Officer Jessie McQuade has seen plenty in her years on the force-but nothing as intriguing as the gorgeous, naked man she encounters while tracking a rogue wolf. Professor Will Cadotte is a Native American activist. He's also the only man capable of distracting Jessie from her work. And for a cop, distraction-no matter how pleasurable-can be deadly. It's against Jessie's better judgment to accept Will's help in her investigation, yet she soon finds herself doing exactly that-and more. Will's dark, penetrating eyes see into a part of Jessie's soul she never knew existed. It's exhilarating...and terrifying.
Now, as a town's deepest secrets come to light, no one is safe: not friends, lovers, or strangers. And as Jessie follows a bloody trail to the shocking truth, she'll have to decide who she can trust when the moon is full...
Comment: Another PNR book which has been in the pile for years, waiting its turn...
In this book we meet officer Jessie McQuade, a young woman who works in a small town in Wisconsin, and although things aren't exactly fast paced around there, suddenly it looks as if something weird is going on. It all starts with teacher Karen being involved in a car crash because she hit some kind of wild wolf, which bit her and the next day she seemed to be showing off effects of rabies. Then, the investigation leads Jessie to dr Will Cadotte, a professor expert on Native American traditions she had met while chasing the wild wolf, and she can't seem to ignore the attraction between them. But Jessie is a practical woman, can she truly accept where this weird investigation is leading her?
This is the first book I try by this author. I added it years ago when my obsession with paranormal romance led me to believe I'd have lots of series to binge but since this is no longer my preferred genre, I see myself not being as impressed as I'd be all those years ago. Despite this, sometimes some books still seem to hold on the passage of time and this isn't too bad. I'd say my biggest complaint is towards the plot/world building choices the author took, which sound pretty basic to me now, after having read other, more complex and appealing stories.
This story is narrated in the first person and while this tends to be something I dislike in romances, I didn't mind it as much here, for Jessie is captivating and funny and sarcastic and I could easily "endure" her voice in my head. She was certainly not childish nor silly while describing her feelings and thoughts, especially when she was thinking about Will, and I could see myself warming up to her and wishing she could get past her sometimes self depreciating notions and simply embrace happiness.
The plot is kind of slow paced and there were times when I felt frustrated by how the author delayed active situations so that some mystery would be maintained, namely who was the bad guy and who was supposed to be a red herring. The big secret about what is happening to a few people after they got bitten by the wild wolf and why a special agent is now in this small town to hunt it with such bureaucracy seems exaggerated and I can't imagine how this would have been so easy to accomplish. Due to this, certain situations almost felt like a bad comedy.
It's a given that the wolf is actually a werewolf but acknowledging this information took a long time and we have to follow Jessie and a few others doing this and that when, in my opinion, things could have been so much funnier and enriching if the plot had been supposed to go somewhere else. I won't spoil it, but I expected this to be about embracing differences, about the notion of werewolves and some Native American mythology going towards a sort of positive situation, but it wasn't so. The author had other plans and while I can see where her idea was going, I don't think it's as appealing nowadays for me, after having read other successful and seductive stories where things went a road I liked so much better.
The romance was sweet because Jessie isn't very self aware. In fact, she doesn't think Will would like her that way, even though sparks fly between them. I think their romance had its cute moments and there was even some hint at ... suitability for other reasons, which I assumed were also related to the whole werewolf thing, but no. I was just projecting things I wish would happen. Nevertheless, they do get their HEA and I liked the scenes between them, but I still think the author could have gone further with their relationship, emotionally wise.
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