Scan barcode
kblincoln's review against another edition
3.0
I came to this book through a romance review website (SBTB) I one hundred percent trust, so I was a bit surprised by the troubles I had with this book. I also seem to remember reading Lauren Dane stuff before that felt more polished.
It started in the first paragraph: “Or the hotel near the hospital, several hour’s drive away, where her father was recovering from a stroke several hour’s drive away from Diablo Lake.”
I reread that sentence twice in disbelief at the clumsiness of it, so easily corrected by an editor. Unfortunately, clumsiness at this level popped up every couple pages or so and messed with my reading experience (this is a personal taste thing. It might not bother a different reader)
And that’s a shame. Because Diablo Lake is home to a cozy, fun, community of feisty witches, stupid young werewolf males, and a small town life centered around the mercantile, a soda counter, and restaurant.
Katie Faith is called home by her father having a heart attack and she has to take over the soda counter, as well as face the werewolf who left her at the altar years ago. Luckily. Jace Dooley, a rival werewolf, offers her an apartment close to his pretty quickly and steamy fireworks ensue.
This is one of those paranormal romances where the couple gets together quickly and most of the tension is provided by stupid pack rival people getting up in Katie Faith’s face. There’s quite a lot of Katie Faith and her witch friend Aimee talking smack, caring for each other, stopping by the parents’ house to check in about events and bring groceries, and some snarky comments about wolves who leave the door open when they go to the bathroom.
So it was fun. Not thriller, dangerous fun, but cozy fun. Even some of the events that Katie Faith labels “upsetting” and “out of control” consisted mostly of a rival werewolf coming in and calling her a skank (no jumping her in a dark alley, no property destruction, no blood drawn, quite…tame actually). There’s also very little of our hero Jace Dooley in wolf form. (or anyone in wolf form for that matter. And there’s also some talk about shifter cats but they don’t play any role that I can see in this book other than just window dressing).
But I wanted more. I wanted an edge of danger, more integration of the actual werewolf into the story, more emotional tension between Jace/Katie Faith where they seem to be instantly okay with each other’s personalities and constantly being attracted to each other no matter what the other person is doing, and more editing on clunky sentences.
On the basis of SBTB’s recommendation I went ahead and bought the second book in the series because it was on sale. I’m hoping the second book ends up being a bit more polished than this first one, because it definitely put me off at a sentence level.
It started in the first paragraph: “Or the hotel near the hospital, several hour’s drive away, where her father was recovering from a stroke several hour’s drive away from Diablo Lake.”
I reread that sentence twice in disbelief at the clumsiness of it, so easily corrected by an editor. Unfortunately, clumsiness at this level popped up every couple pages or so and messed with my reading experience (this is a personal taste thing. It might not bother a different reader)
And that’s a shame. Because Diablo Lake is home to a cozy, fun, community of feisty witches, stupid young werewolf males, and a small town life centered around the mercantile, a soda counter, and restaurant.
Katie Faith is called home by her father having a heart attack and she has to take over the soda counter, as well as face the werewolf who left her at the altar years ago. Luckily. Jace Dooley, a rival werewolf, offers her an apartment close to his pretty quickly and steamy fireworks ensue.
This is one of those paranormal romances where the couple gets together quickly and most of the tension is provided by stupid pack rival people getting up in Katie Faith’s face. There’s quite a lot of Katie Faith and her witch friend Aimee talking smack, caring for each other, stopping by the parents’ house to check in about events and bring groceries, and some snarky comments about wolves who leave the door open when they go to the bathroom.
So it was fun. Not thriller, dangerous fun, but cozy fun. Even some of the events that Katie Faith labels “upsetting” and “out of control” consisted mostly of a rival werewolf coming in and calling her a skank (no jumping her in a dark alley, no property destruction, no blood drawn, quite…tame actually). There’s also very little of our hero Jace Dooley in wolf form. (or anyone in wolf form for that matter. And there’s also some talk about shifter cats but they don’t play any role that I can see in this book other than just window dressing).
But I wanted more. I wanted an edge of danger, more integration of the actual werewolf into the story, more emotional tension between Jace/Katie Faith where they seem to be instantly okay with each other’s personalities and constantly being attracted to each other no matter what the other person is doing, and more editing on clunky sentences.
On the basis of SBTB’s recommendation I went ahead and bought the second book in the series because it was on sale. I’m hoping the second book ends up being a bit more polished than this first one, because it definitely put me off at a sentence level.
kbookout2010's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
rdorka's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
agkrob's review against another edition
3.0
This was a lot better than I expected, and I really appreciated how much the main characters liked each other. There was so much mutual attraction and respect right off the bat. Non of that 'sexual-tension-via-anger-and-gaslighting' bs that most of these do. They both knew what they wanted and went for it. The only real complaint I have is that it felt like they were building to a conflict that never happened. There were lots of little moments, but there was no major climax to the story.
kb33's review against another edition
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
I was excited when the main characters got together pretty early on in the book, and I was expecting some happy, fluffy, relationship moments, but we only get a few and they get ruined. The author tried to create a lot of drama and angst around pack arguments, but it really just came across as juvenile, and it made the book drone on repetitively.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death of parent and Infidelity
whatcha_listening_to's review against another edition
4.0
4 Moonstruck Stars
What a great start to a new series. I have to say I wasn’t sure how it would work because well I have never read a paranormal book by Lauren Dane. But for me she knocked it out of the park.
I love the balance between wolves and witches. I also loooovvvvveeed that they were not the ones at odds but it was pack again pack kind of can’t really give to too much away there.
So we have Katie Grady coming back to Diablo Lake because her dad became ill and her family needed her. She left because of a pretty bad break up and she needed some time to heal and find her place in the world.
Coming back wasn’t easy but Jace makes it worth it. Jace has always had a soft spot for Katie; it just took Katie a little longer to see it. And there romance is one for the story books.
All I can say is this world really comes to life with this narrator. I want more and can’t wait for the next book to be released in audio I will be one of the girls to buy it that’s for dang sure.
*All my Reviews are 100% honest and my own.*
What a great start to a new series. I have to say I wasn’t sure how it would work because well I have never read a paranormal book by Lauren Dane. But for me she knocked it out of the park.
I love the balance between wolves and witches. I also loooovvvvveeed that they were not the ones at odds but it was pack again pack kind of can’t really give to too much away there.
So we have Katie Grady coming back to Diablo Lake because her dad became ill and her family needed her. She left because of a pretty bad break up and she needed some time to heal and find her place in the world.
Coming back wasn’t easy but Jace makes it worth it. Jace has always had a soft spot for Katie; it just took Katie a little longer to see it. And there romance is one for the story books.
All I can say is this world really comes to life with this narrator. I want more and can’t wait for the next book to be released in audio I will be one of the girls to buy it that’s for dang sure.
*All my Reviews are 100% honest and my own.*
bookaddict1975's review against another edition
4.0
🎧 Audio Review 🎧
This is the first time I can say that a characters name in a book bothered me to the point that I wanted to scream. It may have seemed worse because it was on audio but with a name that doesn't flow like Katie Faith and it seemed like her name was said about a million times, I was just getting annoyed.
I enjoyed the story line and the characters. I love a great shifter romance and I love all things Lauren Dane. Even though the name annoyed me, the book was great! And the narration was good too!
This is the first time I can say that a characters name in a book bothered me to the point that I wanted to scream. It may have seemed worse because it was on audio but with a name that doesn't flow like Katie Faith and it seemed like her name was said about a million times, I was just getting annoyed.
I enjoyed the story line and the characters. I love a great shifter romance and I love all things Lauren Dane. Even though the name annoyed me, the book was great! And the narration was good too!
tita_noir's review against another edition
4.0
REREAD SEP 2021-
Upped my original rating considerably. have to say, I liked this a lot better on my re-read than I did in my original read. Decided to go back and re-read because a third book is coming out and the blurb intrigued me.
For some reason I received it better. it still has some of the issues I mention in my original review below. I will say I got the sense of the town better this time around and the why of the power balance. And the hero/heroine were appealing and sexy.
The biggest con is still the propensity for public, nasty confrontations by the different characters. There were a lot. More than should happen amongst adult people.
But I listened on audio this time and maybe it was the narrator but it was a lot more entertaining that I remember.
Oh well, I'm off to the second one now.
-------
ORIGINAL REVIEW
This was hard to rate. I didn't dislike it, but the plot made no real sense. It feels like it was circling around something and didn't quite get there.
The heroine Katie tread dangerously close to the Mary Sue line. And the central conflict -- a balance of power between the wolves in a small wolf/witch controlled town, made not a lot of sense really. I honestly could not grasp it. It just seemed like the story careened from one confrontation to the next with the same warnings, threats and arguments repeated over and over. Also some characters seemed to have convenient plot personality changes from one confrontation to the next.
This ends on -- not exactly a cliffhanger, but it is clearly the first book in a series because while the central romance ends on a HEA, the overall big conflict is just ratcheting up with consequences for the central couple. And yet I don't believe I am intrigued enough to follow through.
Upped my original rating considerably. have to say, I liked this a lot better on my re-read than I did in my original read. Decided to go back and re-read because a third book is coming out and the blurb intrigued me.
For some reason I received it better. it still has some of the issues I mention in my original review below. I will say I got the sense of the town better this time around and the why of the power balance. And the hero/heroine were appealing and sexy.
The biggest con is still the propensity for public, nasty confrontations by the different characters. There were a lot. More than should happen amongst adult people.
But I listened on audio this time and maybe it was the narrator but it was a lot more entertaining that I remember.
Oh well, I'm off to the second one now.
-------
ORIGINAL REVIEW
This was hard to rate. I didn't dislike it, but the plot made no real sense. It feels like it was circling around something and didn't quite get there.
The heroine Katie tread dangerously close to the Mary Sue line. And the central conflict -- a balance of power between the wolves in a small wolf/witch controlled town, made not a lot of sense really. I honestly could not grasp it. It just seemed like the story careened from one confrontation to the next with the same warnings, threats and arguments repeated over and over. Also some characters seemed to have convenient plot personality changes from one confrontation to the next.
This ends on -- not exactly a cliffhanger, but it is clearly the first book in a series because while the central romance ends on a HEA, the overall big conflict is just ratcheting up with consequences for the central couple. And yet I don't believe I am intrigued enough to follow through.