but she’s a werewolf, which she doesn’t know because her parents were killed when she was very young. I’m torn on this issue; partly I am glad to see a character not waffling with disbelief, because frequently that takes up a huge chunk of stories, but partly I think she accepted it way too fast.
What there is of werewolf politics is really intriguing, but the story lets that fall flat. Throughout the story, I thought all the discussions about werewolf politics and pack law were building to an exciting, culminating official challenge for leadership of the pack, but after a too brief fight while Robyn and Keil are still on their way back to civilization, the book just kind of ends. The fight itself is quite a let down, too, and is won far too easily by Keil and Robyn despite the fact that Robyn has no experience facing werewolves and can’t yet shift herself. Though Keil says he can’t handle three wolves attacking him at once, he deals with that and more. The story really feels incomplete, like this is only one half of the actual tale. I’ll check out the sequel and see if it fleshes out the abrupt, too brief ending on this one.
Though the sex scenes are hot and fun, there were moments when they were also incredibly cheesy, which knocked me out of the story. One example is this description: Kisses like a ten-car pile up. It has the scared virgin trope, and I’m definitely tired of that, as well as the pain during the first penetration, which yes, does happen for some women, but not for a lot of them, and in romances seems to happen to every single one. As active as Robyn is, I’m not sure I believe she’d feel pain. Keil also frequently comes across as a bit of an ass, especially when it comes to sex; not only dominant but demanding, and frequently pushing for anal sex, which actually seemed out of place with the rest of the story.
Finally, I really am not a fan of the mating for life concept which shows up in so many werewolf stories, but many people love that and expect it and if you do like it, it fits well in this story.
Overall, I really enjoyed the story. It was a quick, fun read with some interesting werewolf politics and the potential for a really fun series. There were a number of characters I’d like to read about in sequels and I’m looking forward to reading more.
I’m always looking for new books to read, so I thought I’d ask you guys what you’re currently reading. (Or what you recommend, either way.) I’ll share mine, too!
I have two paranormal romance novels in progress right now, which is actually a small number for me to have going at the same time. (But to be fair, I have a couple books from my writing group I’m working through, too, which cuts into my reading time.)
The first is Wolf Signs by Vivian Arend.
Blurb: Talk about getting your signals crossed…
Granite Lake Wolves, Book 1
Robyn Maxwell doesn’t care that her brother has to cancel out on their backcountry ski trip. She can do it alone. The fact she’s deaf doesn’t make her survival skills any weaker. The chance to get away from it all and relax in the Yukon wilderness is just what she’s been craving.
Meeting wilderness guide Keil at the cabin starts cravings of another kind. Keil’s one hot hunk of ripped, tasty male. Now she has to deal with raging hormones as well as strange questions about wolves and mates and challenges to the death.
Keil was trying for a nice reflective retreat before challenging for the Alpha position of his Alaskan pack. He wasn’t planning on meeting the woman destined to be his mate, or finding out she’s not aware she has the genes of a wolf.
Between dealing with his accident-prone younger brother, a deaf mate with an attitude and an impending duel to the death, his week—and his bed—is suddenly full.
Far from the relaxing getaway any of them had in mind…
My thoughts so far: The cover is really pretty. I’m a fan of blue, wolves, and cold weather coats. (Though I hate cold weather. I suppose I’m actually a fan of beautiful people wearing cold weather coats in pictures, so I don’t actually have to deal with the cold myself.) I’m a few chapters in and though I am a little skeptical at some of the INSTANT ATTRACTION OMG, that’s mostly because I am skeptical of the whole ONE MATE ONLY, MEANT TO BE, MATED FOR LIFE trope(s), and that’s actually part of the draw for most people, I think. I really like Robyn; she’s witty and strong and determined and she doesn’t put up with werewolf bullshit. I’m liking the politics of the werewolves, too.
The second is Crossroads by Moira Rogers.
Blurb: Derek Gabriel was born human in family of psychics, aware of the supernatural world but never a part of it…until a rogue shapeshifter took humanity from him in a vicious attack. He’s spent two years struggling to adjust, not just to a change that’s driven many insane, but also to the prejudices of a culture where transformed wolves are considered inferior. A serious struggle, indeed, when the woman who attracts the man and the wolf inside him is the daughter of the most powerful wolf in the country.
For Nicole Peyton, nothing is more important than escaping the stifling confines of elite shapeshifter society, an old-fashioned world where women are valued only for their bloodlines and bank accounts. In New Orleans, she has a bar she loves, friends she cares for, and a smoldering, unspoken tension with an unsuitable but incredibly attractive man.
Neither could predict how quickly forbidden longing would erupt into burning need, but Nick and Derek have more than themselves to think about when Nick’s sister arrives in the city with a shapeshifter strike team hard on her heels. The only way Nick can save her sister may be to play by the Conclave’s rules–but it will mean giving up the man she’s falling in love with, unless he’s willing to risk everything in a challenge that will shake the foundations of their world.
My thoughts so far: I won this in an arc giveaway and haven’t had the chance to start it yet, so mostly I feel guilty about not finishing and reviewing it. But I think the cover is absolutely gorgeous (the full moon! the clouds! the city! the wolf!) and I’m looking forward to starting it when I go to bed (as soon as I finish my writing for tonight).
So what are you reading right now?
From Circlet Press:
Apocalypse Sex: Love Like the End of the World
Description from the call for submissions:
What would you do if you had only 24 hours to live?
[...]
24 hours left to do everything you’ve wanted to: Would you make love to the person you’ve always secretly cared for? Have a rendezvous with a stranger on the street? Explore your wildest fantasies, or get back to the basics one last time?
(I wasn’t able to submit to this anthology like I’d planned, but oh, how much am I looking forward to this collection? Apocalypse stories for the win!)
Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2 edited by Trisha Telep.
I’m particularly looking forward to Moira Rogers’ story in this, which is about a lion shifter. (If you couldn’t tell from “Hunter, Prey,” I love lion shapeshifters.)
Everlasting Kiss by Amanda Ashley
Desire Never Dies
Daisy O’Donnell doesn’t get the attraction some women feel for vampires. She likes her men with a heartbeat. And she’s just met one who’s full of life: Erik Delacourt, the unreasonably sexy man she keeps meeting at a popular L.A. nightclub called the Crypt. She barely knows him, but there’s no resisting the connection she feels. . .
There’s one important detail Erik hasn’t gotten around to telling her yet. He’s a powerful vampire out to hunt the Blood Thief who is draining young vampires all over the city–and who has just raised the stakes by destroying one of Erik’s friends. To Erik, Daisy is a bright spot of innocence in a world of darkness and menace. He’ll do anything–even lie to her–to keep her safe and pure.
If only he knew that Daisy has something of her own to hide. . .
From Living Dead Press:
DEAD HISTORY: A ZOMBIE ANTHOLOGY
The history of the walking dead is a long one.
Since before man walked the Earth, the dead have been with us. [...]
From Egypt, to London, to the first moon landing, to the old West; zombies have been a part of our culture, our very lives, though each time it has been erased, eradicated from our history.
Perhaps in these lost tales of our past is the hope for our future. [...]
From Mike Oliveri:
The Pack Book One: Winter Kill
(Except by waiting on, I mean it’s already available and I didn’t realize it until I went to find a link for this post. Huh.)
For generations, the northern Minnesota mountain region has been a haven for peaceful hikes and breath-taking scenery. But when tourists suddenly turn up dead, FBI special agents Angela Wallace and Brian Shilling are called in to investigate, only to discover that the murders may be part of a deadlier, supernatural mystery.
The Pack series of horror fiction and graphic novels tells the story of the Tylers, a close-knit family trying to deal with their supernatural legacy in an ever-changing world.
Winter Kill picks up two years after the events of Werewolves: Call of the Wild, a comic miniseries from Moonstone Books. A prose book, it was released for the Kindle on Halloween and in trade paperback in December.
From BBC:
George’s friend, Kaz, arrives at the flat with a staggering request: she and her partner Lucy want to have a child, and they’d like George to be the father. George is warming to the idea – he’s always wanted kids, and he can be as involved in the baby’s life as he wishes – but he is wary: what if his condition is genetic?
Mitchell and Annie don’t approve of the new plan, but Mitchell is wrestling with a difficult decision of his own. His new friend, Leo, is surprisingly good company for a pasty older bloke who believes the 1980s were a golden age. But he seems a little too interested in Mitchell’s family and history – and he has a surprising request of his own in store for his new friend…
The first in a brand new list of tie-in novels for the hit BBC series Being Human.
Annie has learned quite a bit about her new friend Gemma: she’s 40 and used to work in a pharmacy, she likes to go bowling, and she’s never forgiven herself for the suicide of her teenage son. She also died ten years ago and doesn’t know why she’s come back through that door…
Perhaps it has something to do with the new road they’re building through the rundown part of town. The city’s plans are sparking protests, and Annie knows those derelict houses hold a secret in Gemma’s past. Will stopping the demolition help Gemma be at peace again? Annie wants George and Mitchell to join the road protest, but they’re more concerned by mysterious deaths at the hospital. Deaths that have also attracted the attention of the new Hospital Administrator…
I’ve been fighting a migraine for a day or two now and earlier it laid me flat. I couldn’t sleep, so I picked up one of the werewolf books I recently acquired, On the Prowl by Karen MacInerney, the second book in her Tales of an Urban Werewolf series. (I haven’t read the first one, Howling at the Moon, but hoped these could stand alone.)
Warning: There will be spoilers for the first two chapters of Prowl.
All I wanted was a fun werewolf story about a female werewolf (as opposed to all the stories about a human woman in love with a male werewolf, which are fine, but not really for me), a quick read to distract me from how bad I felt. What I got was a book that, within the first thirty pages, made me want to throw it across the room.
I am very tired of stories about superficial, judgmental women obsessed with fashion and beauty, but for a good story, I can deal with that. What I can’t deal with is a main character who seems to hate all other women.
Many things about the set-up for this book are wonderful: Sophie Garou is a werewolf. She’s a successful business woman (as of Prowl, she’s a partner at a major accounting firm). She lives in Austin, Texas, a fantastic place. From the blurb, I know there will be werewolf pack politics. Within the first couple chapters, I learn there are multiple female werewolves. There are werewolves in a city! I love that.
What I don’t love is the way Sophie judges the women around her.
Sally: Sophie’s “perpetually spandexed assistant” who Sophie would fire but can’t because Sophie’s boss hired her, so Sally is Sophie’s “cross to bear.” Not only dresses in spandex but “smiles tightly” to express her dislike of Sophie and “adjusts her cleavage.” Sophie claims she’s been trying to get her fired or arrested, but now Sophie has the goods to blackmail her and stop it.
Lindsey: Sophie’s best friend who is “a dead ringer for Angelina Jolie, which could have been a problem if she wasn’t such a fabulous friend.” (So glad you decided not to hate her because she’s beautiful, Sophie.)
Sorority Girl: Sophie tells readers about saving her from a werewolf attack. “…some deluded hero instinct made me decide to . . . step in and save her. Even though she had been wearing awful shoes.” (Why deluded hero instinct? Women can’t be heroes? Werewolves can’t be heroes? And way to so magnanimously save her despite her bad shoes.)
Adele: Sophie’s boss at the accounting firm. Not a lot of judgment yet, but she does seem strangely focused on what tablecloths to use at the firm retreat instead of, oh, being the boss at an accounting firm.
Mom: Sophie’s mother. Sophie’s still pretty judgmental toward her, calling her semi-psychotic, but at least it comes across as fondly judgmental, I guess.
Mrs. Gerschwitz: Sophie’s neighbor, who is old and spindly and absent-minded and gets lipstick on her false teeth, THE HORROR.
Teena: Another werewolf. I was excited about that for awhile (Teena is actually the THIRD female werewolf in sixteen pages, which is pretty awesome, even though we haven’t actually met the second one yet, just the aftermath of what she’s done), which might be why this was the part where all my frustrations came together into anger. Sophie judges her left, right, and center: she wears “ill-fitting” and “cheap” clothes, including too dark stockings the “thick, stretchy kind they sold at Wal-Mart” and scuffed shoes that make Sophie say “I finally understood the phrase ‘down at the heel,’” smells weak (which I’d actually be fine with on its own, since there are stronger female werewolves), badly painted nails, the works. Sophie thinks about how she could take her shopping and to the make-counter to fix her, when the woman has actually come to her for help adjusting to being a werewolf. (Another idea which filled me with glee but, so far, has gone nowhere: female werewolves helping each other out.) Then the part which made me want to throw the book. Teena explains that her boyfriend was a werewolf first, but she can’t go to him with her questions because he’s gone, though she’s not sure if he left or if he, like other werewolves in their area, disappeared.
SOPHIE’S RESPONSE: “If he left, I thought, it was probably the Caribbean Bronze hose.”
Because, yeah, a woman dressing in inexpensive clothes not up to your high class standards means her man will leave her.
Miranda: A new associate at Heath’s law firm. (Heath is Sophie’s boyfriend.) Sophie can’t stand the idea of Heath working with her on an important case even though she’s excellent at her job and great in the courtroom because she “looked like a life-sized version of Career-Day Barbie” which is a horrible phrase on so many levels.
I also don’t love the fat hate. I find it hard enough to believe that a werewolf is counting calories enough that she makes sure to get a skinny latte with Splenda just so she can have a blueberry muffin, but then Sophie also hates on Mom’s new boyfriend, Marvin, who is “pool-ball shaped” and “more Dom Deluise than Brad Pitt” so she doesn’t understand how in the world her mother could be attracted to someone who is FAT. Because being FAT is obviously always completely unattractive.
I’m pretty sure race is also going to be problematic and I know class is, just from the way she judges clothes.
All of this from two chapters. TWO CHAPTERS of Sophie judging every woman, frequently on very superficial levels. I’m going to try to finish it. I think the world and the plot has a lot of potential to be awesome. Sophie and her women hating, though, not awesome at all. I hope it gets better.