Sandy M’s review of Wild (The Pack of St. James, Book 1) by Noelle Mack
Paranormal historical romance released by Brava 26 Feb 08

It’s been a long while since I’ve been this disappointed in a werewolf story. While the actual werewolf portions of the book were good, I didn’t care for much of the writing and some of the descriptive avenues the author chose. I was bored here and there and there was just a few negative feelings pulling at me as far as the romance of the book is concerned.

I think it’s the writing style that couldn’t hold my attention throughout the book. I found myself skipping passages much too often. I’ve never been one for a Russian influence in reading, so maybe that’s what the problem was. However, the dialogue also made me skip along rather quickly. It just didn’t seem realistic at times.

The few times we’re given a love scene, for some reason Kyril likes to rub excess bodily liquids from his mouth onto other parts of Vivienne’s body. Yeah, yuck. It’s not sexy. It’s not romantic. It might be realistic in some instances, but I don’t want it in my romance books. More scenes than not weren’t sexy at all and even a couple of erotic scenes seemed to be gratuitous, they didn’t add anything to the storyline except silliness.

It was very hard to believe that Kyril fell in love so quickly with Vivienne and then decided to stay away from her for so long because of danger. He’s a werewolf, for heaven’s sake. He can protect her better than anyone, so why would he want to be separated from her for so long? They were apart for a good portion of the book, so how could they be so in love from one night of sex, especially Kyril because he’s so suspicious about everything and everyone to protect his pack?

What there was of the shape-shifting part of the story was great and I just wish there had been more. I liked the characters, especially Kyril and his brothers. I enjoy reading about brothers, so I would have liked more interaction between them than with Lukian, and I’m not sure exactly what the bit with Lukian was, why it was taken so far, but maybe that’s something that will become more clear later on in future books.

All in all, even with these couple of bright points, the book was just lackluster. Nothing to really pull you in and nothing to keep you there.

Grade: D-

See Lawson’s earlier review.

From the back cover:

Kyril. Marko. Semyon. Brothers like no other, sworn to lead the Pack of St. James and defend the English crown, though the blood of Russian wolves runs in their veins. In 1815, every woman in London has heard of their legendary passion for seduction–but no one knows of the supernatural powers that raise them far above the ranks of mortal men.
Dangerous Lover

In pursuit of a priceless treasure stolen from his homeland, Kyril commands the Pack to gather in secret. A rash act by one woman–one extraordinary woman, the sensual and utterly alluring Vivienne Sheridan–has put their ancient clan in peril. He vows to find her–and find out her every secret–before it is too late…

Hidden in a ruined mansion, concealed by the shadows of a moonlit night, Vivienne comes forth, drawn to Kyril by a mysterious magic she is unable to resist. In his powerful embrace, Vivienne senses the wild nature beneath his gentlemanly façade–and she surrenders to his intimate touch. Whatever he wants, she will give…with all the passion of a woman mesmerized…

Read an excerpt.