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lynguy1's review
4.0
A Wolf After My Own Heart by MaryJanice Davidson is a fun, over-the-top, and snarky paranormal romance with a runaway shifter bear cub, fires, a crashed plane and much more adding some suspense, action, and deeper themes to the story. It also starts with a great first sentence.
Lila Kai drives a decommissioned ambulance and has just moved into a rental house in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. She’s a teddy bear surgeon, has a warped sense of humor, a strong protective nature, and a high tolerance for unusual events. Some insight into her personality comes from what she does and what she locates when she first moves to her new home. Oz Adway is a wolf shifter, a former accountant for the Interspecies Placement Agency (IPA) who is working his first field job as a case worker for them to find a runaway bear cub. What could possibly go wrong? (Note: Think of the IPA as an interspecies foster care system aimed at protecting at-risk were-children.)
Lila and Oz are great protagonists. Both have tragic backstories which affect their current-day actions and which add to the depth of their characters. However, there isn’t a lot of growth in their characters during the course of the story. And while there is attraction between them, this is not a steam-filled novel. The secondary characters were absolutely fantastic, especially the kids. Additionally, the bickering and love between foster siblings felt realistic.
The point of view mainly switches between Lila, Oz, and Oz’s wolf self. While I was always aware of whose point of view I was reading, the internal thoughts went on a little too long at times and slowed the flow and pace of the book. It also resulted in too much ‘telling’ and not enough ‘showing’.
Despite this, it was entertaining and very thought-provoking. It was also funny and heartwarming at times. Discovering some surprises along the way, with lots of laughter, I raced through this book. One of the unusual things about this book were the funny footnotes. Besides enjoying the story, I recommend that readers look for the deeper meanings that are within it. This is the second book in the series and I suggest starting with book one: Bears Behaving Badly.
This is the fifteenth book that I have read by this author. She continues to bring great characters and entertaining story lines together. I am looking forward to her next book.
SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and MaryJanice Davidson provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for February 23, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
Lila Kai drives a decommissioned ambulance and has just moved into a rental house in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. She’s a teddy bear surgeon, has a warped sense of humor, a strong protective nature, and a high tolerance for unusual events. Some insight into her personality comes from what she does and what she locates when she first moves to her new home. Oz Adway is a wolf shifter, a former accountant for the Interspecies Placement Agency (IPA) who is working his first field job as a case worker for them to find a runaway bear cub. What could possibly go wrong? (Note: Think of the IPA as an interspecies foster care system aimed at protecting at-risk were-children.)
Lila and Oz are great protagonists. Both have tragic backstories which affect their current-day actions and which add to the depth of their characters. However, there isn’t a lot of growth in their characters during the course of the story. And while there is attraction between them, this is not a steam-filled novel. The secondary characters were absolutely fantastic, especially the kids. Additionally, the bickering and love between foster siblings felt realistic.
The point of view mainly switches between Lila, Oz, and Oz’s wolf self. While I was always aware of whose point of view I was reading, the internal thoughts went on a little too long at times and slowed the flow and pace of the book. It also resulted in too much ‘telling’ and not enough ‘showing’.
Despite this, it was entertaining and very thought-provoking. It was also funny and heartwarming at times. Discovering some surprises along the way, with lots of laughter, I raced through this book. One of the unusual things about this book were the funny footnotes. Besides enjoying the story, I recommend that readers look for the deeper meanings that are within it. This is the second book in the series and I suggest starting with book one: Bears Behaving Badly.
This is the fifteenth book that I have read by this author. She continues to bring great characters and entertaining story lines together. I am looking forward to her next book.
SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca and MaryJanice Davidson provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. This is my honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently set for February 23, 2021. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
cassandra67b07's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a little while to figure out what was going on here as I'm not sure if this is an ongoing series or not, but Lila stepped and took charge and everything started to fall into place. She's a Stable, those around her are not and one wolf shifter, in particular, seems to have a bad case of insta mate. But Oz, the wolf shifter, is a sweetheart who just knows she's the one. If he can stop tripping over his own tongue long enough to get to know her? This was a cute paranormal and I'd like to read more by this author. Thank you to Sourcebooks and Edelweiss for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
inmyhumbleopinion's review against another edition
5.0
We met wolf shifter accountant Oz Adway in Bears Behaving Badly. Oz has moved from the accounting department to child advocate trainee and has lost his first assignment. Lila Kai is an extraordinary human who finds an adorable bear shifter cub who is on the run from Oz and the IPA. Lila is snarky a total hoot with a heart of gold. This is a laugh out loud read that had me giggle-snorting and flipping pages.
khines213's review against another edition
4.0
A delightful, mostly snarky, occasionally suspenseful paranormal romance.
Good times to be had all around while still addressing serious issues.
You gotta love a heroine that can just roll with the punches.
Good times to be had all around while still addressing serious issues.
You gotta love a heroine that can just roll with the punches.
pages_and_procrastination's review
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
slc333's review
3.0
It did take me a bit to get used to the author's writing style of sentences broken in the middle and continued on the next line but it was a fun story and I really like Lila and how unflappable she was. And i liked how Oz was not the typical controlling alpha-hole. He was more like a normal guy, if you know, a normal guy was a werewolf accountant transitioning to a social worker for shifter children who developed a massive crush on a woman who pulled a gun on him and kicked him down the stairs into a basement on their 1st meeting. But I loved how in all their interactions he was all yep whatever you want Lila. I don't care so long as you give me a chance.
grlmoon78's review
3.0
I wanted to love this book. I did not. The hero is boring the heroine was okay but I did not love them as a couple or was not invested in their love story. The story about the cubs was okay but the characters were not interesting. I think this is my least favorite Mary Janice Davidson.