Flight into Fantasy

Shannon’s note: I met Lora via a mutual friend. We both happen to be blind, we’re both big readers, and we’re on a private listserv full of bookish blind women. I’ve been hoping to recruit a blogging partner, and Lora was by far my most enthusiastic volunteer. She has no idea that blogging will eat her soul, so don’t tell her, OK?. Anyway, here is her first review!

Title: Howling at the Moon (Tales of an Urban Werewolf, Book 1)
Author: Karen MacInerney
Genre: Paranormal romance
Reason for Reading: I have been reading a lot of books about werewolves recently, and the synopsis for this one caught my eye. So I read it cover to cover as I was validating it for Bookshare.

Synopsis:

A werewolf auditor who hasn’t met but a handful of other werewolves in Austin in the last eighteen years is suddenly tripping over them wherever she goes. At the same time, someone is threatening her, sending her packages whose contents allude to her secret, and threaten to reveal it. And if all that isn’t enough, her mother, an herbalist witch, is accused of poisoning a politician, and winds up in jail.
Other Opinions:

Cloth Dragon

Darque Reviews

Scooper

Sandy M at TGTBTU

Limecello at TGTBTU

My thoughts: The Werewolf Wears Prada?  Oh, how the loup-garou have fallen!

I wanted to like this book.  The protagonist, Sophie Garou, is somewhat witty and entertaining, even if I cannot relate to her fashonista obsession. She is plagued with a bitter, gossipy office assistant, and a gorgeous best friend, and tends to be a bit of a workaholic, all reasonably believable challenges.  Her hunky human boyfriend, Heath, is the marrying kind, and he seems like a sweetheart. 

Enter Tom Fenris, the first real werewolf Sophie has ever met.  She is inexplicably drawn to him, for reasons that are never really touched upon, and even though she has a loving boyfriend who is ready to propose, she spends a good majority of the book mooning over Fenris, who isn’t even very likable.  The attraction felt forced, unbelievable and uninteresting.

I read on in any case.  I love mysteries, and I kept hoping that one of the mysteries presented to us would have an interesting resolution. Unfortunately, the story felt a little disjointed, and the explanations for the events that plagued Sophie from the beginning were rather unimaginative.

Final Thoughts: I can’t give this book an absolutely failing grade.  Some of the situations were mildly amusing, such as Sophie as a werewolf, whose panty hose get caught on a bush, or the badly bungled office break-in that Sophie and her friend orchestrate, but much of this book felt like the author was trying too hard. Ms. MacInerney has already published a second book in this series, On the Prowl, and a third is due out in July. I doubt I will read either. 

Final grade:  C-.