Review--Big Bad Wolf by Christine Warren

New York Times bestselling author Christine Warren introduces a new breed of hero--all the better to seduce you with...

Missy Roper's fantasies have revolved around Graham Winters since the moment they met. But the imposing leader of the Silverback werewolf clan always seemed oblivious to Missy's existence. At least he was, until Missy collides with him at a pety and then abruptly runs awau--arousing Graham's interst...and wild desires.

Lupine law decress that every Alpha must have a mate, and all Graham's instincts tell him that the sensual, beguiling Missiy is his. Trouble is, Missy is human--every delectable inch of her. Convincing his clan that she's his destined mate and keeping her safe from his enemies, will be the biggest challenge Graham has ever faced. And now that he is determined to have her--as his lover and his mate--Missy's world is changing in ways she never imagined...

I decided to read Christine Warren's Other series in the order she fashions them, versus publication order. Big Bad Wolf is her book 2 and it was a pretty enjoyable read. I am starting to have a few doubts about this seires. Nothing to do with the writing or characters, worldbuilding...or anything like that. It just seems not to be to my tastes as an Urban Fantasy reader. I've read a few paranormal romances. But even I am starting to doubt their PNR status, they seemed more like UF despite being in the romance section at the bookstore. But alas, I might give the series another book before I make any decisions.

I will say that I enjyoed this one a bit more than the first. Missy is definitely a little more relatable I think. Regina was in a lot of ways, but for some reason I feel like Missy was more real to her situation. She didn't necessarily "lust" after Graham in the beginning, more like crush, but knew that he would never look twice at her. And he hadn't. Until Regina's wedding reception, when Ava was readying her for her third fix. Stuck in a trashy dress she couldn't stand, she managed to catch Graham's eye, unknowingly.

When Graham sees her, albeit from behind, he's pretty much immediately aroused. He's had his fair share of women and then some, yet he knows he's never had this woman. And he wants her. It's not til the morning after that he finally realizes that he just banged Missy, one of Regina's friends. This generally should be a very problematic situation for him, yet that night during the bouts of sex, he realized that Missy was his mate. He just instinctively knew it and he has no intention of letting her get away.

Since Graham is already an Alpha of the pack, one that is in jeopardy since his ruly cousin is wanting to overthrow him in any way possible, so that he can be the Alpha instead, Graham's possessive behaviors are warranted. He plays the Alpha Male very well, since he's not really playing such a role, he just is it. And trying to get his cousin in line will be easy compared to his more pressing task. Convincing Missy that his intentions and feelings are true.

That was one thing I did like about the story. Missy is ready to mark the night off as a "one-night-stand", yet Graham isn't having it. He wants her to stay the weekend. And possibly more days. Missy can't fanthom why Graham would want her, she's plain, ordinary. Things she knows and accepts and she's seen the types of women Graham usually "dates" and knows that she doesn't even compare to them. Her feelings are very realistic in my opinion. She can come off a little insecure, but I think it was totally warranted in her position.

So while this wasn't the insta-love--except in Graham's case--story I thought it would be based on the desctiption and cover, it was still enjoyable. I am just not use to their being too many "love scenes" in the usual books I read. Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance are totally different. Much like relatives, you wonder how can we have anything in common? Yet there are still the underlying similiarities that make it so.

Besides the romance being about 3/4 of the story, the other part involved Graham's cousin, like I mentioned earlier. And his cousin gets even more devious as the plot thickens and all that. Upon hearing that Graham has found a mate, he calls for the matehunt. Which is when the females run into the woods and the males chase them. It's pretty barbaric, since the males are basically chasing down the one they want as their mate. Graham will have to do everything he can to protect Missy from his cousin and his loyal goons from hurting or even touching her.

As I also said, I am still on the fence with this series, Thinking I might just need to stick with my UF books instead of PNR ones. They are just not to my taste of reading. But I will still give this series a try as I have quite a few of the books. Probably close to the first half in the order Christine fashions them. I do highly recommend this to all Paranormal Romance readers though as it has a very strong romance put on center stage!


Overall rating 3.5/5 stars--Please note my rating is just so-so due to my not enjoying the overly romantic parts, it was still a pretty good read though just not 100% my taste.