Man and Wolf by Kate Roman

Title: Man and Wolf
Author: Kate Roman
Publisher: Loose Id
Length: Novel/181 pages
Buy the book: Publisher

Blurb:

The night Rob Nichols brings his poisoned Malamute to the Lake Park Veterinary Hospital, he brings hope and chaos into Jamie Bretton’s life in equal measures. Jamie never thought his defenses would come down so easily, but there’s something about Rob that makes him throw caution to the wind. But when the two of them attract the attention of an overly curious Animal Control Officer, they have to take big steps to trust one another, and find a way to integrate an escaped government werewolf into the life of a lonely veterinarian without anyone being the wiser.

But in the end, they’ll do what it takes, because they love each other more than the moon–especially when it’s full.

Review:

Let me start off by saying I do not write reviews to belittle an authors work or do I make it  a habit of bashing books. Where this book was very flawed, there were moments when I enjoyed it. So let me say that this book had great potential to be an action packed mystery, it just fell short. I can’t say don’t waste your time reading this because everyone has different taste and also one mans trash is another mans treasure.

The book begins with a very distraught Rob whose dog just ingested a toxic poison and rushes him to the vet. There is an instant connection between him and the vet. After a few minutes of panic he finds out his dog will be okay but Rob is unable to remain with his dog so he packs up and rushes home. Then you experience Rob’s change from man to wolf, which I must say is actually some of the best parts of the book. He hates that he left his dog behind but Bella( name of dog) understands. The glimpses into his wolf mind was some of the most interesting parts of the book, to see Rob struggle to hang on to his humanity while embracing the wolf inside.

Jaime the Vet is having a hard time with the mysterious and beautiful man’s dog. Bella attacked another customer and Animal Control was called; Jaime claimed the dog as his own and now he is slapped with a lawsuit and a four hundred dollar fine. Seems he has got to get a move on with finding the owner and also to appease his own curiosity about the connection he felt to the beautiful stranger. Jaime gets his wish when he asks a friend to do some illegal hacking and lands himself the address but nerves get in the way and he is unable to face him. Seems he has to keep up the charade as a dog owner for a man he hardly knows but cant help wanting.

While Rob is struggling to figure out what happened the last few days since his transformation. He remembers Bella’s accident and the kind eyes of the doctor and knows without a doubt even though he feared for his dog these last few days Bella was in good hands. So the meeting that both men have been looking forward to comes, and Jaime explains the situation with the dog. Each fighting the physical attraction to each other, and Rob has to find out from his dog that Jaime is his mate. Both men fall instantly and have to deal with the pesky Animal Control officers, Jaime finding out what Rob is and overly possessive friends. This is the story of a Man and his Wolf. So what kind of wolf needs to hear from his dog that he found his mate, Rob is that kind of wolf, come on!

The narrative is told between Rob and Jaime, where the writing style is not hard to follow some scenes are easily skipped over and leaves you going “huh”. Also there was just too much repetition of both Jaime and Rob’s names which at times drove me up the wall. I was like I get it, I know their names already. Where some of the dialogue was borderline cheesy that was the least of the book flaws. The story had the potential to be a great mystery cloaked in government conspiracy with the way Rob became a wolf, with his flashbacks in the book it created a perfect setting for the author to go one step further in delivering a fast paced and action packed read and that’s what bothered me the most about the writing. All  that was involved was some overly curious Animal Control officers. I have no idea how hardcore ACO’s are but its just laughable their determination in trying to bring Jaime down.

The beacon of light in this dark tunnel was the throwback to how a werewolf should be, the transformation from man to wolf just sounded all kinds of painful, and the way the personality of Rob disappeared in wolf form, we don’t see that a lot in shifter books. Also the dogs were a breath of fresh air, Bella was just a force to be reckoned with. These dogs had more personality than any human in this story, they had me laughing at their antics. The chemistry between Rob and Jaime wasn’t horrible but I just could not fall in love with them, they just did not wow me. I cannot say that they were feminine but I cannot describe them as being overly masculine, they were just there. Not the worst book, but I cannot stress enough the potential it had to be a great book.

Once again all reviews are a matter of opinion and only you can draw your own conclusion, as for me it just fell short; too many unanswered questions and gaps.