How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

Title: How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf
Author: Molly Harper
Series: #1 in the Naked Werewolf series
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Pocket Books (February 22, 2011)
Source: Scribd ebook
Rating: ☕☕☕☕

Synopsis: Northern Exposure

Even in Grundy, Alaska, it's unusual to find a naked guy with a bear trap clamped to his ankle on your porch. But when said guy turns into a wolf, recent southern transplant Mo Wenstein has no difficulty identifying the problem. Her surly neighbor Cooper Graham—who has been openly critical of Mo's ability to adapt to life in Alaska—has trouble of his own. Werewolf trouble.

For Cooper, an Alpha in self-imposed exile from his dysfunctional pack, it's love at first sniff when it comes to Mo. But Cooper has an even more pressing concern on his mind. Several people around Grundy have been the victims of wolf attacks, and since Cooper has no memory of what he gets up to while in werewolf form, he's worried that he might be the violent canine in question.

If a wolf cries wolf, it makes sense to listen, yet Mo is convinced that Cooper is not the culprit. Except if he's not responsible, then who is? And when a werewolf falls head over haunches in love with you, what are you supposed to do anyway? The rules of dating just got a whole lot more complicated. . .

My Thoughts: A fun book that took me way longer to read than it really should have.

The Good, The Bad, and the Other stuff: Molly Harper writes such great quirky heroines. Her humor is spot on with what I enjoy and this book was full of chuckles and it is was a perfect fit for my need for fluff. The cast of characters were well balanced. Mo, who I expected to be more of a Dharma character from her upbringing (but wasn't), was delightful and as this book is told from her point of view (in the first person narrative) it helped that she wasn't a ditz. I really wish I'd had the foresight to read one of my GoodReads friends' review prior to reading this book because she had Joe Manganiello pictured as Cooper. I can tell you that my experience with this book would have been even better with a side of Joe!

The mystery aspect of this book was also an added bonus and I liked that despite the fact that Mo truly knew that Cooper couldn't have been the culprit I thought his concern about himself and lack of memories when in wolf form added more depth to his character and the plot.

Anyway, my one and only issue that still stands out since reading this book (which I finished months ago and am just now getting to my review), is the insta-love feel to the book. Mo and Cooper fall in lust immediately (no issues with that to tell the truth....lust is usually an immediate response to meeting someone...especially a hot naked man on your doorstep). But I didn't like that they succumbed to an I Love You stage a bit prematurely for my taste.

In a Nutshell: If it weren't for some insta-love and a slight feeling of being overly long this book might have been a contender for favorite of the year. As it stands, it definitely was a fun ride and I'm looking forward to my next visit to Grundy, Alaska. Oh and don't let the terrible cartoony cover keep you away...I did and I wish I hadn't.

Angel's Ink by Jocelynn Drake

Title: Angel's Ink
Author: Jocelynn Drake (narrated by Michael Urie)
Series: The Asylum Tales #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: HarperAudio (November 13, 2012)
Source: Scribd Audio
Rating: ☕☕

 

Buyer beware....
Looking for a tattoo - and maybe a little something extra: a burst of good luck, a dollop of true love, or even a hex on an ex? Head to the quiet and mysterious Gage, the best skin artist in town. Using unique potions - a blend of extraordinary ingredients and special inks - to etch the right symbol, he can fulfill any heart's desire. But in a place like Low Town, where elves, faeries, trolls, werewolves, and vampires happily walk among humanity, everything has its price.
No one knows that better than Gage. Turning his back on his own kind, he left the magical Ivory Tower where cruel witches and warlocks rule, a decision that cost him the right to practice magic. And if he disobeys, his punishment - execution - will be swift.
Though he's tried to fly under the radar, Gage can't hide from powerful warlocks who want him dead - or the secrets of his own past. But with the help of his friends, Trixie, a gorgeous elf who hides her true identity, and a hulking troll named Bronx, Gage might just make it through this enchanted world alive. 

My Thoughts:  This is my first attempt at Jocelynn Drake's writing and I'm not sure she pulled it off. She wrote this from Gage's perspective but his internal musings were a bit too soft for me. He mentioned several times how much he adored Trixie because she was just so wonderful. I had issue with this because we didn't know why Trixie was just wonderful other than Gage telling us she had a kind heart amongst other things. I like to come to my own conclusions about the characters in the book rather than being told how I should feel. Another issue with this is that it was hard for me to see Gage as an Alpha type character since he one step from writing poetry about Trixie. Overall, the romance fell flat because it wasn't believable since we never saw the characters fall in love.

The action was decent but there was also an issue with believability. I had problems believing that Gage's life was bombarded with one life changing event after another all within a day. There was way too much happening in this book. His old mentor (the warlock mentor not the tattoo artist mentor) wanted to kill him forever and finally made his move to do so. This would have been sufficient plot device in addition to a believable romance to carry the book forward. But noooooo Drake threw in a scary mob boss, a faerie king who complicated Trixie's life, the betrayal of a friend, a talking magical cat, a dying woman whose last request is to be tattooed with angel wings, a hall monitor type warlock keeping Gage in check and a past tattoo client who keeps popping into the book like a bad penny. Throw in a 3 day time limit and you've got just too much going on.

If those had been my only issues this book would have been worth 3 stars but I actually listened to this book and absolutely hated it. The narration for Gage was ok. The narrator (Michael Urie) was able to have many different voices for the plethora of men in this book. Unfortunately some of them sounded a bit too alike because when I say plethora, I mean PLETHORA. OK maybe there were only 9 or 10 men who had dialogue but to come up with voices for all of them had to be hard and Urie just didn't pull all of them off. In addition his voice for the female characters was not pleasing to the ears. Trixie came across sounding like a drag queen. This in itself wouldn't be horrible if this were a romance between two men but as romance between a man and woman it made it a bit awkward to listen to.

On the upside, Urie's voice for Gideon was kind of hot. Think Christian Bale in The Dark Knight hot. Unfortunately this was not Gideon's story but Gage's. Urie's voice for the talking cat, Sophia, was pretty decent too but it didn't save me from hating the narration aspect of this book.

In a Nutshell: An interesting idea for an Urban Fantasy series as Warlocks are generally not front and center in a series...except for that particular idea came to Jim Butcher's mind over a decade before Drake thought it up. Well, at least there is that tattooing part to help with some originality. Despite my issues with the book I'll put the second one on my BOLO list. Meaning if I happen to see it for a quarter at a  thrift store I will pick it up but for sure I'll not be listening to any more of these unless there is a different narrator.
 

 

Elemental by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Elemental
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Series: Elemental #0.5
Genre: YA
Publisher: Kensington Books 2012
Source: Scribd ebook
Rating: ☕☕

Earth, Fire, Air, Water – they are more than you dream.
As an air Elemental, 17-year-old Emily Morgan doesn’t have much power. That’s okay—she knows what happens to kids who do.
Like Michael Merrick. He’s an earth Elemental, one with enough power to level cities. Which makes him sexy, dangerous, and completely off limits. At least according to Emily’s family.
But her summer job puts her in close contact with Michael, and neither of them can help the attraction they feel. When forces of nature like theirs collide, one misstep could get someone killed. Because Emily’s family doesn’t just want her to stay away from him.
They want him dead.

My Thoughts: What started out as an exciting introduction to a new to me series ended with disappointment.

The Good Stuff: Having the power of an element is not a new concept but one I enjoy a lot. I liked that there were varying levels of power amongst the Elementals and the idea that the more powerful they are the more they are ostracized by their own kind. I liked that this short story explained enough of this but didn't waste too many of the precious pages over explaining it which would make it more info dump than part of a story. It was also a sweet boy meets girl story and a  potential star crossed lovers story that was developing nicely.

The Bad Stuff: Not being a fan of novellas it's hard for me to be completely open to them without having preconceived notions that every novella will disappoint me by not being developed enough. I'd love to say this one proved me wrong but it didn't. It, unfortunately, reiterated that point loudly. While happily reading through an exciting scene where our boy and girl have become friends and find themselves running from a bad group of kids the story just stops. Literally. Stops. One minute the two are clasping hands and jumping into the water while the bad gang of kids are almost upon them and then.....nothing. The End. WHAT!?!? You can't end a story that way! Well, Brigid Kemmerer certainly did and I hated it. It was a cliffhanger.......on steroids. 

In a Nutshell: Despite the abrupt ending I didn't throw my hands up and discard the notion of this series. Instead I had the need to move onto the first book in the series. I suppose this was the entire point of this novella. Mission: To suck unsuspecting readers in and brainwash them into continuing on no matter how pissed they are. Well played Kemmerer. Well played.