Wild About You (Love at Stake series #13)

Book: Wild About You (Love At Stake series #13)

Author: Kerrelyn Sparks

Rating: M (Mature Audience – nothing out of the norm for a romance novel)

Bookshelves: 2012, Alaska, bear, fiction, Love At Stake series, Kerrelyn Sparks, New York (upstate), old wives tales, paranormal romance, romance, shapeshifter, werewolf

Begun: December 4, 2012

Finished: December 6, 2012

Media Type: paperback book

Setting: coastal Alaska, upstate New York

Characters: Howard Barr, Elsa Bjornberg, Roman Draganesti, Shanna Whelan/Shanna Draganesti

Synopsis: Howard Barr is a former football playing hulk of a hunk who secretly lusts after the Amazonian Nordic beauty, Elsa Bjornberg. Blonde and beautiful, Elsa works for a DIY home-wrecking/remodeling TV show that has taken the job of revamping (pun COMPLETELY intended!!) Shanna and Roman Draganesti’s cabin near the Dragon’s Nest School. Shanna and Roman (as vampires) can’t oversee the remodel of their cabin during the day … but Howard (head of security at the school) can. Howard is FLOORED when he sees Elsa, in person, for the first time. For the first time in … ever … Elsa feels like a feminine woman around a man. Howard is a huge, six-foot-six beast of a beautiful man with gorgeous eyes and hands that makes Elsa want to forget the stories her family passed down from the old country about the berserkers who would eventually kill her. Howard’s biggest problem? He’s a bear-shifter … and one of the berserkers that Elsa’s family has warned her about. Can Elsa give in to her feeling for Howard? Can Howard save the beauty he’s come to love … even if it’s from himself?

Review: I love, love, love, love, love Kerrelyn Sparks and all of her books in the Love at Stake series. This was a great book that finally tackled Howard’s story. I’ve been waiting for Howard’s tale since I started reading this series a couple years ago. The only problem I saw in this book, I actually remember more compassion and emotion coming from Howard in some other books that only mentioned him as a side character. Sparks is a fantastic writer but I feel like Howard needed a little more attention and to be a little more rounded. I just think Howard was almost a little too flat. But Elsa was perfectly rounded. I can’t wait to hear more about them as the series continues on.

In my opinion, this book gets:

Perfect … just perfect.

Darkness Revealed (Guardians of Eternity series #4)

Darkness Revealed by Alexandra Ivy

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Anna Randal has no idea why she doesn't age ... and why she doesn't die but she blames it all on Conde Cezar and the night that spent in his bed 200 years before.

Living the passed 200 years as all but an eunich, Cezar has been Anna sworn protector, even if she hasn't know about it. Now that he's right at her side, will he be able to save her heart?


Morgana le Fay is after Anna's head. And Cezar wants her heart. What's a future Oracle to do?

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Book: Lady & The Vamp (Immortality Bites series #3)

Lady & the Vamp by Michelle Rowen

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Michelle Rowen outdid herself this time. The third (and best so far) installment of the Immortality Bites series) has Janie (mercenary extraordinaire) and Quinn (long time hunter, first time vampire) meeting up, again.

Both searching for the same fabled item, The Eye, the two are drawn into three different messed up character's bids for world domination and/or power of one sort or another.

Janie's still got the hots for Quinn (her older brother's best friend growing up). When they were 12 and 17 ... he was a god. Now that they are 25 and 30 ... well Janie still thinks he looks like a Greek God but the Boss of The Company wants him dead.


Quinn thinks Janie's grown up ... and grown up very very well. What's a hungry vamp to do with such a tasty morsel hanging around?

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Book: Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson series #4)

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Poor Mercy. Can't keep on anyone's good side, can she?

Mercy is pack now. She and Adam are offical. But the head of the Tri-Cities's seethe, Marisilla, is PIIISSSSed at her for killing Andre. What now?

Can't a girl heal? Mercy's got more mental and physical scares than most girls could stand after she got done with Tim. But Mercy isn't most girls and now she's even ticked off James Blackthorn, another Master.

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Book: Fanged & Fabulous (Immortality Bites Series #2)

Fanged & Fabulous by Michelle Rowen

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Only having been a vampire for three months, Sarah Dearly is still confused. She loves her boyfriend, Toronto's Master Vampire, Thierry, but she's not sure how he feels about her. And he's pulling back. Things just haven't been the same since Mexico ...

And when her apartment explodes, Thierry hires bodyguards, her dog (really a werewolf0 morphs back into a man, and the ever present Michael Quinn kisses her (again), Sarah's life gets even more confusing.

3 out of 5 because the book moved fast but almost so fast there wasn't a plot. There was obviously a plot but nothing so good that I would put down another book for this one. Forgetable is a good word to describe it. But still, I would recommend this book to others.

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Book: Last Wolf Watching (Blood Runners Series #3)

Last Wolf Watching by Rhyannon Byrd

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Scarred, emotionally and physically, Brody Carter, Blood Runner, has been barely holding it all together since Mason's wedding to Tori. Also known as: The day that damn Cajun came into his life.

When her best friend is married and then her brother is attacked, Michaela Doucet is forced into the world of the paranormal. A world she always believed in. But never saw herself in.

When her brother passes the first werewolf ceremony (transforming into a werewolf two nights after he has been attacked and does not die from it), Michaela's life does not get any easier. If her brother is not accepted into the pack as a full member, both he and Michaela will be killed as damage control (to keep the secret of the pack's existance from the public).

Someone has to protect Michaela from all the evil and murder going down at the hands of an insane elder, Drake. Dark and brooding, Brody needs the light Michaela proves and Michaela needs ... Brody.

Can they both save the pack?

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Book: Last Wolf Hunting (Blood Runner Triology #2)

Last Wolf Hunting by Rhyannon Byrd

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
He knew he loved ever since Jeremy Burns was 22 and that delicious little 18 year old, Jillian Murphy, waltzed into his life. But he was a womanizer by name, and their love was just never meant to be.


But what happens when Jeremy is forced to return to the pack, put in his number of kills (from his Blood Running days) and be accepted back into the community? He wouldn't do it if he had another choice. But as the new links between the kills and an elder in the pack come to life, the Blood Runners need an inside ... and there goes Jeremy. Thrown back into the fray with the one woman he will always love.

Jillian has been fighting for her life for the passed 10 years. Literally. Once a revered position, elders in the pack have made her life as the pack's Spirit Walker hell. She is constantly fighting with female pack members who claim she has stolen their mates when she has only ever loved one ... Jeremy.

And now he's back and her heart is torn in two again.

How will these two survive a murderous/traitorous elder in their midst if they can't survive each other?

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Book: Last Wolf Standing (Blood Runners Triology #1)

Last Wolf Standing by Rhyannon Byrd

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
All it took was a moment for Mason Dillinger to know that Torrance Watson was his. He smelt it. He felt it, in ever fiber of his being. This girl was his.

Problem? He's a Blood Runner. The off-spring of a purebred werewolf and a human. He's got to prove himself to the pack by hunting down rogue werewolves who have given into their blood lust and are killing innocent humans for food.

Tori didn't have a place in his world until a psychotic killer realized what Mason had just stumbled upon (his mate). Now the next victim will be Tori if Mason can't protect her and figure out how the killer and his pack are connected.

Great read for lovers of werewolves.

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Book: Scions: Revelations (Scions Triology #3)

Scions: Revelation by Patrice Michelle

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Now that Landon has resumed his position as the Lupreda Alpha, with his female Alpha Kaitie by his side, what's a second to do? Caine Grennard has no idea.

To keep from turning zerker (half man/half werewolf for the rest of his life), Caine has removed himself from the Lupreda pact. And the prophecy shoves it's lovely head into another life.

Drawn out of her sheltered life, Emma Gray is forced to find her aunt when she is kidnapped. Can the man with the more than alluring scent help her? And if he can't, can anyone?

Life starts to throw Emma and Caine curve ball after curve ball as it often does. Emma is kidnapped ... twice. Caine rescues her only to have her find out he is a werewolf. She seems ok with that until ... she finds out she too ... is different.

Emma is a Velio. A were-jaguar that was made by the werewolves for something to "hunt" (just as the werewolves were made to hunt for sport by the vampires). Only Emma is one of two Velio that can shift at will and do not need an injectible drug to do so.

Will the prophecy ever be filled?

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Book: Scions: Inssurection (Scions Trilogy #2)

Scions: Insurrection by Patrice Michelle

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Landon, forced out of his wolf pack, the Lupreda, because of a problem with his tracking senses. So, he can't smell as well as everyone else. Big deal.

Tormented since the night he mistakenly took the life of a police officer, Landon Rourke has watched over his one and only child, Kaitlyn McKinney. Watching her grow from a toddler into a beautiful young woman and then a stunning adult, Landon has protected Kaitie when ever he could.

But can he protect her from her biggest threat ... him.

As part of the prophecy, Landon finds himself drawn to Kaitlyn, who is a drawn to him. That is ... until she finds out who killed her father. Landon.

Who is in more danger, Landon or Kaitlyn as love takes over and pushes them both together time after time. And what else has fate in store for them?

Great second book in this series. More sensual than the first book without being "raunchy."

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Book: Scions: Resurrection (Scions Triology #1)

Scions: Resurrection by Patrice Michelle

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
More urban fantasy than paranormal romance with a touch of fantasy. Fantastic read and a great start to this series.

Banished from his vampire pack, The Sanguinas, Jachin Black has come to despise humans. After all, it was human who first created vampires as a military weapon. And then ... tried to exterminate them all when they realized that they weren't so easy to control.

At first, the vamps preyed on humans, some killing their food and some not. Vampire attacks were a common thing. Then ... slowly, human blood started to poison them. They were reduced to feeding from each other.

Ariel Swanson still remembers the night her mother, father, grandmother and grandfather were killed ... by vampires. And then in the ensuing sorrow, her brother commited suicide. How does she choose to deal with her issues? By writing a book about it.

Her book, as it turns out, is, almost word for word, the truth. What she thought was fiction turns out to be fact. And she knows the prophecy. The prophecy that Jachin recieved from an elder Sanguina on his death bed.

Is Ariel piece of the prophecy? Jachin sure thinks so. And he's going to do everything in his power to bring her into the Sanguina manor and give her to the leader of the pack. Anything ... for the prophecy.

But what happens when he starts to fall for her?

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Book: Howl at the Moon (The Others #4)

Howl at the Moon by Christine Warren

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Working for the Alpha of the Silverback clan in the heart of Manhattan, Samantha has always been right in the middle of everything. But what will she do when Noah Barker, human brother of Abby, who married the Sun Demon Rule, returns to do some recruiting for the government out of the members of the pack?

Run from him ... until he captures her and her heart. Will he hold it or break it like she fears?

Warren does an excellent job of reaching into the true emotions of both of the main characters and putting it onto paper. Translates very well ... my heart broke when Samantha's did and soared with Noah ... great read.


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Book: Kitty Goes to Washington (Kitty Norville Series #2)

Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Called to testify before a grand jury led by a faith-driven, conservative nutjob, Kitty Norville has to travel to Washington, D.C. Not that big of a deal when you've been driving around the Southwest because if you return to Denver, your home, your old pack will kill you. Poor Kitty.

With the help of Ben, her lawyer, Kitty is going to need some kehonies to deal with the committee.

Before she even gets to her hotel, Kitty is taken from her car and brought to the home of the resident Vampire Master of D.C.

Soon, she's being escorted around the city by the Master's right hand man, Leo. At an event, she slips away for a night of fun when she scents another were ... a werejaguar ... a HOT werejaguar.

Between her new lover, the committee, pushy vampires and the reappearance of Cormac what could go wrong?

Oh poor Kitty ... we all know the answer is everything!


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Book: Killing Moon (Moon Series #1)

Killing Moon by Rebecca York

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Megan was only doing her job when her boss asked her to take her lab supplies and go out to a client's house to take some blood. She just thought she'd be there for a few minutes to collect his blood and then head back to the lab so she might do some research on the genotypes in his sample.

Was she ever wrong.

PI Ross Marshall is a werewolf. And he's really good at his job. He has single handedly taken down one serial killer/rapist and is working on the second. Only problem? When the police didn't believe his tips about the first killer, he took matters into his own hands ... or muzzle as it was.

When Megan walked into his house to find him naked and bleeding from an infected gunshot wound in his leg, his life changes forever. Her touch is electric and now he understands everything his father ever told him (all be it in The Big Bad Wolf's most vulgar language) about finding his mate.

Because after all, wolves mate for life.

Part detective story, part suspense thriller, all paranormal romance, this was a great start to this series.

A little vulgar for my taste (mostly when setting up the latest serial killer/rapist's mentality and what he did with women) but other than that it was good.


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Book: Scent of Darkness (Darkness Chosen #1)

Scent of Darkness by Christina Dodd

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another great paranormal-romance series that I just happen to stumble upon.

After making a pact with the devil more than a 1000 years ago, the Wilder family must deal with the ramifications of their ancestor's bargain. Each of the four brothers must find a piece of the family's icon (four scenes of the Madonna). Problem? There are only three brothers in the family and one daughter.

Jasha Wilder finds his love in his personal assistant Ann Smith. A wolf shifter, he hunts her down one day that she comes up to his castle tucked away in the forrest. But, unbeknownst to her, she's allowed the Wilder's distant Russian family to follow her to Jasha's hiding place.

The true romance scenes here were odd. I have a real problem with forced (aka quasi-rape-esque) plot devices that are meant to fit into someone's niche of erotic literature.

Of the three sex scenes, two of them were all but "forced." It's possible that in the wolf world it's ok to do that to your made or someone for which you wish to dominate (as a male would a female) but since a.) I'm human and b.) the characters were one human and one shifter that spent a good deal of time as a human ... this bothered me some what.

If it wasn't for that fact I would have given the book 5 stars.


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Book: Bitten

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

My review

I'm starting to fall for the "werewolf" version of Para-romance. I love the "family" dynamic of a pact (and especially in Bitten, the dynamic between Clay and Elena).



Very well written.


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Book: Tantalize

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
Honestly, the set up was good. We knew the main character (Quincie) and we understood her feelings for her bestfriend/half-werewolf (Kieran). But, things started to fall apart after that. Just expected things happened. There was no illusions that your assumptions might be off or wrong ... and you knew EXACTLY what was going to happen.



Really, there was an acceptable amount of rising action and then it just ENDED?!?! There was no explaination of why what happened really happened. And Quincie was upset by her own actions because she didn't want to be all alone again?



I hate to say it but if there is another book in this series I will probably look for it at the library because I hate not knowing the whole story. But I didn't really like this book all that much. I just want to know what is going to happen between Quincie, Brad, and Kieran.



And when did the Principal become a vampire?


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Book: Kitty and The Midnight Hour

Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Kitty Norville is your typical werewolf and that suits her just fine. Soon, she's "getting too big for her britches." The pack no longer keeps her happy or safe for that matter. After staving off an attack by paranormal hitman, she delves deeper into herself to find the real wolf within.



Soon, Kitty's radio talk show takes off and lands her in syndication. Her pack might hate her, the vamps might be after her, a nut job "cure" cult might be gunning for her but her advice and general sense of self are spot on.



I wasn't surprised by the ending in the least. Meg was bad news ... what did surprise me was what Carl decided to do. T.J. was the saving grace in this novel. I almost burst into tears when the novel was over. I can't to get my hands on number 2.


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Book: Dead Witch Walking

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Action packed beginning to this series. I liked this hands and feet above the Anita Blake series. I can't wait for the next book to find out if Ivy wants Rachel's friendship or blood. And Jenks? I LOVE HIM! He's a great character! Nick better be all he promises to be.


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