Handsome Howard . . .
Hunky Howard . . .
Hot Howard . . .
It's not every day that Elsa Bjornberg feels delicate, not when she hosts a home renovation show where she can effortlessly demolish a kitchen. But from the moment she meets Howard Barr, this bear of a man makes her feel like a woman. And the way he looks at her, as if she were a pot of honey he'd like to lick . . .
Howard is not like most men. For one thing, he's a shapeshifter. And he always thought his celebrity crush would never amount to anything more than drooling at Elsa on TV. When his meddling vampire employer gets involved, the star is suddenly within his grasp—and within a hair of her life. For an ancient curse forbids their newfound love, and Howard is suddenly torn between his desire for her and his desire to keep her alive.
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Wild About You (Love at Stake)
So, let me preface this review with this tidbit of knowledge. I received this book as an ARC and it's not due for release until 11/27/12, just as an FYI. Please pre-order it if you're interested.
If you're unfamiliar with the Love At Stake series, it's a cute series about a boat load of supernaturals living in the modern human world. Basically you have everything from shapeshifters, vampires, hybrids, angels and so on. Each book in the series centers around one of the main characters. The vamps have created synthetic blood and therefore don't need to harm humans. The shapeshifters live and work among the humans as well but whether vamp or shifter, there is always good ones and bad ones. Our main characters for the Love At Stake series are all on the good side. They are all part of a "family", I guess would be the most accurate term, who all know or work for the main central character Roman, who's the man who invented the synthetic blood which is used for humans to aid injuries and vamps as a substitute diet. Roman is a Mogul, scientist and vamp. Seeing he's a vamp with all the classic vamp issues (drinks blood, can't stand sun and dies during the day), he needs daytime security to watch over his empire and who better then shapeshifters, enter Howard.
Howard (our hero) has been in the books from the very beginning. He's always been one of the security guys who is a shifter. He shifts into a bear and loves doughnuts. He's never been a major main character but he's definitely a scene stealer. Whenever he was in a scene in the past, you just always got this warm fuzzy feeling from him and not just because he's a were-bear. His character just had a heart of gold. So when I heard the next book in the series (Wild About You) was about him, I was definitely excited. I had high hopes for it because I loved Howard and let me tell you, this book did not disappoint.
So the story goes, Howard has gone MIA in Alaska and the group is definitely worried about him but more importantly Tino is upset, LOL. Tino is Roman's 5 year old boy. So Shanna, Roman's wife, decides to send for him, thus a search party is dispatched. They find Howard but Howard wanted them to come looking. Howard is all about games and he's playing a dangerous one with an old enemy. He needs back up and recruits anyone who will help including the friends in the search party. Without spoiling too much, I'll skip ahead, eventually Howard makes it back home to the school where Roman's family is waiting for him. Tino tells a secret to his mom which leads Shanna to decide the crumbling guardhouse would be the perfect location to bring one of Howard's favorite DIY shows to fix it up. Enter Amazon Ellie. Now let me say this, I LOVE ELLIE!!!! Actually her name is Elsa but they call her Ellie on the show. The reason I love Elsa so much is that I totally identified with this character. I, myself, am a tall, not so slender woman, who has also been recently called an Amazon. Sometimes I get tired of reading about all these tall but svelte women or short and pixie like woman who are the heroines in all these romance novels but Elsa is a tall, robust woman who does DIY and hangs with the guys, totally me! She helps tear up houses, is brilliant at cabinetry and feels anything but girlie. She also has been sent to the guardhouse project to be set up with Howard. Howard and Elsa have no idea this is going on but little Tino wants Howard happy and to find his "dream girl".
What I think I love most about this book, out of the entire series is that it feels real and not just because I identify with Elsa. There is a real family feud with plausible consequences, there is a wonderful courtship, family dynamics and family meddling. Nothing reads like it's too fast or too forced. You can totally see a 5 year old wanting his BFF happy and manipulating his mom and dad to make it happen. You can see why Howard is bent on revenge. You can totally get why Elsa would be hesitant, I mean come on he's a were-bear and might kill her (oh there's a curse thrown in there for good measure as well.) You also have the fabulous subplot with a great "snowball" effect storyline. I think what I found most fascinating with this book being a PNR book, is that there's not the over the top heroics, no major sacrifices, you basically have a guy who has a huge crush on a TV personality and his family comes together to light the fuse. Howard is not a big bad alpha male who charges into battle unless he has to. He describes himself as a big "honey bear" and the story stays true to the laid back personality of the character and his life with a little excitement tossed in. All in all, it was a wonderful story and a wonderful addition to the series. If you haven't read the series, you can pick this one up as a stand alone as well. Everything is explained beautifully and I really think you'll enjoy the book.
4 out of 5 books
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