Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Review: The Heat (The Big Bad Wolf #1) by Heather Killough-Walden

Synopsis (via Goodreads):
The women of Baton Rouge have often dreamed about Daniel Kane; his blue-black hair, sapphire-blue eyes and the muscular body that has so deliciously held many of them captive in bed. Lily St. Claire has dreamed of him too, but her dreams are different: Daniel approaches her in human form before there is a blinding flash of light. In the next instant, a large black wolf stands in his place, watching her through Daniel’s piercing blue eyes.

Having returned to Louisiana after a decade away, Lily meets up with Daniel again. He’s now the Police Chief of Baton Rouge, and she fast becomes victim to his Southern drawl, slow sexuality, and killer smile.

For Daniel, Lily St. Claire was the girl who got away. But when she returns and Daniel catches her scent, he knows that his attraction to her is something more; she was always meant to be his. Beautiful golden-haired and golden-eyed Lily St. Claire is his Dormant, the one woman on Earth meant to share his life and become his mate. Dormants are rare and more precious than anything to an alpha, for Hunters continue to viciously attack the werewolf community, ever dwindling their already scant numbers – and Dormants are the only females alive who can bear werewolf children.

Just as a murderous crime wave breaks out in Baton Rouge, Daniel forces his mark upon Lily for her protection. He soon learns, however, that even his mark can only protect her so far, as she finds herself the prey of both werewolf and Hunter alike.
My Thoughts:  I thought this was a fun little book.  It wasn't perfect but it kept my attention to the end and it was entertaining.  I personally don't think I would have been quite as accepting as Lily was of being repeatedly kidnapped for nefarious purposes but she managed pretty well and came out of it okay in the end.

I really liked the secondary characters, especially Malcolm Cole and James Valentine.  I liked that Cole wasn't a clear-cut bad guy.  I liked that Valentine had his reasons for doing what he did.  I wasn't nearly as enamoured of the female secondary characters... wait, there was only one female secondary, wasn't there?  Tabitha, Daniel's sister.  She confused me.  I had a hard time deciding if she was a werewolf or not.  I have this thought in the back of my head that Tabby explained that the werewolf gene is passed down through the male side of the line but maybe I'm wrong.  Is she a werewolf?  Isn't she?  I don't know.  Not that it was all that important to the overall plot, I just had that confusion that I mentioned above.

Lily and Daniel were fun.  I have no problem with the fact that he was kinda a dominating asshole.  It didn't bother me in the least and it made him weirdly hotter.

Overall, it was an imaginative book with a fun batch of characters and an intriguing premise.  I will be picking up the others in the series at some point to see if those secondary characters get their just desserts.

More books by Heather Killough-Walden

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1 comment:

  1. Great review, sounds like a good read. I do love sexy shifters.

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