A disappointing contribution to the paranormal suspense genre.
When an elite SWAT werewolf saves a teacher’s life, they are both sent on a different path.
Jayden Brooks lives for his work, his pack, and his mother. As part of a team of alpha werewolves who make up Dallas PD SWAT, he puts his life on the line daily to stop gang activity and save lives. Selena Rosa believes in saving lives in a different way; she works hard to keep her students out of gangs and on the path for something better. When she finds herself at the wrong end of a gun, Brooks and his team intervene. He and Selena have an instant connection. The wolves have a legend about The One, and Brooks is hesitant to acknowledge that Selena might be his—but he’s still very interested in dating her. It’s not until things get heavy for them that he realizes she is becoming a werewolf after her traumatic, near-death experience. The potential outcome of her not taking that information well, combined with a new gang leader in the area and werewolf hunters on the loose, leaves Brooks pulled to all sides. In the eighth book in the SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team series, Tyler (Wolf Hunger, 2017, etc.) continues a central conflict that has been developing for several books. For a newcomer, key details are not clearly reiterated and characters are not very well introduced. Even Brooks, who was a secondary character in earlier books, is not given a complete introduction. A newcomer might also be uncomfortable with what appear to be the first protagonists of color in this series both coming from stereotypical, tragic backgrounds. Brooks, having grown up in a housing project, lost his father to gang violence at a young age. Selena, similarly, grew up surrounded by gangs; she never knew her gangbanger father and barely remembers the mother who abandoned her. The violent trauma that sends Selena over the werewolf edge? Also caused by a Latinx gang member. Were the majority of the characters of color regular, hardworking people, it might be less noticeable; unfortunately, this is not the case. With the exception of Brooks and Selena, who are both overwhelmingly perfect, and a few of Selena’s students and associates, there are no acknowledged people of color on the good side. Combined with unclear explanations of wolf shifters who don’t appear to actually turn into wolves, this book leaves much to be desired.
A disappointing contribution to the paranormal suspense genre.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7053-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.
Eleven years ago, he broke her heart. But he doesn’t know why she never forgave him.
Toggling between past and present, two love stories unfold simultaneously. In the first, Macy Sorensen meets and falls in love with the boy next door, Elliot Petropoulos, in the closet of her dad’s vacation home, where they hide out to discuss their favorite books. In the second, Macy is working as a doctor and engaged to a single father, and she hasn’t spoken to Elliot since their breakup. But a chance encounter forces her to confront the truth: what happened to make Macy stop speaking to Elliot? Ultimately, they’re separated not by time or physical remoteness but by emotional distance—Elliot and Macy always kept their relationship casual because they went to different schools. And as a teen, Macy has more to worry about than which girl Elliot is taking to the prom. After losing her mother at a young age, Macy is navigating her teenage years without a female role model, relying on the time-stamped notes her mother left in her father’s care for guidance. In the present day, Macy’s father is dead as well. She throws herself into her work and rarely comes up for air, not even to plan her upcoming wedding. Since Macy is still living with her fiance while grappling with her feelings for Elliot, the flashbacks offer steamy moments, tender revelations, and sweetly awkward confessions while Macy makes peace with her past and decides her future.
With frank language and patient plotting, this gangly teen crush grows into a confident adult love affair.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2801-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable...
An unlucky woman finally gets lucky in love on an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
From getting her hand stuck in a claw machine at age 6 to losing her job, Olive Torres has never felt that luck was on her side. But her fortune changes when she scores a free vacation after her identical twin sister and new brother-in-law get food poisoning at their wedding buffet and are too sick to go on their honeymoon. The only catch is that she’ll have to share the honeymoon suite with her least favorite person—Ethan Thomas, the brother of the groom. To make matters worse, Olive’s new boss and Ethan’s ex-girlfriend show up in Hawaii, forcing them both to pretend to be newlyweds so they don’t blow their cover, as their all-inclusive vacation package is nontransferable and in her sister’s name. Plus, Ethan really wants to save face in front of his ex. The story is told almost exclusively from Olive’s point of view, filtering all communication through her cynical lens until Ethan can win her over (and finally have his say in the epilogue). To get to the happily-ever-after, Ethan doesn’t have to prove to Olive that he can be a better man, only that he was never the jerk she thought he was—for instance, when she thought he was judging her for eating cheese curds, maybe he was actually thinking of asking her out. Blending witty banter with healthy adult communication, the fake newlyweds have real chemistry as they talk it out over snorkeling trips, couples massages, and a few too many tropical drinks to get to the truth—that they’re crazy about each other.
Heartfelt and funny, this enemies-to-lovers romance shows that the best things in life are all-inclusive and nontransferable as well as free.Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5011-2803-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
