bines actual werewolves with online role-playing games, can’t quite figure out who
its audience is supposed to be. The few
realistically tender and passionate sex
scenes are appealing, but there’s nothing
supernatural in them, which may be a
disappointment to werewolf fans, nor is
there enough geekiness in the story to
satisfy the gamers. Deanna Scott, moderator of the online game Wolf’s Run, is being
stalked by someone using the handle crywolf, who insists that he is a real werewolf
and that the game is an insult. He sends her
photos that seem to have a connection to
the blood that her golden retriever,
Arthur, finds in the woods. Arthur and
Deanna’s new upstairs neighbor, Jamie
Martineau, has shape-shifting abilities and
family connections that may be helpful
when crywolf threatens violence at a Wolf’s
Run gamer event. She’s also very attracted
to Deanna, and vice versa. Osgood’s debut
doesn’t communicate her themes well, and
the plot feels like filler; her erotic writing
would work better in a more focused and
mundane environment. (Apr.)
Dragon Soul
Katie MacAlister. Grand Central/Forever,
$7.99 mass market (368p) ISBN 978-1-4555-
5927-5
MacAlister’s third Black Dragons
supernatural contemporary (after Dragon
Storm) starts out looking like an endearing
and quirky entry in a well-established
universe, but it quickly becomes an irritating recitation of paranormal romance
clichés. Tour guide Sophea Long’s husband
was killed in an accident just after they
spoke their vows. She’s hired by his cousin
to escort a hilariously scandal-prone old
woman from her home in California to a
Nile River cruise that’s leaving from Cairo.
Flames of the literal and metaphorical
varieties get started when Rowan Dakar,
an alchemist turned sociologist, rescues
Sophea from the demons who want to rob
the elderly woman and informs her that
the man Sophea married was a dragon,
meaning that she has the powers of a drag-
on’s mate. The amusing and quirky whirl-
wind tour of the Amazon bogs down into
a tedious and often obnoxious slog as
Sophea’s oblivious ignorance breaks its
comic limit. The plot consistently answers
her brash assertions of competent badas-
sery by turning her into a damsel in dis-
story ends with a frustrating cliffhanger,
but Lauren and Alexander are engaging
enough that readers will come back for the
next installment, though they may be
cursing the fact that the romance won’t be
resolved until book three. Note to impa-
tient readers in the U.S.: the second and
third books, The Second Time I Saw You and
Third Time Lucky, are already out in the
U. K. (Apr.)
★ Once a Rancher
Linda Lael Miller. HQN, $7.99 mass market
(384p) ISBN 978-0-373-77968-0
Readers are transported to Mustang
Creek, Wyo., in this marvelous contem-
porary western trilogy launch, loosely
connected to several of Miller’s previous
books. Filmmaker Slater Carson is one of
the three Carson boys, regarded as some-
thing like royalty in the small town. He’s
barely finished shooting his latest docu-
mentary when Grace Emery comes storming
into town with her teen stepson, Ryder, in
tow. Grace made the move from Seattle
to Mustang Creek in an attempt to build
a new life for
herself after a
divorce. Even
though she’s no
longer with
Ryder’s father,
she still loves
Ryder like he’s
her own. Grace
and Slater’s
paths don’t so
much cross as
spectacularly collide, and the typical get-
ting-to-know you dance is fraught with
amazing chemistry. Current hot-topic
issues such as blended families and non-
traditional parenting are integrated seam-
lessly with a well-told romance. Faces
familiar from Miller’s Bliss County series
provide a warm counterpoint to the siz-
zling attraction and hint of mystery that
draw the protagonists together. A dash of
storytelling magic keeps the pages
turning even as the way is paved for the
next two books. Agent: Irene Goodman,
Irene Goodman Literary. (Apr.)
The Better to Kiss You With
Michelle Osgood. Interlude, $14.99 trade
paper (182p) ISBN 978-1-941530-74-0
This short romance novel, which com-
thriller plot. Calista Langley has resigned
herself to spinsterhood now that she’s in
her late 20s. She runs a discreet match-
making and salon service, pairing each
singleton with a potential partner of the
person’s preferred gender. She’s also being
stalked by a mysterious person who leaves
ominous memento mori in her house.
Successful mystery author Trent Hastings,
dubious about the service Calista is
offering his sister, Eudora, confronts her.
After some initial hostilities, he finds
himself drawn
to her and
begins helping
her investigate
the stalker.
They’re joined
by Eudora as
well as Calista’s
younger brother,
Andrew (a tal-
ented investi-
gator in his own
right). The four begin to uncover a series
of murders, and soon their lives are threat-
ened. Along with the danger, Quick
throws in a great deal of humor (including
a wonderful running gag centered on
Hastings’s latest story), a large cast of
well-rounded characters, and lots of solid
red herrings. This is a true delight for fans
of historical romances and mysteries. Agent
Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency. (Apr.)
The First Time We Met
Pippa Croft. Penguin U.K., $14.95 trade paper
(368p) ISBN 978-1-4059-1702-5
Croft (mainstream romance author
Phillipa Ashley) kicks off her Oxford Blues
new adult contemporary trilogy with an
angsty yet appealing romance. Lauren
Cusack, the daughter of a U.S. senator,
leaves Washington, D.C., for a year abroad
at Oxford, studying for a master’s degree
in the history of art and visual culture.
Alexander Hunt is a compellingly broken
English aristocrat. The passion sparks hot
between Lauren and Alexander, and the
two soon start a torrid affair, but their different nationalities and backgrounds are
barriers to love and lasting happiness. The
author is an Oxford alum herself, and she
writes with authority about what happens
when an upper-crust Brit meets a fearless
American. Her supporting characters
range from endearing to obnoxious. The
