After reading several chapters of a historical romance, I decided I wasn’t in the mood for dark angst and set it aside. Despite being a bit burned out on paranormals, I picked up Kathy Love’s My Sister Is a Werewolf. I liked the Young brothers vampire series, so I thought I might like this one.

Elizabeth Young’s brothers think they have it rough as vampires? Ha! Two words for them: unwanted hair. What werewolf Elizabeth craves is a normal life with a husband, kids, and less shaving. Unfortunately the vaccine she’s researched isn’t working yet. Worse, she’s in heat—and soon every dangerous wolf pack for miles around will be at her door. To buy time, she needs to have sex, and often, with the first human male she can find.

Veterinarian Jensen Adler just meant to drown his sorrows, until a stunning, leather—clad brunette made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Now he’s caught up in something really weird, definitely dangerous, and, okay, extremely hot. So his new girlfriend’s hiding something (and she’s a little freaky about the moon), but Jensen knows true love when he feels it, and this time, he’s not giving up. no matter how hairy things get.

As you can see from the blurb, it turns out that this book is part of the Young series. I’m not sure how I missed that, so it was a nice surprise. And nice pretty much describes this book. It was a refreshing break from the dark angst, a quick and easy read, and I liked the characters.

Like I said, nice.

It didn’t quite get beyond that, however. Romances can take place in a short period of time and still be convincing. In this case, though, I wasn’t fully convinced. I believe that Elizabeth and Jensen are off to a good start, but that’s as far as I’d go. The villain was defeated in a scene that went so quickly I wondered if I’d missed it.

On the plus side: Jensen and the way the vaccine element is resolved.

My Sister Is a Werewolf: 3.5 out of 5.

Is it just me, or does anyone else prefer the older Blaze covers?

Here’s an older one:

And the new style:

The picture on the cover is fine, but the cover itself is so linear. Plus, while I’m fine with white space (or red space, as the case may be, since this is a Blaze cover), there’s an awful lot of it here. I’d like to see the picture take up more of the cover.

So what’s your opinion? Which style of cover do you prefer and why?

I’ve been in a reading slump lately. The result is that I read far fewer books than I used to, and I typically want to leave the ones I read behind. In other words, I don’t want think about them long enough to review them). So it’s been pretty silent at this blog of late.

However, I read a book yesterday that I felt like reviewing, so I figured I’d go with the feeling. The book is The Erotic Secrets of a French Maid by Lisa Cach.

After an unsuccessful search for her dream job in architecture, Emma Mayson becomes a maid for an incredibly handsome, wealthy entrepeneur. But Russell Carrick is also a total workaholic who has lost his zest for life–or has he just misplaced it? Setting aside her feather duster and her inhibitions, Emma rekindles her employer’s passion with a fantasy world of boundless pleasure. But then the unthinkable happens: She falls for him. Can she make Russell see her as more than a plaything?

I believe I got this book because of a review Wendy did. I couldn’t find it at her blog, though, so I could be wrong. Whoever recommended it, I’m grateful. It’s an enjoyable read.

The book title is a bit of a misnomer. Emma is not a French maid, although she affects an accent at one point in the story. Instead, we get a nice romance about a couple whose relationship starts with sex and develops into something more.

The way the sex starts is a bit contrived, but I found it a bit amusing as well with its wordplay that makes sense to each participant but leads to a complete misunderstanding.

What I enjoyed most about the story, though, is the combination of spicy sex with a story and characters I can care about. (Can you tell I’ve become a bit burned out on the genre lately?) I also appreciated the fact that neither Russ nor Mandy finds their sex entirely fulfilling until they drop the trappings and let their emotions become involved.

Some writers tend to write the same kinds of stories; others write a broad variety. Cach is the latter. The Erotic Secrets of a French Maid offers a good story, one I wanted to think (and write) about once I finished reading it. 4 out of 5.