Series: Wild About You #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published by: Signet on January 4, 2011
Format: eBook
Pages: 336
Source: Purchased
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An interesting story that fell flat with its irritating leading lady…
I have to admit that I was initially drawn to its catchy title being a native New Yorker and all. The cover suggests a fun and flirty read and that’s exactly what I was prepping myself for when I started listening to it on audio. The audiobook started off ok, it always takes me a couple of chapters to get familiar with a new narrator but around chapter 4 I was ready to call it quits. So being the devoted reader I am, I decided to skip the audio and read the ebook version I’ve had on my Nook for a while now…only to find out that the reason I wasn’t connecting with the book wasn’t the narrator’s voice but the book’s leading lady’s. And so here goes my brutally honest review…
A WEREWOLF IN MANHATTAN is the first in Vicki Lewis Thompson’s Wild About You series. The premise is quite intriguing, Emma Gavin is a New York author who’s on tour promoting her latest book. She writes romances featuring werewolves and accidentally attracts the attention of a real pack of weres due to her accurate portrayal of them. Enter Aiden Wallace, the handsome security expert and son of the Alpha who’s sent to uncover how Emma is getting the insider information that threatens to expose them to the world. As Aiden gets closer to Emma in his investigation, he finds she’s been receiving threatening emails from none other than the son of the Alpha of the Chicago pack. Posing as Emma’s bodyguard Aiden travels to Chicago where the two try their best to fight the intense attraction, to no avail. There’s only one problem, this hunky werewolf is promised to another and will have to sacrifice everything if he wants to be with Emma.
I tried my best to find redeeming qualities in Emma but was left wanting. First, she’s way too naive for a 28 year old woman, especially one living in such a big city as New York. Secondly, she is way too snobby when it comes to Aiden’s wealth. She’s constantly berating his lifestyle when she owns designer clothes and shoes herself…I just didn’t buy the whole I’m green in my Gucci shoes act. I don’t know of any woman that wouldn’t want to be wined and dined by a gorgeous man and would ruin the moment by talking about money and privilege…I really wanted to smack her! Thirdly, Emma goes from being a total snob to wanting to jump Aiden’s bones like some high school girl throughout the book which was also a bit annoying. I didn’t understand how an alpha male would find her personality attractive, looks are one thing, but I found Aiden too smart, sexy and sophisticated for the likes of her. The sex scenes were just as awkward as their romance and I found myself skipping through these pages.
This is one of the only times where I root for the “other woman” in the story, so you know things are bad…LOL When Aiden’s intended mate, Nadia is introduced I wanted him to snap out of his lust for Emma and give her a chance. In just a few scenes she shows more personality and chemistry with Aiden in my opinion. I was partial to Nadia, but I still held out hope that Emma would surprise me before the book’s end (I was left wanting for the second time).
After all my ranting, A WEREWOLF IN MANHATTAN is not a bad read, I guess I just had higher expectations. The action and werewolf politics took a back seat to the romance which slowed down the pace of the story. The last few chapters and ending felt rushed and too much of a perfect HEA for a couple that was deemed forbidden from the start. The supporting characters (Aiden’s brother Rourke and Nadia) are the real break through characters in this story and I found myself wanting more of them and a little less of the too sweet romance between Aiden and Emma. Did I love A WEREWOLF IN MANHATTAN? not really, but I will give the second installment a shot before I make my mind up about this series. Maybe Rourke’s story is just what I need to change my mind 🙂
Have you ever experienced a good story that was overshadowed by a less than loveable main character?
That sucks. I had my eye on this book, but as I go now to Goodreads, I see that you are not the only one who didn’t like. I will stay away. Too many good books to waste time on bad ones. Thanks for the heads up.
After I wrote my review I saw a couple of 2 star reviews and felt a little better. I’m not a fan of author bashing so I tried to stay clear of that route but the heroine was just too annoying for my taste. I really only finished because it was a read I chose for my read-a-thon weekend. I’d skip this one if you plan on reading the series 🙂
Sorry it fell flat for you, and I am a bit surprised you finished the book. I can’t do that if I really dislike one of the main characters so much.
And yes, I do know books like that, where I have finished them because of the story. Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series is one of them. I disliked both Mac and Barrons, and kept waiting and waiting for the MacKeltar’s from her historical series to appear, and when they did, I was even more disappointed with how they were portrayed.
I wasn’t a fan of Mac in the very beginning but she grew on me. The story was good enough to keep me reading. Sorry I cant’ say the same for this heroine…she was irritating from start to end…LOL I normally don’t continue a book if I’m hating the main characters, but I wanted to see how things ended for them and was on a reading kick due to the read-a-thon. There are too many good books out there for duds!
That’s too bad. I’ve read all of the books in this series except this one, and now you have me wondering if it’s even worthwhile… Guess I’ll continue to procrastinate a little longer. 😀
I want to read Rourke’s story because I enjoyed him more than Aiden…this is one instance where I’d recommend starting with book 2! 🙂
Too bad 🙁 If I can’t get into the MC I have a hard time investing in a book. The premise did sound fun but I guess I’ll skip this one!