Review: On the Prowl (anthology)

Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs (13/15)

Fans of Patricia Briggs will appreciate the Alpha and Omega novella, which takes place before events in Cry Wolf and Hunting Ground. The story centers on Anna Latham, an abused omega wolf in a Chicago pack. When she suspects that her Alpha, Leo, might be responsible for a death of young werewolf Alan McKenzie Frazier, she calls the Marrok. She then meets up with his investigator, Charles Cornick, whose wolf takes her as his mate.

Things go as smooth as sandpaper from there. Assassination attempts, nasty confrontations, and brutal fight scenes ensue. Charles’ and Anna’s tale is a pleasant change from the Mercy Thompson series – it’s nice to see the story told from a perspective other than Mercy’s. While I’m not a big fan of rape stories (what’s with all the rape in Briggs’ recent works, anyway?), Alpha and Omega manages to deal with the beginnings of the recovery process realistically. Not a fluff piece, but it’ll leave you wanting more.

Inhuman by Eileen Wilks (12.5/15)

Inhuman is based on Kai Michalski, a girl who’s Gifted with an ability to read minds and emotions. She’s not technically a mind-reader – she can see the colour of people’s auras. After digging a bullet out of her hot non-human neighbour’s flesh, things take a turn for the disturbing as the story delves into the Nathan’s investigations as a Hunter. And the truth finally comes to light: Nathan was born a hellhound, which accounts for his insanely long lifespan.

The characters in Inhuman were engaging and well-scripted, and the attraction-charged interactions between Nathan and Kai were absolutely electric. Kai is a likeable heroine, and her unique urban fantasy universe Eileen Wilks paints is a fascinating and action-packed one. Kai and Nathan’s story continues in Night Season, book 4 in Wilks’s World of the Lupi series.

Buying Trouble by Karen Chance (12/15)

I usually have an issue with fey stories, since I’ve yet to read one that’s left an impression. Buying Trouble takes off with protagonist Claire being auctioned off to a bunch of Otherworldly beings. Claire is a mage, and her special ability is that she nullifies magic around her within a certain radius. She gets whisked off from the auction grounds and straight into Faerie by mysterious fey Heidar, and the action kicks in from there.

It’s a mad chase in the gritty alleys of Faerie as Claire and her savior dodge kidnap attempts by several… persistent clans, each determined to capture her and use her powers for their own means. Somewhere in the midst of all this running, they have sex. And… she turns into a dragon after the deed. Yep, weird doesn’t even begin to cover it. It turns out that Claire’s Two-Natured, and her other form is one of a baby dragon. Fun times.

Buying Trouble was a fun, fast-paced read, and throughly enjoyable. It’s written as a one-shot, and the story ties up nicely in the end, where Claire and Heidar relocate to the human world so she can come to terms with her dragon half.

Mona Lisa Betwining by Sunny (6/15)

The story revolves around a Monère Queen (three quarters Monère, one quarter human), and the opening cahpter jumps right into the midst of the story. Mona Lisa is torn between Dontaine, her loyal follower and numerous other lovers in her bid to bear a child for the royal line. There’s loads of shapeshifting drama in this one – Mona Lisa’s other form is a tiger, and Dontaine’s is a wolf.

I can’t say I enjoyed this one as I did the others, mostly because the whole story seems very out of place with the other novellas that are clearly more urban fantasy-oriented. Mona Lisa Betwining is opens with more erotica than plot, and the protagonist’s promiscuity had me grimacing for most of it. If that’s your cup of tea, though, you can pick up other titles by Sunny that run in the same vein: Mona Lisa Awakening, Mona Lisa Blossoming, and Mona Lisa Craving.

See also: Cry Wolf, Hunting Ground, Night Season, Mona Lisa Awakening, Mona Lisa Blossoming, Mona Lisa Craving

Review: Walk on the Wild Side

Lion sex.

If that isn’t reason enough to get you to read this book, then it’s highly unlikely my review will sway you otherwise. :p

Walk on the Wild Side is the fifth in The Others books by Christine Warren. Like its predecessors, the story is independent to the rest of the books in the series.

I actually liked this one – mostly because of its originality. While the whole idea of shapeshifters isn’t a novel concept, the idea of a lion shapeshifter pride in the heart of Vegas is. The story focuses on Kitty Sugarman, a half-human, half-shapeshifter intent on travelling to Vegas to find her long-lost father, who happens to be the leader of the pride. Yep. Leader of the Pride. Except he’s dying, and his scheming family’s trying to push Kitty out of his inheritance.

Kitty ends up taking lessons on shifting into her lioness form from Max Stuart, the pride baas and next in line for the title of Felix (the pride leader). Naturally, things heat up between them – who else is surprised at this, really – and lots of sexxors takes place. There’s even an unforgettable scene in the forest where they do it. As lions.

The story isn’t half-bad, actually. There’s loads of action throughout, and the pride dynamic was well-established. The villains were a tad one-sided, though, and I’m pretty skeptical about people/lions being able to get pregnant in a day – doesn’t the sperm need more time to travel? Other than that, Walk on the Wild Side was an entertaining read.

See also: Wolf at the Door, She’s No Faerie Princess, The Demon You Know, Howl at the Moon, One Bite with a Stranger, You’re so Vein

Plot/originality: 4/5

Characters: 3.5/5

Writing style: 3/5

Total score: 10.5/15

Review: The Demon You Know

The Demon You Know is the third in The Others series by Christine Warren. This is a standalone story from the rest, though numerous characters from her already existing books make cameos. And of course, the smut. Who can forget the smut?

The story revolves around human Abby Baker, who gets possessed by rogue demon Lou/Louamides in a turn of unfortunate events. She gets taken in by the others, who try to keep her under control while they figure out how to carry out an exorcism. Abby attracts the attention of Rule/Arunagal, some hot demon (seriously, all the male protagonists are hot in the series – I’m waiting for the day when Warren decides to put in a troll) and they end up shagging within the week. Thankfully, not all of the plot is about the smut, unlike Warren’s Fixed series, where it’s exceedingly uncommon if the main couple doesn’t jump straight into things in the first three chapters.

The thing I disliked about Abby was that she was more of a Mary Sue than any other protagonists in the series. The moment Warren mentioned “heterochromia” the thought that immediately popped into mind was, “Oh, it’s going to be one of those stories.” Bah.  I did like Lou, though. His snarky presence kept the story from being a total snore-fest. There should’ve been more Abby/Lou interaction, since building on that would’ve truly strengthened the plot.

The Demon You Know isn’t a bad read, though it certainly isn’t the strongest book in the series. I’d recommend it to adamant Christine Warren fans, but that’s about it.

See also: Wolf at the Door, She’s No Faerie Princess, Howl at the Moon, Walk on the Wild Side, One Bite with a Stranger, You’re so Vein

Plot/originality: 3/5

Characters: 2.5/5

Writing style: 2.5/5

Total score: 8/15