Howl For It (Includes: Pride, #0.5)Howl For It by Shelly Laurenston

My rating: 4 of 5 flames

Like a Wolf with a Bone by Shelley Laurenston- 4 flames

This was Eggie and Darla Mae’s story and I loved it. I’m not sure what I expected from Eggie, but I really enjoyed it. This story was a bit sweeter than Laurenston’s usual Pride books (no complaints here!) and her trademark sense of humor was present throughout.

Eggie accidentally kidnaps Darla Mae after saving her from humans trying to kill her. She’s a bit of a free spirit, or well, a hippie (hey, it’s the 70s after all!). He’s a very serious marine on forced leave. He unnerves people with his very direct stare and his eyes that always look wolf, even when he isn’t. They don’t seem like the ideal couple, but oh they truly are great together.

Their families cause more trouble than anything, but at the end, they all stick together and come through as only family can. Especially in a scene where they are racing their frenemies in a “friendly wager” but it turns sour quickly as some humans barge in with automatic rifles. We get to see some other characters from the series, but y’know, over 30 years earlier. It was pretty cool.

I loved this one. It was so fun and sweet and really enjoyable. My absolute favorite part, though, was the epilogue. If you’ve read Big Bad Beast, you’ll know exactly where it falls in the plot. Dee Ann, Eggie’s little sugarbug, has a bit in there that you’ll love.

This fits in really well with the series, but I don’t think it’s a great stand-alone. Other than that, I really got a kick out of Eggie Ray and Darla Mae.

Wed or Dead by Cynthia Eden- 4.5 flames

Kayla is dragging her feet to the altar, literally. Sexy Gage, always with the ready smile and hot kiss is waiting for her, but she has to force herself to marry him. Why is that, hmm?

I’ll tell ya-he’s a werewolf, and she knows it. He’s also her mark. She’s supposed to get close enough to kill. But she can’t. In Kayla’s world, werewolves are monsters, and she’s a good guy, keeping the humans safe from the monsters that roam the nights. It’s very black and white.

Gage knows Kayla is a hunter, but he humors her and never lets on. Kayla is also his mate, and now that he has her, he isn’t letting her go. But their honeymoon is crashed by hunters who take Kayla too. Did her own people turn on her? Now Gage has to save them from her own people, and in the meantime he has to convince Kayla that the world she grew up in isn’t black and white at all. There’s a big fat grey area and they both exist inside it.

It was refreshing to see a heroine who hated the hero come to grips fairly quickly with the fact that maybe he’s not all that bad. And what’s even worse, is that maybe she’s the bad guy.

Set in the Night Watch world, but not part of the series, this novella has everything, danger, intrigue, suspense and love. But watch out, sometimes the bad guys aren’t so bad, and the good guys might just be the monsters hiding under your bed.

***ARC courtesy of Kensington Publishing in exchange for an honest review

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