Limecello review of Mate of the Wolf by Karen Whiddon
Paranormal Romance released by Nocturne Bites 1 Jul 08
I’ve never read a Nocturne Bite before, nor any Nocturne book for that matter, so I didn’t know what to expect, other than a paranormal. It was an interesting read, but I wasn’t particularly sold. However, I may look into a full length Nocturne at some point in the future.
Mate of the Wolf is nice, but a little cliché with the vampire and werewolf forbidden love story. At first, I couldn’t decide if it was cute, or annoying when Allison said “Hounds” in place of “God.” Unfortunately, with overuse, and the word in places it didn’t fit, I became irritated. There was also a cheesy bit that came out of the blue, when Kane felt possessive of Allison. I felt that it just didn’t fit there, because they’d known each other only a period of minutes.
The story didn’t flow very well, and there were some gaps – the characters were outside the restroom, then suddenly they were inside, and though it’s a single bathroom they’re in a stall and locked the bathroom door. There were also some other anomalies. Supposedly, Kane doesn’t bleed when he’s cut – but then, what happens to all the blood he drinks? His heart also doesn’t beat… so what’s the point? I could have dealt with one, or the other, but not both. Maybe I need to read up on vampires.
The emotions were too strong and dramatic to be enjoyable or believable. Too much lore was crammed into the story, and I felt blindsided by all the randomness. All the little facts about the creature characters became overbearing to me. Allison and Kane try so hard to be likeable, but they’re too plastic. I think the secondary characters were meant to add depth to the story, but for me it just ended up cluttering the plot.
One thing that makes the story interesting is that the “Mate” in the title refers to the hero, rather than the heroine. Generally, the mates in books refer to the women belonging to and with the men – but Mate of the Wolf mixes it up. I think this story might have been a victim of the page limit. If it had been longer, the different events wouldn’t have been so disjointed. As is, the story was too busy for me, and I felt that the relationship between Kane and Allison and their characterizations were sacrificed for the sake of plot twists.
Grade: D
Rule Number One–Date only Pack members. She knew he was definitely not part of the Pack, but the immediate intense attraction Allie felt for Kane overwhelmed her good sense and convinced her to toss her rules out the window. The fact that she couldn’t detect his scent did not concern her–she knew he was unlike any man she’d ever known, and she had to be with him, whatever the cost.
He couldn’t believe she didn’t recognize him–he’d known instantly what she was. After four hundred years, Kane had finally found his Svetla, his one true mate. But a union between their two races was expressly forbidden. So now it was time for Kane to break some rules of his own….
