Wild About You, Kerrelyn Sparks (4 stars)

About Wild About You

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (November 27, 2012)

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.

Review

This is the adult version of Goldilocks and her bear, and it is quite the guilty pleasure. Howard is a were-bear, a man who shapeshifts into a bear. After tumultuous early years, he now serves as the guardian for hybrid and other special children--with a special fondness for the children of two vampires. But he cannot forget the past, or the evil werewolf who killed his first love and banished him.

Yet, Howard can't resist falling in love with Elsa, a hard-to-miss television personality who endured her own bad childhood. When they meet, Elsa feels a burning sensation--and not just from the desire building within her. At first, Elsa and Howard fight the idea of being cursed. But as evidence mounts, they decide instead to fight any curse that would keep them apart.

For the first few pages, I was a bit of a skeptic. Were-bears, hybrid offspring, Guardians. Really? But, the story and characters won me over. Howard is a big bad Grizzly bear of a man, but he manages to sneak flowers past Elsa's gun-toting and overprotective Aunts. Plus, there was something so endearing about the relationship between Howard and Tino, the child of Howard's vampire friend, Shanna.

Although Howard and Elsa are the focus of this book, there's a long list of compelling characters that begged for their own story. Good thing the author has written so many of them in other books, part of her Love at Stake series. I'll be picking up Shanna and Roman's story the next chance I get.  

Wild About You is full of action, romance, relationships, and even humor. Fans of paranormal romance will be in heaven. The mythology behind the curse and the creation of were-bears was intriguing, and a breath of fresh air in a very popular genre. 

My only small complaint is how quickly the story wrapped up. The author did such a wonderful job building an interesting and multi-layered story, that I hated seeing it come to an end so neatly and quickly. But, as much as I was enjoying it, I'm sure any ending would have felt that way.

Rating: 4 stars

About Kerrelyn Sparks

KERRELYN SPARKS is the New York Times bestselling author of a series that mimics its sexy heroes by refusing to die. Now up to book thirteen, the Love at Stake series spreads laughter worldwide in thirteen different languages. In spite of a tendency to nibble on necks or howl at the moon, Kerrelyn’s vampire and shapeshifter heroes are still wonderfully romantic.

Find out more about Kerrelyn at her website and connect with her on Facebook.

Thanks to TLC for my review copy.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

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