Plot Type: SMR
Ratings: V-2; S-4; H-4
Publisher and Titles: Signet Eclipse
Werewolf in Manhattan (1/2011)
Werewolf in the North Woods (10/2011)
Werewolf in Seattle (4/2012)
Werewolf in Denver (10/2012)
Werewolf in Alaska (7/2013)
This post was revised and updated on 11/12/12 to include a review of the fourth book in this series: Werewolf in Denver. That review appears first, followed by an overview of the world-building and reviews of the first two books:.
BOOK 4: Werewolf in Denver 
As book 4 opens, Kate Stillman is picking up her nemesis Duncan MacDowell at the Denver airport. Duncan, the brother of book three's Colin, is the leader of HOWL (Honoring "Our Werewolf Legacy), the group who champions were-were relationships and maintaining werewolf secrecy from the human world. Duncan, on the other hand, leads the mostly male WOOF (Werewolves Optimizing Our Future), who want to let the general public in on their furry secret and who are in favor of mating with humans. When the two are stranded overnight in an isolated cabin in a plot-convenient blizzard, they hit the sheets and begin a romantic relationship they both fear is doomed before it even starts.
The plot follows Kate and Duncan as they eventually make their way through the snowdrifts to the first-ever worldwide were-con, which is being held by the Stillman pack. The reader knows from page one that the two will reach their inevitable HEA. It's just a matter of how bumpy their road to romance will be.
As in previous books, a villain shows up late in the story and doesn't pose too much of a threat--but more than in the previous book. A few characters from previous books show up on the fringes of the action, but most of the scenes are between xx and Duncan--so not much action, except the bedroom kind.
This book is typical of the series--light, humorous, and talky, with elements of darker emotions and a pinch of violence. Click HERE to read the first two chapters.
As book 4 opens, Kate Stillman is picking up her nemesis Duncan MacDowell at the Denver airport. Duncan, the brother of book three's Colin, is the leader of HOWL (Honoring "Our Werewolf Legacy), the group who champions were-were relationships and maintaining werewolf secrecy from the human world. Duncan, on the other hand, leads the mostly male WOOF (Werewolves Optimizing Our Future), who want to let the general public in on their furry secret and who are in favor of mating with humans. When the two are stranded overnight in an isolated cabin in a plot-convenient blizzard, they hit the sheets and begin a romantic relationship they both fear is doomed before it even starts.
The plot follows Kate and Duncan as they eventually make their way through the snowdrifts to the first-ever worldwide were-con, which is being held by the Stillman pack. The reader knows from page one that the two will reach their inevitable HEA. It's just a matter of how bumpy their road to romance will be.
As in previous books, a villain shows up late in the story and doesn't pose too much of a threat--but more than in the previous book. A few characters from previous books show up on the fringes of the action, but most of the scenes are between xx and Duncan--so not much action, except the bedroom kind.
This book is typical of the series--light, humorous, and talky, with elements of darker emotions and a pinch of violence. Click HERE to read the first two chapters.
WORLD-BUILDING
In this world, paranormal beings have not come out to the human population, although they secretly live among the humans. The wealthy and powerful werewolves are divided into packs across the U.S. in most of the major cities. In New York City, the Wallace family heads the pack, with Howard, the pack leader; Aiden, his heir apparent; and Roarke, his youngest son. Werewolves in this world tend to marry other werewolves, and the idea of a male werewolf taking a human bride is frowned upon with disdain and outright hostility. Needless to say, the Wallace sons soon shake up the traditional werewolf outlook on intermarriage with humans.
Each book follows the long and rocky romantic road of an alpha werewolf and his newly discovered true mate, who is usually human or half-human. Books 1 and 2 follow the romances of the Roarke brothers, and books 3 and 4 tell the stories of the MacDowell brothers, from Scotland.
This series has the same levels of violence, sensuality, and humor as Thompson's very funny HEX series, which follows the adventures of a witch and a wizard in Big Knob, Indiana (and they don't call it Big Knob for nothing!). Thompson's stories are always sexy, face-paced and humorous, with quirky characters, humorous dialogue, and plenty of sensuality.
In book 1, Emma Gavin is the author of a popular series of werewolf novels. She's human, and as normal as apple pie. Emma does not believe that werewolves exist in the real world. All of the details of her werewolf stories come directly from her extremely creative imagination. Unfortunately, Emma gets everything right about werewolf culture, and the werewolves suspect that one of their own must be supplying Emma with inside information—risky behavior that must be stopped immediately. Howard orders Aidan, who his chief security officer, to put Emma under heavy surveillance in order to identify her werewolf source. Aidan has been pledged since birth to marry Nadia Henderson, daughter of the Chicago pack leader, but they don't really love each other. (Note the mirrored spelling of their names.) As Aiden watches Emma and learns more about her, lustful feelings begin to creep into the picture. Eventually, the two meet at one of Emma's book signings and become friendly...and friendlier...and even more friendly.
BOOK 1: A Werewolf in Manhattan
In book 1, Emma Gavin is the author of a popular series of werewolf novels. She's human, and as normal as apple pie. Emma does not believe that werewolves exist in the real world. All of the details of her werewolf stories come directly from her extremely creative imagination. Unfortunately, Emma gets everything right about werewolf culture, and the werewolves suspect that one of their own must be supplying Emma with inside information—risky behavior that must be stopped immediately. Howard orders Aidan, who his chief security officer, to put Emma under heavy surveillance in order to identify her werewolf source. Aidan has been pledged since birth to marry Nadia Henderson, daughter of the Chicago pack leader, but they don't really love each other. (Note the mirrored spelling of their names.) As Aiden watches Emma and learns more about her, lustful feelings begin to creep into the picture. Eventually, the two meet at one of Emma's book signings and become friendly...and friendlier...and even more friendly.
The mostly non-violent villain (actually, more of a brat than a villain) is Theo, the teen-age son of the pack leader of Chicago, who sends Emma a series of romantic e-mails in which he tells her that she needs a real werewolf in her life and that he wants to show her just why he's the one for the job. As Emma sets off for Chicago on the first leg of her book tour, Aidan goes along as her bodyguard in order to keep Theo from revealing any werewolf secrets to Emma. You can guess what happens to Emma and Aidan's relationship as they are thrown together 24/7. By the end of the trip, both of their lives have changed forever. The Theo-related plot is just a small jolt on their slightly bumpy romantic road. Click HERE to read the first two chapters.
BOOK 2: A Werewolf in the North Woods
In the second book in the series, Abby Winchell's Grandpa Earl lives alone in his long-time home in the woods outside Portland, Oregon, where he has become an inveterate bigfoot hunter. When he finally sights a pair of sasquatch, he manages to take one grainy picture, and that's enough to set off a rush of amateur bigfoot sleuths to the dismay of the werewolf alpha whose property abuts the woods in which Grandpa Earl made his discovery. The alpha, Cameron Gentry, requests assistance, so Roarke Wallace, an anthropology professor, is dispatched to Portland to defuse the situation by denouncing Grandpa's claims. Abby decides to try to talk Roarke into easing off on his ridicule of her grandfather, but instead, she accidentally sees him shifting into werewolf form and gets some incriminating photographs. She uses these to blackmail Roarke into accompanying her into the woods to track down the sasquatch so that she can get pictures for her grandfather. The two, of course, fall head-over-heels in love in no time at all.
The villain of the story is Gentry, who wants to force Grandpa off his land so that the werewolves can buy it. There isn't much action, but there are plenty of steamy sex-in-the-forest scenes and lots of humorous sniping between Abby and Roarke. Donald, the earnest young Sasquatch hunter the couple meets in the woods, also provides humor, as he attempts to impress Roarke with his knowledge of supernatural creatures. Click HERE to read the first two chapters.
As book 3 begins, Scottish werewolf alpha Colin MacDowell, Laird of Glenbarra, arrives at his late aunt's private island off the cost of Washington State near Seattle. Aunt Geraldine died recently and left him her entire estate, which includes a huge castle and surrounding woodlands. Colin plans to sell the estate even though he has fond memories of spending his summers there during his teen years. What Colin doesn't expect is the beautiful female werewolf who welcomes him to the castle. Twenty-seven-year-old Luna Reynaud was his aunt's assistant, and she definitely doesn't want Colin to sell the island. She has a plan to turn the estate into an exclusive retreat for werewolves and hopes to convince Colin to keep the current staff and hire her as the manager.
Colin and Luna are immediately attracted to one another, and that attraction just keeps getting hotter and hotter. When Colin discovers that Luna is a virgin, he can hardly believe it since most weres begin their sexual activity when they are in their teens. Then he learns that Luna has been on her own since she was very young and had no one to teach her about her werewolf heritage. Her parents both died long ago—her father before she was born and her mother when she was eight—so Luna didn't even know that she was a were until she shifted the first time. Their love-making sessions mostly involve Colin teaching Luna the ABCs of sex—and she is definitely a fast and enthusiastic learner. By the end of the story, Luna learns new facts about her parents and makes connections with some long-lost relatives.
The plot follows the romance, which starts out smoothly but then gets rocky when Colin learns that Luna's mother was human. Collin is one of those traditional werewolves who believe that werewolves should mate only with their own kind. That doesn't stop him from enjoying as many bedroom (or beach, or hot-tub) pleasures as he can with Luna before he heads back to Scotland.
As in past books, the villain here is relatively harmless—just a misguided, jealous man who made a wrong decision a long time ago that has emotionally crippled him ever since. He doesn't even show up in the story until the closing chapters. It's not a spoiler if I tell you that Colin and Luna achieve their HEA. After all, this is a soul-mate romance, so how else could it end? The story is constructed in much the same manner as the first two books, with lots of sex, a light-weight villain, and a few quirky supporting characters to add to the humor. Although Luna believes that she and Colin can never be together, she really has no long, anguished interior monologues. In fact, she made me think of Dolly Parton with her wide-eyed innocence backed by a naughty sense of humor and a pragmatic outlook on life. If you enjoy light and fluffy werewolf romances, you'll lilke this one. Click HERE to read the first two chapters.
BOOK 3: Werewolf in Seattle
