Wendy Sparrow

Book source ~ NetGalley

Vanessa is the fastest werewolf in her territory. She’s a bit too dominant for the pack’s comfort, but she tries really hard to be properly submissive around their pack leader, Jordan. Oh, and she has allergies. Lots of them. When she runs across a cat while in wolf form it about kills her. Fortunately, Dane the Park Ranger finds her and tucks her safely in a cage in his basement. When she wakes up in the morning in human form she’s surprised to be alive. And more surprised she’s on a concrete floor in a cage. However, no one is more surprised than Dane who thought he was saving a wolf and ended up with a beautiful naked woman in his cage. What the hell?

While bad shit is going down in their territory, Vanessa scent matches with Dane, a human. This is bad. But not as bad as werewolves disappearing then reappearing in pieces. The plot isn’t horrible and the characters are okay, but the execution just seems to lack. I have to admit that the best part about the story is Vanessa and her allergies. She’s allergic to so much stuff that it should be ridiculous if I didn’t know people who are allergic to so many things that seem innocuous. I got tired of the constant he’s mine/she’s mine crap and how good they smelled to each other. I got it the 1st dozen times. Repetition is not your friend. Overall, it’s an okay story.… (plus d'informations)

I was given an ARC of Secrets of Skin and Stone by the author in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as Gris Caso rolls into Hidden Creek, things get interesting, and it’s not the crazy number of fiends in town—demonic creatures invisible to most people. It’s Piper, the beautiful and neurotic girl living next door whom he can’t keep his eyes off of. After her dog is murdered the day he arrives, he discovers curse bags in her room and an army of fiends swarming over her each night. It doesn’t take long to figure out someone is targeting her—but why? Piper meanwhile doesn’t know what to think of the mysterious boy who rolled into town claiming to hunt ghosts. There’s no sense in falling for someone who will only be leaving town soon, but the more time they spend together, the harder it is to deny her attraction.

SECRETS comes with a bit of heavy content, which hits right off the bat with Piper discovering her dog murdered. This is not at all superfluous to the story, as it acts as the inciting incident and serves to drive Piper into a search for the murderer, which leads her straight towards the fiends. As is stated in the trigger warning at the beginning of the book, Piper self-harms in the form of cutting a couple times throughout the book. The thought process is explained very well and the author does an excellent job avoiding any glorification. More so, we see Piper able to overcome this through non-judgemental love and support from Gris. In particular, during the scene where Piper promises Gris she won’t cut anymore, he makes a comment that if she “had to do it again, he’d understand.” That level of acceptance and understanding can really make all the difference in someone recovering from self-harm. Especially important, it isn’t the relationship that is “saving” her, but rather the support and freedom to talk about it with him that makes the difference.

Piper also has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a type that is shared by the author and is well-executed throughout the book. Piper’s diagnosis influences every aspect of her character, but it doesn’t define her, which I think is something the book does amazingly well. It does a great job dispelling some of the stereotypes of OCD and explains how it can present in different ways in different people, which is showcased through Piper’s mom, who also has OCD. It’s definitely an #ownvoices book and the author gives us an inside look to how it feels living with the diagnosis.

As for the plot, hot damn does this book have a good mystery! There’s a long list of suspects and even as the characters knock off possible candidates, it only makes it harder to figure out who is responsible. The author did an excellent job ramping up the mystery all the way through, and by the end I was suspecting everyone, even Gris’ aunt. It all led to an exciting climax that helped put all the pieces in place—including some that I hadn’t even considered. As well, Piper and Gris were very well-constructed characters. Piper especially felt so solid and real that I felt like I really understood her. As well, the romance between them was sizzling hot, and those tense moments in Piper’s bedroom together had me begging for more.

There were times where the tension felt a little lacking. Even with the threat of fiends everywhere and a killer running around town, there was no sense of immediate danger. There was more romantic tension than plot tension. My only other issue came from the initial start to their relationship. Gris, who supposedly traveled around and fought monsters for a living, got attached to a girl and committed to settling down so quickly that it felt a little contrary to his character.

Once the awkward early stages had passed, their love progressed at a realistic pace that felt natural to their characters. The very end was probably my absolute favorite part, as it just seemed to encapsulate the heart of the story so perfectly and left me with a warm feeling long after I finished reading.

All in all, 4/5 stars. An unflinchingly real urban fantasy with an irresistible love story at its core.
… (plus d'informations)

It seems 2017 will be the year of boxed sets for me. Seriously, I think this one is my second, and there's one more on the way - and I don't regret it at all! Especially when it comes to hot wolves and awesome stories!

Taming the Pack tells the stories of a certain wolf pack, and their interractions with humans, ending up in hilarious situations and amazing romance. First, we have Dane, a ranger who finds a hurt wolf and takes it home to help it heal. Little does he know, the wolf is actually a shifter named Vanessa, who's allergic to almost anything, but most of all cats - and his sister's pet makes her go into allergic shock evety time. Then, we have Vanessa's Alpha, Jordan, who wanted Vanessa for his mate but ended up giving her away to his human love rival - only to meet said rival's sister and discover she's more compatible than any female wolf has ever been with him. Too bad Christa is not exactly the epitome of health and yet she's a small package fully capable of bringing the big bad wolf to his knees. And finally, we have an ex-colleague of Dane's, sheriff Travis, who was once a member of Jordan's pack but now leads another pack as their new Alpha. He's in trouble trying to find a suitable mate for himself AND a murderer, and the trouble only intensifies when he finds what he's looking for in the form of LeeAnn, whose brother had once tried to harm the pack - and who claims that no matter how much she smells like a wolf, she can't shift.

All three of those stories were full of witty dialogues, some of them too funny for words - at some points I had to pause mid-sentence to hold my stomach while guffawing and shrieking with laughter - and while they showed plenty of sexual tension, there was no actual love scene to help alleviate it. Now, as anyone who has bothered reading my reviews would tell you, I hate sex behind closed doors. I feel like it's the book's way of keeping the fun all to itself. BUT! While still a pet peeve, this particular detail did not take away the quality of the story - and surprisingly, it didn't lower the hot factor, either. There's something to be said for an author when they prove capable of doing that, so, bravo, Mrs. Sparrow!

The characters were all well-thought, and deep, and while some of them had me reaching for my hair to pull in frustration at times, they still managed to grow and develop - Jordan was a good example of that! The males were strong, and funny, and going all Alpha on each other - not so amusing in real life, but in books, hell, it sure makes me swoon. The females, on the other hand were a bit difficult to compromise and get used to the changes in their lives at first - minus Christa, which is why I loved her the most - but in the end they came through and showed their backbone and how strong they could be for their men. (Btw, my favorite couple may have been Jordan and Christa - mainly because I enjoy it when the female is so much smaller than the male -, but my number one guy in the series was Travis. Gotta love a genius who acts like a fool to get others to lower their guard.)

One more thing I really liked was the suspense. See, when you've read so many books, it's hard to not notice immediately who's the culprit in fictional murders and stuff. But in this case, I stood corrected throughout the whole set! Mrs. Sparrow kept throwing me off tracks, and the villains were true masters in deception and manipulation, so they could fool even the reader. It was truly a very adrenaline-inducing read.

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.***… (plus d'informations)